Film Industry assessment LR

Film Industry assessment learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: There is clearly some knowledge of the topic and CSP here but also some important lessons is exam technique.

EBI: Questions focus is the key for Question 2 & 3. Revise film regulation a little. Revise Hesmondhalgh as a theory.

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Write down the number of marks you achieved for the three questions: 2/3; 3/6; 4/9. If you didn't achieve full marks in a question, write a bullet point on what you may have missed.

• Question 1-- Film is regulated to protect young people from content that may be considered harmful such as violence, sex/nudity, bad language and matters of taste/decency.
• Question 2-- Traditional marketing: film poster, trailer, review quotes etc. Social media: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube etc. Music / existing fans of Bruce Springsteen. Director power of Gurinder Chadha and linking to success of Bend It Like Beckham. Promotion of Blinded By The Light at Sundance Film Festival created a buzz by building and sharing critical acclaim from reviews, industry figures etc. Premieres and director/star interviews generate media coverage from newspapers, magazines and online publications that generate interest and awareness of the film’s release. Link to Springsteen’s music may attract fans of his music – he has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.
• Question 3-- Unfortunately, despite good reviews and positive word-of-mouth from audiences and online (rated 89% on Rotten Tomatoes) it only pulled in $18m at the box office, barely covering the production budget and nowhere near covering marketing costs. Some industry figures suggested the film was released too closely to Yesterday – another British comedy featuring popular music that was far more successful at the box office. New technology is opening new ways to distribute films and Blinded By The Light now has an extended slot on Amazon Prime which will bring in some of the money it has lost. However, it remains the perfect example of why the cultural industries are a “risky business” as Hesmondhalgh says.

3) For Question 2 on the promotion of Blinded By The Light, use the mark scheme to identify at least one strategy used to promote the film that you didn't mention in your answer and why it was used. The key lesson from this question was to make specific reference to the CSP in your answer and ensure each explanation was different.

• Film festival circuit – particularly the Sundance Film Festival where it was bought by New Line Cinema. Promotion of Blinded By The Light at Sundance Film Festival created a buzz by building and sharing critical acclaim from reviews, industry figures etc.
• Premieres - London, Luton and Asbury Park, New Jersey (attended by Bruce Springsteen). Link to Springsteen’s music may attract fans of his music – he has sold more than 150 million albums worldwide.
• Interviews with writer, director and stars across TV, radio, newspapers and magazines (e.g. BBC1 The One Show). Premieres and director/star interviews generate media coverage from newspapers, magazines and online publications that generate interest and awareness of the film’s release. 

4) Now look at Question 3 - focusing on Hesmondhalgh's point that making media products is a 'risky business'. Write three bullet points from the mark scheme that you could have added to your answer. Try and include a specific reference to the CSP where you can and ensure you understand the key contexts to Hesmondhalgh's quote. Additional reference to Hesmondhalgh's ideas would help here too - you may want to look back at our work on Hesmondhalgh and the Cultural Industries.

• Blinded By The Light cost $15m to make – money raised between Bend It Films (huge success with Bend It Like Beckham), Levantine Films (huge success with Hidden Figures) and Ingenious Media investment company.

• Blinded By The Light generated great excitement at the Sundance Film Festival which resulted in an all-night auction that saw New Line Cinema pay $15m to distribute the film.

• Blinded By The Light then received a huge, global marketing campaign to try and turn the film into the next Bend It Like Beckham global hit. This could easily have cost more than the $15m production budget.