Black Panther

• T'Challa (Black Panther) returns to Wakanda following his father's death to claim the throne as king.
• Black Panther is the 17th Superhero film the Marvel cinematic universe franchise produced by marvel and distributed by disney and directed by Ryan
• Marvel Studios, which produced the film, was formed out of a famous comic brand dating back to 1961, which itself was based on a comic series dating to 1939

  2009 it became wholly owned subsidiary of Disney

  The film was extremely successful and broke weekend box office records in the USA
• Nominated for best picture for the academy awards

  received three Oscars for Costume, Production Design and Original Soundtrack
• production budget was $200m

  Box office was $1.35bn
• Superhero films traditionally feature white male protagonists

  Marvel films rarely feature a black protagonist although black characters do feature in supporting roles or sidekicks e.g. Falcon in Captain America (2011)
• Black Panther has brought to the fore a contemporary artistic and cultural movement called Afrofuturism

  Europeans Exploited Resources from African land ands exploited the people by taking them away into Slavery

  African culture was dismissed as primative by Western colonisers.

  This is discussed in BP
• In the early 20th century, African Americans tried to establish a new black cultural identity through music - jazz and blues, growing from the gospel traditions and politics eg. Harlem Renaissance group

  
  

  In the late 20th century the Black Panther Party(1966-82) political activist group was formed
• Historically and into the present day European and US media tend to portray Africa as underprivileged and as a developing country featuring famine, civil war and terrorism
• The period 2009-2017 saw America's first black President, Barak Obama returned for two terms of office, promoting initiatives to aid minority and women's groups
• Marvel Studios became a Subsidary of Disney in 2009. Disney was also the distributor for Black Panther, which clearly shows vertical integration
• When Disney bought Marvel in 2009 they agreed minimal creative influence with Marvel's products
• Marvel signed a distribution deal in 2013 with Netflix for streaming TV series featuring certain Marvel characters, including Daredevil and Punisher

  
  

  Disney also introduced the Disney+ streaming service in November 2019 so it would appear these two networks will be in competition

  Netflix cancelled its marvel shows
• From 2005 Marvel has regained the film rights sold in the 1990s to almost all of its characters with they key exception of Spiderman

  1) Regained
• Marvel Studios is

  Owned by Disney. Produces films as a major film studio that is part of a vertically integrated media conglomerate The films are distributed by Disney, within the same vertically integrated media conglomerate This is significant in terms of funding, possibilities for cross-promotion and reaching a global audience
• Vertical integration - one company owns multiple layers of the production process eg: production, distribution, cinemas, DVD shops


  multiple layers of the production process
• Horizontal integration - one company owns a wide range of media platforms eg: TV channel, Radio station, Magazine publishing house, YouTube channel, so it can reach a wider audience with the same product
• conglomerate is made up of a number of different, often unrelated businesses.
• In a conglomerate, one company owns a controlling stake in a number of smaller companies, which conduct business separately
• Disney, as the distributor for Black Panther adopted a 1)______________________ so wherever the consumer looks there is mention of Black Panther

  the aim was to make the film into a politically resonant cultural event

  This was enhanced by various 2)_____________deals

  1) '360 degree consumer experience'

  2 brand association
• An example of synergy in the campaign was the combination of showing_____________

  The teaser trailer shown between NBA games •

  The Lexus collaboration 'Long Live the King' at the Superbowl • Welcome to Wakanda catwalk at New York Fashion Week
• crowd-funding projects to buy under-privileged children cinema tickets. The film was released during black history Month (which is February in the USA.
• Marvel official website for the movie opens with the trailers

  When you scroll down as prompted you come across a number of stills and GIFS all of which can be shared on Twitter or Facebook.

  That scrolling is divided up into sections that cover the history of the country, the threats that have emerged, what it is they're fighting over and the people who are vying for leadership or advising those doing so.
• The webiste has as 1)________ 2)____ section with characters posters 3) Gallery with _______ stills and a link to 4)_____________ and finally 5)________ that has links to the companies who are helping promote the film

  1) Synopsis

  2)Cast

  3) production

  4)Spotify soundtrack

  5)Partners
• Lexus released a 1)_____ _______ in which the carmakers's latest models play an integral role

  
  

  and a co-branded 2)______ ____ TV spot that was also a paid add-on 3)_______ and 4)_________

  1) Graphic novel

  2) Super bowl tv spot ( average rate for is $5.24m)

  3) Twitter

  4) Youtube
• Pre-movie release marvel realsed a 'start here' sampler 1)_______ featuring BP

  
  

  More comics - that looked at T'Challas's early years with a 2)_______ focus

  1) comic

  2) Flashback
• Media and Publicity:

  Big Theme re publicity = Ground breaking and important

  Cast appeared at San Diego comic -con

  
  

  Boseman appeared on Kimmel after the first trailer

  
  

  Kendrick Lamar - released he would curating the soundtrack and followed by the release of a video

  More coverage when full track list was released
• Disney used Nielsen Media research to gather information about the American audience that challenged 1) ___________________________

  
  

  53% of Americans live in ethnically blended households • 67% were enthusiastic to encounter and experiment with diverse cultures

  1) conventional ideas about diversity
• Regulation by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification)

  The BBFC is not run either by the government or by the film industry even though it was set up by the industry in 1912 to avoid government censorship. It is funded not for profit by a charge on each film that it assesses. All films, trailers and DVDs released to the public are rated by the BBFC Film is regulated before publication
• Livingstone and Lunt regulation

  A struggle in recent UK regulation between: 1. The interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful/offensive material)

  2. The interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for money, and market competition)
• The BBFC gave Black Panther a rating of 12A for 'moderate violence, injury detail, rude gesture
• What is Curran & Seaton's concept of power and the media?

  The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic of profit and power.
• How does media concentration affect variety, creativity, and quality according to Curran & Seaton?

  The idea that media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity, and quality.
• What role do socially diverse patterns of ownership play in media production according to Curran & Seaton?

  The idea that more socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more varied and adventurous media productions.
• What is the concept of Hesmondhalgh regarding cultural industries?

  Cultural industries aim to minimize risk and maximize audiences through integration and formatting of cultural products.
• How do cultural industry companies minimize risk and maximize audiences according to Hesmondhalgh?


  They achieve this through vertical and horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural products using stars, genres, and serials.
• What does Hesmondhalgh suggest about the operation of the largest cultural industry companies?

  The largest companies or conglomerates now operate across multiple cultural industries.
• How has the radical potential of the internet been affected according to Hesmondhalgh?

  The radical potential of the internet has been somewhat contained by its incorporation into profit-oriented cultural industries.
• pre-sold audience of Marvel fans would help off-set risk

  Previous films such as Thor Ragnarok (2017) made $854m

  Marvel franchise is over 50 years old and well-established
• Where does mainstream funding come from?

  Structure of the companies behind Black Panther's production: • Marvel is a subsidiary of Disney - secure backing for high budget (as part of conglomerate) • Existing brand makes box office success more likely therefore investing in the film is secure (less risky - Hesmondhalgh) and probably profitable. • Vertical integration - studio, production facilities and expertise available through the conglomerate • Advertising/sponsorship deals • Big brand sponsors and product placement brings in extra funding or products to use in filming