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.