Production Question

1) How has the status and power of stars changed over cinematic history?

The bigger the star is demends on how much force they have on the producer/director. They are able to enforce decisions.

2)Take any film you have seen recently and find out who produced it. Then try to find out more about this person. What was their role on this particular production? What have they and others got to say about their involvement and contribution? What projects have s/he been involved in previously, were these ventures successful?

I have chosen to focus on the producer of Alice in Wonderland, Tim Burton. Butron has produce many films such as: 9, Corpse Bride, James and the Giant Peach, and Batman Forever to name just a few. Tim Burton also directed Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005). Many of Burton's film are very dark. I think that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was unsuccessful compared to the original film.
 3)Why are certain kinds of films guarenteed to make large profits and others high risk?

Teen age based films and sequals are classes as a 'safe bet'. This is because they are usually successful and appeal to the audience because they tend to follow the same storyline each time.

4) Which genres are currently popular/unpopular and why?







5) Why was Hollywood under the studio system so successful?






6) What hads been lost and gained as a result if the replacement of the studio system by the producer/agent/deal system?






7) How and why has hollywood again become vertically integrated?






8) What are the consequences of vertical integration?

Is Cinema Dead?

Pros

• 3D film are bringing the audience back to the cinema as they cannot expierience this feature at home.
• Orange Wednesdays bring people back to the cinema as you only have to buy one ticket and can get another free.
• You can spend Sainsbury's Nectar points to buy cinema tickets.
• You can spend Tesco Cub Card points to buy cinema tickets.
• See Films First also offers exclusive access to memeber who are signed up to see a film before it premiers to the public in the cinema.

Cons

• Love Film offering a DVD rental service in which you order DVD's and they are sent directly to you and then you send them back once you have finished with them. Love Film is only a small subscription a month and allows the viewer to watch the film in the comfort of their own home.
• Sky Movies also allows you to watch the film in the comfort of your own home for no more than £5 and you can have as many people as want watch it for that price.
• Being able to download the movies illegally via torrents has also 'killed' the cinema as these sites are widely available to the public. However the films are not good quality and have peoples heads in. Some internet providers are cracking down on illegal film fownload e.g. Virgin.
• Dvds/Blu-Ray sales

British Cinema - Shaun of the Dead

What yeat was the film released in the UK?

• Shaun of the Dead was released on the 9th April 2004

What year was the film released internationally?

• 24th September 2004 (US)
   - It was available worldwide by July 2005

What genre would you consider this film?

• I would consider this film as being a hybrid genre of a combined horror and comedy

Did this film cater to an increase in the popularity of this genre or was it trailblazing?

Who directed the film?

• Edgar Wright

Who was the producer of the film?

• Nira Park

Are all of the above british citiezens?

• Yes, both the producer and director are british citizens. Wright and Park have also work on 'Hot Fuzz' together.

Which production companies were involved in the film and where are they based?

• Working Titles Films - UK
• Studio Canal - France
• WT2 Productions - UK
• Big Talk Productions - UK
• InsideTrack 2 - UK
• FilmFour - UK

Who funded the film?

• Original Screenplay

Which studio was the film made in? Is this a British studio?

• The film was made in Ealing stuidos which is based in Ealing, London 

• The film was also filmed on many different locations in London:
  - Archway
  - Deptford
  - East Finchley
  - Hampstead
  - Highgate
  - Hornsey
  - Monson Road (Pub exterior of The Winchester)
  - Muswell Hill
  - North Finchley (Shaun's retail outlet)
  - Weston Park

How was th film publacised in the UK?

Was the film marketed in terms of the stars in the film?

Are there any international stars in the film?

How was the film marketed internationally?

Was the film a success internationally?

What were the opening weekend figures for the in the UK?

• Shaun of the Dead took £1.6 million in its first weekend in 307 cinema in the UK. By mid May the film had netted £6.4million.

When did the film open in the UK?

• 29th March 2004 (Premier)

Which companies distributed this film in the UK?

• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (UK) (theatrical)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (UK) (DVD)

 Which companies distributed this film internationally?

• Focus Features (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• Mars Distribution (2005) (France) (theatrical)
• NFP Distribution (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Neue Filmproduktion (2004) (Germany) (theatrical)
• Odeon Films (2004) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Premium Cine (2004) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Rogue Pictures (2004) (USA) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Switzerland) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Italy) (theatrical)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Alliance Atlantis Home Video (2004) (Canada) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Argentina Video Home (2004) (Argentina) (VHS)
• RTL Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (TV) (first national airing) (RTL7)
• United International Pictures (UIP) (2004) (Argentina) (all media)
• Universal Home Entertainment (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Universal Home Video (2004) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2004) (Netherlands) (DVD) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2008) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Findland Oy (2004) (Finland) (DVD)
• Universal Pictures Findland Oy (2004) (Finland) (VHS)
• Universal Pictures (2005) (Germany) (DVD)
• Universal Studios Home Entertainment(2009) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

How did the producers attract an audience to this film?

Hollywood Case Study - Focus Questions

Shrek (2oo1)
Directed by: Andrew Adamson/Vicky Jenson
Written by: William Steig (Book 'Shrek!')/Ted Elliot/Terry Rossio/Joe Stillman/Roger S.H. Schulman

• Shrek is based on a 1990's book, Shrek! The book is written and illistrated by William Steig. The book was about a young ogre who finds the ogre of his dreams. The young ogre then goes on to leave home and see the world.

• Shrek had a budget of $60 million
• Actor Salaries:

- Mike Myers (Shrek) - $3 million
- Cameron Diaz (Princess Fiona) - $3 million
-Eddie Murphy (Donkey) - $3 million

• Production companies involved: Pacific Data Images.
• The genre of Shrek is a hybrid as it contains more than one genre. The genres involved are: Adventure, Comedy, Family, and Animation.

• Shrek contains many different soundtracks, some popular and some unknown. The main songs which consist of:

- 'I'm a believer' & 'All Star' - Smashmouth
- 'I'm on my' - The Proclaimers
- 'Hallelujah' - Rufus Wainwright 

• There are also many other popular music acts included in Shrek. These are all used in the final scene, 'The Shrek kareoke dance party'. These include more popular and well known songs like:

- 'Like a Virgin' - Madonna
- 'YMCA' - The Village People
- 'Who Let the Dogs Out' - Baha Men

• It took just under 3 years for Shrek to be fully produced and ready for release.
• The film had a high budget due the amount of CGI (Computer Genterated Imagery) that was needed to create the movie. Each aspect of the movie is created using CGI, each character had their own profile which took 275 artists, computer animators, software developers and engineers at PDI/Dreamworks. 
• The characters are easy to understand, which will appeal to a broader audience, especially as it is a family aimed film. This means that children will not be questioning what is happening, they will have a full udnerstanding. The plot is also easy to understand and follow, it is based on a book which does not have to be read at all to understand the film.
• The distribution company for Shrek is DreamWorks, who are also the distributers of 'Madagascar' and 'Flushed Away'.
• Shrek used many different marketing features to advertise the filme. Poster were made, a trailer was released, you could also purchase shrek related products:

- Ogre ear headbands
- McDonalds Happy Meals
- Pens, Pencils, Pencil Cases
- Soft plush toys
- Soundtrack CD's 
- Pyjamas
- Fancydress costumes

• Most of the films publicity was brought through the advertisement of the films poster and the trailer. However the actors and actress' also brought in the publicity as they were well known and all three main charcters have all had big roles before. Andrew Adamson also was linked with publicity after his success as the director of the 'Chronicles of Narnia'.
• Shrek was released between 22/04/01 and 15/12/01 all over the world:

- USA - 22/04/01 = Premiere
   -16/05/01 = New York and Los Angeles
- Australia - 21/06/01
- UK - 29/06/09

• Japan was the last country to release Shrek on the 15/12/01
• Shrek made $42,347,760 in its opening weekend, it made the film the highest grossing film of the week at that time. Shrek was second highest grossing film of that year with $484 million worldwide. Shrek was so popular in stayed in cinemas for 29 weeks.
• Shrek was released in cinemas, and was then later released to buy on DVD and more recently on Blu-Ray. Shrek has also been made into a theatrical preformance in the United States. The film is followed by Shrek 2, Shrek the Third, and also Shrek Forever After: The Final Chapter. Shrek has also been made into a few mini films too, e.g. Shrek the Halls. Universal Studios also holds a 4-D showing of Shrek, Shrek 4-D.

 

Unit 3 - The High Concept

1. 'Post Generic' Filmmaking
Top Gun (1986, directed by Tony Scott) is an example of a High Concept film. The High Concept model is represented as a ten-point formula. The film is made up of 3 genres: Action, Romance, and Drama which therefore makes the movie a hybrid genre because it has more than one genre. By combining these three tradional genres together the film is more likely to appeal to a wider audience: the action is likely to draw in the male attention with the drama and romance will attract the female attention. Doing this could also make the film more popular therefore earning more.
Top Gun is based around the character Maverick (Tom Cruise). Mavericks confidence is knocked when he is trying to win the Top Gun trophy with his best friend Goose (Anthony Edwards) dies in an accident during training. The movie focuses on how maverick's confidence is knocked and what he is now going to do with his career as he feels he is unable to go on with out Goose. however it is built back up again when he falls for the teacher Charlie (Kelly McGillis)
2. Use of extended montages
An extended montages are used to show the passing of time. The use of extended montages are becoming more commonly used in High Concept films. InTop Gun to show the use of extended monatges 'Highway to the Dangerzone' is played and then it shows the passing of time. A good example of this is at the start of the film when the fighter planes are being prepared for take off while 'Highway to the Dangerzone' is playing to the time passing by.
3. Design reflects advertising styles
Advertising is very important to making a film profitable. Top Gun was an early High Concept film, meaning that not a lot of money was spent on advertising as it would be today in a top Hollywood film. Top Gun released posters alongside the film, these posters were very simple and showed very little of what the film was about. The main poster showed Maverick and Charlie together with a fighter plane under the movie title. Another poster shows Maverick and Charlie again but on a motorcycle with the American flag flying in the background. This poster could be connotations to the film with the American flag showing patriotism to the audience.
4. Easily replicated in publicity
The trailer for Top Gun shows when they first arrive at Top Gun, it shows an introduction to what Top Gun is about and what they do. Further on into the trailer it shows some of the fighter planes in action. The trailer shows some of the storyline but does not give away the ending, it also introduces the main character of the film to the audience.