The Dark Knight:

The Dark Knight:

Plot synopsis:

Batman raises his stakes in this brand new feature film ‘The Dark Knight. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordan and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman’s goal is to destroy the remaining criminal organisations located along the city streets. Their partnership proves effective, however, they soon realise that a reign of chaos has been allowed to run riot by a criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens as ‘The Joker.’

Certification, Director, Location and Box Office (Gross)

The film was rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. Christopher Nolan directed the film ‘The Dark Knight.’ Previous films which he has directed were ‘Memento (2005), Insomnia (2002), Batman Begins (2005) and Inception (2010). The Dark Knight was mainly filmed in Chicago as well as several other locations in the United States of America, the United Kingdom and Hong Kong. Christopher Nolan used an IMAX camera to film a number of scenes, including the Jokers first appearance in the movie. The film also had a massive box office success, setting the record for the highest grossing weekend opening in the United States of America with over $158 million and becoming the fourth highest grossing film of all time.

Production:

The production companies were Warner Brother Pictures in association with Legendary pictures and as A Syncopy Production. Warner Brothers officially announced commencement of production for the sequel to Batman Begins titled ‘The Dark Knight.’ Christopher Nolan explains how this is the first Batman film without the word ‘Batman’ in its title. After Heath Ledgers death on January 22^nd 2008, Production Company Warner Brothers decided to adjust its promotional focus on The Joker, modifying some of its websites originally dedicated to promoting the film by posting a memorial tribute to Heath Ledger on the official films website.

Distributors:

The company which distributed The Dark Knight was also Warner Brother Pictures. The company devoted six months to an anti-piracy strategy which involved tracking down people who had pre released a copy of the film. In both the United States of America and Canada, the film was distributed in 4,366 theatres, breaking the previous record for the highest number of theatres which was held by Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End in 2007. The number of theatres which the film was distributed in was also shown in 94 IMAX theatres, with the film estimated to play on 9,200 screens. What is more, is that the online ticket service sold an vast amount of tickets for approximately 3,000 midnight showings as well as the day time showings for the films opening day. Every IMAX theatre that the film was distributed was also sold out on its opening weekend. Due to the massive box office success, Warner Brother Pictures decided to re-release the film in traditional and IMAX theatres in the United States of America on January 23^rd 2009, in order to increase their chance of the film winning an Oscar.

Consumption:

In the United Kingdom the film had combined sales of 513,000 units on its first day of release, of which 21% were Blu-Ray Discs. The film topped the highest number of Blu-Ray Discs sold on its first day of release. However, in the United States of America it also set a sales record for the most DVD sales on its first day, selling 3 million copies on DVD, 600,000 of which were on Blu-Ray Discs.

How is convergence changing the nature of an audience?

How is convergence changing the nature of an audience?

In media convergence means two things, a) technologies coming together, for instance a mobile phone can be used as a camera for still and moving images, as an mp3 player and to access the internet to either download or watch films and b) Where media industries diversify so that they are able to produce and distribute across several media paths, for example a newspaper with an online version and audio podcast and video casts or films coming together with computer games. These particular media industries have formed tactical alliances in order to build up new business models which can profit from the growing consumer prospect for on demand content.

Some industries believe that media convergence is a way of marking the ‘old media’ of print and broadcasting whilst the increase in ‘new media’ is associated with digital publishing. However, many changes associated with digital publishing are the rise in a publishing structure, which allows many distributions of content to be released. Other factors which are related to media convergence are ‘push and pull technologies,’ push technologies describes a style of internet based communication where the request for a transaction is initiated by a publisher. On the other hand, pull technologies is when the request for a transmission of information and content is initiated by either a receiver or client.

Convergence is beginning to the change the nature of an audience due to the fact that there is a change in technology. It is exceptionally important to know the size of your audience and their levels of consumption. For instance, how often they watch television or browse on internet sites to watch videos and films. Statistics claim that 43% of Britain’s are now starting to watch less television as a result of having access to online videos and films which can either be watched online or downloaded. Is has been said that new media platforms are slowly changing the nature of an audience, illustrating that customers and buyers are now becoming part of a group known as “tribes,” where either groups of people or individuals share general interests with one another that bring them closer together. A journalist declared that sooner or later the next phase of social networking and content sites will suddenly emerge into virtual networks. A variety of entertainment companies have both won and lost when betting on new media platforms, they were either small or inexpensive or they were going to pay a huge amount of money for ones which would end up falling apart.