The
documentary Behind the Scenes has a main
focus of presenting the idea that the films we see today are slowly becoming
all about promoting products. Just a few huge corporations own all of the U.S.’s
film industry and use this to their advantage. What used to be a major way to
tell stories and bring people together is now becoming another venue for the
society of consumerism that we live in.1
Have you ever looked at a listing of
movies and wondered why you hadn’t heard of one or two on the list? This is
most likely because the movie was not produced by some of the major companies
in the big five or little three.2 These companies
use so many forms of advertisement in order to get their films to do well at the
box office, while independent films are not able to do so. Some of the films
that we see that are advertised well through the large corporations may do better
at the box office, but be horrible films. The films done by smaller companies
may be fantastic pieces of work, but because they are not advertised everywhere
and there are not products behind them they will not be known about. It is
almost impossible to make good films now because there is so much involved.
Once a company gets a story they have people figuring out where a product can
be put into the film.1 I have started
to notice this more and more in movies that I see today compared to those I
have seen in the past.
All of this has a lot to do with
something called “cross-promotion” which happens because huge corporations not
only own film companies, but also certain products.2 For example,
Coca-Cola and Columbia pictures are both in the same corporation. Cross-promotion
can happen by companies making books, soundtracks, toys, and other products
that are associated with the movie. There can be product placement in the
movie, like when the film E.T. used Reese’s Pieces.1 Also, the
product company can take clips of the film that their product is in and use
that as a commercial for their product. This creates an association between the
product and the film, which keeps both in people’s minds and is seen in this
advertisement show below. There is a chain of ways that a corporation will make
money off of films and it is by the box-office, selling DVD’s, going through
internet media like Netflix, selling the films to foreign countries, and
finally through merchandise and product placement. These are all things
companies plan for and specialize their films around. It is no longer about
culture and making a great film.1,2 A company even
said that they did not want a story for a film, no matter how great it is, that
they would have to put a lot of work into to make it a great film. They want
easy ideas that can be put together and altered in order to fit their plans and
also, promotions. They want films that can make a lot of money.1
I do not think that we are stuck in
this cycle because there are independent films that can still make it big. For
example, the film The Terminator became a very popular film and that was
done inexpensively and independently of large companies.2 There was not a
lot of advertisement for it like so many other popular films. There are ways to
get around the large corporations and we as a society should not let them
continue on the path of “hyper-commercialism”. Right now, not all films are
about products, but someday, if this path continues, they could be. The
documentary makes a point that the industry has taken over, but I do not think
that it has yet.1,2 Great movies
can still be made and film can be saved if people are willing to do something
about it.
Works Cited
1. Soar M, Ericsson S. Behind the Screens.;
2000. Available at:
http://www.mediaed.org/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?preadd=action&key=102. Accessed
May 30, 2013.
2. Campbell R, Martin
CR, Fabos B. Media & Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age.
9th ed. Boston, MA: Bedford/ St. Martin’s Available at:
https://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html. Accessed May 22, 2013.
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