The Film industry is a big industry that uses tens of billions of dollars to make a film. Based on a report released by the Motion Picture Association, it usually takes money to make money, and Hollywood has become one of the most prominent places that play this role (Gunter 25). Movies play a fundamental role when they are produced, but besides it, not every viewer understand the amount of money used to make one. In this essay, we will review why movies are more expensive to make today.
Since 2013 several movies have been known to be produced with massive budgets, for instance, Catching Fire and ‘The Hunger Games spent more than 130 million dollars while the latest Superhero epic such as the ‘ The man of Steel’ spent more than $ 225 million. An article released by ‘The Guardian’ went further and did a breakdown on why movies are expensive. The report talked about the development and script (which cost 5 %), where salaries of the actors and producer as well as the license eat up the largest chunk of up to 25 per cent (Gunter 42). While doing the production, the special effects, music, and performance depending on the type of movie use a lot of money to ensure the final product is of good quality.
When the movie is complete, the other step taken is distributing and marketing. Even though money has been invested in the production of the film, marketing is another area that consumes more. It is of no use of spending 100 to 200 dollars while producing a video and yet no one knows the film. For instance, ‘Spider-Man 2’ spent about $200 million to create and added another $ 75 million as marketing expenses (Loannidis 145). The fact of this matter is that the marketing expenses are usually not included as part of producing the movie.
The initial market for a finished movie is the exhibition and the different motion picture theatres. Mostly, these movies are released as laserdisc video cassettes, DVD either for rental or purchase with the subsequent sales to pay cable services, pay-per-view, the movie channel, local televisions as well as cable stations and different televisions. Soundtrack singles and albums are also released to become a significant chat hits to create additional income from ancillary sources like the international and U.S performance income from television, radio, and theatre performances royalties from CD and tape sales, streaming and download royalties, commercial advertising fees and many more (Blum 54).
Music in movies is another primary element that assists determine the success or failure of the box office. Either it’s a synthesizer or an orchestral, a new song or long time standard lyrics, music makes the audience to have an idea of the contribution or value of the words and music in the film (Wyatt 144). Whether someone is a director, an agent, a composer, a studio executive, an agent, or anyone involved music remains an essential factor in movie making. Most movies are either produced in the Holly wood studios or independent production companies.
The range varies from companies as well as the finances, purpose of the studios and the final production. Regardless of the movie produced, the cost of filmmaking has skyrocketed. Out of necessities, films are usually financed in various ways, such as outside private and public investors, joint ventures, distribution rights, limited partnership, among others. Regardless of how the finances are used in the production of the film, all parties usually have one agenda of making a profit (Wyatt 150). This also varies from the various stages of film production, which at the end leads to the finished motion picture.
Most successful motion picture usually has a hit song designed to add flavour and mood as well as giving the actor the opportunity to sing, make people cry, laugh, create elicit and interest. If a producer wants to use a famous song, they must ensure that they secure permission from the publisher of the music. Once they agree and a price is paid, the producer then synchronizes the rights license to allow the studio to distribute the film, sell to the television and use the song in-theatre trailers, sell videos or radio promo (Monaco 114). The fee received by the music publisher is usually divided with the songwriter.
The cost of determining the music is derived from various factors determining how much is charged for the conclusion of the film. Usually, the price depends on how the song is used, either by vocal performance, instrumental background, an actor on camera or vocal background. Another determining factor is the overall budget of the music and the film. The type of movie, in this case, depends on whether it is independent, web, student foreign or a major studio. The stature of the song also determines the cost. The fees for synchronization in this case charged by the music publishers usually range from $15,000 to $ 60,000 (Gunter 60). However, this lowers depending with the budget of the music or the number of music used in the motion picture, if the song is a hit, if the music is used under the closed or open credits or if there is a particular plot set in the motion picture.
Since songs are used over and over in a film, opening credits reflect the ambience and theme, many times thus making them essential to the movie than the songs used. More often when the song is applied over the end credits, it makes the film more common thus making the songs become a soundtrack requirement (Wyatt 165). For this case, the music publisher usually charges higher than the regular use of music in a film where it sometimes ranges of $30,000 to $65,000 depending on the video rights (Loannidis 159). However, each negotiation, as well as the final price, depends on factors such as the music budget, budget of the film, the replacements of the available songs and the importance of the songs. If the movie happens to use the opening credit songs, the fees are increased.
As indicated, license synchronization usually grants the producer the rights to apply all the music effects in the theatrical trailer and films which depends on the upcoming movie. If the movie involves promos, an extra fee will be added especially when it consists of the song that is out of context. This means of the music is used throughout the commercial severally as opposed to the scene it occurs. On occasion, lower budget films, producers of documentaries that had exceeded their production budget when the music selected will make the publisher to reduce the synch fee for any song or offer additional payment if the motion picture exceeds the profit or net dollar plateaus (Loannidis 166).
At the same time, technology has played a vital role when it comes to the production of the film. For instance, cameras that can capture quality images usually add more expenses to the output of the film. Digital workflows that have a streamlined way of filmmaking, however, eliminate the cost of duplication and development processes. Most companies have reduced the price of filmmaking by using the new technologies. This advancement has fundamentally altered the production of movies, and that’s why most industries spend more time in production.
Globalization is another aspect that has made the production of movies expensive. China, for instance, has become the primary market for the Holy wood films. This means that low-budget films cannot do well in China because of the limited budget. Over the last decade, film production by use of the studio systems has decreased because of the cost. When the budget is above the output, it does not yield a decent profit (Watt 170). One reality difficult realities in movie production such as ‘Superman Returns,’ is known is the storable materials.
Conclusion
The Film industry is a big department that uses tens of billions of dollars to make a movie. While this industry began way back, the success of movies has made film production to be very expensive. Since 2013, several movies have been produced with massive budgets. This process begins with creation, distributing and marketing. Many people are involved when making a movie. Sometimes, the output of films consists of the incorporation of music and depending on the popularity of the song; the cost may go up and down.
Works Cited
Blum, Richard A. Television and Screen Writing: From Concept to Contract. Taylor and Francis, 2013.
Gunter, Barrie. “Are the Most Expensive Movies the Most Successful?” Predicting Movie Success at the Box Office, 2018, pp. 21–33., doi:10.1007/978-3-319-71803-3_2.
Monaco, James. How to Read a Film: the Art, Technology, Language, History, and Theory of Film and Media. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Ioannidis, John P.a. “Personalized Genetic Prediction: Too Limited, Too Expensive, or Too Soon?” Annals of Internal Medicine, vol. 150, no. 2, 2009, pp. 139–177., doi:10.7326/0003-4819-150-2-200901200-00012.
Wyatt, Justin. High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood. University of Texas Press, 1994.
