267 / 658
265
Thursday, November 10
0 9 : 0 0 – 1 0 : 3 0
FIS01
European FilmCultures I
PP 030
Studiocanal and Polygram Filmed Entertainment: Continuities and Discontinuities in the Pursuit of a European Studio
C. Meir
1
1
Universidad de Carlos III de Madrid, Department of Journalism and Audiovisual Communication, Getafe, Spain
Michael Kuhn wrote of his time as CEO of Polygram Filmed Entertainment (PFE) that he had dreamt of building a“worldwide Hollywood-style film business
based in Europe”(2002: iii); his choice of title for his memoir – One Hundred Films and a Funeral – provides a succinct reminder of the fate of that dream.
After producing and distributing some of the most artistically and commercially successful international films of the 1990s, including Fargo, Four Weddings
and a Funeral and many others, PFE and its parent company were sold to Seagram’s in 1998 and later absorbed by Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE),
only to be disbanded later by VUE. Polygram was, of course, neither the first nor the last European company to aspire to challenge the Hollywood majors.
This paper will examine the latest attempt at the construction of an international film and television studio in Europe: Studiocanal, the film and television
production and distribution subsidiary of Canal Plus, and the company behind recent hit films such as Non-Stop and Paddington. The paper argues that Stu‑
diocanal in its present form– with a relatively conservative business model that emphasizes English-language production and places priority on controlling
sales and distribution – stands the best chance of any company since PFE (or indeed since companies such as UFA began chasing this goal in the 1910s) to be
a sustainable enterprise with global ambitions from a base in Europe. Moreover, I contend that Studiocanal’s current success can be understood as a product
of the firm’s own emergence from the wreckage of VUE. Mounting this argument, the paper compares the corporate strategies of the two companies and
the larger macroeconomic landscape each operated within to ascertain what has allowed Studiocanal to succeed (thus far) where PFE and others ultimately
faltered. In so doing, the paper hopes to illuminate the transnational industrial forces that have shaped European cinema and television over the last 25
years, while also highlighting the work of two of the most important companies in the international film industry that have operated – for periods of time
at least – outside of the American studio system.
PP 031
Hierarchies in Film Consumption: A Mixed Methods Approach in Screen and Content Selection of Youth in Flanders (Belgium)
A. Veenstra
1
, P. Meers
1
, D. Biltereyst
2
1
Universiteit Antwerpen, Communication Studies, Antwerpen, Belgium
2
Universiteit Gent, Communication Studies, Gent, Belgium
In today's allegedly converged media landscape, audiences have a choice in content, as well as a choice in screen. These choices are often celebrated as
signifying increased audience agency, as is the case for film audiences: the increase in the number of filmwatching options implies a fading film industries'
control over consumption practices. However, film content and film screens have long been identified to exist in hierarchies. Cinema screens are for example
found to be more immersive than television screens. Film content hierarchies are visible in origin and genre. Some will for example value Hollywood over all
other films, whereas others will prefer European or national cinema. This paper researches the existence of these hierarchies today, or whether these have
faded with the increase in choice. Additionally, this paper will explore whether observed hierarchies are informed by social differences. In other words: we
aim to identify structure through taste cultures by exploring the choice that is identified to characterize agency in today's media landscape. This paper com‑
bines quantitatively and qualitatively obtained data. The first set of data has been gathered in the first half of 2015. The representative quantitative sample
consists of 1015 Flemish-Belgian students aged 16–18, who completed a 32-page questionnaire on watching film and film related practices. The second
dataset is based on a set of 25 in-depth interviews, obtained in the first half of 2016. Specifically designed to elaborate on the obtained quantitative data,
the interviews serve to gain in-depth understanding in the why of film watching practices of Belgian-Flemish youth. First analyses of the quantitative data
point to hierarchies in film consumption. The traditional screens remain the most popular: films are preferably watched in the cinema, and mostly watched
on television. Hollywood is most popular, followed by respectively Flemish and European film. Moreover, hierarchies are observed in origin, informed by
data on 18 film titles and the screens these have been watched on. European film, for example, is mostly watched on the PC/laptop, followed by television.
Hollywood film is watched on television, in the cinema and on the pc/laptop. Flemish film is predominantly consumed on television, and to a lesser extent
in the cinema. Smartphone and tablet are far less popular to watch film, regardless of origin. These findings emphasize the slippery slope of equating con‑
sumption possibilities with consumption practices. Furthermore, the (combined) differences between origin and screen indicate that an in-depth analysis
of these consumption practices is called for. This paper therefore analyzes consumption practices and the implied taste cultures associated with hierarchies
in content and screen – quantitatively as well as qualitatively. In doing so, we are able to move beyond the celebration of agency and emphasize the impor‑
tance of understanding structures that help shape audience practices.
PP 032
The Crossroads of History and Formalism: A Historical and Formalist Look at the Evolution of Film Language in the Turkish Cinema
A.H. Kocatürk
1
1
Bahcesehir University, Cinema and Media Research, Istanbul, Turkey
Relatively late blossoming of the Turkish cinema as an industry during the 'filmmakers period' between 1950 and 1960 later on brought about the contro‑
versy about the quality of the national cinema production due to the significant influence of films from other cinemas around the world. However, little has
been said about the formal aspects of films in that period and their effect on the evolution of the film language, which gradually acquired distinct char‑
acteristics over time. This paper aims to examine the major aspects determining the film language in Turkish films to pinpoint the extent of international,
national, and traditional influences on the Turkish cinema within a historical context mainly focusing on the period called 'filmmakers period' as a starting
point. Formalist and historical approaches in film studies rarely couple, yet in studying the Turkish cinema, it is almost impossible to separate the two as
history and historical factors played a significant role in the development of film form in the Turkish cinema. Although the advent of the cinema in Turkey
Film Studies
(FIS01–FIS04)