- 'Shaun of the Dead' was directed by Edgar Wright, and was released on 9th April 2004 in the UK.
- But was released internationally (USA) 24th September 2004, and between 30th July 2004 and 31st August 2005.
- The genre of the film is hybrid as it is a comedy zombie horror, and it is a spoof of Dawn of the Dead.
- Simon Pegg (who plays Shaun) wrote the film, and it was produced by Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner and Nira Park.
- All of the stars, writers, producers and director of the film are British citizens.
- The studios and companies involved in the production of the film were; Studio Canal, Eling Studios, Working Title Films, WT2 Productions, and Big Talk Productions. All based in the UK (British studios).
- The film was independantly funded.
- There are no international stars in the film, they are all British (one is Irish - David, played by Dylan Moran).
- Companies that distributed this film are Universal Pictures and Rogue Pictures.
Friday 26 February 2010
British Cinema - Shaun of the Dead
Tuesday 23 February 2010
Babel
Babel, directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (2006), was distributed by Paramount, which is owned by Viacom. Big stars in the show are Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt. The film, set in Morocco, contains four interlocking stories, which are all connected by a single gun, that all converge at the end to reveal a tragic story of the lives of humanity around the world. In Morocco, a troubled married couple are on vacation trying to work out their differences, meanwhile, a Moroccan herder buys a rifle for his sons so they can keep the jackals away from his herd. This gun was purchased from a wealthy Japanese hunter, whose daughter is dealing with rejection, the death of her mother, the emotional distance of her father, her own self-consciousness, and a disability (deaf-mute). Then, on the opposite side of the world, the married couple's Mexican nanny takes the couple's two children with her to her son's wedding in Mexico after being told no one else can look after them for her, only to come into trouble on the return trip, resulting in them being stranded in the desert.
Throughout the film, nearly every camera shot appeared to be hand held, which was made clear through the shakiness of the camera. I think this added to the films sense of realism which made the narrative more believable for the audience. There was a wide range of different angles and shots used to convey different meanings, for example the shot from the japanese girls point of view in the night club shows the audience how she hears and sees things. It also makes them sympathise with her as everyone around is able to listen to and appreciate/enjoy the music, whereas she has to imagine what it would sound like. Another great camera shot is the reverse shot when we're first introduced to the married couple. They are sitting at a dinner table in a Moroccan desert, the reverse shot shows each characters expressions as they argue. This also tells us a bit about their personalities and marital situation straight away.
The costume in the film was all kept very cultural to the different characters backgrounds; for example, the Moroccans are wearing rags and robes, the wealthy Japanese business man is always seen wearing a suit, and the middle class Americans are wearing casual jeans and shirts. This could also give the audience an idea of their social background. The main and most significant prop in this film was definately the rifle, as it linked every character and their story together. Lighting in this film was mostly natural throughout, as the night and day scenes were shot using natural lighting sources. Although, in the club scene in Japan, there was lots of colourful artificial lighting to create a party atmosphere, which contrasted the dim artificial lighting in the huts in Morocco.
Again, the music in the film was all kept quite cultural to the different scenes in the different locations, like the techno sounds used in the Japanese scenes, and the exotic Mexican music used in the wedding party scenes. There was a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic music used; for example, the diegetic music included the car radio, the telephone conversations, the live band at the wedding etc, and the non-diegetic music was the overlapping of the cultural music on a particular scene. The most memorable use of sound in this film for me was in the club scene in Japan when the camera was cutting from the girl to the crowd of people. everytime the camera was on the crowd, the audience could hear the loud techno music, but when it cut to the girl, there was silence. Again, I think this scene is very effective as the audience are able to experience what she is going through which allows them to empathise with her.
Editing in Babel was amazing as it was used to control the four seperate narratives and bring them together to make up the overall plot, which was shown through the quick jump cuts to new locations. There is an interesting scene where editing is used to tell one characters story in the shot of another characters story, for example, when the Japanese girl is watching the TV at her house, the news comes on and there is a report about the American woman who was shot.
I think Babel was a good film, although, I'm not really sure what the Japanese family had to do with it. The father supplied the rifle, but thats the only connection he had, and the Japanese side of the story was all about his daughter. This confused me a bit, as did the end scene where the American man is in hospital talking to the nanny and his children on the phone. If that was all happening at the same time, then the nanny shouldn't have answered the phone because she was deported. The rest of the film was pretty good. I particularly liked the way all four stories fit together so well. The narratives combined provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking glass into the lives of random people around the world and it shows just how connected we really are.
Throughout the film, nearly every camera shot appeared to be hand held, which was made clear through the shakiness of the camera. I think this added to the films sense of realism which made the narrative more believable for the audience. There was a wide range of different angles and shots used to convey different meanings, for example the shot from the japanese girls point of view in the night club shows the audience how she hears and sees things. It also makes them sympathise with her as everyone around is able to listen to and appreciate/enjoy the music, whereas she has to imagine what it would sound like. Another great camera shot is the reverse shot when we're first introduced to the married couple. They are sitting at a dinner table in a Moroccan desert, the reverse shot shows each characters expressions as they argue. This also tells us a bit about their personalities and marital situation straight away.
The costume in the film was all kept very cultural to the different characters backgrounds; for example, the Moroccans are wearing rags and robes, the wealthy Japanese business man is always seen wearing a suit, and the middle class Americans are wearing casual jeans and shirts. This could also give the audience an idea of their social background. The main and most significant prop in this film was definately the rifle, as it linked every character and their story together. Lighting in this film was mostly natural throughout, as the night and day scenes were shot using natural lighting sources. Although, in the club scene in Japan, there was lots of colourful artificial lighting to create a party atmosphere, which contrasted the dim artificial lighting in the huts in Morocco.
Again, the music in the film was all kept quite cultural to the different scenes in the different locations, like the techno sounds used in the Japanese scenes, and the exotic Mexican music used in the wedding party scenes. There was a variety of diegetic and non-diegetic music used; for example, the diegetic music included the car radio, the telephone conversations, the live band at the wedding etc, and the non-diegetic music was the overlapping of the cultural music on a particular scene. The most memorable use of sound in this film for me was in the club scene in Japan when the camera was cutting from the girl to the crowd of people. everytime the camera was on the crowd, the audience could hear the loud techno music, but when it cut to the girl, there was silence. Again, I think this scene is very effective as the audience are able to experience what she is going through which allows them to empathise with her.
Editing in Babel was amazing as it was used to control the four seperate narratives and bring them together to make up the overall plot, which was shown through the quick jump cuts to new locations. There is an interesting scene where editing is used to tell one characters story in the shot of another characters story, for example, when the Japanese girl is watching the TV at her house, the news comes on and there is a report about the American woman who was shot.
I think Babel was a good film, although, I'm not really sure what the Japanese family had to do with it. The father supplied the rifle, but thats the only connection he had, and the Japanese side of the story was all about his daughter. This confused me a bit, as did the end scene where the American man is in hospital talking to the nanny and his children on the phone. If that was all happening at the same time, then the nanny shouldn't have answered the phone because she was deported. The rest of the film was pretty good. I particularly liked the way all four stories fit together so well. The narratives combined provides a powerful story and an equally powerful looking glass into the lives of random people around the world and it shows just how connected we really are.
Friday 5 February 2010
Hollywood Case Study - Avatar
Avatar - directed/written/produced by James Cameron (2009)
Pre Production and Production:
Pre Production and Production:
- Budget of film: $237,000,000 (others estimated the cost at $280–310 million to produce and $150 million for marketing)
- The gross revenue is $1, 424,222,266 (Avatar's worldwide gross was an estimated $232,180,000 after three days)
- Stars in the film had a $50million salary
- On its opening weekend it grossed $77 million domestically and $232 million worldwide. Within three weeks of its release, with a worldwide gross of over $1 billion, Avatar became the second highest-grossing film of all time worldwide, exceeded only by Cameron's previous film, Titanic.
- Director James Cameron had a salary of $8million, which he forfeited most of (along with most of his share of the gross percentage) to finance the films production.
- Production companies involved: Lightstorm Entertainment
- The genres are action, adventure and sci-fi. All very popular, so was the 3D (IMAX) theme. This helped with the ticket sales and the profit made.
- Length of shooting schedule was around 2 years.
- The music at the end of the film, " I see you", was performed by Leona Lewis. She is known worldwide and is very popular. She also has a great voice that suits the genre of the film.
- The film was so expensive to produce because it was nearly all CGI. The special effects and CGI are what made the film, they are so well done. This is because Cameron wanted to wait to finish the film until "technology had caught up with his vision of how it should look". He started writing Avatar in 1994 with an 80 page script, after the completion of Titanic, which would have been finished and released in 1999. But because Cameron wanted to wait for more IMAX cinemas to become available worldwide, he put off filming until 2006 when he began to write the script, as well as develop the language and culture of the Na’vi. As the film was so successful, Cameron is planning a sequel.
- He did not think that technology was developed enough at this time to create his vision of the film, which is why he put off filming.
- The film was always going to be in 3D, this is why Cameron spent so long working on the production of it and wouldn't start filming until IMAX cinemas were available to people worldwide, also he wanted 3D technology to be developed enough to create his vision of the film.
- The film looks very glossy ans slick, we can see this from the poster of a close up of one of the Na'vi characters faces. It allows the audience to see the wealth of detail in the special effects and CGI. This promotes the film as viewers can see how realistic they look.
- The narrative of the film and the characters in it are quite simple. The audience do not leave the cinema after watching it and think " I didn't understand any of that". The plot is quite easy to understand, which makes it appeal to a wider audience.
- News Corp, whose 20th Century Fox film studio backed James Cameron's blockbuster, posted profits of £159m for the second quarter.
- The costs to the rights of the source is $500million.
- Formal excess - the use of 3D and special effects makes the film very over the top, but this is what makes it so appealing to an audience and attarcts them to watch it. The set design is also very over the top, as is the cinematography, this is all to show off.
- The cast of the film aren’t very well known. This is because A-listers’ are no longer being hired for big Hollywood movies as they cost too much to use for a role. Producers have resorted to using unknown actors in order to use more money on the production of the film.
Distribution:
- The distribution company for Avatar is 20th Century Fox.
- Around $150million was spent on distributing and marketing the film through posters, soundtrack CD's, t-shirts, action figures etc.
- The marketing for Avatar has been going on since August 2009.
- The film got most of its publicity from the advertisments of posters and bus banners. There wasn't many big stars in the film so its popularity relied on the use of CGI and special effects (which were shown on the posters). The fact that is was directed by James Cameron also attracted an audience, as he was already a well known director, who was famous for his films such as Titanic.
- To promote the film, loads of merchandise was made, for example; t-shirts, posters, CD soundtracks, books, video games, and action figures (which were released before christmas to give extra time to make a bigger profit, as the younger audience would want them as presents).
- Also, McDonalds had a period of time where they included a free Avatar action figure in every Happy Meal. McDonalds is a very popular fast food outlet so this promoted the film to the public.
Exhibition:
- The release date for Avatar was 18th December 2009 in the United States, and 10th December 2009 was the London premiere.
- On its opening weekend it was shown in a total of 261 theatres, and the box office took $27million.
- Internationally, Avatar opened on a total of 14,604 screens in 106 territories. 3671 of these were showing the film in 3D (producing 56% of the opening weekends gross).
- Avatar earned $3,537,000 just from midnight screenings.
- It's worldwide gross was estimated at $232,180,000 after five days, the ninth largest opening weekend gross of all time.
- Avatar has been on release in cinemas (to the public) since 18th December, which to date is almost 8 weeks, and it is still screening.
- Avatar is currently the second best movie of all time, but has not yet beaten Cameron's famous Titanic which remains at number one.
- Avatar is the widest IMAX release to date, as it opened in a total of 261 theatres internationally, and a total of 3422 worldwide.
- Currently, Avatar has sold $75million worth of tickets.
Tuesday 2 February 2010
Top Gun - The High Concept Model
A Style of Post-generic Filmmaking (simplification of characters and narrative):
Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott (1986) is a good example of a High Concept film. It is a hybrid genre as it has more than one traditional genre, these are; Action, Romance and Drama. It is believed that the action appeals to the men in the audience, whereas the romance and even drama elements appeal more to the women. By including these different genres in the films narrative, it gives a wider target audience of both males and females. The characters in the film are all quite simple, so is the narrative. The film is based on Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) and his tough journey through Top Gun. It is kept simple by only concentrating on his character and none of the others, as all the other fighter pilots have their own history. This is what has brought them all together at Top Gun. At the start of the film, Maverick only wants to win the Top Gun trophy with his best friend Goose, but when he sadly dies in an accident during training, Maverick's confidence is knocked and he re-evaluates his future as a fighter pilot. During all this, Maverick falls in love with on of the instructors at Top Gun, Charlie. This all keeps the narrative simple too as he is not involved with too many other people.
Use of Extended Montages:
The film opens with a montage of the fighter planes being prepared to take off, whilst the song "Highway to the Dangerzone" (by Kenny Loggins) is playing over it (non-diegetic sound). The title of the song links in with its narrative, because when they are up in the air they are in a dangerzone. It also shows the audience what the film is going to be about. There is also montages on the flying chase scenes, these show the progress of the pilots training sessions. Another great montage is the very last scene with the closing credits. The montage shows short clips of all the actors that were in the film, the first one being Goose. This clip shows him smiling and being happy with Maverick, just how the audience remember him, then it moves on to the next character. Non-diegetic music also plays over this scene. Montages are essentially pop videos as they are built up with short clips which tell a story, and have music playing over the action.
Design reflects advertising styles:
Production design frequently reflects the graphics, glossy look and layout of contemporary advertising styles. The DVD cover with Tom Cruise and Kelly Mcgillis sitting on the motorbike shows the film is heroic and patriotic, because of the American flag behind them. This is true as Tom Cruise's character Maverick is portrayed as the typical hero; after he takes down enemy fighter planes, loses his best friend during a training battle, and falls in love with a beautiful woman. It has a typical American film narrative. Top Gun was made in the 80's therefore the posters will not have a 'glossy' look, however they are appealing and are layed out in a simple way. I found a promotional poster for the film which had the tagline 'Up there with the best of the best', this is meant to summarise the movie's plot. When you're flying in the top gun academy, you have to be up there with the best pilots, "there are no points for second place". All of the posters are dependant on one picture in particular; the one of Tom and Kelly on the motorbike with fighter planes in the background. This signifies the narrative and plot of the film through just photos.
Easily replicated in publicity:
Scenes from the film are easily replicated in trailers.
Formal excess:
Some camera angles and shots are not really neccesary in the flying scenes, I think they are used mostly just to show off, as the angles are quite heavy and the movement is very fast. Also, during the volleyball scene between Maverick, Goose and Iceman, Slider, The camera shots are slowed down to capture the facial expressions of the players. I don't think this scene was particularly important but they went over the top on the shots and angles.
Music track interrupts narrative:
In most of the scenes with Maverick and Charlie, a slow ballad type song is played. The outcome is that it creates its own narrative to go with the scene. During the earlier flying scenes, the track 'Danger Zone' is repeated and often accompanies the action of the pilots. By flying, they are entering the 'danger zone'. However, this also makes the flying shots 'look good' and draw the attention away from the narrative.
Self conscious allusion to films and television:
During Top Gun's release onto VHS, the film had a pilot themed advert for Diet Pepsi.
Detached appearance of stars:
Val Kilmer (who plays Viper) can be seen flipping a pen through his knuckles, whic is one of his trademark actions. Also, Peter Pettigrew, who plays Charlies older date near the beginning of the film, is referenced during the film as Mavericks real name is Pete (but in earlier scripts his name was Evan).
Hyperbolic physiques and action:
Tom Cruise (Maverick) is the centre of Hyperbole in Top Gun as he has a muscular body, charm and good looks. He's eye candy for the female viewers.
Ironic distanciation: walking-talking brand:
The term "going ballistic" is now used by pilots describing any action of the aircraft being put in a vertical (or nearly vertical) climb. Also, the famous line "I feel the need - the need for speed" was voted number 94 (out of 100) for best movie quote by the American Film Industry.
Top Gun, directed by Tony Scott (1986) is a good example of a High Concept film. It is a hybrid genre as it has more than one traditional genre, these are; Action, Romance and Drama. It is believed that the action appeals to the men in the audience, whereas the romance and even drama elements appeal more to the women. By including these different genres in the films narrative, it gives a wider target audience of both males and females. The characters in the film are all quite simple, so is the narrative. The film is based on Maverick (played by Tom Cruise) and his tough journey through Top Gun. It is kept simple by only concentrating on his character and none of the others, as all the other fighter pilots have their own history. This is what has brought them all together at Top Gun. At the start of the film, Maverick only wants to win the Top Gun trophy with his best friend Goose, but when he sadly dies in an accident during training, Maverick's confidence is knocked and he re-evaluates his future as a fighter pilot. During all this, Maverick falls in love with on of the instructors at Top Gun, Charlie. This all keeps the narrative simple too as he is not involved with too many other people.
Use of Extended Montages:
The film opens with a montage of the fighter planes being prepared to take off, whilst the song "Highway to the Dangerzone" (by Kenny Loggins) is playing over it (non-diegetic sound). The title of the song links in with its narrative, because when they are up in the air they are in a dangerzone. It also shows the audience what the film is going to be about. There is also montages on the flying chase scenes, these show the progress of the pilots training sessions. Another great montage is the very last scene with the closing credits. The montage shows short clips of all the actors that were in the film, the first one being Goose. This clip shows him smiling and being happy with Maverick, just how the audience remember him, then it moves on to the next character. Non-diegetic music also plays over this scene. Montages are essentially pop videos as they are built up with short clips which tell a story, and have music playing over the action.
Design reflects advertising styles:
Production design frequently reflects the graphics, glossy look and layout of contemporary advertising styles. The DVD cover with Tom Cruise and Kelly Mcgillis sitting on the motorbike shows the film is heroic and patriotic, because of the American flag behind them. This is true as Tom Cruise's character Maverick is portrayed as the typical hero; after he takes down enemy fighter planes, loses his best friend during a training battle, and falls in love with a beautiful woman. It has a typical American film narrative. Top Gun was made in the 80's therefore the posters will not have a 'glossy' look, however they are appealing and are layed out in a simple way. I found a promotional poster for the film which had the tagline 'Up there with the best of the best', this is meant to summarise the movie's plot. When you're flying in the top gun academy, you have to be up there with the best pilots, "there are no points for second place". All of the posters are dependant on one picture in particular; the one of Tom and Kelly on the motorbike with fighter planes in the background. This signifies the narrative and plot of the film through just photos.
Easily replicated in publicity:
Scenes from the film are easily replicated in trailers.
Formal excess:
Some camera angles and shots are not really neccesary in the flying scenes, I think they are used mostly just to show off, as the angles are quite heavy and the movement is very fast. Also, during the volleyball scene between Maverick, Goose and Iceman, Slider, The camera shots are slowed down to capture the facial expressions of the players. I don't think this scene was particularly important but they went over the top on the shots and angles.
Music track interrupts narrative:
In most of the scenes with Maverick and Charlie, a slow ballad type song is played. The outcome is that it creates its own narrative to go with the scene. During the earlier flying scenes, the track 'Danger Zone' is repeated and often accompanies the action of the pilots. By flying, they are entering the 'danger zone'. However, this also makes the flying shots 'look good' and draw the attention away from the narrative.
Self conscious allusion to films and television:
During Top Gun's release onto VHS, the film had a pilot themed advert for Diet Pepsi.
Detached appearance of stars:
Val Kilmer (who plays Viper) can be seen flipping a pen through his knuckles, whic is one of his trademark actions. Also, Peter Pettigrew, who plays Charlies older date near the beginning of the film, is referenced during the film as Mavericks real name is Pete (but in earlier scripts his name was Evan).
Hyperbolic physiques and action:
Tom Cruise (Maverick) is the centre of Hyperbole in Top Gun as he has a muscular body, charm and good looks. He's eye candy for the female viewers.
Ironic distanciation: walking-talking brand:
The term "going ballistic" is now used by pilots describing any action of the aircraft being put in a vertical (or nearly vertical) climb. Also, the famous line "I feel the need - the need for speed" was voted number 94 (out of 100) for best movie quote by the American Film Industry.
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