G322 Audiences and Institutions Glossary

Advance Screenings - Screenings of the film shown before the official release. In the early stages an advance screening may be used to get audience feedback and may lead to re-editing etc. Later on, an advance screening is used to build up some word of mouth, anticipation etc Arthouse - Adjective used to describe alternative, non-mainstream, quality films (often foreign-language films). These films would often play in arthouse (independently-owned) cinemas. The Big Six The six companies that form the Hollywood system. These are 20th Century Fox, Universal Studios, Disney, Columbia, Paramount and Warner Bros. Blockbuster - A film that secures huge publicity and (more likely than not) huge box office sales Convergence - The coming together of previously separate technologies to form a new combined or hybrid form (ie think of all the different technologies that have converged on the mobile phone) Distribution - The business of bringing a film to the attention of the audiences (marketing & publicity) and organising the distribution of film prints to the exhibitors Exhibition - The business of showing films in cinemas Festivals - Opportunities for films to be shown before general release to build anticipation and, in many cases, to secure distribution deals etc. Green light - Giving a film the go-ahead. A project is green-lit when it has been given the go ahead Hollywood A Hollywood film can be described as one made by any of the big six American studios. Horizontal Integration - Complementary businesses. In relation to film this means one large company owning several other companies in different media (E.g. owning a film production company and a magazine) Independent film A film that is made outside the Hollywood system Market (or audience) research used to measure audience attitudes and responses to trailers & promotion etc. Merchandising - Non-filmic goods which are released under the film's theme, such as toys, T-shirts and posters Multinational corporations or Conglomerates - As a result of mergers and takeovers media companies are increasingly coming together in conglomerates of media interests. A single multinational could have subsidiary companies:

making, financing and distributing films; reviewing films in newspapers, or on TV/radio stations; publishing films scripts and distributing film soundtracks screening films via cinema chains or satellite TV

Multiplexes - Multi-screen cinemas located on the edge of large cities or conurbations with easy road access. Oligopoly - The control of a market for a particular product by a small group of companies in which no one company is dominant. They may well, however, work together in a group to keep other companies out of the market. The Hollywood Big Six can be seen as an oligopoly. Opening weekend - The first weekend of a films release. The films performance in this first weekend will go a long way to determining whether it is a success. Package - When producers are trying to secure investment they will present a package which will include a script, possible stars, possible key crew (director etc). The more detailed and developed this is, the better chance the film has of securing investment. Planning/development There are significant periods of development before and after a film has been green-lit. Post-production - The main task is editing (the selection and shaping of shots, the arrangements of shots, scenes and sequences and special effects, the mixing of all sound tracks and the matching of the sound track to the images. Post production involves the hiring of editors, dubbing engineers, special effects engineers and graphic artists (to work on the titles and credits Pre-production - All the stages of planning, development and financial management before filming actually starts. Press kits Sent to journalists all over the country to give them information about forthcoming films. Prints - The reels of films (Or nowadays, digital hard-drives) delivered to cinemas that are projected on to screens Production - The actual shooting of a film Release patterns - films have different release patterns. A film might be given a general release right across the country or it might have a select release to a few cinemas in a few cities where the audience is felt to be right for this particular film. A saturation release would indicate that the effort has been to put the film out

immediately to as many cinemas as possible. Another option would be an art-house release. Rights - a producer will buy the rights in a book which s/he intends to adapt.(see option above). Rights also refers to the rights to broadcast the film on TV. Schedule - Timetable for the shooting of a film Synergy - involves a strategy of synchronising and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment. To make maximum impact, a film release can be synchronised with other media activities (releases of games, soundtracks etc). Obviously this sort of synchronicity is easier within a large media conglomerate which has interests in a range of different media.

Target audience - The intended audience for a film. Teaser trailer A shorter, sharper hint of what is to come (These play anything up to 6 months before release) Trailer - often play in cinemas around 6 weeks before the release of a film Treatment - a basic outline of a film idea including information concerning storylines, characters and locations. TV Spots - Advertising for films on TV (in commercial breaks) Unique selling point (USP) The feature that will make the film standout from other films. The USP will be emphasised in any publicity etc Vertical integration - When a company owns all stages of the production, distribution and sale or, in the case of cinema, exhibition of its product. Viral marketing - Spreading the word about a film through the internet (ie by sending links to friends, posting videos on your own page, facebook etc)