How far does the platform on which they are consumed determine the construction of media products in your cross-media study? Support your answer with reference to a range of products from THREE media platforms.

How far does the platform on which they are consumed determine the construction of media products in your cross-media study? 

Support your answer with reference to a range of products from THREE media platforms.

I have been studying three case studies, which are of iLL Manors, A Field In England and The Suffragettes. Codes and Conventions are used to promote media products, which can be seen in iLL Manors. The target audience for this would be of the younger generation. Furthermore, in terms of promotion iLL Manors can be promoted through; print, broadcast and e-media.

In terms of print iLL Manors have used a variety of different things in order to promote the film. For example, they've promoted using newspaper articles, magazines, posters etc. Furthermore, Ben Drew himself is used to promote the film. As he's a well-known artist, he already has an existing fan base. This therefore creates a cross promotion, through both his music and the film. In addition, he appeared on the cover of the NME magazine. The genre of this magazine is rock and therefore the target audience for this would age around 16-30. Regarding psychographic groups, this magazine would appeal to explorers as it mainly focuses on individualism. The picture is of him in a hoodie smoking a cigarette which would appeal more so to the reckless youth. However, there's another picture of Ben Drew which differs to the first, as he's all suited up and looks more professional. This therefore conveys to the audience that change is possible. This therefore creates a synergy as Ben Drew himself is used to promote his own film. This can be conveyed in A Field In England as Ben Wheatley promotes his film through being a well known director.

Furthermore, Ben Drew did an interview with Mens Health Magazine. The target audience for this would mainly appeal to males, aged around 30-50, which doesn't mirror the target audience for the film. Therefore, as it differs from the dominant audience type for the film this conveys that Ben Drew is appealing to other audiences. Throughout the interview the focus on Ben Drew's weight loss, this intrigues the audience as it's the main topic of what interests the audience. In terms of pyschographic this would appeal to aspirers as they would want to maintain a perfect body. Moreover, there's a synergy between the interview and the radio interview, with Fearne Cotton. Both interviews have the main focus of Ben Drew as a person. Rather than a focus on his music and career. Therefore, in both of these interviews we can see that Ben Drew as an appeal to a wider audience. This can then give iLL Manors a higher chance of being more successful as Ben Drew is promoting it towards more than one type of audience. 

Using e-media was vital in order to promote iLL Manors. During the promotion of iLL Manors they used e-media in order to expand the promotion. iLL Manors created a  Twitter related campaign  ( Tag London ). This was a campaign in which fans of Ben Drew were allowed to tweet a message about British society and the government. The company would project these tweets onto well known buildings around London, such as the London Eye, Parliament, Big Ben, etc. By doing this, this creates user generated content. Furthermore, by using social media and engaging their target audience, this manages to create more promotion and more awareness of the film. Also, by doing this it allows the audience to feel more involved with what Ben Drew is doing, and allows them to have a voice and opinion. In addition, the two step flow model can be used. It fits in as opinion leaders are the ones promoting the film. Lastly, as Ben Drew is also a rapper (Plan B) helps create more of a fan base. It also creates a synergy through his music and film. 

The film A Field In England had a different distribution release to most films. They released the film simultaneously on all platforms. This meant the film being released online as well. By doing this it allowed the younger generation to come across the film more easily. It would also create a higher chance of them watching it as it's been consumed through the media. Furthermore, another example of how the platform determines the construction of the media products can be seen in the film Suffragette. This is a historical, British drama. They also used e-media in their campaign. They ran a competition in which the audience could post a picture of their mum with the hashtag #InspiringMothers on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and they will be entered into a price draw to win a £250 Outfit gift voucher plus some exclusive Suffragette goodies. This creates more interest in the film as it allows the audience to be involved. Furthermore, the films website creates the brands image as inspiring, as it contains clips from the film that are seen as emotional/inspiring. In addition, on the website there's a tab called 'social' which allows the audience to be taken to different social media platforms. This then creates a synergy as it allows the audience to be updated with whats going on with the film. 

In terms of the broadcast platform, Plan B did a TEDx lecture expressing his opinions and views regarding political affairs. The target audience for the TEDx lecture is mostly middle aged adults that are from a middle class background and people who are willing to help the outcasts. In terms of psychographic groups this would appeal to reformers as they would want to be educated about this topic so they can help youths in deprived situations. However, this target audience would differ greatly to the target audience for the film and his music. He appeared on SBTV, and would've appealed greatly to the younger generation, as he uses a lot of colloquial language. Through his swearing and slang language the youth would feel as if they could connect more with him and feel like they're in their natural environment. This therefore, allows them to connect and build a better relationship with the celebrity. This leads to creating a synergy through his soundtrack and allows the audiences to explore more of his media products. 

However, as A Field In England released the film simultaneously, meaning the audience could access the film from any media platform, had the risk of the film failing. In terms of the film Suffragette there was an interview with the protagonist, like Ill Manors, also showing the films ideological beliefs. The interview with the main character Carey Mulligan helps the audience understand the reasons behind the meaning of this film. She spoke about the narrative of the film along with the character she played. Through this interview this manages to give the audience a better audience of what the film is about, and could intrigue them more into watching it. Moreover, they used a well know celebrity ' Meryl Streep ' to help promote the film, just like iLL Manors as they used Ben Drew himself. By doing this, it manages to engage with a larger audience as they're already familiar with the celebrities. 

To conclude, I agree with the statement of the platform on which they are consumed determines the construction of media products in Ill Manors, A Field in England and Suffragette.