Hello Dear Reader, Thank you visiting my blog! As a starter for this part of the website I would like to take a chance to present here my thesis. This work is a fruit of master studies related to marketing and public relations combined with passion for cinematography, which created a synthesis of knowledge gained while working on film sets as well as research and analysis of marketing methods of selected films in Poland and on the international market.
As I am quite happy with the outcome of my work and the paper was reviewed as innovational in terms of the analysed examples ('Deadpool' and 'Loving Vincent' from international market and 'Pitbull: Dangerous Women' and "A Hole in the Head' from Polish market will be presented here), it would be a shame to keep it in the proverbial drawer and I do hope it might be of use to somebody :)
'Comparative analysis of communication strategies for artistic and commercial cinema' is a master thesis written under the supervision of prof. dr hab. Arkadiusz Lewicki at the University of Wroclaw in the Institute of Journalism and Social Communication at Communication Management programme.
And without further ado, may the words of the thesis speak for themselves. Get yourself a nice cup of warm beverage, kick back and enjoy!
INTRODUCTION
The main purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyse communication strategies for artistic and commercial cinema based on examples from contemporary cinematography. To support the analysis, differentiation and parallel comparison is conducted based on theories of cinema, communication, marketing and film production. This work does not contain the traditional in film studies concentration on the textual aspects of cinema, as it often results in an artificial dissemination of the subject of the analysis from its cultural, economic and political context and omitting issues of distribution, presentation and reception of the film. This work has a comparative characteristic: it shows two frameworks and two approaches to cinema, both in practise and in the cinema study. Two different methods (however with multi instruments) of communication for a movie picture, two possible ways for the filmmakers, film marketers and audience to approach the film product (or work of art). However commercial and artistic has a lot of differences, non would exist without the other and since the birth of the cinema those aspects had transcended each other and remain correlated and somewhat coherent.
In order to present the dichotomy of cinema and when and how the differentiation appeared and how it had taken its actual shape which resides in the consciousness of mass and cine sophisticated audiences (as well as its creators and critiques), some of the cinematography history is included in this thesis. Part one is conducted based on analysis of cinema history with the consideration of different institutional frameworks for artistic and commercial cinema as described by Marcin Adamczak in his work “Global Hollywood”, where among other film experts he adapts David Bordwells and Toby Millers theories of film studies. Followed by identification of cinema as a form of social communication, as proposed by Anna Misiak in “Cinematographer controlled”, where she adapts concepts after Garth Jowett and James M. Linton from “Movies as Mass Communication”, with the consideration of their model of cinema as communication process. Those findings show that the history of the cinema and modern film market consists of intertwined threats of economy, politics, identity, art and entertainment creating a complex plot, where in the centre can be found different types of viewers, with different expectations from the cinema. From the perspective of cinema creators, artistic (European) and commercial (Hollywood) models of cinematographies appear to some extend as “rivalling civilisations”. During research for this thesis I have found the definition of commercial and artistic to be not only ambiguous, but also multi-faced, however in many aspects complementary to each other. They are used as a form of contractual terms which define ideal or archetypal types of cinema. The division into artistic and commercial cinema constitutes itself on level of the discourses and institutional frameworks, which maintain opposing models of understanding, practicing and the reception of cinema.
This division started forming on very early stages of cinema development. Also very early filmmakers and film marketers understood that the success of a film is dependent on accurate identification of the target group for a specific movie. When we look at marketing and communication methods for cinema, especially when independent, arthouse production and a commercial blockbuster are compared, the biggest difference in their approach and strategy will be how their target group is specified and what type of communication will suit it.
The definition of the concept of strategy used in the work is adapted from Adamczak as a “thoughtful and planned action, taking into account the environment of the operating entity or characteristics and possible move of the opponent, based on the calculation of forces and means and is associated with the desire to achieve a specific goal.”
Topic of this thesis are full length feature movies. As shorts and film school etudes have different characteristics and specifics, they do not qualify as movies of which advertising and marketing campaigns may have had a visible place in social space.
The film industry and film production is a business far more riskier than production of any other goods. To evidence the scale of the film enterprise and specifics of a movie product, part two of these thesis discusses process of film production. The film industry supply chain (phases of film production), and roles of main film crew members are described. This part of the thesis is carried out based on “Film Art Introduction” by David Bordwell and supported by a quite different approach to the topic as presented in “Organization of the production of feature film in Poland” by Michał J. Zabłocki, which serves as a handbook for production students in Poland and presents European film production model with its high regard for the traditional, artistic model of production. Theories are backed up with some of my experience from movie sets, concerning principal photography and other phases of film production such as development, postproduction and marketing of a film product.
Part three concerning film marketing with models and creative strategies of film promotion is conducted based on “Film Marking” by Finola Kerring, whose work is a synthesis of issues regarding film production and film marketing, with high regard of the receivers practices. This is extended with the concepts presented in article “Forms of film promotion – conditions and direction of development” by Magdalena Sobocińska, which is a part of the bulk edition “Around the issues of film distribution”, a work which presents some of newest approaches to the topic of film distribution and film studies, which concern issues outside the textual sphere of film. Some of the most insightful approach to the topic presented Marcin Adamczak in “Global Hollywood”, where he conducted comparative analysis of European (artistic) and Hollywood (commercial) models of film production with the wide description of risk minimisation strategies. Those works are complementary and coherent to each other, and their synthesis gave fundaments to conduct the comparative analysis of communication strategies for specific movie titles from commercial and artistic cinema.
All the divisions and classifications are used in this work as a tool for the analysis and comparative description of cinema. In part four the comparative description of four movies is conducted. Two films from international market and two domestic productions, examples from artistic and commercial cinema circuit are presented to evidence how the theory has a reflection in practice. From international market, taken under analysis is communication strategy of a Hollywood hit blockbuster “Deadpool” (2016) with the consideration of the films dissidence from the classical model of blockbuster strategy. The film and its communication strategy is an evidence to change in the modern receivers practices and their expectations. Other example from international market is “Loving Vincent” (2017), highly (and surprisingly, because of its thoroughly artistic character) successful artistic movie of a Polish-British co-production, with very consciously developed and wisely implemented communication strategy. This is an example of artistic movie which thanks to good and accurate marketing strategy was successful both in terms of artistic institutional circuit (festivals and reception) as well as in terms of box office revenues. From the domestic, Polish film market a one of the recent and most vivid examples of a very commercially successful movie is presented: “Pitbull: Dangerous Women” (2016), which shows the features of an European blockbuster. The director’s career in this example is a form of transformation from independent cinema into commercial triumph. Last, but not least an exemplary European artistic cinema is presented. “A Hole in the Head” (to be released) is as an ideal example of arthouse, independent film inscribed in the classic institutional framework of artistic cinema, which uses the forms of communication traditional for this model.
To sum up it is worth nothing that this thesis is not dealing with the myths of good and pure art or bad, mind consuming commercialism. For the purpose of this work, comparison is held based on diversification of marketing and communication methods for different types of movies, which have diverse budgets as well as diverse target groups. Of course commercial movie can have artistic value and artistic film can be commercially successful. This thesis tries to evidence how the communication differs for different types of cinema and shows a set of actions taken by the producers, filmmakers and film marketers in order to reach their target audiences, both for the commercial and for the artistic cinema.
tbc
El.
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