The Film Industry (Black Panther & I, Daniel Blake)

Question 1

Summarise Curran & Seaton’s theory!

Answer 1

Power & media industries
A few large companies have ownership of the industry. These companies are driven by profit and power.

Question 2

Summarise David Hesmondhalgh’s theory!

Answer 2

Cultural industries
Maximising audience, minimising risk

Question 3

What are the 2 ways to maximise audiences??

Answer 3

• Vertical & Horizontal integration
• Formatting your product

Question 4

What are the 3 stages of vertical integration??

Answer 4

1. Production (make a profitable film)
2. Distribution (market & distribute)
3. Exhibition (cinema and streaming)

Question 5

What is horizontal integration and why is it done??

Answer 5

When a company buys other companies within the same cultural industry

Done to eliminate competition

Question 6

What are the 3 ways of formatting your product to maximise audiences??

Answer 6

• Stars
• Genres
• Serials

Question 7

What is the Regulation Theory and who came up with it??

Answer 7

Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
Needs of a citizen are in conflict with the needs of a consumer because protection can limit freedom

Question 8

Why was Black Panther originally going to be a 15??

Answer 8

The fight scene because of the intensity and the lack of comic violence (real weapons were used rather than fantasy ones).
It was released as 12A to maximise audiences.

Question 9

What are the 2 key points about the BBFC??

Answer 9

• Independent to remove bias
• Determines rules for pieces of media

Question 10

What is the main argument for the case study: Black Panther??

Answer 10

Often, the same thing that could be argued is risky due to how businesses understand audiences, could be considered safe due to desires within culture to represent groups

Question 11

What are the 8 main context point of Black Panther??

Answer 11

• Afrofuturism
• 18th marvel film
• Disney’s ownership
• Prior media exposure
• Budget of $200 million
• Sci-fi + superhero genres
• Blaxploitation
• The comics

Question 12

What is afrofuturism??

Answer 12

A cultural aesthetic mixing sci-fi, history & fantasy to explore African-American experience.

Question 13

What does afrofuturism aim to do??

Answer 13

Connect those from the black diaspora with their forgotten African ancestry

Question 14

Why is prior media exposure a context point for Black Panther??

Answer 14

Prior media exposure of Africa has shown the continent as all the same, not the individual places in it

Question 15

Why are the Black Panther comics relevant to the film’s making??

Answer 15

They existed 52 years before the film.
The film wasn’t made sooner despite the comics having a stable audience because marvel didn’t want politics involved in their entertainment.
Black politics in 1982 was symbolised by the Black Panthers but in 2018, it was shown by BLM

Question 16

What are the 3 historical context points in Black Panther??

Answer 16

• Afrofuturism
• Harlem Renaissance
• The Black Panthers

Question 17

What was the Harlem Renaissance??

Answer 17

1910 till mid 1930s
Allowed for the development of black art/culture

Question 18

What were The Black Panthers??

Answer 18

Black political group following the death of Malcolm X
Black Panther character was introduced a year after the Black panther movement began

Question 19

Which 3 theories mostly apply to the making of Black Panther??

Answer 19

• Cultivation Theory (Gerbner)
• Identity Theory (Gauntlett)
• End of Audience Theory (Shirky)

Question 20

How does The Cultivation Theory apply to Black Panther??

Answer 20

The representation of Africa as a whole continent rather than individual countries have been cultivated

Question 21

How does The End of Audience Theory apply to black culture??

Answer 21

Spike Lee started the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite after recognising that all Oscar nominees where white for the 2nd consecutive year

Question 22

What is the main indicator of risk in the film industry??

Answer 22

Budget

Question 23

What was Black Panther’s budget and how much did it end up earning??

Answer 23

$200 million but earnt over $1 billion since release

Question 24

How does Hesmondhalgh’s theory apply (or not apply) to IDB??

Answer 24

Lack of stars, profitable genres and series shows that its success is more about the conversation and keeping social realism.

Question 25

How does IDB support Curran and Seatons’s theory??

Answer 25

It has higher quality and is more creative because it isn’t mainstream

Question 26

How does Regulation apply to IDB??

Answer 26

it was rated a 15 because even though this reduces audiences, it allows the 3 impactful scenes to be included

Question 27

How was Shirky’s End of Audience theory used for IDB??

Answer 27

WeAreAllDanielBlake created on twitter so marketing by word of mouth was used

Question 28

What were the 5 companies involved in the production of IDB??

Answer 28

• Sixteen films
• Why Not Productions
• eOne
• BBC
• BFI

Question 29

Who is the director of IDB and what does he have?

Answer 29

Ken Loach
Star Power

Question 30

What equals success for IDB??

Answer 30

Creating conversation

Question 31

How was the Daily Mirror used for marketing IDB??

Answer 31

• Left wing newspaper
• Article ‘written’ by Daniel Blake
• 57% convinced to watch the film because of it

Question 32

What award did IDB receive??

Answer 32

The Palm D’Or (an award given at a film festival which also helped sell the quality) which is for more culturally significant/niche films

Question 33

What type of marketing did eOne use for IDB??

Answer 33

guerilla marketing (‘in the street’ marketing)

Question 34

What are the 2 things that supposedly make a film mainstream rather than independent??

Answer 34

• Large budget
• Conglomerate company