Preparing for Section A

Section A: Producers and Audiences

Revising for Section A - the below lists all of the topic areas which could appear in the Section A stimulus question.  It is your responsibility to keep up-to-date and maintain your scrap book, with articles and information which you can draw upon in this section.  Ideas for the scrap book could include: film reviews, film posters (which you have analysed), information on stars or marketing material.  In addition, please use the text book to make your own revision notes on these areas.

(1) The Film Industry

• The American film industry - specifically contemporary Hollywood, including its impact on UK audiences;

• The British film industry - specifically the contemporary industry, including issues of independence, distinctiveness and profitability. Aspects of finance, organisation, production, distribution (including marketing) and exhibition will be studied, particularly through case studies.

(2) The Film Audience

The Film Audience requires a focus on:

• Film demand and supply, specifically in the UK today

• The consumption of film, including cinema-going and the importance of home cinema and the internet, together with the significance of digital technologies in delivering different kinds of film experience.

• A study of the importance of genre and stars, both for producers and for audiences will provide a useful bridge between this section and sections B and C.

(3) The Interrelationship between Producers and Audiences: case studies

Case studies should be selected to explore the interrelationship between producers and audiences.  The significance of the convergence of different media (mobile phone, internet, games console, etc.) in changing the nature of the producer – audience relationship could also be explored. Contemporary case studies may cover the following areas:

• Hollywood film producers and the institutional frameworks within which they operate (for example as part of large conglomerate business corporations).

• UK film producers and the institutional frameworks within which they operate (for example in relation to support from the British Film Institute and through co-production deals).

• The importance of genre and stars for US/UK producers and for audiences

• Film marketing (including specific marketing materials such as posters, dvd covers and 'official' internet sites)

• Film reviews – both those produced by critics for circulation in other media and those produced by fans

• Film exhibition, including multiplexes and independent cinemas, as well as other types of venue, and online exhibition, including consideration of different kinds of film viewing experience

• The availability of independent low budget films, and foreign language films in the UK, including Bollywood films

• The social practice of participation in contemporary 'film culture' which includes cinema-going, online viewing, and home cinema – as well as ways in which the film experience is amplified through media convergence.

• Star images – both those put into circulation by the industry