This document provides information about the Year 11 Media Studies exam on science fiction film. The exam is 1.5 hours long and consists of 4 questions worth equal marks. It makes up 40% of the student's final grade. The questions will be based on a brief given 4 weeks in advance and will assess knowledge of key concepts like media language, audience, representation, and institutions. The document then provides information and exercises on various aspects of media language as it relates to science fiction film, including conventions, mise-en-scene, narrative theory, genres, and reflection theory. It also covers audience profiles, appeal using uses and gratifications theory, subcultures, and imagined communities.

1. Science Fiction Film
Year 11 Media Studies: boldly go…

2. The Exam
• Assesses your knowledge of all of the key
concepts - media language, audience,
representation and institutions.
• 1.5 hours
• 4 questions, equal marks
• 40% of final grade
• Based on a brief which will be given to you 4
weeks in advance
• Essay questions - require knowledge of theory and
case studies
• Design questions - require knowledge of
conventions and creativity
• Needs to be PREPARED and CHECKED IN
ADVANCE!

3. MEDIA LANGUAGE
• Conventions
• Mise-en-scene
• Narrative
• Genre
• Exam Practice

4. MEDIA LANGUAGE:
Conventions
A convention is a key
ingredient in a specific genre
of media text. They are the
things that we expect to see
in particular types of films.
Make a list of any
conventions you associate
with the Science Fiction
genre. Remember, it is a
complex genre as it is very
wide-ranging.

5. MEDIA LANGUAGE:
Conventions
We are going to watch the
trailer for three very different
Science Fiction films. Whilst
watching, see if you can add
to your lists.
The trailers are:
The Hunger Games:
Mockingjay Part Two
WALL-E
Star Trek: Into Darkness

6. MEDIA Language: miSE-en-
scene
• Buscombe’s theory: A genre is
defined by its use of iconography. If
we change the icons, we change the
genre. (Reminder; an icon is a visual
symbol.) We find these icons in four
places.
• Location (Place, primarily, but also
time)
• Character appearance (including
clothing)
• Tools used (guns, vehicles and so
on)
• Miscellaneous (anything else!)

7. MEDIA Language: miSE-en-
scene
• Apply Buscombe’s theory to these four posters. As well as Buscombe,
also consider graphology, palette and layout and design. Make a list of
the conventions of sci-fi mise-en-scene.

8. media language: narrative
theory
• SOME IDEAS TO HELP DISCUSSIONS
• Barthes’ Enigma Code - successful narratives
depend upon the construction of a series of
mysteries.
• Levi-Strauss’ Binary Opposition - successful
narratives depend upon the construction of
oppositions or conflicts
• Todorov’s theory - most narratives have a
three-part structure; equilibrium,
disequilibrium, new equilibrium
• Propp’s Theory - Fairy tales have seven
character types (hero, villain, donor, helper,
princess, false hero, dispatcher.)

9. media language: narrative
theory
• Watch the trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
• In groups, consider these questions and be ready to feed
back to the class:
• Does there appear to be a three part narrative here? How
much of the plot can you figure out from the trailer? Which
aspects of the plot are being emphasised?
• How many instances of binary opposition (conflict) can you
find? Think of opposition between people and ideas.
• How many different enigmas are being offered? Are any of
them answered in the trailer?
• Are Proppsian character archetypes evident here? Is there
a clear villain, hero, helper and so on? Are any of the
Proppsian archetypes no longer relevant (e.g. the
Princess?) Does sci-fi have its own conventional character
types (e.g., the mad professor, the kindly alien, the hot-
headed young soldier…)

10. media language: narrative -
characterisation
Luke Skywalker Darth Vader Princess Leia
Han Solo Obi Wan KenobiYoda
Which character function? How do you know?
(from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope (1977)

11. media language: narrative -
themes
• As with any genre, certain themes repeat in
sci-fi.
• Good versus Evil
• Freedom versus oppression
• Reality vs illusion
• Oppressive societies
• Rebellion and conflict
• Watch the trailer for The Matrix
(Wachowskis, 1999): are any of these
conventional themes evident?

12. media language: narrative -
Reflection theory
• Reflection theory suggests that the
themes and representations in film (or
any cultural form) mirror those which
are dominant at the time and place of
making.
• Sci-fi themes are often thought to have
changed to reflect what people are
concerned about at any give time.

13. media language: narrative -
Reflection theory
Period of time
Global issues and
concerns
Film that reflects
1950s
Fears of nuclear war, communism and
views on the cold war.
Godzilla
The film focuses on a prehistoric monster
resurrected by repeated nuclear tests in the
Pacific
1960s
Fears about automation replacing workers
and the dehumanization of society
through science and technology.
2001: A Space Odyssey
A computer named HAL 9000 controls a space
shuttle and later harms its crew
1970s
Fears about the lack of morals existing in
society, especially amongst young people.
A Clockwork Orange
Horrific portrayal of a youth gang engaged in
rape and murder
1980s
Fears about the future being dark, dirty,
dangerous and chaotic.
Blade Runner
Set in Los Angeles in 2019, there are
genetically engineered replicants, which
are visually indistinguishable from adult
humans
Early 2000s
Following the events September 11th,
2001, people were afraid of police
powers, privacy and civil liberties.
Minority Report
A PreCrime police unit arrests people before they
commit crimes based on knowledge provided by
three psychics.
Mid 2000s Fear of issues surrounding cloning.
The Island
Focuses on a compound of inhabitants who are
used for organ harvesting and surrogate
motherhood because they are not ‘human’
Mid 2010s
Fears of environmental disaster,
immigration and overpopulation.
Elysium
Takes place on a struggling Earth with most
citizens living in poverty and in a luxurious space
habitat where the rich and powerful live.

14. media language: genre
• A descriptive approach to genre
simply lists all the conventions which
define that genre - icons, plots,
character types, themes, ideologies,
locations, characteristic
cinematographic or editing or sound
design styles, and you should now be
able to do all this.
• Some movie genres go out of fashion.
Musicals and westerns, for example,
are pretty much obsolete now.
• Some, like sci-fi, are eternally popular.
• This is possibly because the themes
and representations in them keep
changing and thus keep appealing to
new audiences.

15. media language: genre
• HYBRIDITY is an important part of current thinking about
sci-fi film.
• Traditionally, the studios stayed with the genres they knew -
they would use the same sets, actors, directors and plots
over and over because they were pretty sure audiences
(mostly made up of mainstreamers) would keep buying the
same thing over and over.
• As audiences became more sophisticated and choosy, such
films became less popular. As such, it is now common to
blend genres in order to maximise audience appeal. (It’s not
a new idea. Gene Roddenberry, the creator of Star Trek,
saw it as a Western set in space.)
• In groups, watch one of the following trailers. Make notes on
which genres are being blended and which conventions of
those genres are being used. Be ready to feed back to the
class.
• Alien (1979)
• Blade Runner (1982)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Mars Attacks (1996)

16. media language: genre
• We can also divide the PARENT genre - sci-fi - into SUBGENRES. Each of these
have their own particular conventions, representations, ideologies and audiences.
Subgenre Premise Example
Alternate History What if history had developed differently? Stargate
Apocalyptic
Humans struggle for survival after devastation of
Earth
Mad Max
Artificial Intelligence Machines become more intelligent than humans AI, Ex Machina, Space Odyssey
Cybernetic Revolt Robots turn on the humans who invented them Blade Runner, Terminator, I Robot
Cyberpunk
Urban noir, set in a near future where survival
depends on ability to manipulate technology
The Matrix
Dystopian A view of the future as worse than the present
The Hunger Games, Divergent, Wall-
E
Alien Invasion Humanity must defend Earth against invaders Independence Day
First Encounters
Narratives based upon aliens meeting humanity
for the first time
ET, Star Trek (First Contact)
Horror sci-fi Scary aliens chasing humans Alien, the Blob, The Thing
Space Opera
Huge narratives, multiple locations, often many
sequels
Star Wars
Superhero movies Superpowers, supervillains, super-franchised
Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy,
X-Men
Environmental sci-fi
Narratives about the impending collapse of the
ecosystem
Wall-E, Sunshine

17. AUDIENCE
• Audience Profiles
• Audience Appeal
• Subcultures and Imagined
Communities (A* extra!)
• Exam Practice

18. audience: profiles
• We use several parameters to
define audiences; age and
gender, most basically, but also
social position or income
(demographics) and
psychological make-up
(psychographics.) Race,
location, interests and sexuality
can also be used to define
audiences.
• To remind yourself about these
things, go here.

19. audience: profiles
• Sci-fi is an expensive genre (of the top
ten most expensive movies ever made,
all are sci-fi or fantasy.) This means
that the studios target vast, wide
ranging audiences and it becomes bit
artificial to say that certain movies are
aimed at certain audiences. These big,
mainstream movies are aimed at both
genders, most ages, all income levels
and the mainstreamer psychographic
group. They are generally very
conventional and ‘safe’ - they need to
be, to ensure a sufficient audience to
make back that massive budget.
• It has been said, though, that the
dominant audience is males aged 17-
29.

20. audience: profiles
• Some films do have obvious
audiences, though. In general, there
is more of an effort to target a young,
female audience (in keeping with
reflection theory, which suggests that
women are increasingly less likely to
accept media in which they are not
positively represented.)
• The Hunger Games is an obvious
example - female protagonist,
themes about empowerment, no
sexualisation or male gaze and so
on. Can you think of similar films
designed at least in part to appeal to
a postfeminist audience?

21. audience: appeal
• You know some different theories about audience appeal
• Hypodermic Needle Theory: the text communicates in a
direct, denotive way with the audience, with no room for
connotation or alternative interpretation.
• Two-step flow: the text deliberately targets opinion
leaders who then influence opinion followers.
• Uses and Gratifications: texts offer pleasure in four areas
- diversion, personal identity, personal relationships,
surveillance.
• Reception theory - Audiences are made up of individuals.
Producers should try to make the text adaptable for the
audience so they can make it different of themselves and
adapt it to their own needs.
• When discussing sci-fi film, by far the most useful is Uses
and Gratifications.
• The others will be useful when discussing the marketing
of the films.

22. audience: appeal - Uses and
Gratifications
• Watch the trailer for Sunshine (2007)
• Diversion - Enigma and opposition make it
interesting. Editing, sound and cinematography
make it exciting. Characterisation makes it
engrossing. Suggestion of conventional three part
narrative and familiar iconography/ media language
makes it recognisable and easy to accept.
• Personal identity - Emphasises the environmental
theme. Might be an effort to make the audience feel
like they are intelligent, engaged with global affairs.
Appeal to ‘reformer’ psychographic group?
• Personal relationships - Emphasises the previous
films made by the director. Perhaps an effort to
suggest that everyone watches his films, so you
should too.
• Surveillance - Emphasis on a global issue of
immediate concern.

23. audience: appeal - Uses and
Gratifications
• Watch the trailer for District 9
• In terms of media language, how does
it adhere to or diverge from the
conventions? Think about
iconography, palette, editing and
cinematography, genre and narrative
(characters, plot, narrative structure.)
• In terms of audience, to whom does it
appeal and how?

24. A* EXTRAS!
audience: cultural capital
• Pierre Bourdieu, writing in
1977, formulated the idea of
Cultural Capital. He said that
people consume or adopt
certain elements of culture
because they are associated
with affluent or successful
social groups. Likewise, they
avoid those elements of
culture which are associated
with the ‘lower’ classes.

25. A* EXTRAS!
audience: cultural capital
‘Highbrow’ ‘Middlebrow' ‘Lowbrow'
Shakespeare Film Computer Games
Croquet Golf Football
Foreign/ old cinema
Sundance-nominated
films
Blockbusters
Traditional professions Middle management
Labouring/ service
work
Ballet
Popular theatre/
musicals
Pantomime
Tarkovsky’s ‘Stalker’
Kubrick’s ‘Space
Odyssey’
Lucas’s ‘Star Wars’
Classical music Jazz Pop music
So, Bourdieu argues that people ‘buy’ certain types of social approval or
respect by associating themselves with certain cultural forms or artefacts.
This is not necessarily deliberate or conscious. Some sci-fi films are
marketed as being more ’intelligent’ than others - those which deal with
serious issues, for example, as opposed to those which are primarily
action-based. We can see how cultural capital is being offered as bait; it is
a marketing technique designed to hook an audience who value social
approval or respect - an audience of succeeders or aspirers, perhaps.

26. A* EXTRAS!
audience: subcultures
• Sarah Thornton, writing in 1995,
applied Bourdieu’s ideas to popular
culture - specifically, clubbing or
rave subcultures.
• A subculture is a smaller group,
defined by a shared interest or
lifestyle, which often identifies itself
by its opposition to the dominant
cultural ideologies or forms. That is,
they often identify as rebels. Youth
culture is often subcultural -
examples of subcultural groups
might be gamers, emos, computer
geeks, drug users and so on.

27. A* EXTRAS!
audience: subcultures
• Thornton found that subcultural capital worked in the
same way as cultural capital; people are very aware of their
own position in the subcultural group and seek out ways to
enhance their own standing.
• People who produce films know this. Certain films provoke
very powerful opinions and attract very committed fans
(who might become experts or aficionados.)
• The most obvious examples are probably Star Wars and
The Matrix. If you look at various forums for these films,
you will find a degree of competition amongst people who
want to be seen as the most knowledgeable, the first to
receive new information, the first to see new films or collect
new merchandise or whatever.
• Those who make and market films see these aficionados
as a valuable group of opinion leaders and a reliable
market in their own right. Websites, promotional materials,
franchise extensions and expos are often planned with
these people in mind. Marketers will very often try to give
some subcultural ‘cool’ to their products.

28. A* EXTRAS!
audience:
Imagined communities
• Benedict Anderson, writing in 1983, thought that
people were identifying with communities which
were ‘imaginary’- that is, consisting of people who
often don’t actually know each other. Anderson
offered sports fans as an example - they are a
‘community’ only through their support of a team.
• Obviously, since digitisation has reshaped our
world, these imagined communities are much more
evident. Facebook depends on people valuing a
community which does not actually exist in the ‘real’
world.
• Sci-fi official and fan sites are an extremely
important part of any marketing campaign; the
discussions and ideas shared on these sites keep
interest in the franchises alive. Producers very much
strive to create these imagined communities.

29. A* EXTRAS!
audience:
So what?
• Let’s say you have a question like this:
• Design a website to promote a sci-fi film aimed at a young audience of
both genders.
• Everyone will design a website. Hopefully, they will all follow the codes
and conventions of website design. This basic understanding will get you
up to about a ‘C’ grade.
• Good students will think in terms of uses and gratifications and try to offer
a blend of all four gratifications. They will also include things which are
explicitly designed to attract both males and females. They will think of
different audiences and use the themes, the stars, the style, the genre -
anything! - of the film to attract groups of people who will respond to that
particular thing. This is starting to look like an ‘A grade.
• An A* student will do all of that and be able to incorporate ideas about
imagined communities and subcultural capital; they will suggest that the
film is anti-authoritarian, or rebellious, and that there is a community of
like-minded people who associate themselves with it. Various Matrix sites,
for example, strive to create a sense of secretive, subcultural hacker cool
that only certain people can access or understand. The site itself might
only be accessible to certain people (people who pre-order tickets to see
the film, for example) or it might offer the kind of additional materials only
aficionados would be interested in - interviews with crew, for example, or
detailed histories of the characters.

30. REPRESENTATION
• Gender
• Nationality
• The Future
• A* Extra - Gramsci and Ideologies
• Exam Practice
• As with any genre, representations in sci-fi
need to reflect contemporary thinking.
• It has often been said, though, that the world
of sci-fi is very male and very white.
• The films have traditionally reflected this, but
there is evidence that they are now moving
away from such heavy reliance on dominant
representations. Your work should probably
reflect this change.

31. REPRESENTATION: gender
- theory
• Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey wrote that the media industries were mainly staffed by men,
and thus most of what they produced was shaped by male sensibilities and designed to
appeal to a male audience.
• Virgin/ Whore dichotomy - a Freudian idea further developed by many theorists including
Molly Haskell. While men can be many things in films and can be judged as ‘good’
because of any of them- clever, heroic, articulate, kind, funny, whatever - women are
judged purely on their sexual behaviour They can only be ‘virgins’ or ‘whores’ and if their
sexual behaviour is ‘wrong’, they are ‘bad,’ regardless of what else they do.

32. REPRESENTATION: gender
- theory
• Hypermasculinity - the characteristics and behaviours
associated with a dominant representation of masculinity -
e.g., developed muscles and aggression- are exaggerated.
• Hypersexuality - the sexual characteristics associated with
dominant representations of femininity - big breasts, or
flirtatiousness, for example - are exaggerated.
• Postfeminism - A modern representation of women which
combines independence and conventional attractiveness.

33. REPRESENTATION:
gender• As mainstream films which need to make back their huge budgets by appealing to a large audience of mainstreamers, we generally
expect to see a lot of dominant representations in sci-fi.
• When applied to gender, this generally means that women will be sexualised to some degree and men will be hypermasculinised.
• A classic representation of femininity in sci-fi is Princess Leia in Star Wars - most famously, enslaved and half-naked. It is possible
to see Star Wars as a Proppsian narrative rooted in very old thinking about gender and in this instance Leia is the passive Princess,
waiting for the men to rescue her. It is important to note, though, that Leia is also an active, independent character with agency in
the film - she kills her own captor and is frequently involved in driving and changing the narrative of the story. Perhaps this is one
reason for the continued success of the Star Wars franchise amongst both genders.
• A more recent example of gratuitous sexualisation comes from Star Trek: Into Darkness. The writer, Damon Lindelof, eventually
apologised for including a scene where one of the few female characters appeared for no particular reason in her underwear.
Although this was a relatively minor incident which did little to affect the film’s success, the backlash to it does show that audience
expectations are changing and the apology shows that film producers are very sensitive to such accusations of sexism and male
gaze.

34. REPRESENTATION:
gender • There have always been more active
representations of femininity, though. One of the
most famous is Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise
(starting in 1979.) She is the protagonist, and by far
the most capable and competent character. She is
never sexualised; indeed, she becomes very
‘masculine’ at various points in the franchise,
constantly being associated with iconography we
usually associate with men - guns, army fatigues,
muscles, shaved head and so on. In this poster, we
see her combining representational elements
associated with both genders - the gun, fatigues
and low-angle shot connote masculinity while the
protectiveness towards the child connote a
dominant representation of caring feminine
motherliness.
• More recently, there are several films which
construct more postfeminist representations of
women who are simultaneously active and
conventionally attractive. The most famous
examples are Katniss Evergreen from The Hunger
Games and Tris Prior from Divergent. Katniss is the
effective head of her family and eventually the
leader of an uprising; she is completely
independent, frequently responsible for rescuing
other characters and, although she is young and
conventionally attractive, she is never defined by or
judged according to her sexuality. Likewise, Tris in
Divergent is the main protagonist and the
antagonist, Jeanine Matthews, is also female. See
the media language in the promo shots here; low
angle shots, muted colours, weapons, functional
clothing, direct address - all things we more
conventionally associate with men.

35. REPRESENTATION:
nationality/ Ethnicity
• The issue of race, minorities and prejudice are
often explored within science fiction film. Star
Trek, for example, made a big point of making
sure all ethnicities were represented in its
original crew.
• Sci-fi films are often actually about racism (see
The X-Men, for example, where the mutants
experience what is effectively racial
oppression.)
• However, as with many mainstream films and
genres, there is some tension about how races
are represented or how actors and characters
of colour are deployed and represented in the
films.

36. REPRESENTATION:
nationality/ Ethnicity
• ORIENTALISM - based on the theories of Edward
Said, this theory suggests that Asian characters are
typically stereotyped as exotic, whilst being
secondary in importance to white characters. They
are defined by their race in a way white characters
are not. Sulu from Star Trek, for example, is forced
to use a katana while fighting; seems like a strange
choice when everyone else has blaster pistols.
• TOKENISM - When minority characters are included in
narratives but given no agency or activity. Example might be
Uhuru in Star Wars - a black, female character, but at first
not one of the central characters who affect narratives. (This
changed, to some extent. Star Trek was very forward-
thinking in the ay it treated racial representation.) Audiences
are very sensitive to racial representation, and not always in
the way we might expect; there was some outcry when Rue
from The Hunger Games was played by a black actress
(despite her skin being described as ‘dark’ in the novels.)

37. REPRESENTATION:
nationality/ Ethnicity
• Patriotism is often encoded into mainstream media
in order to construct appeal to an audience of
mainstreamers. American film is, perhaps, more
prone to this than most. Watch the speech scene
from Independence Day and note how an appeal to
patriotism is being used to increase audience
engagement and excitement prior to the final fight
between Earthlings and aliens.
• Somewhat less mainstream movies, aimed perhaps
at a more independently-minded audience, often
show national pride as a less attractive, more
problematic characteristic. District 9, for example,
uses sci-fi conventions - aliens settling on Earth - to
discuss problems around immigration. The central
character, Wikus, the representative of white South
African nationalism, is forced to change his attitudes
as he transforms into one of the aliens he hates so
much. He is seen to be a much better person at the
end than at the start.

38. REPRESENTATION: the
future
• UTOPIAN THEORY: Richard Dyer, in a
development of Uses and gratifications theory,
wrote that people consume media primarily for
ESCAPISM (a form of DIVERSION.) He said
there are three main elements of modern life
which people are striving to block out:
• Social tension
• Inadequacy
• Absence
• So, the media constructs worlds (DIEGESES)
where these things are overcome or cease to
be a problem. People have meaningful
relationships; people are more than equal to
the tasks set for them; couples and families
are reunited and are happy to be with each
other. The world is represented as a
predictable place where good always triumphs
and happy endings are usually guaranteed.

39. REPRESENTATION: the
future
• A popular sub-genre of sci-fi is Dystopian Sci-
fi. A dystopia is an unpleasant view of the
future.
• The world in these films is often under he
control of dictatorships; people often live in
danger and poverty and the world is generally
a threatening, impoverished place.
• If we apply Dyer’s theory to something like
The Hunger Games, though, we see that it
hods true. We pretty much know that the
good guys will win; Katniss will find true love
and be happy; Katniss will be more than
equal to solving the problems life throws at
her. So, although the world is shown to be
unhappy, it is still a predictable place where
people can solve their problems and good will
triumph.

40. A* EXTRAS!
REPRESENTATION:
ideologies• Antonio Gramsci was an Italian anarchist who was imprisoned in 1929. For
a while, he struggled to understand why the prison guards, who were poor
men, just like him, were holding him at the request of rich, powerful men
who did nothing to help them in return.
• He decided that the men had been brainwashed into obedience by the
institutions of society - the family, schools, the army the police, politics and
government and so on had all conspired to make them believe that they
‘belonged’ at the bottom of the social order and their ‘job’ was to be
obedient and take instructions from those in more privileged positions.
• These beliefs are called IDEOLOGIES. They are encoded into many areas
of society, including media texts (the media is now one of the social
institutions Gramsci criticised.) They are used to keep the people eat the
top of society in their positions (that is to defend the status quo or
HEGEMONY.)
• Representations are always built on underlying ideologies.
• For example, if woman are sexualised, then it reveals an underlying belief
that ‘being sexual’ is the prime purpose and talent of women.
• If men are always represented as capable, competent and in control (see
Captain Kirk in Star Wars as an example) then it suggests that men are
the most reliable people around and they should be trusted with power.
• If aliens are represented as threatening and predatory, it reveals an
ideology that ‘outsiders’ are not to be trusted and it is better to trust people
like yourself.
• If gay or black or female or young characters are always represented as
funny or mischievous this reveals an ideology that these groups are less
serious and less worthy of respect than those who are no represented like
this; often, white, middle-aged, heterosexual men.
• So what?
• An A* student understands that in her own work, she is representing the
world and people in some way or another. She understands that she is
revealing her own ideologies through her work.
• She will also understand that sci-fi has conventional ideologies; for
example, that freedom is more important than almost anything else. This is
not actually necessarily true, but it is frequently treated as though it is in
sci-fi.

41. INSTITUTIONS
• Film Industry Structure
• Regulation
• Franchising/ Branding/
Marketing
• Convergence and
Transmedia
• Exam Practice

42. INSTITUTIONS: Industry
structure
• There are currently 6 major Hollywood studios: Warner
Bros, Disney, Universal, Columbia, 20th Century Fox and
Paramount.
• These companies are owned largely by shareholders who
demand profits every year.
• That means everything they make needs to turn a profit to
be deemed successful…
• … which means they need to reach the biggest audiences
possible…
• … which means very conventional media language, lots of
star appeal, dominant representations and ideologies…
• .. and lots of remakes, franchises and sequels, because
they are pretty much guaranteed to succeed.
• So when you are talking about major film releases, which
will cover practically every film mentioned in this
presentation, you can discuss it in these INSTITUTIONAL
terms. The films are the way they are because of the
nature of the institution which produces them.

43. INSTITUTIONS: Industry
structure
• Smaller studios have smaller budgets, so their films
have fewer stars, less promotion, less in the way of
special effects, lower production values and so on
• However, they are also less dependent upon making
profit, so they can be rather more adventurous with
representations, media language and ideologies.
District 9 (produced by QED International, so not a
major studio) plays with hybrid genre, for example,
blending sci-fi and documentary realism. This is a
slightly risky move, since realism is not a particularly
popular genre, and probably wouldn’t have been
undertaken by a major studio.
• Look at the trailer for Upstream Colour (produced by
ERPB, definitely not a major.) Considering media
language and representations, how can you tell that
this is not a major label production?
• The budget for Upstream Colour was $50000 -
compare something like Elysium which had a budget of
$115 million, so 23 times bigger.) Upstream Colour
made ten times its budget at the box office. Elysium
made just under twice its budget.)

44. INSTITUTIONS: regulation
• The British Board of Film Classification is an
independent, non-governmental body which has
classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912
and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act
was passed in 1984.
• The BBFC regulates films shown in Britain and
gives them rating depending upon their content.
• The BBFC guidelines are long and detailed, but in general they are
concerned about areas such as:
• discrimination
• adult themes
• profanity
• nudity
• sex
• violence
• dangerous actions
• references to suicide
• detailed criminal acts
• misuse of household chemicals
• horrific or disturbing content
• glamorisation of drug abuse
• animal abuse
• child abuse
It is important for film producers to have
an accurate idea of guidelines since they
are aiming for particular audiences and f
they are awarded the ‘wrong’
classification, they will lose part of the
audience. If a film is awarded 15 instead
of 12A, for example, they have lost
millions of potential viewers The
producers of Prometheus had to appeal
in Australia to get their classification
moved from MA to M so 15 year olds, a
sizeable chunk of they raudience, could
see it unaccompanied.

45. INSTITUTIONS: regulation
• Go rate a trailer for the
BBFC yourself

46. INSTITUTIONS:
franchising• Some sci-fi film brands manage to develop
into FRANCHISES - whole networks of
media and other products which can, of
course, reach bigger audiences.
• Note the Star Wars profit chart here; the
most profitable part of the entire franchise is
toy sales, worth almost as much as
everything else put together.
• The most successful movie franchise of all
time, depending on how it is measured, is
the Marvel Cinematic Universe
franchise.With a core of central characters -
the Avengers - each of whom can be the
focus for individual films, as well as a whole
host of other characters who can also be
brought into play (Ant Man, Captain Marvel,
Ragnok, Black Panther, Wasp…), they
currently have at least two films a year
planned all the way up to 2028.

47. INSTITUTIONS:
franchising• Producers like franchises for obvious reasons -
predictable success, predictable costs and so
on. The success of Marvel since the release of
Iron Man in 2008 has influenced The success
of Marvel since the release of Iron Man in 2008
has inspired other studios to create or re-
energise their own franchises.
• It has been said that the renewed focus on
franchises has had some negative effects on
the industry. Budget shave gone up a lot, so it
is difficult for smaller companies of filmmakers
to compete. Likewise, films have become more
formulaic so it is more difficult to be genuinely
creative or to find anything ‘different.’
• More positively, Marvel has given the whole
concept of a ‘franchise’ a more positive
connotation. It used to be the case that sequels
were expected to be worse than the original
film; now, they are expected to top the original
in every way. In general, it i s widely agreed
that the Marvel franchise has raised audience
expectations for these sorts of films.
STUDIO FRANCHISE
Marvel/ Disney Avengers
Sony Spiderman
20th Century Fox X Men
DC Comics/ Warner
Brothers
Batman/ Superman
Disney Star Wars

48. INSTITUTIONS:
synergySynergy is when two or more institutions work together for mutual benefit. Sci-fi
franchises are obviously in a position to extend their franchises by licensing
their stars and characters and branding to be used as adverting hooks for other
products. Marvel in particular excel at this.
Synergy is when two or more institutions work
together for mutual benefit. Sci-fi franchises are
obviously in a position to extend their franchises by
licensing their stars and characters and branding to
be used as adverting hooks for other products.
Marvel in particular excel at this.
Synergy is important because many sectors of the
media depend upon each other for survival. As an
example:
• The stars need the studios to produce films
• The studios need the magazines and TV shows
to promote the films
• The magazines need the stars to appear on their
covers and attract audiences
• The musicians who feature on the soundtrack
need the studios for access to a new audience
• The films need the musicians to attract an
existing audience
• The games producers need the studios to give
them access to ready-made characters and
narratives
• The studios need the games producers for
access to a younger audience
• And so on.

49. INSTITUTIONS:
convergence and transmedia
• The adoption of high-performance computers, shift to digital
platforms, and creation of high-speed computer networks have
brought us new ways of doing things.
• Convergence means ‘coming together.’ In a technological sense, it
means that what used to be separate technologies are now united.
• Consider the device on the right. What devices or tools can it
replace? A phone, a book, a TV, a games console, a radio, a
computer, newspaper, a camera… this is what convergence looks
like in technical terms. All these devices have come together or
converged.
• What effect does this have? Media producers know that they can and
need to work across many platforms now. Many forms can be
accessed easily and simultaneously, so franchises need to work as
films, websites, games, comic books, soundtracks… This is
convergence in Media terms; when platforms which were once mo or
less independent of each other become part of the same thing.

50. • The first franchise to see the value of this was The Matrix.
• There are three Matrix films. Bu they do not tell the whole
story.
• In oder to actually understand the entire narrative,
audiences need to play (and complete!) the computer game,
watch the animated series, read the comic books and
engage with the website, This splitting of a narrative across
multiple platforms is called TRANSMEDIA.
• It has pros and cons. Aficionados, predictably, love it
because it allows audiences to get very deeply involved in
the diegesis of the franchise. It also allows producers to
make many products based on the same characters and
locations, so it’s economically sensible.
• Other audience, however, dislike the concept because it
necessitates huge outlays of money and time just to
complete a narrative.
• As such, franchises like Marvel retain the idea - Marvel also
has TV series, comic books, computer games and so on, bu
the narratives tend to be free standing (they are BLOCKED
rather than CONINUOUS narratives.) As such, audiences
can choose parts without having to consume the whole
thing.
INSTITUTIONS:
convergence and transmedia

51. EXAM PRACTICE: Media
Language
1. Describe and compare the
settings of two contrasting Science
Fiction films.
2. Watch the opening scenes of
two contrasting Science Fiction
films. What conventions of the
genre do you see?
3. Design a poster for a new sci-fi
film. Explain how it would appeal to
an audience.
3. Write a treatment for a new
Science Fiction film. Include
suitable conventions and explain
how it would appeal to its intended
audience.

52. EXAM PRACTICE:
Audience
• How are sci-fi film producers
striving to appeal to younger
audiences? Refer to two or more
films in your answer.
• Why are sci-fi films so popular?
Refer to two or more films in your
answer.
• How are films marketed to appeal to
various audiences? Refer to two or
more films in your answer.
• Design a website to promote a sci-fi
film aimed at a young audience of
both genders.

53. EXAM PRACTICE:
Representation
1. Compare the ways heroes and villains
are portrayed in a Science Fiction film.
Refer to two or more films in your answer.
2. Create character profiles for the lead
character in a new Science Fiction film.
How would this appeal to the target
audience?
3. Sci-fi films have been accused of
sexism in the past. Do you agree that
women are unfairly represented in the
genre? Refer to two or more films in your
answer.
4. How is the future represented in sci-fi?
Refer to two or more film sin your answer.

54. EXAM PRACTICE:
Institutions
1. Why are so many sci-fi films developed
into franchises? Refer to two or more films
in your answer.
2. Why is film certification important?
Refer to two or more films in your answer.
3. Explain how synergy is used in the
promotion of sci-fi films. Refer to two or
more films in your answer.
4. Write a proposal for a marketing plan for
your own sci-fi film. You should consider
pre-promotion, several different kinds of
marketing, and subsequent franchising and
synergising opportunities.
5. What effect has convergence had on the
sci-fi film industry? Refer to at least two
films in your answer.