Case Studies.

Lovely Bones - Film4
Director: Peter Jackson
Released: 19th February 2010
Production companies: Dreamworks, Wingnut Films, Film4 and Channel 4
Distribution company: Paramount
Budget: $65,000,000
Only shown on 3 cinemas in the US.
Gross: $44 million
DVD release: 11th June 2010
Above the line marketing: tease trailers in August, invested $70 million in production and $85 million for marketing and distribution.
Below the line marketing: competitions, image gallery, order DVD, director was interviewed, August 2009 a behind the scenes look was released, and fans could win a trip to Wellington for the premiere.
Wasn't much competition, lots of people went to see the film.
Target audience: 12 (the film was mainly made for adults but they lower the target audience to teenagers)

Love Actually - Working Title
Released: 21st November 2003
Cast: Bill Nighy, Colin Firth, Liam Neeson..
Director: Richard Curtis
Genre: 'romcom'
Production companies: Universal and Working Title
Distribution company: Universal Pictures
Budget: $45 million
Grossed: $247,472,278
Premiere: 16th November 2003 in London (also premiered in Germany and USA) Most people London and USA premieres.
Above the line marketing: all-star cast soundtrack released.
Below the line marketing: cast gave interviews, music videos of the soundtrack were released, films was released in different languages.
Grossed 5 times it's budget and is now considered to be a well-known Christmas film.
Target audience: 15-40, mainly couples or women.

Wild Child - Working Title
Released: 15th August 2008
Cast: Emma Roberts and Alex Pettyfer
Director: Nick Moore (new director)
Production companies: Working Title, Relativity Media and Studio Canal
Distribution company: Universal Pictures
Above the line marketing: posters - appeal to young girls (target audience) 11-16, relied heavily on girly pop groups for the soundtrack.
359 screens - 3 months prior to advertising.
Below the line marketing: Pink premiere in Glasgow where there was free beauty make overs, a nail bar, make up booth and a tattoo bar. Also held competitions to win a goody bag.
Budget: $20 million
5th place at the box office, $2,196,366
Grossed $19,786,125 worldwide, figures taken on 4th January 2008.
America released the film straight onto DVD.

Slumdog Millionaire - Film4
Released: 9th January 2009
Cast: Dev Patel, Saurabh Shukla, Anil Kapoor, Rejendranath Zutshi, Jenevo Talwar and Freida Pinto.
Director: Danny Boyle
Production companies: Film4 and Celador
Distribution companies: Foxlight Search Pictures, Warner Brothers, Pathe Pictures and Icon Entertainment International.
Above the line marketing: posters (gloomy) regularly seen in London, 'feel good film of the decade', dubbed in Hindi, Pathe approach Tug, Pussycats Doll's - Jai Ho.
Below the line marketing: title banners on Google, premiere took place in India, website offered free downloads, premiered in London, interviews with main characters was posted onto the website.
Budget: $15 million
Broke UK box office records.
Won 7 Baftas and 8 Oscars.

Green Zone - Working Title
Cast: Matt Damon, Brendan Gleeson
Released: 12th March 2010
Budget: $100,000,000
Gross: $35,024,475 (Britain - £5,429,903)
Director: Paul Greengrass
Production company: Working Title
Distribution company: Universal
Above the line marketing: posters focused on Matt Damon (to draw Matt Damon fans to see the movie), trailers focused on the actors and the action shots.
Below the line marketing: interviews and behind the scenes.
Competition: the film was released at the same time as Kick Ass, Alice in Wonderland ect, all of who did better than Green Zone.

This is England - Film4
Cast: Thomas Turgoose, Stephen Graham, Jo Hartley, Andrew Shim..
Released: 2006
Director: Shane Meadows
Budget: £1.5 million
Gross: £1,539,372
Distribution and production companies: Film4, Warp Films and Optimum Releasing
Premiere: Denmark on 17th August 2007
Relied on good reviews to promote it (word of mouth)
Above the line marketing: trailer
Below the line marketing: release of soundtrack

The Lovely Bones - Film4 (cont)
Genre: drama/thriller
Runtime: 136 minutes
Budget: $65 million
Gross: $93,535,346
Shown in 2,638 theatres for 98 days.
It was also nominated for a lot of awards.
Below the line marketing: interviews

Working Title Research.

Working Title release two trailers for every film; an English version and an international version. The international versions are nearly the same as the English trailers, but some words may be changed, and, for example, if the film was a comedy, different humour would be shown. Working Title also put their film teasers onto their website.

 

Working Title's website has information about every film they have ever created, including their new releases. They have the films promotional poster, the plot,. cast, trailers, film information, any awards the film won, on-set photography, and releated links.

 

The website has links to the live cast, showing the actors thoughts whilst the film is in production. The main type of videos are interviews with the actors and directors, asking them how they think the film went, ect.

 

Working Title doesn't have any types of competitions for their films on the website, but if you click on the click on the link to the film's website, there are competitions. If the film is a new release the prize is something like free tickets to see it with a meal afterward, or a chance to meet the actors ect.

 

Some of Working Title's new releases include Green Zone and The boat That Rock, both of which did very well. The website also advertises the upcoming films, such as Johnny English 2, and gives as much information about the film as possible, sometimes including live casts.

 

Working Title recently had an exhibition at London MCM Expo, where Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (actors from Working Title's Hot Fuzz) went down for a Q&A session. There was a Hot Fuzz stand in the centre of the main hall, and the actors came along to promote the film.

Film Timeline (2006-2010)

• United 93 - 2006
• Sixty Six - 2006
• Smokin' Aces - 2007
• Hot Fuzz - 2007
• Gone - 2007
• Catch A Fire - 2007
• Mr Bean's Holiday - 2007
• Elizabeth: The Golden Age - 2007
• Atonement - 2007
• Definitely Maybe - 2008
• Wild Child - 2008
• The Boat That Rocked - 2009
• State of Play - 2009
• Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang - 2010

The Street - Disability.

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How is disability represented in The Street?

The first thing the audience see is the metal fence and barbed wire, with blurred out people moving about behind it. The shot then changes to a man looking out a window in a door, which also has metal 'bars' which the audience has to look through. The audience then see a shot of a different man, who happens to be the main character, with what society would class as a 'disability'. The man is seen walking up to a van through the metal bars, which gives the shot a 'caged' feel to it, due to the fact that everything in the scene seems to be contained/surrounded by metal fences/bars. Later on in the scene, when the main character, Nick, gets angry, he is shot through the metal fence again, possibly symbolising that he needs to be locked up because of his disability, therefore representing disability as a bad thing and potentially dangerous to others, and consequently disabled people need to be separated from 'normal' people to either receive the care they need or to protect other people.

The use of over the shoulder shots when Nick is asking for his old job back allows the audience to see how his old colleagues react to Nick, now he looks so different to what they were used to seeing. It gives the audience a chance to analyse the other characters body language, and how they act around Nick now he has his 'disability'. It shows his former colleagues trying to avoid looking at Nicks face, which is heavily scarred, and looking rather awkward throughtout the whole conversation. This represents disability as something people try and avoid, they don't like looking at disability or be caught looking at it, for fear of causing offence.

This scene also represents disability as an atmosphere, or a burden. The body language used by the characters show that they feel uncomfortable around Nick, creating an atmosphere between, what used to be, good friends and colleagues. They don't feel as if they can act the same around Nick, and are unsure of what to say to him. They are also reluctant to give Nick his old job back because he would be considered a burden when there would be 'checks and polls' in the workplace, and Nick's 'disability' would cause the company some problems, therefore making him a burden if he was hired again.

In the next section of the clip Nick goes to help a woman, who he seems to be friends with, but frightens her when he bends down to help her pick up her shopping, and she screams. Whether this is due to Nicks face is neither confirmed or rejected, but the audience assume that that is the reason why she screamed. Nick seems to think that she screamed because his face is now frightening to other people, a fact which she denies vehemently. This could represent disability as something to be afraid of, as it is something not everyone can relate to, and the lack of information can make people scared of it. People with a disability are usually thought to look 'different' and therefore this could present 'different' looking people, who have a disability, as something to be scared of.

A sound bridge is used to connect the next scene with the one before. Nick is shown to be quite angry after scaring his friend and the music is used to reflect the characters thoughts/mood. It is a non-diegetic, asynchronous sound, mainly made up of face-paced drums, whose pace quickens as the audience is taken through the scene. The scene takes on a angry element, as music which involves the sound of drums heavily, like the music that is used, is mainly associated with anger. The audience are given a reason to why Nick may be getting angrier, because as he walks through the town strangers stare at him in the street. The camera shots are edited between Nicks face and the faces of strangers, supposedly staring at Nick, and everytime the camera comes back to Nicks face the shot gets closer and closer, maybe symbolising how all the stares are building up inside him and fueling his anger. The fact that strangers are shown to stare at Nick could represent disability as something unique/odd, and therefore warrants people the desire to look at it, possibly to study the disability in more detail as it is so different to them.

Another sound bridge is used at the end of the scene to inform the audience that Nick is still angry, and Nick confirms this to another character who works for the Army. The scene is quite dark, there isn't much light and the light that is visible are bars of light across Nick's face, again, maybe symbolising that people with disabilities need to be separated from others, or be barred from the 'normal' people. The lack of light also gives off a sinister element, making Nick's anger seem quite dangerous, on the other hand, it could show the idea that people with disabilities feel that they need to protect themselves from people staring, in effect they want to hide away. Editing is used in this scene to show the two sides to Nick's character, the camera switches between the scarred side of Nick's face and the 'normal' side. They could be considered to be binary opposites, as when the camera focuses on the scarred side of Nick's face, Nick releases all the anger he feels about his disability and the prejudice he's faced because of it, but when the camera focuses on the other side of his face, his anger seems to diminish slightly and he seems to show what he has accepted, that he will be 'ugly and scary'. 

In conclusion, I think that The Street represents the stereotypical view of disability, that it is something unique and different, and therefore people find it either interesting or uncomfortable, maybe even scary. I also believe that The Street gives a truthful representation of what prejudices people with visible disabilities may face in day-to-day life, and how it may make them feel about people, or even society on a whole because of this. The main focus of the clip is how people with disability are treated differently, as people don't want to offend them, or seem to think that they need to be treated differently because of their disability.

Film4 Distribution.

• 2002 - big changes to Film4, Tessa Ross was appointed as the head of Film4, and as they realised they were going bankrupt they made 3rd party partnerships, and therefore they don't distribute their own films anymore. (Studio Canal, Love Films ect).
• They have an increased budget, from £8-10 million to £15 million to spend.
• Make between 6-8 films per year.
• They have a low budget studio with Film Council and Optimum:Warp X.
• Working across TV and film drama also allows for economies of scale and cross-fertilisation.
• Film4's money comes from advertisers, they have more adverts on their website than other film companies, such as Working Title.
• They have many partnerships with distribution companies.
• Worked with Working Title, BBC and BBC Films to distribute films.
• Warp X - a Film4/UK Film Council joint project with the Sheffield-based indie Warp- that can finance three low budget films a year.

Avatar Case Study.

Director - James Cameron
Budget - $237million
$2.6 billion - worldwide box office average.
Won Oscars and Golden Globes.
Shown in 3D.
Shot on a 'virtual camera' - allowed James Cameron to move through a 3D terrain (produced in 2003).
3D = stereoscopic films.
3D films earn more money than 2D films.
Largely protected from piracy because it is harder to copy 3D films than it is to replicate 2D.
New 3D, 'illusion of depth' - 2 cameras shoot images side-by-side to give a 3D effect.
Most successful 3D films are also animated.
70% of Avatar is CGI including the main female character.
The cast wore motion capture suits for most of the filming.
Cast acted out their scenes on a 'performance capture' stage, six time bigger than anything used before.
A skull cap was also used to capture the actors facial expressions.
Allows film-makers to add the special effects later, but also letting them position the camera wherever they want.
Setup was the creation of a virtual monitor that allowed the director to see the motion capture results in real time.
Innovative filming rig consisting of a number of stereoscopic cameras that each use a pair of lenses built in to mimic the human eye.
Friday 21st August 2009 - official designated 'Avatar Day'. A 15 minutes trailer was released worldwide throughout cinemas.
London, 21st April 2010 - 20th Century Fox launched the industry's first rich interactive trailer for the DVD eg. zoom in and out any frame, pause and select hot spots which led to extended clips of scenes. Meant people wouldn't be bothered about watching the film at home, rather than at the cinema, because they had all the extra features.
Thinkjam: built interactive units and Eyeblaster.
The adverts debuted simultaneously across the web in 15 markets around the world - makes everyone feel equal because they saw it all at the same time, reduces piracy.
Needs a digitally equipped cinema (possibly silver-coated screen to make it brighter) and a pair of special polarised glasses for everyone to see the film.
Tickets cost more than normal 2D films, as there is an extra cost to the exhibitor.
Cinemas can't show these types of films if they don't have a digital projector.
320 out of 3,600 cinemas are digitally equipped in Britain.
It costs £80,000 to get cinemas into the position to show 3D films.

Additional Notes.
Film4  - 'tiny commissioning department... remit is to make adventurous contemporary films outside the studio system' - Tessa Ross. In the UK, the UK Film Council, Film4 and BBC Films remain the three main film financiers. Slumdog Millionaire was unusual because of its success.

Working Title Notes
Crowd-pleasing, generally produce romcoms. The real secret is their mastery of international distribution.

Distribution Notes
US distribution companies pay more than £5million on making British film prints.
Smaller British distributors try to 'get a film away' with £25,000.
Last year, 73 different film distributors released films in the UK.
Distribution companies have to work differently to Hollywood distributors to stand out.
Distribution companies will plan ahead before they even get the film eg. the DVD.
In the past decade, the public film sector has grown substantially.
The new technologies is having a huge impact on smaller companies and films. Allows more prints to be made.
The UK Film Council were helping British film makers to reduce Hollywood's influence by funding non-mainstream films and they also provided digital facilities to smaller companies.
Studio Canal is the most significant new force in the UK film making.
Optimum Releasing is also a French distribution company (like Studio Canal) that had distributed Film4 and Working Title films.
Where Hollywood leaves in film distribution, companies like Studio Canal have taken their place.

Distribution Cont.

Release of films
Marketability: audience? devising a strategy.
How much money in marketing? What can the movie take?
Speaking to media partners; radio, newspapers, TV, cinemas?
Premiere.
Online websites, media, newspapers.
Choose the right target audience.

Positioning and audience
Genre of film? Speaks to which age group?
Target film using director and actors to certain people.

Target audience
Smaller films focus more on their target audience.
Gather ideas from past films, but there is also an element of gambling.
45+ age group - make decisions from TV, needs to be reinforced to make them go.
Teenagers - may just turn up at the cinema and watch whatever is on at the time, less fussy about what they see.

Marketing plan
Advertising - more expensive adverts in magazines ect.  publicity of the film, stories about the film aka media coverage.
Outdoor advertising - adverts on buses, billboards.
Word of mouth - free advertising, make or break a film.
Internet - emails and virals.
Screening programmes.

Competition
Films need to stand above other films released at the same time.
Why do the audience want to see your film?
Oct/Nov: good time for cinema going, bad weather, people more inclined to see a movie, good release time.
Weather plays a part in advertising.
Big outdoor posters in the summer mean more people will be more likely to see it as they spend more time outside.

Word of mouth
Critical to any movie, but mainly to smaller productions.
Can make a film either fantastically strong or very bad.
Companies work with media partners to show advance screenings.
People listen to what their friends think more than film reviews, if they say the film is good more people are likely to go and see it.
The life expectancy of a film is shorter if there is bad word of mouth.

Budget
Covers films prints and technical elements.
Advertising costs: making trailers, posters ect.
What is the target market audience? Where will they see adverts?
Radio advertising is cheap.

Viral marketing
Videos, quizzes ect, people send on the emails if the film looks good. (simple process)
Most effective means of advertising, more than press reviews ect.
Most spoof trailers are produced by the marketing company to generate more interest in the film.

Digital marketing
Piracy has escalated over the past few years, this will decrease the amount of piracy happening in the film industry.
20% of all DVD sales in the UK are pirate copies.
Piracy is damaging the film industry.

Editing.

How is editing used in the film Memento?

The film starts off using a close up of a hand holding a picture of a man dead on the floor with half his head missing, and blood all over the walls. After a short period of time, the character holding the photo then shakes it, as one would do when helping a picture to develop. When the photo is re shown to the audience the picture has faded. The action is repeated another 3 times and each time the picture fades a little more, this gives the impression of time rewinding itself, which is supported when the objects such as bullet case and glasses fly backwards, and the whole scene takes place in reverse.

There is then a smooth cut from the dead man's face, before he is shot, to a close up on the main characters face. However the scene has changed, the picture is now in black and white, and the main character is the only person in the room. The editing tells the audience that this scene is something separate from the main storyline that they just witnessed, which is confirmed when the main character, Leonard, starts to explain the condition he has. It allows the audience to receive more information in a simpler way, rather than leaving them confused for the rest of the film as to what is happening.

The scene then ends and is cut to a picture of the man who the audience had just seen Leonard shoot, Teddy. In the scene the editing is also used to cut between the two characters faces during their conversation, showing the audience how Leonard reacts to Teddy, and the expressions on the characters faces when they converse, giving an insight to what they are thinking. Editing can also give the audience more information in a different way, for example when Leonard leans into an abandoned car to see what's inside, and the shot changes to a close up of 4 bullets on the front seat of the car. At the same time it symbolises how important these bullets are, because they show that something isn't right with the situation, as the place is apparently 'abandoned'.

At the end of each scene, the edit used allows the film to cut between time frames, each 'coloured' scene goes back in time, showing the action that led to the consequence, therefore meaning each scene ends with what was the beginning of the scene before the one playing. Each shot also starts and ends with the same action, so the editing makes the transition of information smooth, the audience don't notice the edit, these can also be referred to as 'invisible cuts'.

Edits that lead to close ups of certain aspects in the film are used quite regularly, mainly to focus the audiences attention on important parts of the film. For example, everytime Leonard is given a new piece of information which he has had before but doesn't remember, the shot is edited to a close up shot in order to allow the audience to see this new information, and put together the clues along with him.

In conclusion, the editing used in Memento helps to give the film an original storyline, and a unique way of telling a story to the audience. It draws the audiences attention to the storyline, but it also doesn't leave them too confused, due to the use of 'invisible cuts' throughout the film which are used to make the audience feel like they are actually there in the film, it makes the film more realistic. The editing also allows the main character to suffer from his memory loss in a way, because using the idea of time going backwards shows the audience why he suffers from the memory loss, and why he is seen doing certain actions, like shooting Teddy in the head at the beginning of the film. On the whole though the editing is very disjointed, skipping between time frames, symbolising how confusing Leonard's life must be for him and how jumbled his day-to-day life must be.

Sound.

Diegetic - natural sounds within a scene.

Non-diegetic - added to a scene - soundtrack. Potential problem: less realistic. Potential benefit: more dramatic.

Sound bridge - when sound which carries on over two scenes, literally creating a 'bridge' between events.

Incidental music - short sequence of sound to create an emotion/feeling.

Asynchronous sound - a 'natural' sound out of place and without a source.

Contrapunctual - sound which creates an opposite  emotion to the one on the screen.


Skins Notes.

enigma code - why is he awake?
camera angle - above him, zooming out (allows us to analyse it, creates the impression of it being a slow morning), close up on his face (makes us want to find out more about him)
props - bed spread middle - bisexual? enigma: open with his parents? parents don't care? rebelling?), neat unrumpled (didn't sleep, controlling), he stands out against his sheets (dark hair, white pillows)
lighting - one shaft of light across his face (doesn't want to sleep? curtains not drawn, letting the light in), relatively dark.
scene - his room, tidy (controlling, symbolic), clean, white (hard to keep clean, controlling)
sounds - church bells (British culture, church Sunday? slow, asynchronous),birds (asynchronous),alarm (action code), diegetic.
shadows - two on either side of his face (two sides to him?) symbolic.

How is sexuality presented in this clip?

The scene starts off with a extreme close up on the characters face, and in the distance there are two diegetic sounds; church bells ringing and birds twittering. Both of these are asynchronous sounds because you cannot see where the sound is coming from, as the camera is still fixed upon the characters face, but at the same time slowly zooming out to reveal more of his surroundings. As the camera zooms out, you see that the pillows he has been 'sleeping' on look freshly made, and that there is a shaft of light across his face. This poses the question did he actually sleep at all? His pillows don't look like someone has been sleeping on them and the light would surely have been there all night, which means did he want to sleep? Plus the fact that teenagers are not normally awake that early on a Sunday morning would add to the curiosity.

The camera carries on zooming out slowly, giving the scene a slow pace, possibly signifying that the character is tired, or that it will be quite a slow day, which added with the church bells (a British culture code), could symbolise it to be a Sunday morning. During this more and more of the characters room is revealed and you see him lying in his bed. His bed cover is of a naked man and woman lying to the left and right of the cover, which is also unrumpled, supporting the idea that he has not slept. He is lying right in the middle of the bed, right between the two people on his bed cover, possibly symbolising that he is a bisexual, due to the fact that he is not associating himself with either of the two people on his bed spread.

If we take the idea that the character was up all night thinking about his sexuality, then the use of the church bells in the clip take on a different meaning. It could be seen that the bells are reminding him of his sexuality, as being a homosexual is seen as a sin in the church's eyes, and therefore if the character comes from a religious family, this could be a cause of worry for him. In the scene there are two shadows on either side of the characters face, maybe symbolising that there are two different sides to him, which also links in to the idea of the character being a bisexual, as it could represent the part of him that likes women, and the part of him that likes men. Because the character is in the middle of these two shadows, it could present the point that he feels stuck in the middle of the problem, unsure whether he should tell people, but on the other hand worried what they would say if he did.

The scene finishes with an above shot of the character in his bed with some of his room visible. From what is shown the bedroom looks very neat and clean, everything seems to have a certain place and the floor is bare, not covered in items (such as clothes) as people would expect to see in a teenage boys room. It gives the impression that the character takes pride in the things he owns, and likes everything to look presentable, maybe giving him a controlling edge to his personality. However, taking more of a pride in appearances that teenage boys usually would could be linked to the idea of homosexuality. Interest in appearance is something that is stereotypically associated with gay men, and therefore the use of this aspect in the scene also adds to the idea of the character being a bisexual. 

To conclude the clip presents sexuality in two different ways, being loud and brash about it by using the bed cover, which stands out because of it's uniqueness, but also by using subtle hints, such as using the shadows to represent the two sides of the character. However the bed cover could just symbolise that the character is a very confident person, and is not worried about having such a 'different' bed spread, or that he likes to rebel against his parents, who would probably not approve of his choice.

Distribution.

What is distribution?
What is a distributor?
Distribution and Marketing.

• Tony Angelletti - 'audience has the greatest power.' '...if the audience likes a particular superstar, then Hollywood is forced to use them.' Summary: the audience is in control of what the film industry makes.
• Toby Miller - 'budget of a film often sees 50% going on promotion.' 'consumer can exercise authority is absurd.' Summary: Hollywood control the films that we want to see.

What is film distribution?
Describes everything that happens between making the film and people watching the film.
All the deals that happen are used to promote the film.
Above the line - everything the distribution company pays for eg. trailers, poster, billboards... ect.
Below the line - all the free publicity eg. interviews with the actors, fan sites and reviews.

Is it all fair?
Big companies control their own distribution and others.
Films are loaned out to cinemas and release deals are done that secure access to a certain number of screens.
UK film market - increase in the quantity of screens showing British films has not led to an increase of British films being shown.

Five major distributors in UK film industry (all are American companies):
1. United International Pictures (Universal is included in this)
2. Warner Brothers
3. Buena Vista
4. 20th Century Fox
5. Sony

• Roughly 9 of out 10 films are distributed by the above companies.
• Distributors are directly linked to Hollywood production companies who make the films, and the exhibitors who prioritise Hollywood films for profit.
• Blockbuster films are distributed via 'blanket release' meaning the other films are competing for attention.
• Blanket release - the film will be shown everywhere, covers the other films being shown at the time, considered to be 'an event' as there is such a big hype about it.
• Half of the British films being shown in Britain do not reach the whole country due to this.

Problems smaller companies face
Every film shown in cinemas needs a print, and a separate print for each cinema it is being shown in, which then uses the prints to project the film via a reel.
Smaller companies can't afford to make as many prints as larger companies can, therefore less cinemas will screen the film and less people will watch it, minimising profit.
UK Film Council is financially supporting British films by using Digital Screen Network.

The dominance of Hollywood
Marketing - Pirates of the Caribbean 2 made over £50 million in the UK box office and 1.5 million DVD's were brought after 10 days of release, despite bad reviews. Good marketing gave the film success.

The Dark Knight
First big blockbuster to use viral advertising to that extent.
Cost £185 million to make.
On 20th July 2008 The Dark Knight was shown on 4336 screens in the UK.
Compared to This Is England which was shown on 62 screens on 29th April 2007.

The piracy problem and film distribution
Piracy is a major concern of all film distributors, with Hollywood investigators claiming a 10% increase each year in revenue lost to illegal distribution.
The UK has the highest level of DVD piracy.
The UK Film Council reminded the public that they're hurting the small production companies by piracy.
Can digital film and projection stop this?

Digital distribution advantages
It promises to transform the film industry.
Downloading films via broadband means companies don't have to spend money on prints and cinemas ect.
It has the advantage of every film being identical versions as things can't go missing or get damaged, so you will still have the same high quality not matter how long you have the film for.
More controlled and has better security, almost impossible to pirate films.
Simultaneous global distribution via the internet will stop the 'time gap'.

Moral Panics, Hypodermic Theory And The Passive Audience

Columbine High School Massacre
2 students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, went to their school and started shooting fellow students.
12 students and 1 teacher died and 21 more were injured. After the two boys committed suicide.
Apparently influenced by a game called 'Doom' which both teenagers played on frequently and had created their own levels for it. In the game you play as a marine posted to Mars and consequently have to fight off Martian creatures.
Analysists thought that the game enhanced the teenagers violence and their restriction from the game brought on the massacre.
Another games thought to have had an impact upon Eric and Dylan was Wolfenstein 3D, where an American tries to escape Castle Wolfenstein and overthrow the Nazi regime.
Others blamed violent films and music, natural killers and Marylin Manson for the massacre, claiming that all had a profound effect on the two boys.
After the massacre a game was created about them, and the massacre was included where people got to play as Eric and Dylan. The downloads of the game increased when the media started covering it, making it more popular.

Social Networking - Facebook
Facebook allows you to keep up to date with your friends and family.
The network has limited security and allows anyone to see your personal details, such as photos with you in them.
Even after you may have deleted your account there is still a backup of it, on the networks hard drive.
People can loose their jobs due to employers looking at their Facebook profile, and events like house parties can get out of hand if posted onto a social network.
Your identity can also be stolen and used by other people.
It also gives cyber bullying the opportunity to take place, and statistics show that it's mainly men who are the victims of this.

Skins
Thought to be a bad influence on teenagers, as they want to live the glamorised lives they are shown in the programme.
Can be seen as offensive to older viewers. Most parents don't like the programme and would prefer their son/daughter not to watch it.
Includes a lot of story lines involving drugs, sex, alcohol consumption and little education.
The Sun branded the programme controversial.
Attracts a lot of media attention, boosting the audience figures.

Manhunt
The game is about a convict who has been spared the lethal injection by someone who he only knows through an ear piece. It carries on to show the person who you play as being kidnapped and having to fight his way back to freedom.
It is thought that the game is effecting today's youth, making them more violent and involved in crime.
A boy in Leicester stabbed his best friend to death and was thought to be influenced by Manhunt, however he had never actually played the game.
Because of this the media portrayed the game as a bad influence and something that should be banned, consequently the sales of the game increased.
It was reported that New Zealand had banned the game because of its graphic nature, however this was untrue, but it still helped the game to sell.

Paranormal Activity
The film had to be banned in America after people left the theatres ect from the content.
Apparently uses real footage from the story which the film is based on.
Considered to be a bad influence on people, they used the film to play sinister practical jokes on their friends.
Has three alternate endings.
Gained huge publicity because of the massive amount of media coverage, and raving reviews.

CoD
Has a level where players can play in the role of a terrorist and kill innocent civilians in an airport.
The level is surrounded in controversy, does it show people that it's acceptable to kill?
Players are warned about the content of the level and are given the option to pass it with no penalties. They are also not told to kill the civilians, but aren't allowed to kill the terrorists if they want to complete the level.
Debate: is the level really needed? You gain or lose nothing whether you complete the mission or not.

Representation Of Ethnicity In Hotel Babylon.

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Explain how ethnicity is represented in the clip. Mention mise en scene, editing and sound.


The clip starts with looking at the ethnicity of black people, portrayed in two different ways. The two characters could be describe as binary opposites because they are so different to each other, it shows one guy called Benjamin, who works for the hotel, as someone who doesn't want to get involved with the things he did in his past, in effect he has turned his life around and become a 'respectable person'. On the other hand, his old friend, who he hasn't seen in 7 years (signifying how well he has managed to stay away from his past), wants to carrying on living in his younger years. The lighting in this scene is quite dull, maybe showing the stereotypical idea that black people are involved in 'shady deals', or activities that need to be kept in the dark. Benjamin's friend has dreadlocks and tattoos,adding to the image that black males are mixed up in dangerous things, and could be referred to as a 'rebel' in simpler terms. During the exchange between the two characters the over the shoulder shot is used. It helps to show the binary opposites by panning between the two characters, allowing the viewers to compare the two and notice the differences between them. The music played in the clip has a slight beat to it, like hip hop or rap music does, giving the section a 'gangster' feel to it.

In the next section the clip shows two female cleaners, both of which are French, dragging cleaning trolleys to a particular room. This could show that mainly European women do these types of jobs, aka cleaning jobs, because they either don't have the qualifications for a better job or that the can only get work in low paid jobs as they are 'illegal immigrants'. When they enter the room there is a Japanese man sitting on the bed, in a dressing gown, apparently waiting for them. The older of the two maids has already said that the man "pays double for double" suggesting that they may have to do something extra than just cleaning his room in return for extra money, which portrays the woman as greedy, as they seem to be willing to do anything for some more money. The said money is shown to be placed upon a table in two neat piles, showing the stereotypical idea that Japanese people are very tidy and organised. He then picks up the remote and turns the CD player on which plays Moulin Rouge, which is a up beat, sexy song making the scene feel quite sexual and as the music plays the cleaners start to take off their uniforms, giving the audience a good idea about what they have to do for the extra money. Close up shots are used on the Japanese mans face, showing him getting sweaty and watching the maids avidly. The use of this camera angle allows the audience to see the stereotypical view of Japanese men being perverts or dirty people, as he's paying the maids to strip off for him.

The scene after is short and shows a woman who works for the hotel coming into someones room. She then passes some toilet paper through the door to a Mr Taylor, who is not seen in the section. Mr Taylor sounds angry and impatient when speaking to the woman, and as he is British, it portrays British people as rude and impatient. The two actors that we see next, also British, are talking about the chefs in the hotel kitchens. They are dressed very smartly and talk 'properly', suggesting that they are from the 'upper classes' of people, and therefore are quite posh.

Finally the scene in the kitchen involves an Italian chef and a British chef. The Italian chef is dressed in black whereas the British chef is dressed in white, and you find out that the Italian man has slept with the British chefs wife. The black dress suggests an 'evil' side, as black it usually associated with evil, with white being its binary opposite, therefore symbolises the 'good' aspect. Also the fact that the Italian chef has slept with another mans wife could show Italian's to be 'womanisers' and quite reckless people. This is backed up when, during an argument between the two chefs, the Italian man picks up a meat cleaver and threatens to use it, which fits in with the idea of Italians being reckless, and adds the idea that get angry quite easily, that they are 'hot-headed'. Throughout the argument each chef calls each other offensive names in reference to their ethnicity allowing the camera to flick back and forth between them and close in on their faces giving the audience the impression of how angry both are getting, and showing, in some ways, Italian and British stereotypes.

In conclusion I think that Hotel Babylon represents ethnicity quite simply, picking up and using some stereotypes, but not being too controversial about it. They stick to the ideas about ethnicity that are already thought by the audience, therefore avoiding a cognitive dissonance, and allowing the audience to concentrate on the story line the characters are involved in, rather than their, possibly, complicated ethnicity.

Analysis Of Eva Mendes.

How does Calvin Klein represent females here in the above advert? Are they objectified or sexually empowered?


In this Calvin Klein advert Eva Mendes is shown to be a dominant and slightly aggressive woman due to her pose. She is standing in the stereotypical powerful stance, her hands on her hips and legs apart (steady footing). This gives her the impression of being aggressive because her pose indicates that she has attitude, and isn't the sort of person who would back down easily if confronted. The photo is also shot at a low angle making her look more powerful as she is 'looking down' on you, giving the impression that she is better than you. This is also supported by her facial expression, her eyes are closed so she doesn't make eye contact, which also makes her seem superior because it's like she doesn't deem you important enough to look at. Plus her teeth are slightly bared, sending out aggressive signals.

However the photo does also exudes a sexual element, mainly to help sell the product. She's wearing high heels to make her legs look slimmer, and also to give her more height, adding to the dominating feel of the photo. The use of this also objectifies Eva because makes her something to which men want to look at and wish to 'possess'. It helps to sell the underwear as it makes men think that their partner could look like the model, and therefore they have a little piece of 'what they want' so to speak. Another point that shows that Calvin Klein objectifies females is the fact that there is no ring on the models hand. It makes her seem 'available', showing that she doesn't belong to anybody, which portrays that females who do wear a ring, and essentially, are married, 'belong' to someone and are unavailable to other people, the same way people view objects. If an object belongs to you, no one else can have it.

The use of suspenders in the photo both sexually empowers and objectifies females. On one hand it can make the photo more attractive to potential buyers, mainly male buyers, because it shows the more sexy side of the photo, as suspenders are associated with sexiness. But there could also be the point that women are only there to look good for men, something for the man to 'control' as it were. Finally the fact that the model has been oiled to make her look wet, and with the damp hair it suggests she's just come out of the shower, makes her seem sexually empowered because it gives the impression that she's going out for the night to a party, date, meal ect. This makes females seem sexually empowered because it makes people think that they need to dress up in 'sexy' outfits when they go out, especially if they are available, to make them more appealing to the opposite sex. However it also poses the question that do females have to dress up when they go out? Taken from this angle it could show that Calvin Klein is objectifying females, single females mainly, as it could suggest that men expect women to dress up for them if they go out because it's what they want to see, still involving the controlling element.

To conclude I think that Calvin Klein represents females as sexually empowered because the whole photo is sexually suggestive and appealing to people. I believe this because most of the attention is drawn towards the models groin, the 'masculine' bra, which is simple and plain, doesn't draw the eye, whereas the use of the hands on the hips and the head turned away tries to pinpoint people's focus to the models groin. Having her hands on her hips draws the attention to her hips and with her fingers pointing to the underwear makes people focus on that particular area.

Stereotypes In British TV Dramas.

Select one character from a British TV drama and explain how they are a 'stereotypical' representation of your area of study (sexuality).

A stereotypical view of homosexuality is that gay men tend to be more feminine than other males, take an interest in peoples appearance (mainly their own) and sometimes overreact about little things. The British TV drama I chose was Downton Abbey because it shows two types of stereotypes about homosexuality. The programme is set in an Edwardian country house during 1912, and shows the lives of the Crawely family and their servants. Thomas, the Crawely's first footman, played by Rob James Collier, is a 'closet gay'. This phrase is used to describe someone who is a homosexual, but no one knows about it, usually because the person fears rejection from people they know if they told them.


The programme mixes two stereotypes about homosexuals, the more 'modern' look, which I referred to above, and the more 'out dated' view. In 1912 homosexuality would have been something of disgust, and any gay acts were illegal until 1967, meaning it was almost impossible for people to be openly gay. This is shown in Downton Abbey when Thomas goes out on a date with another servant. The girl, who has no idea about Thomas' sexuality, receives a warning about Thomas from the cook, who brands him as 'a boy who has fallen off the tracks'. This is a stereotypical representation of homosexuals because the other characters are trying to tell the girl that Thomas is a bad person, someone who she shouldn't be associated with, without actually mentioning that he is gay, as it wasn't something people talked about in that period. It agrees with the public view of sexuality in 1912, reinforcing the stereotype that homosexuals are 'bad people'.


Thomas, as a character, is also cruel to the other servants and uses his sexuality to push himself higher up in the social ladder. This is also agreeing with the 1912 stereotype of homosexuals, as they were thought to be calculating and sleazy, which is supported by Thomas' manipulation of the Crawely's guest. However, this doesn't support today's stereotype of homosexuals because they are seen as feminine people, therefore quite gentle/dainty and not capable of manipulating someone.


At one point in the programme the other footman, William, comes downstairs with his shirt not tucked in properly, which Thomas picks up on immediately. Thomas then proceeds to berate William and gets the other servants to tease him about his scruffy appearance. This supports today's stereotype of homosexuals because it backs up the idea of gay people taking a interest in peoples appearance, as none of the other servants had noticed until Thomas pointed it out. He also overreacts about the whole thing, making a bigger production out of it than he needed to. This depicts Thomas as a stereotypical homosexual because he shows the personality trait of overreaction, which is something people associate with women and more feminine people, such as homosexuals.


To conclude, in Downton Abbey, Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality, but it focuses more on the 1912 stereotype, mainly because the programme is a period drama and therefore the characters act how they would have in 1912. Thomas is a stereotypical representation of homosexuality because he acts the way people expect closet gays to act, such as going out with women to cover up his sexuality, and he has the stereotypical personality traits of a gay male. I believe that Downton Abbey reinforces the stereotypical idea of homosexuals because they include all the stereotypical personality traits and relationships people would expect to see. This would avoid creating a cognitive dissonance, because it would agree with most people's views of homosexuals. Downton Abbey would try to avoid creating a cognitive dissonance so that more people would watch their programme, as for a Sunday night people want to relax before they have to go back to work/school, and therefore won't want to watch something that they don't agree with and ultimately, dislike.

Working Title Research Cont.

1. Production practices
2. Distribution - trailers/internet: website fact page -archive, live cast, competitions, pulicity material and latest projects.
3. Exhibition.

Latest projects from 2006 to 2010 (sub-catergory - genres)
Choose favourite film - promotions (Drop Dead Fred.)

The Male Gaze - Trevor Millum (1990s)

Seductive

A cool expression, less reserved but still confident. Eyes aren't wide and it's in general a milder picture.

Carefree

An active, out door type, healthy woman, described as 'nymph like' or vibrant. Quite often smiling or grinning in the picture.

Practical

Concentrating on what they're doing, eyes focused anywhere except the camera, mouth closed, sometimes with a slight frown. Usually a short style or hair tied back.

Comic

Messing around, acting silly/the fool, pulling faces and being exaggerated.

Catalogue

Has an artificial (dummy) look, expression is vacant and empty showing no personality, any pose, usually with wide eyes and a smile.

The Male Gaze - Marjorie Ferguson (1980s)

Chocolate Box

Half/full smile, lips together/slightly parted with teeth barely visible. Face turned towards camera or else full face. A blandly pleasing picture, devoid of uniqueness.

Invitational

Mouth shut with a hint of a smile, emphasises on the eyes, with the head to one side or looking back to the camera. A 'flirt', hinting mystery/mischief.

Super-smiler

Picture includes the whole face with a wide/broad smile. Hair can be blown around the face, and the head is either pushed forwards or the chin is thrown back. 'Look at me!' attitude, can be seen as aggressive.

Romantic or Sexual

The picture includes a male and a female, or partners, with a dreamy quality. Both people will be heavy-lidded and possibly in an overly sensual/sexual pose. Makes the people look available.

The Male Gaze - Laura Mulvey.

The concept of gaze is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented.


Feminists (3 ways)
1. How men look at women. (see women as 'lesser' people, less powerful, objectified ect)
2. How women look at themselves. (looking for ways to improve themselves)
3. How women look at one another. (seeing what clothes they wear ect)


Film audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The camera lingers on the curves of the body, and events which occur to women are presented largely in the context of a man's reaction to these events. Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondarily, by identification of the male.



We had to answer five questions on this music video.

1. What colour tops was he and she wearing? blue and blue with white stripes.
2. What number was the lane? 10 x lane 3
3. What colour belts did he and she wear? brown and pink
4. What colour shoes did he and she wear? bowling shoes (red, blue, and white) and red
5. What colour eyes did he and she have? blue and brown.

The idea was that the girls would noticed these little details better than the boys would, as the boys would mainly be looking at the woman in the video.

Some theorists also have noted the sexualising of the female body even in situations where the female sexiness has nothing to do with the product being advertised.

Working Title.

• Co-chairpersons of Working Title (WT), Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner, founded the company in 1984 with Sarah Radclyffe.
• 'They have been listed as the most powerful figures in the British industry' - BBC News.
• Only 42 full time staff
• Split between the main Working Title production and the low budget Working Title 2.
• 'The Working Title philosophy has been to make films for an audience and played in a multiplex... only hope we have of sustaining the UK film industry.' - Lucy Guard and Natasha Wharton.
• Mass audiences - for everyone, not a niche/selective audience.
• More than 85 films that have grossed over 54 million worldwide.
• Won lots of awards: 6 Academy Awards, 26 BAFTA awards and 4 Oscars.
• They have an impressive catalogue of films from a wide range of genres.
• Working Title flops: Thunderbirds and Wimbledon.
• 'Blockbuster comedies of Richard Curtis and Rowan Atkinson... punchy period films... political dramas... literary adaptations... family... cultish low-budgeters... Coen brothers' - Variety magazines.
• '...fresh talent, such as directors Joe Wrightm Stephen Daldry, Shekhar Kapur.'
• In addition to which it has launched Working Title 2, a subsidiary for low budget films with an 'independent' appeal.
• Working Title was taken by Universal in 1999, Tim Bevan said 'We were now part of a big structure, so we spent much less time on finding the money and much more on developing decent scripts.'
• All the films are currently distributed by Universal Pictures who own a 67% stake in the company and many of its recent films are co-productions with Studio Canal.
• The remaining shares are owned by the company's founders, BBC film and private investors.
• Universal's involvement will vary widely from project to project.
• Pride and Prejudice - $20 million budget.
• Interpreter - $80 million budget (director - Sidney Pollock, starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn.)
• Universal only get involved in films with big names, such as the film Interpreter.
• Clever and tactical about film projects.
• Films from 2004 - Bridget Jones 2 and Shaun of the Dead.
• Working Title have to make one big blockbuster movie a year for Universal.
• Working Title 2 - Shaun of the Dead, Billy Elliot, Ali G In Da House.
• Films exploit English cultural 'heritage' as well as pop culture with a more modern touch.
• There is a long history between American actors playing leading roles in Working Title films as English people.
• Trailers are made to match the target audience.
• Timing - Christmas films are released at Christmas time, to fit in with the audience's mood.
• Notting Hill was released before Star Wars so that it wouldn't be up against a big blockbuster but it also gave people who weren't interested in Sci-Fi (mainly women) to see something they would like to watch.
• Glossary's are used to translate words for different countries, for example, 'barristar' changes to 'attorney'.
• London comes across as an elegant, clean, sanitized city in Working Title films, eg Notting Hill.

Leon Festinger.

Stereotypes shape the public opinion. They are narrative shortcuts which orientate the audiences expectations. Some people argue that stereotypes are fixed and unchanging. (Mass audience and hypothermic theory).

Festinger believes we resist changing out opinions unless faced with overwhelming evidence against what we believe. Cognitive dissonance is when our 'brain' encounters new ideas and rejects them because they don't match our expectations. (Reflective/two way flow).

Age

• Babies - cute, target (aspirational) audience is children mainly.
• Children - child characters act more mature, making children want to be more mature than they actually are.
• Teenagers - cool characters with an action packed life, not realistic, kids look up to them,everyday aspects of life (such as school) are ignored, older teenagers are seen to be put into categories (chavs, geeky guys/girls, ditzy blonde ect).
• Skins - druggies, drop-outs, have over exaggerated lives, seems more glamorised.
• Young adults - good looking, perfect people, the 'ideal' age that people want.
• Older women - sophisticated, glamorous.
• Older men - glamorous, powerful.
• Old people - weak, old, war heroes, crazy.

Ability/Disability

• Clothing - 'house wear' because they are supposedly spending a lot of time indoors, comfortable, warm.
• Setting - run down bungalows that need work, untidy, dirty because they can't clean up after themselves.
• Camera angles - looks down on the disabled characters making them look small and powerless. There is normally also a helper in the shot.
• Programmes focus on the disability rather than the character.
• Personality traits - stupid or supremely evil characters. People also assume that they have a mental deficiency.

Gender

• Women - seen to wear dresses (ladies sign), long hair, weak, house wife, small, less responsibility than a man, prone to crying/overreacting.
• Men - wear trousers (mens sign) short hair, strong, more money, working, big, patriarchal, more supportive/protective, stoic.
• Men do more fighting, more aggressive/violent than women.
• Because men film and create TV programmes they understand what it is like to see things from a men's point of view, rather than a women's, so all programmes and such are filmed in a 'male gaze'.
• Representations of men: strength (physical and intellectual), power, sexual attractiveness, physique and independence of thought/action.
• Representations of women: beauty, size/physique, sexuality, emotional and relationships.

Film Industry.

1. Concept
2. Film production - script, directors, cast, filming, editing.
3. Distribution - selling the film, marketing, new technologies
4. Exhibition - premiere, cinemas, film festivals.

Working Title - small British film company, part of Universal Studios.

Film Questionnaire.

To start our film work, we were asked to go around the class and ask people questions about their film habits. Our questionnaire was made up of 15 questions, and we had to ask at least 10 people. The results were then typed up on Microsoft Excel and uploaded onto Scribd, here is the link to my questionnaire results:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/38961424/Media-Questionnaire

Prezi Presentations.

Age

• Baby - can be annoying because all it does is cry or either look cute and cuddly (stereotypical views).
• Old man - spend their time just sitting about, can be portrayed of not being quite all there, or else be someone of wisdom (stereotypical views).
• Both people need to be looked after as they both can be seen as helpless.
• However old people can look after themselves, and don't always need help or care.
• Stereotypical teenagers - steal, act cheeky to their elders, are arrogant (shown in Little Britain, which focuses on the over exaggeration of stereotypes), usually depressed, under aged drinking, and always moaning.
• Middle aged people spend most of their time arguing.

Regional Identity

• North - friendly people but reject 'outsiders', don't pronounce 'the' when speaking, more innocent, less intelligent, more miserable, enjoy moaning about their lives (stereotypical idea).
• South - less rural, monochrome looking, mainly made up of cities, money based society, more straightforward about subjects, fast paced lifestyle (stereotypical idea).
• Countryside - wear more casual clothes, more relaxed lifestyle, considered a working class.

Ethnicity

• Hoodies and dark clothing make people look unapproachable, considered to be the sort of clothes black men would wear, this is not true though because black men can wear whatever sort of clothes they like, they all don't wear just one style.
• Indian wedding, have to wear traditional Indian dress, seem heavily religious and are subjected to arranged marriages, can't be gay (stereotypical view)
• TV programmes mainly made up of white actors/actresses.
• 'This is England' uses camera shots from down below, showing that the characters are more lower class and quite intimidating.
• Lower class - run down, intimidating because they're supposedly violent, people are afraid of them, live in council houses (stereotype)
• Black male - lazy, doesn't want to work or help the community, however this stereotype is challenged in 'Hollyoaks' where the character of Calvin, a young black male, is a police officer and tries to help out his community as much as he can.

Here is mine and Josh's prezi presentation on sexuality and how it is portrayed in the media.

Sexuality on Prezi

Sexuality

• Tight fitting clothes, prep look (stereotypical gay men)
• Cannot brand people's sexuality on what they wear
• Spend their time in gay clubs or gay parades (media coverage/stereotype)
• Use the same type of camera angles, except for when filming scenes involving the characters sexuality
• Make gay male characters 'glow' to make them more feminine and less intimidating
• Well spoken, gesturing when talking, high pitched voice, not interested in sports, care in their appearance, over acting, 'drama queen' (stereotypical views on gay men)
• Billy Elliot - dad is angry about Billy taking dance lessons, boys dancing can be seen as gay
• Lesbians - enjoy sports, act manly, deep voices, short hair, 'butch' (stereotypical view)
• Plots involve the character finding out they're gay, how they cope with it, and possibly what abuse they suffer.