Researching production and distribution

When creating a media product, you will always have four main stages of production to finance. These include the product's development, it's pre-production, production and then post-production.

In films, the development stage involves the creation, writing, organising and planning stages of a project. Whether it be creating a preliminary budget or drafting storyboards and scripts, this development stage will always be extremely important. This is mainly due to the fact that it is the groundwork of a project - depicting the possible outcome of it. 

Moreover, this development stage will determine whether the project will be green-lit by a studio or funded independently in order to move further into the pre-production stage.

The pre-production will include all the steps taken before the actual filming takes place, which includes casting, location scouting, set designing and prop acquiring, as well as rehearsing. Throughout this stage, many meetings, phone calls and emails will take place in order to discuss and finalise the aspects of scripts, storyboards, locations and cast-members.

This stage can vary in duration, mainly due to common factors such as the size and complexity of a film project. 

The busiest time, however, is the production stage. This is where the writers, producers, directors and numerous other crew workers witness the film slowly coming together. Communication is key between all the involved parties in order to be able to stick to the planned budget and schedule. 

Post-production, on the other hand, is where all of the footage made is starting to go through the editing process. Frequently, this stage will require for sounds to be edited, visual effects to be added, soundtracks to be composed and titles to be created. Once all of this is done to a satisfactory level, the project will be officially completed and ready to be distributed to the general public. 

The final stage of the production process is distribution. For the producers to regain their investments, the films must be distributed with great marketing techniques. Moreover, the producers' job is to strike a lucrative distribution deal with theatres and other distributing platforms like Netflix and HBO - since they will decide the films' audience and ensure that the right amount of money is brought in to secure a return on investment.

'The Batman' - a 2022 film - is currently distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures in theatres. Its marketing technique is currently known to be outstanding due to a site that was discovered back in December. 

With cardboard standouts - that were made for the film - depicting a mysterious code at the bottom, fans were intrigued as they read out “you are a winged rat,” which referred to the Batman himself. 

Later, a new code would be deciphered that took fans to the website www.rataalada.com, where they would be pitted against the Riddler’s - the main villain of the film - riddles. If fans were able to answer all the riddles correctly, they’d be given a reward in the form of clues from the newly released movie.

Therefore, until fans see the movie, there is no way of knowing what all of this could mean, or if the clues will tie into the film in any way. However, this creative marketing technique has kept fans invested in the movie, with many saying it could be one of the best Batman movies to date. Therefore, the film and its marketing team have been known to have done an amazing job at distributing their product and keeping everyone intrigued.