How Did the PRODUCTION and MARKETING / DISTRIBUTION of "Skyfall" and "The Woman in Black" Influence its Success at the Box Office?

During this essay, I will be discussing the methods in which British film is produced and distributed to targeted audiences. I will be using my case studies, which are Hammer Films and EON Productions. I have picked these due to the fact that Hammer Films isn't part of a media conglomerate, making them an independent company with a limited budget, whereas EON Productions belongs to SONY, which has many advantages that allow them to produce expensive films, and so is known as one of the largest media conglomerates.

EON Productions has produced their 23rd entry Skyfall belonging to the longest-running franchise in history; the Bond series. Due to the fact that EON Productions belong to SONY Corporation gave them a great advantage from the media conglomerate. One of the advantages was the large budget. The film's budget totalled up to an estimate of $200,000,000. With all the money in EON's hands, they were able to make Skyfall take second place in production budget amongst the Bond films. One ways which Skyfall is significant compared to the rest of Bond films was the staff using cameras that were specially made to produce footage that is capable of being shown in IMAX venues. With this feature, audiences were able to witness the film in excellent high definition. Of course, IMAX tickets expense is much higher than those of regular tickets, which meant a high increase in the US box office gross. This has allowed Skyfall to reach a massive estimate of $88,000,000 just from the opening weekend, summing up to $304,000,000 overall. According to worldwide figures, Skyfall reached over $1,108,000,000, making it top most earned film of the Bond series, furthermore highest-grossing film worldwide for its media conglomerate, SONY Corporation  This meant that the media conglomerate gained masses of power over the society in which it starves for multimedia technologies. With this in mind, SONY Pictures began marketing and distributing the film Skyfall well before the release date.

One way in which SONY Corporation managed to attract huge numbers of audiences to Skyfall was promoting the movie during the opening ceremony for the Olympics in London. His appearance alongside the Queen formed a hype amongst the billions of global viewers. This continued on via word of mouth, the most powerful tool of all. As the excitement was passed on person to person, VisitBritain partnered with British Airways, Radisson Blu hotels and Twentieth Century Fox on the Bond campaign. They launched their first international movie ad to encourage visitors from abroad to get the real experience of living like Bond. This pulled audiences from all over the world closer when encouraged by the fact that they can get the feel of the luxuries Bond gets, furthermore get closer to the movie's setting as it sets the mood in which Skyfall was focused in when at its best luxurious moments. However, the campaign was only set to reach 6 locations; Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil; Los Angeles; Berlin; and Sydney and Melbourne in Australia. But the limited locations are backed up by the synergy of multimedia such as print, outdoor, and digital ads that reach mass audiences.

SONY paired up with Clear Channel, who is the world's leading advertiser to outdoor advertisement. Because of SONY's power, they were able to afford the use of famous billboards that extend across Cromwell road in London, which are owned by Clear Channel. These billboards, are known to affect the box office greatly with the features of a film. SONY took this opportunity to promote Skyfall and increase the hype amongst the many audiences that pass through Cromwell road, which made Skyfall SONY's most grossed film of all time.

Skyfall

Production

Skyfall is the 23^rd entry belonging to the longest-running franchise in history; the Bond films. It has been brought up by EON Productions in 2012. SONY is behind the media conglomerate, which EON Productions participates in. According to IMDb, the budget’s expense was an estimate of $200,000,000, coming second in the ranks of production budget amongst the Bond films. Additionally, Skyfall has become the biggest UK opening of 2012, and the third biggest UK opening of all time. However, they haven’t managed to surpass Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which is still holding onto its smashing record. During their opening weekend, Skyfall grossed an estimate of $88,000,000, and around $304,000,000 overall. Both figures are recorded according to US box office. Looking at worldwide box office, the film has grossed over $1,108,000,000, making it top most earned film of the Bond series, furthermore highest-grossing film worldwide for its media conglomerate, SONY Pictures.

Although, many amongst the staff believed that it was a momentary setback when they continued with the pre-production of the film, but what EON had in mind was to ensure that the 23^rd film of the series would be released to the silver screen on Bond’s 50^th anniversary.

Distribution and Marketing 

Skyfall was premiered in London at the Royal Albert Hall on 23^rd of October 2012. Charles, Prince of Wales and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, attended the event. Three days later, the film was released in UK, and 9^th of November in US.

Skyfall was the first film of the series to be filmed via specifically adapted cameras to screen the movie in IMAX venues. It has been stated to be second best to IMAX debut behind The Dark Knight Rises. The film’s release overlapped with the 50^th anniversary of the series, which began with Dr. No back in 1962. 

The DVD and Blu-Ray release was set on 18^th of February 2013 in UK, and 12^th of March in 2013 for North America by 20^th Century For Home Entertainment.

The theme song for Skyfall, performed by Adele, has earned an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 85^th Academy Awards, dating back to February 24, 2013. It has been noticed as the first Bond theme song to ever achieve that accomplishment.

Selling product placement spots such as a deal with Virgin Atlantic, or products like Coke, SONY, Heineken, BMW, Omega watches and many others raised £29,000,000, almost a third of the film’s budget. Additionally, Skyfall notably features a return of the Aston Martin DB5.

Because of synergy, Skyfall was marketed throughout multimedia. Various billboards were advertising Skyfall in tube stations and buses around the centre of London.  The key point was to place many posters in places with most population so that audiences of various ages could see, which would hopefully attract potentially as much attention for the new Bond film.

Clear Channel is a world’s leading advertiser to outdoor advertisement. SONY paired with Clear Company due to the fact that they own famous billboards that extend across Cromwell road in London. These billboards are known to affect the box office dramatically with the features of a film. SONY saw the opportunity and took it, making Skyfall their most grossed film of all time.

Skyfall also advertised via viral campaign. This was one of the best ways to advertise and please the Teen Internet, where the use by teenagers is extremely high. 63% of teens use Internet everyday to go online, making the 27% of teens using their phone to gain access to the Internet. By releasing a campaign online would be attracting a huge target audience of the younger generation. Things like setting up fan pages on Facebook and creating a twitter account for the new film allowed teens to catch up on the updated news with picture and video content. This was formed before the release of the film, so that users who followed by choice created hype about the film as its countdown to release date was updated by the official Skyfall accounts.

Posters weren’t just spread across the nation, but also on the web. Banners were placed on popular social networking sites such as Facebook, which, when clicked, located the user to the film’s official website that is powered by SONY. The official Skyfall website would offer information like what cinemas will be showing the film, what times and ways to book the tickets, information about the premiere, news and screen caps of the film along with the official trailer.

Children are also part of Bond’s audiences, but neither advertisements as mentioned previously appeal to them as much as merchandising via toys. Many will buy posters to decorate their bedroom walls at home as it is a common method amongst this type of audience to express their dedication as a James Bond fan. For those who crave video games, there has been created a game based on Skyfall that expands on different platforms for younger boys to play. It lets them get to know the film series better and get a greater connection with the story lines, but above all, they get to become Bond themselves in a fantasy world inside the game.

How Has Social Media Changed the Way We Experience Live Events?

The 65th Emmy awards took place in Los Angeles. The 3 hour show aired on TV as well as the additional 1 hour dedicated to the red carpet coverage before the show. For the millions of audience, it wasn't enough, so for any additional sneak peaks and backstage secrets could be accessed via Twitter, Instagram and many other social medias.

Carrie Underwood's performance gained 17,090 tweets per minute alone. Furthermore, Instagram set up a booth for Emmy winners to give their thanks to anyone they forgot to mention in their speeches. 65 years ago, none of this could have been done due to lack of connection between the viewers and the actors and actresses. Where audiences enjoyed the experience via the TV screen has now expanded to a fully interactive space where individuals can share the experience with family, friends and those they have contact with over the Internet (including actors and actresses) regarding their physical distance. Nowadays, people can peer into the makeup regimens of stars before the show, moreover, send them a shout congratulating them via their favourite online social channel.

Social media has managed to destroy the barrier between us and those holding fame, and has changed the ways we watch live television today, making it a more immersive experience. But for how much longer will we continue to enjoy the live events with a TV remote and a smartphone in our hands? 

EON Productions and Hammer Films

EON (Everything Or Nothing) Productions is a film production company founded in 1961, locating in London. The productions are famously known for their series of Bond films, which first made it to the screens in 1962 going by the title of Dr. No. The responsibility of the copyright and trademarks to the Bond elements, such as characters, is held by a subsidiary Danjaq LLC(stated as a holding company).

Hammer Films was founded in 1934, when they made a launch of their first production called The Public Life of Henry The Ninth. Like EON, Hammer Films is also located in UK, but their genre differ completely. Hammer Films are globally known for their successful gothic films produced in the mid 1950s until the 1970s. They later on began to vary their production to science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies, and in later years they reached the extent of television series. Afterwards, Hammer Films dominated horror films, distributing worldwide and undergoing financial success. Part of this was due to distribution partnerships with the US major studios, like the Warner Bros.