Shane Meadows
-Attracted to films based around similar events to his life in Uttoxeter (i.e. based around the Midlands or characters turning to petty crime).
-Dead Man's Shoes is based on the more unpleasant side of his youth in Uttoxeter. It was inspired by a close friend who had been bullied, developed a drug problem and then committed suicide.
-Influences: Ken Loach and Mike Leigh
-Fan of Notts County F.C., making several references in his films by way of imagery and background shots.
-Uses kitchen-sink realism
-Claims to be self-taught
Pawel Pawlikowski
-Polish Born
-best known for his documentaries (started his career filming for the BBC)
-writes a majority of his films
-Won a BAFTA
-Has does a number of Foriegn language or foriegn based films
Monday 27 February 2012
The Oscars
Quick notes:
-The Artist was the big winner at the Oscars (received ten nominations, winning five awards; at the Golden Globes, the film was nominated for six and won three of them. The Artist became the first silent motion picture in 83 years to win Best Picture.
-Hugo (which won awards for sound and visual effects; 11 nominations, the most nominations for the night, taking home 5 awards) and The Iron Lady also won big
-The Oscars kept up a general trend with the Golden Globes (nominations wise)
-The British film industry was well represented (i.e. War Horse and The Iron Lady) but wasn't well represented winners-wise.
-Although many films had multiple nominations, only three walked away with multiple awards (the artist, hugo and the iron lady).
-The Artist was the big winner at the Oscars (received ten nominations, winning five awards; at the Golden Globes, the film was nominated for six and won three of them. The Artist became the first silent motion picture in 83 years to win Best Picture.
-Hugo (which won awards for sound and visual effects; 11 nominations, the most nominations for the night, taking home 5 awards) and The Iron Lady also won big
-The Oscars kept up a general trend with the Golden Globes (nominations wise)
-The British film industry was well represented (i.e. War Horse and The Iron Lady) but wasn't well represented winners-wise.
-Although many films had multiple nominations, only three walked away with multiple awards (the artist, hugo and the iron lady).
Saturday 25 February 2012
Film Study Notes: Somers Town and Last Resort
Some notes from two recent films I've watched and studied.
Somers Town
Director: Shane Meadows
Budget: £566,616 (entirely funded by Eurostar)
Release: 2008 (UK)
Reception: 96% on rotten tomatoes
Awards: Michael Powell Award (Edinburgh International Film Festival's highest award)
Some notes I made about the film:
-Immigrants (like in Ghosts and Last Resort) live in poor conditions.
-The Polish family (at the opening of the film) are quite strong in the belief of separating us and them.
-Immigrants seem to largely enjoy life in Britain, with the exception of missing family members.
-The film revolves around three people from three different backgrounds and places all coming to one new place (Somers Town). This makes them all forigeners to the area even though one comes from England.
-The main characters seem to have a simple grip on reality. This may be because they are children in an adult world and so retaining a childish outlook on the world.
-All of the main characters, despite being from different backgrounds, all seem to be gravitated to the same things and problems, at one point all being stuck in a rut facing similar situations despite the differences in nationality.
-The film ends by the two boys travelling to Paris to spend time with the girl they have apparently fallen in love with.
Last Resort
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Release: 2001
Reception: 94% On rotten tomatoes
Awards: BAFTA "Most Promising Newcomer in British Film - Pawel Pawlikowski" and Best New British Feature (Edinburgh Film Festival)
Some notes I made about the film:
-The mother appears not to fully understand the situation; like with Ghosts and Somer's Town, she holds a simpler grip on reality. Her son appears to have more sense about what is going on than she does.
-Like in Ghosts and Somer's town, there is a gangster-style buisnessman and several other characters who take advantage of the foreigner's lack of understanding on their situation. For instance, there are children in Last Resort selling items to immigrants to make money.
-Like in Ghosts and Somer's town, the immigrants live in poor conditions, even trying to sell things to make money.
-Also like in the previous two movies, an English character befriends them, eventually helping them escape the situation they're in.
-Unhappy in their new situation and wish to go home.
-The boy makes an effort to learn english like characters in the previous two films. He turns to crime and drinking later on because his lack of understanding of the country and poor conditions means he comes under the influence of "corrupt" teenagers.
-Unlike in Somer's Town, the Russian family leave the main male character Alfie and love to return home.
Somers Town
Director: Shane Meadows
Budget: £566,616 (entirely funded by Eurostar)
Release: 2008 (UK)
Reception: 96% on rotten tomatoes
Awards: Michael Powell Award (Edinburgh International Film Festival's highest award)
Some notes I made about the film:
-Immigrants (like in Ghosts and Last Resort) live in poor conditions.
-The Polish family (at the opening of the film) are quite strong in the belief of separating us and them.
-Immigrants seem to largely enjoy life in Britain, with the exception of missing family members.
-The film revolves around three people from three different backgrounds and places all coming to one new place (Somers Town). This makes them all forigeners to the area even though one comes from England.
-The main characters seem to have a simple grip on reality. This may be because they are children in an adult world and so retaining a childish outlook on the world.
-All of the main characters, despite being from different backgrounds, all seem to be gravitated to the same things and problems, at one point all being stuck in a rut facing similar situations despite the differences in nationality.
-The film ends by the two boys travelling to Paris to spend time with the girl they have apparently fallen in love with.
Last Resort
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Release: 2001
Reception: 94% On rotten tomatoes
Awards: BAFTA "Most Promising Newcomer in British Film - Pawel Pawlikowski" and Best New British Feature (Edinburgh Film Festival)
Some notes I made about the film:
-The mother appears not to fully understand the situation; like with Ghosts and Somer's Town, she holds a simpler grip on reality. Her son appears to have more sense about what is going on than she does.
-Like in Ghosts and Somer's town, there is a gangster-style buisnessman and several other characters who take advantage of the foreigner's lack of understanding on their situation. For instance, there are children in Last Resort selling items to immigrants to make money.
-Like in Ghosts and Somer's town, the immigrants live in poor conditions, even trying to sell things to make money.
-Also like in the previous two movies, an English character befriends them, eventually helping them escape the situation they're in.
-Unhappy in their new situation and wish to go home.
-The boy makes an effort to learn english like characters in the previous two films. He turns to crime and drinking later on because his lack of understanding of the country and poor conditions means he comes under the influence of "corrupt" teenagers.
-Unlike in Somer's Town, the Russian family leave the main male character Alfie and love to return home.
Friday 17 February 2012
Producers and Audiences Round Up
(A few case studies and notes to finish the producers and audiences off and act as back up for my essays)
Cowboys and Aliens
Budget: $163 million budget
Starring: Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig
Notes: Despite the budget and star presence, the film only took $174.8 million (around $11 million profit) and is therefore considered largely a finacial dissapointment.
The film was the second highest grossing film on its opening weekend (beaten by the Smurfs, a suprise to many critics who expected CAA to be the clear winner).
The film follows a world-wide trend that Western films are historically not popular, but CAA was expected to be different due to star presence and its cross-genre fusion of a western and sci-fi.
Based on a book of the same name, released in 2006.
Star Wars: Episode 4
Budget: $11 million (delays forced the budget up from $8 million)
Gross: $775 million
Star presence (at the time of release): Alec Guinness
Sci-fi films had previously seldom been successful; it was only with manned moon trips during the 70s that sci-fi became popular. This is shown with Lucas' failiure of sci-fi film THX 1138 but success of his american film American Graffiti.
Serious animation sci-fi has not yet proven commercially successful in the United States (i.e. Iron Giant and Titan A.E. all proving to be flops).
Avatar
Budget: Offically $237 million (unoffically budgeted at £310 million and $150 million for promotion)
Gross: $2.7 billion
Notes: Illegally downloaded 16.5 million times in 2010; the most pirated movie of that year. Lost an estimated $248.5 million through illegal downloading of DVDs alone (not including Blu-Ray or losses from box office takings).
The Dark Knight
Budget: $185 million
Gross: $1 billion
Notes: Media hype surrounding the film due to Heath Ledger's death cause a huge turn out for the film (the previous film made just about double on its original budget compared with this film which made over $1 billion gross).
See my previous piracy post and case study of TDK.
Paranormal Activity
Budget: $15,000
Gross: $193 Million
Notes: It is the most profitable film ever made, based on return on investment.
Originally an independent film.
Paramount Pictures bought the domestic rights to the film, and international rights to any sequels, for $350,000 USD. When the film was taken in by Paramount Pictures, several changes were made. Some scenes were cut, others added, and the original ending was scrapped, with two new endings being shot. The ending shown in theaters during the film's worldwide release is the only one of the three to feature visual effects, and it differs from the endings previously seen.
It was the above's purchase of the film that gave it such world wide success because of such wide-scale distribution that an independent film could never do. The film had originally been released to film festivals where Paramount staff noticed and picked up the film.
On October 3, it was reported that a total of 33 screenings in all 20 markets sold out and that the movie had made $500,000 domestically. A day later, Paramount announced that the film would have a full limited release in 40 markets, playing at all hours (including after-midnight showings). On October 6, Paramount announced that the movie would be released nationwide if the film got 1,000,000 "demands" on eventful.com. The full limited release of the film started on Friday, October 9. On October 10 the Eventful.com counter hit over 1,000,000 requests. Paramount announced soon after that the film would get a wide domestic release on Friday, October 16 and then expand to more theaters on the 23rd. By November, it was showing in locales worldwide.
Three sequels are being produced for the film. All these sequels have been produced on low budgest ($3-5 million) although these are increased budgets from the first film's original $15,000.
Paranormal Activity 3 created the "Tweet Your Scream" campaign on Twitter in preparation for the release.
Cowboys and Aliens
Budget: $163 million budget
Starring: Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig
Notes: Despite the budget and star presence, the film only took $174.8 million (around $11 million profit) and is therefore considered largely a finacial dissapointment.
The film was the second highest grossing film on its opening weekend (beaten by the Smurfs, a suprise to many critics who expected CAA to be the clear winner).
The film follows a world-wide trend that Western films are historically not popular, but CAA was expected to be different due to star presence and its cross-genre fusion of a western and sci-fi.
Based on a book of the same name, released in 2006.
Star Wars: Episode 4
Budget: $11 million (delays forced the budget up from $8 million)
Gross: $775 million
Star presence (at the time of release): Alec Guinness
Sci-fi films had previously seldom been successful; it was only with manned moon trips during the 70s that sci-fi became popular. This is shown with Lucas' failiure of sci-fi film THX 1138 but success of his american film American Graffiti.
Serious animation sci-fi has not yet proven commercially successful in the United States (i.e. Iron Giant and Titan A.E. all proving to be flops).
Avatar
Budget: Offically $237 million (unoffically budgeted at £310 million and $150 million for promotion)
Gross: $2.7 billion
Notes: Illegally downloaded 16.5 million times in 2010; the most pirated movie of that year. Lost an estimated $248.5 million through illegal downloading of DVDs alone (not including Blu-Ray or losses from box office takings).
The Dark Knight
Budget: $185 million
Gross: $1 billion
Notes: Media hype surrounding the film due to Heath Ledger's death cause a huge turn out for the film (the previous film made just about double on its original budget compared with this film which made over $1 billion gross).
See my previous piracy post and case study of TDK.
Paranormal Activity
Budget: $15,000
Gross: $193 Million
Notes: It is the most profitable film ever made, based on return on investment.
Originally an independent film.
Paramount Pictures bought the domestic rights to the film, and international rights to any sequels, for $350,000 USD. When the film was taken in by Paramount Pictures, several changes were made. Some scenes were cut, others added, and the original ending was scrapped, with two new endings being shot. The ending shown in theaters during the film's worldwide release is the only one of the three to feature visual effects, and it differs from the endings previously seen.
It was the above's purchase of the film that gave it such world wide success because of such wide-scale distribution that an independent film could never do. The film had originally been released to film festivals where Paramount staff noticed and picked up the film.
On October 3, it was reported that a total of 33 screenings in all 20 markets sold out and that the movie had made $500,000 domestically. A day later, Paramount announced that the film would have a full limited release in 40 markets, playing at all hours (including after-midnight showings). On October 6, Paramount announced that the movie would be released nationwide if the film got 1,000,000 "demands" on eventful.com. The full limited release of the film started on Friday, October 9. On October 10 the Eventful.com counter hit over 1,000,000 requests. Paramount announced soon after that the film would get a wide domestic release on Friday, October 16 and then expand to more theaters on the 23rd. By November, it was showing in locales worldwide.
Three sequels are being produced for the film. All these sequels have been produced on low budgest ($3-5 million) although these are increased budgets from the first film's original $15,000.
Paranormal Activity 3 created the "Tweet Your Scream" campaign on Twitter in preparation for the release.
Saturday 11 February 2012
Independent Film Companies
An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Often, films that receive less than 50% of their budget from major studio are also considered "independent". According to MPAA data, January through March 2005 showed approximately 15% of US domestic box office revenue was from independent or indie studios.
An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution, like in the case of Paranormal Activity.
Case study: WARP FILMS
Origins: Based in the UK; started life as a record store.
Films include: Rubber Johnny, Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England, Donkey Punch, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures, Four Lions.
Warp Films has developed and has several projects currently in the works for the BBC, Channel 4 and Film4 (including one of their most popular creations, This Is England which has a sequel released due for release later this year).
One of the company's most recent productions, Tyrannosaur, received a grant of £206,540 from the National Lottery fund through the UK Film Council. The remainder of the film's budget was came from Warp X (part of the Warp Films company, typically funding films with budgets of £400,000 and £800,000), Inflammable Films, Film4, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media and Optimum Releasing (StudioCanal).
An independent film production can rival a mainstream film production if it has the necessary funding and distribution, like in the case of Paranormal Activity.
Case study: WARP FILMS
Origins: Based in the UK; started life as a record store.
Films include: Rubber Johnny, Dead Man's Shoes, This Is England, Donkey Punch, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures, Four Lions.
Warp Films has developed and has several projects currently in the works for the BBC, Channel 4 and Film4 (including one of their most popular creations, This Is England which has a sequel released due for release later this year).
One of the company's most recent productions, Tyrannosaur, received a grant of £206,540 from the National Lottery fund through the UK Film Council. The remainder of the film's budget was came from Warp X (part of the Warp Films company, typically funding films with budgets of £400,000 and £800,000), Inflammable Films, Film4, Screen Yorkshire, EM Media and Optimum Releasing (StudioCanal).
Director Study: Nick Broomfield
Nick Broomfield (b. 1948) is an English documentary film maker.
Broomfield's style has evolved a number of times over his career.
His documentary films, such as Ghosts, tell and explain events from the point of view of the victim, so the audience grow and experience the character's emotional journey with them. He currently employs a technique he calls ‘Direct Cinema’ which uses non-actors to play themselves and helps capture the truth of his film’s subject matter. In Battle for Haditha, Broomfield worked with ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, as well as known actors, shooting the film sequentially, enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations and improvised dialogue was encouraged, despite working from a detailed script.
Previous work includes Kurt and Courtney, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and Monster in a Box .
-Influenced by Colin Young.
-Mother was a czech refugee and father a photographer.
-Dislikes using big crews with expensive equiptment.
Ghosts
Broomfield's 2006 documentary of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster Ghosts is generally accepted as an accurate telling of the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
Much of Ghosts is based on a series of daring investigative reports by the Taiwanese-born journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai, but the film also incorporates the experiences of its actors, themselves former illegal migrants.
Broomfield and his lead actress, Ai Qin, shot several scenes for the film undercover, working in a factory and picking spring onions, although ultimately these scenes were cut form the final version because it was "too much like a different film" (Broomfield).
"I remember picking spring onions for about eight hours", Broomfield recalled, "then getting three hours' sleep and then being hauled up to go and work in a book factory. I was always being fired because I was too slow, partly because I was filming as well. It was very, very tough."
Broomfield shot Ghosts using a five-man crew using a single hand-held HD camera on a tiny budget. The film picked up 1.15% of the audience viewing figures when aired (122,000 people), up on the average figures for the channel's viewing figures for that 10pm slot (which is typically 0.62%, or 72,000).
However, there are a few details that have been changed for the film:
-38 individuals, of whom 23 drowned, were involved in the disaster while the film depicts a much smaller group of people.
-The film itself is based heavily on undercover reports by Hsiao-Hung Pai. Because there is no real documentation of the characters in the film (due to them working illegally in the UK), the film reflects and is based on what Hsiao-Hung Pai experienced himself and also the experiences of both the cast and crew.
-Ghosts had no scripted dialogue only working from a written outline.
-Released on the 200th annerversary of the abolition of slavery.
-Originally intended as a drama, not a documentary.
The Wider Issue
The rules about immigration control (which are law) are complicated by the fact that they overlap with nationality law - that is, the law about who is or is not a British citizen, and the rights of the different types of British citizen.
The system of immigration control in the UK splits people into two broad categories: those who have 'right of abode' in the UK and who can live, work and move in and out of the country as they wish, and those who require permission in order to enter and remain here.
Broomfield's style has evolved a number of times over his career.
His documentary films, such as Ghosts, tell and explain events from the point of view of the victim, so the audience grow and experience the character's emotional journey with them. He currently employs a technique he calls ‘Direct Cinema’ which uses non-actors to play themselves and helps capture the truth of his film’s subject matter. In Battle for Haditha, Broomfield worked with ex-Marines and Iraqi refugees, as well as known actors, shooting the film sequentially, enabling the cast to build their characters as the story progressed. It also used real locations and improvised dialogue was encouraged, despite working from a detailed script.
Previous work includes Kurt and Courtney, Sarah Palin: You Betcha! and Monster in a Box .
-Influenced by Colin Young.
-Mother was a czech refugee and father a photographer.
-Dislikes using big crews with expensive equiptment.
Ghosts
Broomfield's 2006 documentary of the 2004 Morecambe Bay cockling disaster Ghosts is generally accepted as an accurate telling of the circumstances leading up to the disaster.
Much of Ghosts is based on a series of daring investigative reports by the Taiwanese-born journalist Hsiao-Hung Pai, but the film also incorporates the experiences of its actors, themselves former illegal migrants.
Broomfield and his lead actress, Ai Qin, shot several scenes for the film undercover, working in a factory and picking spring onions, although ultimately these scenes were cut form the final version because it was "too much like a different film" (Broomfield).
"I remember picking spring onions for about eight hours", Broomfield recalled, "then getting three hours' sleep and then being hauled up to go and work in a book factory. I was always being fired because I was too slow, partly because I was filming as well. It was very, very tough."
Broomfield shot Ghosts using a five-man crew using a single hand-held HD camera on a tiny budget. The film picked up 1.15% of the audience viewing figures when aired (122,000 people), up on the average figures for the channel's viewing figures for that 10pm slot (which is typically 0.62%, or 72,000).
However, there are a few details that have been changed for the film:
-38 individuals, of whom 23 drowned, were involved in the disaster while the film depicts a much smaller group of people.
-The film itself is based heavily on undercover reports by Hsiao-Hung Pai. Because there is no real documentation of the characters in the film (due to them working illegally in the UK), the film reflects and is based on what Hsiao-Hung Pai experienced himself and also the experiences of both the cast and crew.
-Ghosts had no scripted dialogue only working from a written outline.
-Released on the 200th annerversary of the abolition of slavery.
-Originally intended as a drama, not a documentary.
The Wider Issue
The rules about immigration control (which are law) are complicated by the fact that they overlap with nationality law - that is, the law about who is or is not a British citizen, and the rights of the different types of British citizen.
The system of immigration control in the UK splits people into two broad categories: those who have 'right of abode' in the UK and who can live, work and move in and out of the country as they wish, and those who require permission in order to enter and remain here.
Friday 3 February 2012
Major Film Studios
A major film studio is a movie production and distribution company that releases a substantial number of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box-office revenues in a given market.
The top 6 film distributors are these major film studios, called "The Majors," and they dominate the UK and US film market; these companies own over 80% of the film distribution market themselves. The top majors are Warner Bros (18.3% with 31 films released) and 20th Century Fox (15.9% with 28 films released).
CASE STUDY: Time Warner
First emerged: 1972
Share of the market: 18.3% in 2010 (The biggest share of all Majors in 2010)
As of mid-2010, it was the world's second largest entertainment conglomerate in terms of revenue (behind Disney), as well as the world's largest media conglomerate.
Competition: Box office receipts have been rising while the growth rate of DVD sales have recently been declining, which affects Warner Bros.' growth prospects and revenues.
2012 and upcoming films:
Already, Warner Bros. have had the 6th highest grossing film of 2012 so far (as of Feb. 2012)Joyful Noise.
More upcoming films are Wrath of the Titans, Bullet to the Head, The Lucky One, To The Arctic 3D, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, The Apparition, Argo, Trouble with the Curve, The Gangster Squad, Gravity and The Great Gatsby.
But, probably the biggest release of the year for the studio is Christopher Nolan's third Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises, In July.
Warner Bros. tend to do a wide range of films to appeal to multiple audiences; For instance, Project X is a comedy-drama while Journey 2 is a family-orientated film.
However, Warner Bros. do often favour production of sequels (Journey 2), films based on previous work such as books (i.e. The Dark Knight Rises and Bullet To The Head) (i.e. Sylvester Stallone in Bullet To The Head, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows).
Buisness Structure:
This is an example of Horizontal Intergration: This is absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level.
Vertical Intergration: The combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.
The top 6 film distributors are these major film studios, called "The Majors," and they dominate the UK and US film market; these companies own over 80% of the film distribution market themselves. The top majors are Warner Bros (18.3% with 31 films released) and 20th Century Fox (15.9% with 28 films released).
CASE STUDY: Time Warner
First emerged: 1972
Share of the market: 18.3% in 2010 (The biggest share of all Majors in 2010)
As of mid-2010, it was the world's second largest entertainment conglomerate in terms of revenue (behind Disney), as well as the world's largest media conglomerate.
Competition: Box office receipts have been rising while the growth rate of DVD sales have recently been declining, which affects Warner Bros.' growth prospects and revenues.
2012 and upcoming films:
Already, Warner Bros. have had the 6th highest grossing film of 2012 so far (as of Feb. 2012)Joyful Noise.
More upcoming films are Wrath of the Titans, Bullet to the Head, The Lucky One, To The Arctic 3D, Dark Shadows, Magic Mike, The Apparition, Argo, Trouble with the Curve, The Gangster Squad, Gravity and The Great Gatsby.
But, probably the biggest release of the year for the studio is Christopher Nolan's third Batman installment, The Dark Knight Rises, In July.
Warner Bros. tend to do a wide range of films to appeal to multiple audiences; For instance, Project X is a comedy-drama while Journey 2 is a family-orientated film.
However, Warner Bros. do often favour production of sequels (Journey 2), films based on previous work such as books (i.e. The Dark Knight Rises and Bullet To The Head) (i.e. Sylvester Stallone in Bullet To The Head, Tim Burton and Johnny Depp in Dark Shadows).
Buisness Structure:
This is an example of Horizontal Intergration: This is absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in the same level of production and sharing resources at that level.
Vertical Intergration: The combination in one company of two or more stages of production normally operated by separate companies.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)