Many films now use the big stars as the main marketing source, which attracts an audience to watch the film because of their names on promotional posters. Lots of films are also made as a 'star vehicle' (a method to promote a film with a star who has had the lead role created specifically for them).
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?
Alice in Wonderland is a recent film that has famous stars in. It is directed by Tim Burton, who has had a long list of famous films, so he already has a very large fan base. In nearly all of Tim Burtons films, Johnny Depp is casted as the lead star, making a huge fan base with Burtons and Depp's combined. This means there is a massive audience wanting to watch the film.
3)Why are certain kinds of films guarenteed to make large profits and others high risk?
This is mostly down to the filmmakers choice of genre for the film. It all depends on what genre is popular at the time, for example, recently the disaster/horror/post-apocalyptic genres have proved to be a box office success, with films such as Zombieland and Dawn of the Dead making large profits at the box office. Which also led to films like Shaun of the Dead and Diary of the Dead being made, which are all in the same genre. I think that films that work outside these popular genres are the ones that can be classed as 'risks'.
4) Which genres are currently popular/unpopular and why?
I think that the most popular genres at the minute are horror, comedy and end of the world style. This is because lots of films like 'The Road', '2010' and 'Zombieland' have recently been released and have been a success. Also, films in these genres are now being made into sequals due to their success.
5) Why was Hollywood under the studio system so successful?
Because during the 1910's and 1920's, Hollywoods biggest studios, Paramount, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox etc, were starting up. These companies had lots of power and took control of the production as well as distribution of films. They were able to be made quickly and of reasonable quality, they could also be easily marketed.
6) What has 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?
During the "Golden Age" of Hollywood films, the studios had complete control of the production, distribution and exhibition. They soon realised that this way they would increase the profits.
The companies also had control of which cinemas certain films were released in. Therefore this could have happened again due to Hollywood re-realising that they wanted control again after a period of time when independant films had the lime light.
8) What are the consequences of vertical integration?
When releasing films to independant exhibitioners, the companies don't often get to see the film they are exhibitioning. As a result, the film could lose loads at the box office and could be a complete fail.
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