Media Production is dominated by global institutions - Mini Essay

Media Production is dominated by global institutions which sell their products and services to national audiences. To what extent do you agree with this statement?

The media have been producing content for years, with the aim of attracting an audience. Whether this was content published on T.V, radio, etc, audiences were attracted to the content from their source of choice to learn about the breaking news. Not only did the media become a trusted source for news, they also became a trusted outlet for people to learn about products. It made sense for the media to be able to introduce new products and market them, as it enabled them to reach a wider audience.

Media conglomerates are the main reason as to why the film industry is so successful, as the large media institutions own a large number of companies in various mass media (e.g. T.V, radio, magazines), which are diversified to reach a wide audience. Time Warner is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, and it consists of four different divisions; one being Warner Bros which is a very successful American producer of film (and also T.V and music). In 2012, the Warner Bros. Pictures group grossed 4.3 billion dollars at the worldwide box office. Each year, Warner Bros Pictures produces between 18 and 22 films. One of these films include Gravity, which had a budget of $100 million dollars, and grossed over $600 million at the box office. The film was released in 3D and IMAX 3D because of a visual effects company in London named Framestore. The producers thought that 3D would make the film much more intense and a better cinema experience for the audiences. The film was talked about a lot all over the internet (including social networking sites), which is why the film had such a positive outcome. A lot of people were generally pleased and gave positive reviews about the film, which for the major Hollywood film studios was a huge hit. They made a bigger profit than the money they started off with, which shows that media production is very powerful and can sell their products to a wide audience just by sending the message out to all their media sources which spreads the word around.

Independent film companies tend to struggle a lot more than the media conglomerates due to the amount of money they start off with to make the film. This is a big issue for them as they aren't always able to make films like most of the ones in mainstream Hollywood companies because of their lack of money, but it doesn't mean that their ideas aren't as good or even better. Vertigo films is just one example of a British film production and film distribution company which have struggled over the years to try to make a big profit from the films they make. However, 'Monsters' was a very successful film as it had a budget of only $500,000 and grossed just over $4 million. The film was devised, story boarded and directed by Gareth Edwards and he also did the visual effects. The film was made on such a low budget because of the use of digital cinematography, which is cheaper than 35mm film. Monsters wasn't talked about a lot on social media because independent films aren't usually marketed a lot, except for viral videos on websites like youtube which anyone can come across - and if it had a bit more awareness and marketing, the film could have been an even bigger hit. Even though the film wasn't made using really professional visual effects artists or a director which is famous and highly paid, the film was a big accomplishment because of its uniqueness and non-dependency on conglomerate companies.

Overall, I think that media production is dominated by global institutions because of the importance of media convergence which allows these media companies to have enormous impacts on their films because of them being able to market to a wide range of platforms and users. Without any sort of marketing, it makes it harder for film companies to make their films recognizable, which can lead to the downfall of their success. If the audience doesn't know about their film, or only has little information about it, they will not be interested in the film which will then lead them to reach out for the mainstream films which are easily accessible. Even if the film is very unique and original, without advertising it, the companies work will not be rewarded and so conglomerates will be at the peak of all media institutions because they already have the money to advertise and promote their product through any media source possible.