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Film Studies Blog Entry

Films and Fandom

Introduction

In the final blog entry, I will discuss the relationship between Pixar and their fans by explaining how the audience helps with the success and continuing the film franchise since their first big release in 1995 with Toy Story.

Pixar is an animation studio that creates computer-animated motion pictures, with Inside Out, Brave, Finding Nemo and Wreck-it Ralph being some of their most popular film releases. The studio was first set-up as the Graphics Group in the LucasFilm computer division in 1979 by George Lucas himself. Steve Jobs then took over in the 80’s making it the studio we all know and love to this day.

Theme park rides

Since Pixar Studies have worked closely with Disney over the years and eventually being brought by them in 2006 you can find multiple theme park rides based on the popular films at Disney Land Parks.

Toy Story is just one of the films with their first theme park ride opening to the public in 1996 at the Magic Kingdom in Florida. The ride, Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin involves the rider using a laser gun and aiming at the targets while traveling on the ride.  This gives fans the chance to live out a part of their favourite film in the form of a ride and there are also multiple versions of this ride across different Parks including at Disney Land Paris and Tokyo Disney Land, making sure a more worldwide audience can be part of the adventure too.

The continued success – Merchandise sales

In addition, a number of Pixar films have gone on to receive sequels and prequels, including popular favourites Toy Story, Cars, Monster Inc., Finding Nemo and finally The Incredibles, which sequel will be release on June 15th 2018, fourteen years after the original.

And with each Pixar film release comes the line-up of merchandise brought by fans all over the world. There have even been cases of merchandise sales doing better than the actual film with Pixar’s Cars (2006) being an example of this. Cars made around $6 billion for DISNEY’s consumer product diversion in merchandise and according in 2011 it was the “second-most successful film merchandising franchise of all time”. This just shows fans dedication when it comes to their favourite films and the film even went on to received two sequels with Cars 2 released in 2011 and the first trailers for Cars 3 just being release. Not to forget the non-Pixar spin-off films as part of the planned Planes trilogy and the special Cars Toon shorts as seen on DISNEY Channel.

One of the best things about having film merchandise is that it brings fans joy, here is a letter written to John Lassiter about a young child and his Woody doll (Toy Story). “Dear John Lassiter, we had a young child about six year old come into Walt Disney World. He brought with us his well-played Woody doll. His parents brought him a new one and he wanted his first one to have a great new home, so he left it here to spend infinity and beyond with Buzz Lightyear.  As you can see he has been loved very much over the years. Thanks for giving everyone great characters that have a heart…”

Just this story alone informs me how much the Pixar film and its merchandise means and can have an impact on its fans, even at such a young age. Overall, showing the importance of merchandise.

Magazines

Don’t forget magazines have also been released on the topic of Pixar films with “The Fantastic World of Cars” being an example of this.  The official magazine for Pixar’s Cars offers its customers/fans three comic book stories, multiple games and crafts and since 2013 Mattel has given away a silver racer with each issue too.

This estimated monthly magazine offers fans a glimpse into the world of Cars and is another form of media where fans can show their love and support for the films as well.

Generations of audiences and the success

Next up is the generations of audiences and as mentioned before the first big release was back in 1995, at least twenty-two years ago and over this time the children who watched Toy Story when it was first released into cinema have now grow-up and probably have children of their own.  

This means a whole new generation of people now have a chance to relive the Pixar classic and the line-up of others. And with this success comes the sequels. Going into more detail, one person I asked on the topic of Pixar said the reason why they go to cinema and buy home releases of the sequels is because they grew up with the originals. Just the idea of watching the sequels creates the idea of nostalgia and this could be identified as the main reason for the success of the film franchise.

Theories

And finally, next up are fan theories and with most well-loved films and film franchises fans have come up with theories on how to interpret the films they watch. Pixar counts in this category, as there is even a well-supported Tumblr theory based on the films, which describes them all being about feelings. For example, Monsters Inc. portrays monsters having feelings, while in Finding Nemo it’s the same but this time with fish. After watching the majority of Pixar films already released this fan theory makes the most sense and just points out how fans have shown an interest and paid attention to the films over the years, to a point where they have interpreted what they believe the films are based on.

Conclusion

In conclusion, over the years Pixar have managed to engage generations of audiences with their films and continues to be successful film franchise with a strong and bright future.

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Film Studies Blog Entry

Film Treatment

Film Title: College Leavers

Synopsis

“The film centres around a group of college students who are about to leave college and enter the world of work for the first time. The plot follows their stories as they face the ups and downs of finding work, real life problems and facing prejudice just for starters. Where will these characters end up and will they be able to follow their dreams”.

Justification

I wanted to tell a story about the lives of college students just before and after leaving education, focusing on issues that the country is currently facing like how it is harder to find work. I also wanted to focus on issues mentioned by the individuals who completed my survey including homophobia, prison elements and racisms as examples.

Comedy elements will also be added as the survey results show that this was popular element in British Industry Films. However, it won’t be the main focus of the film and will only be highlighted in the characters’ friendships instead.

I chose the idea of having the film based around college students as I am a college student myself and thought it was best to have the film centre around something I was familiar with.

Distribution plan

After reading how Director Shane Meadows distributed his film, Dead Man’s Shoes I decided to go down a similar route.

For starters, I want the film to be distributed by Studio Canal UK, who is best known for releasing films in the British Independent and World Cinema markets since 2008. They are also the official Studio Canal branch working in the UK, all in all making them the wise choice to distribute the film. The film will also be entered in a leading UK film festival called Rain dance, before heading into cinemas. This will hopeful give me a chance to see how well the film performs with an audience before the release date.

The next step will be premiering and releasing the film in the UK to British audiences, and then only based on popularity and box office results will the film be release to a worldwide audience starting with America.

After that the film will be available to buy or rent on all popular demands including on DVD and Blu-ray, streamed on Amazon and eventfully Netflix and hopeful finally shown on television channels like Film 4 as seen with multiple other British Industry Films beforehand.

Justification

I decided to go down a similar route as Dead Man’s Shoes as the film has been placed on multiple Empire film lists based around British and films in general, making it a perfect example of a successful film.  This also informs me that the film’s distribution path is a good idea to take inspiration from when it comes to distributing my own film due to the success the film actually had.

Moving forwards, the idea of premiering the film first at Rain dance film festival came from researching about different film festivals working in the UK. I have also heard of other films not necessary from the British Film Industry doing a similar thing and thought it would be a great way to build up promotion for the film. I am also an upcoming filmmaker and the film will be feature length, making it entitled to be entered into the film festival as well.  In addition, with over 24 years of history behind Rain dance, this means the festival must be popular with audiences, which is another reason why I chosen it.

Marketing plan and distribution

·      Due to premiering first at Rain Dance the first big announcement for the film will be in the film festival’s programmes and advertisement.

·      While in the lead up to Rain Dance I will also release the official synopsis for the film on the film’s website, so the audience have an idea of what the film is about.

·      After Rain Dance, I will post the reviews for the film on the official film website in order to get the word out about the film and that it is worth seeing. Links will also be included on the official social media sites as well.

·      Then a few months before the big screen release the first trailer will drop to give audiences who weren’t able to attend Rain dance their first look at the film.

·      Next up is to release the official posters and stills online where they can be seen on the various official websites/social media sites for the film. I will also send the posters to the cinemas that are showing the film as well.

·      And finally to hold press interviews with the director, producer(s) and cast among others so the audience can learn more about the story behind the film.

Additional Notes – Survey results (Primary research)

For the second to last task on the Film Studies Brief I was asked to complete primary research based on the British Film Industry. This information will help me complete a Film Treatment based on my own idea.

Here are nine bullet points that contains information from my research…

 ·      Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle was a popular choice when I asked if there was a director, known for working in British Film Industry that they are fan of.

 ·      He (Danny Boyle) was popular in this survey for his complexity with lighting in Slumdog Millionaire and camera movements in trainspotting.

 ·      Terry Gilliam and Ben Wheatley were both said to have very strong imagination and willing to produce bold films as said by one individual who completed my survey.

·      Camera cinematography, actors, storyline and soundtracks are what the contributors believe makes a great film.

·      More than half said they have seen a film(s) from the British Film Industry.

·      When asked which films the contributors have seen I received answers like “Their Finest, Prevenge, Free Fire, Full Monty, Billy Elliot, This is England, Four Lions, and Dead Man Shoes”.

·      However, while one individual said they thought the films “Their Finest, Prevenge and Free Fire” were very good British Independent films with good acting, visuals, directing and storylines, another said they don’t enjoy British Industry Films as they dislike the whole genre, the subpar acting and the cinematography too.

·      Riots, Prison elements, True stories of people doing amazing things, Homophobia and racism were listed as what the contributors want to see more of in British Industry films.

·      Out of the already existing elements used in these types of films Comedy was something one of the individuals liked the most, e.g. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost type of films.  

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Film Studies Blog Entry

British Film Industry

Introduction

In this next blog entry I will discuss the Shane Meadows’ film “Dead Man’s Shoes” (2004) and how it follows the well-known elements of the British Film Industry.

Plot

The film centres on a former soldier; Richard who lost his younger brother, Antony due to the latter’s involvement with a local gang. Richard then goes on this journey to kill the gang members, who he believes were at fault as part of a revenge plot against them.

Social and Political issues

What the British Film Industry does that neither the Hollywood New wave nor contemporary Hollywood do is that they tackle real life social and political issues that the country is facing at the time of the release. This includes topics like racisms, gangs, violence, and the use of drugs to name a few.

The representation of Drug use

Throughout the film the use of drugs is mainly portrayed in a social light, whenever the gang members meet up or in some of the flashbacks to what happened to Antony. However, there was one particular scene that changed the light to this situation, which saw Richard spike the gangsters’ kettle as part of his revenge plot.  This leads them to become intoxicated by the drugs and caught off guard by Richard, who then kills them one by one. “Ensuring it wasn’t fake and ensuring it’s as real as possible” Meadows wanted to portray the scene realistically by showing the effects drugs can have on an individual and the harm it can cause too.  

Regarding Antony’s storyline Meadows’ representation of the issue is actually based on what a close friend of his went through in his youth that sadly led to his demise.

 “A close friend of mine who had been bullied developed a drug problem and then committed suicide…I was filled with anger against the people who had bullied and pushed the drugs on him, and with despair at what drugs had done to that small community”.

This was similar situation to what happened to Antony during the film, which informs me further that the director took inspiration from what happened to his friend and created a story that creates awareness for these issues.

Representation of violence

While, tackling another issue Meadows stated “What was done in the name of recreation had had such devastating results.  I started to wonder what might happen if someone chose to try to right the wrongs that had been done, instead of ignoring the terrible tragedy of it all”. This idea was told through Richard’s storyline and it was also the main running plot throughout the whole film.  

Now director Shane Meadows again took his own feeling about the death of his friend, but added a twist by portraying what would happen if someone takes this anger and tries to “right” the wrongs themselves. One particular scene that highlighted this idea was the conversation between Richard and Mark, where the former explained his actions and reasons behind them to the later. He even went as far as to describe the men as “monsters” but called himself the “beast” due to the acts of vengeance he committed himself.

Although it can be considered that Richard took his anger way too far, I believe the main issue at hand was the violence. Throughout the film there were multiple examples of this, especially when it came to the murders with characters like Sonny and Soz either being beaten, shot or stabbed to death in haunting and terrifying scenes.

I believe Meadows’ reasoning for the use of violence in the film were to show how far Richard has gone in the name of his brother and how far people can go when it comes to the act of revenge.

Who funds and what are the financial/artistic ambitions of the British Film Industry and the film?

The film, “Dead Man’s Shoes” had funds from four different production companies, which includes Warp Films, Big Arty Productions, EM Media and Film 4.  Going into more detail, the production company Film 4 have funded at least 500 hundreds over its four decades in business, including Shane Meadows’ “This is England” (2006), “Slumdog Millionaire” (2008), “Some voices” (2000) and “Submarine” (2010).

Talking more about the film, it wasn’t made to make a profit commercially, which compared to Hollywood films it didn’t only making $198,081 in the Box Office, but for artistic reasons instead. The Director Shane Meadows wanted to make a film that had real life inspirations behind it and not for profit, which is why Dead Man’s Shoes exists.

How is the film from the British Film Industry distributed and exhibited? What impact does this have on audiences?

The film was distributed by Studio Canal UK, formally known as Optimum Releasing at the time of the release. They are best known for releasing films in the British Independent and World Cinema markets.

“Dead Man’s Shoes”, which would be class under the British Independent market was release on the 1st of October 2004, with a US release date being on the 14th of May 2006, due the film’s popularity. It even went on to earn $1,825 within the US opening weekend as well.

To this day the film can be brought on Amazon, be available on DVD/BLU-RAY, rented and finally seen on TV on channels like Film4, which is similar to other Shane Meadows’ films, e.g. This is England.

How do both genre and stars relate to the film and industry too?

Focusing on genre and stars,  a number of well-known actors have started their careers staring in films from the British Film Industry and this includes Toby Kebbell, e.g. Antony. This particular actor later starred in the 2015 superhero reboot film “Fantastic Four” as Villain Doctor Doom.

So, why don’t films from the British Film Industry include A-List stars or why do so many later become household names? Well, one reason behind this is that by having A-List celebrities involved in the film it could distract the audience from the messages and social and political issues the film is trying to get across. While, for the latter by staring in British Industry Films this could give actors a chance to show audiences and media professionals what they are capable of, acting wise due to issues raised in the films.

Another actor casted in the film was Paddy Considine, who portrayed the lead role Richard, but not only did Considine act in the film he was also a part of the writing team too. Considine who is known for portraying gritty roles in British Industry Films has appeared in numerous of films over the years including having supporting roles in Hollywood films as well including Cinderella Man (2005). He later appeared in another Film 4 funded film, Submarine (2010) with Craig Roberts (The Story of Tracy Beaker and 22 Jump Street) as one of the leads.

Conclusion

In conclusion, throughout the blog entry I have discussed how the film follows the elements of the British Film Industry, while also giving examples from the film. I have talked about the casting of the film’s stars, the distribution, representation of social and political issues and funds and ambitions for the film, all to explain how the film is classed in this category.

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Film Studies Blog Entry

Film Theory Feature – Genre Theory

The word “genre” refers to how films are being spilt into categories, e.g. genres based on how the filmmakers tell their film’s narrative structure (story). These categories are identified by three sources that are tasked with coming up and continuing these categories. The sources include the audience, the ones who paid money to watch the films, the critics, who give their critical responses and finally the filmmakers, the ones behind the films.

However, not all films can be placed in categories with some films, including Clint Eastwood’s Changeling, which is about a mother (Angelina Jolie) who still holds hope on finding her missing son and the LAPD who have replaced him with an imposter, being called a non-genre film. This means that the film shares no similar elements through its narrative structure and visuals that can lead people to place it in a specific genre.  

Nevertheless, there have been cases where films have shared elements from more than one genre and these are called sub-genres. Known examples of sub-genres include thrillers, melodramas, romcom and fantasy films just to name a few. There have even been cases where certain genres have been spilt into further categories to suit the visual and narrative elements involved more, for example horror films leading to the slasher and thriller categories. While, zombie films now stand as their own genre.

So what is genre theory, well the theory expresses the idea on how a film’s genre(s) can impact the success of the film. In this next feature, I will explore the world of genres within films by discussing two of my favourite films that contains elements from more than one genre, which are The Incredibles and Shaun of the Death, while also exploring how they complete this task.

Sub-genres in films – The Incredibles

The Incredibles (2004) is probably one of PIXAR’s most popular films to date, especially when you think it was the second film released by them to win a Best Animated Feature award at the OSCARS, following Finding Nemo in 2004. However that’s not all as it is also a perfect example of sub-genres within films as well.

The computer-animated feature follows a family of superheroes as they try to live a normal life among non-superheroes, however their attempts to do so are then ruined as a new villain enters the picture and threatens their family and civilians as well. Leading them to use their powers for the greater good.

Throughout the film comedy, action, adventure and superhero genre elements were raised, which resulted in the film having sub-genres involved.

One of the most memorable moments from the film was the “No Cape Scene”, which saw Mr Incredible discussing with Edna, a well-known designer for superheroes, about the design for his new superhero costume. After re-watching the scene this was one of the moments where the use of sub-genres was the most noticeable, especially with the superhero and comedy elements.

This can be seen when Edna depicts to Mr Incredible multiple past events in their world where capes have lead to superheroes’ downfalls, including the superhero Thunderhead being killed after his cape got caught to a missile fin and the superhero Metaman sharing a similar fate, but this time involving an elevator.

What’s different about the sequence is that the scenarios all ended with something you wouldn’t expect, so you get the sense that the filmmakers had fun coming up with unusual and comedic ideas that could go wrong when being a superhero. While also creating the illusion that superhero capes aren’t always a good sign, by going against the usual representation of the piece of clothing.

The scene also completes the job of foretelling a major future event in the film, where one of the scenarios ended in a very similar way as the film’s main villain’s death with both being pulled into a planes’ turbine due to their capes. This of course was a dark turn for the classic PIXAR movie, but after looking back it makes the most sense that a cape would be the villain’s downfall after producing a whole scene about the topic.

Shaun of the Dead

But don’t forget this wasn’t the only example of a film having sub-genres as Shaun of the Dead, which was released in the same year, as The Incredibles would be another great example. As just this film alone uses elements from at least ten different genre categories, which includes horror, comedy, action film, comedy horror, parody, romantic comedy, adventure film, black comedy, post-apocalyptic fiction and fantasy, all to complete its plot.

The film follows the character Shaun, a man who is failing in certain aspects of his life, including his relationships with his stepfather and girlfriend and disliking his career too. However, due to an unknown circumstance the dead start to rise again and starts attacking the living. This leads Shaun to become the unlikely hero and try and save his family and friends by escaping to the Winchester Pub for safety, before it’s to late.

Now, the film directed by Edgar Wright has to be one of my favourites and there was one scene that stood out the most, involving cues, Queens’ “Don’t Stop Me Now” and a Zombie. It also highlights sub-genres within the film, including comedy, horror and post-apocalyptic fiction as examples.

Within the scene the audience sees three of the main characters fight against the Winchester pub owner and recently turned Zombie with pool cues, while the others try to cause less attention by trying to stop the crowd of zombies outside from noticing them. But fails terribly doing so.

The whole sequence alone was possibly one of the most choreographed scenes from the entire film as they even perfectly timed the hits of the zombie to the Queen’s smash hit “Don’t Stop Me Now”, all for comedic effect. I also admire the filmmaker’s choice to make the lighted windows stand out against the dim lighting within the pub as it highlights the crowd of Zombies trying to break through. It also creates a compacted atmosphere as it informs the audience of the limited space the characters have before certain-death. And these points alone marks the post-apocalyptic fiction, comedy horror, fantasy genre elements that makes the film the hit it is.

Conclusion

In conclusion, after researching genre theory throughout the course of writing this blog entry I believe with or without noticing it the importance of film genres is all around us when it comes to the films we watch. Whether we watch a film because of a certain genre involved or any film genre in general. I believe it does have an impact on the success of the film and how a story is told on-screen.

Google. (). Shaun of the dead > genres. Available: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=shaun+of+the+dead+genres&*. Last accessed 5th Mar 2017.

Google. (). The Incredibles > genres. Available: https://www.google.co.uk/#q=the+incredibles+genres&*. Last accessed 5th Mar 2017.

Multiple. (Unknown). Changeling (2008). Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0824747/. Last accessed 19th Mar 2017.

“Types of movies” photocopied pages – Chapter 3 – P78-83

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Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

The wood chase scene

 Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is a sequel from the 2009 smash hit, which continues the character’s journey as he takes on his most notorious enemy, Professor James Moriarty in this epic battle of a sequel.

 After watching the film, one particular scene stood out the most for it’s detailed visual imagery and use of the technique, hyper-reality. The forest chase scene, which occurred on-screen during the middle segment of the film, was not only the stand out moment of the whole film, but also in recent years too.

The scene starts off with Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr), Dr John Watson (Jude Law), Madame Simza Heron (Noomi Rapace) and their associates running through the forest to catch up with the train. However, this isn’t the only obstacle they have to face, as at the same time they are being purse by armed soldiers as they try to make their get-away.

Straight away, the audience are greeted with diegetic sounds as you can hear the characters’ footsteps as they run at speed through the forest. This becomes apparent to the audience instantly as within the first few seconds this is the one of the only examples of diegetic sounds on-screen, meaning the audience can identify the source through the visual imagery.

Meanwhile, with non-diegetic sound throughout the same part of scene there were multiple examples to be counted for, including the sound of the coins in the characters’ pockets as they run and of the coal train in the distance, referring to the idea that the railway tracks are nearby.  For the former, because the characters have coins/money in their pockets this gives the audience more of an insight of the characters’ lives as it could relate to the idea that they are carrying their belongings and livelihoods with them, especially when the visual elements indicate they are on the run.

Moving forward with the soundtrack as soon as Madame Simza Heron points to the direction of their destination a fast pan shot speeds through the forest to reach the train tracks. This is when the music kicks in, which is a mixture of a couple of soundtracks placed together with one of them being “tick, tick (shadow part 2)”, which was produced by Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe for the film. Just the name of the track only relates to the action happening on-screen as you see the characters race against the clock to catch up with the train, as well as a race for their lives too.

Another factor that I picked up on was the camera shots and editing as they point out more significantly the characters’ journeys, aims and emotional responses throughout the chase.  For the latter, this can be especially seen with the close-up shots of the characters’ faces with one example being a man on the posing side. Within the shot the actor portrays the character breathing heavily and deeply before getting ready to fire the gun. The shot was also slowed down to create more intension in the scene as the audience prepare for what the character does next, leaving them at the edge of their seats in expense just by how the shot was edited.

In contrast to this, fast cut editing was also used as well as slow motion, which appeared on-screen mainly during the fight sequence and when armed weapons are about to or are being used, e.g. guns. Referring more to the fight sequence between Holmes and Watson and the armed soldiers hyper-reality was brought in within the scene to make the audience feel more like they are apart of the action, but at the same time it is exaggerating from reality by the way it was filmed and edited.

Overall, hyper-reality played a major part in the entire scene and there were even some cases were it nearly took over completely. In the scene involving the armed soldiers loading the bomb it was used to exaggerate the process of how the weapon works. Special effects also had a key role in the sequence as the filmmaker Guy Richie even went as far as including digital sparks in the scene to make it look more genuine. Looking back this is a common element that Guy Richie uses in his films to the point where he is known for it, with similar techniques being used in the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film among others. 

Going back to camera shots, during the bomb sequence medium camera shots were seen when the camera went back to Holmes and Watson as they run through the forest in slow motion. I picked out these two particular shots as they could have further meaning with them hinting at a possible fate for both characters. This point is later highlighted in future events as the character Sherlock Holmes has two near death experiences later on in the film.

Finally to conclude, lighting also played a part in the scene, mainly due to nearly all of the shots taking place in an external setting, e.g. the forest and when not the shots were still dimly set. The idea of helping create the atmosphere more comes into mind because as an audience member you would usually socialite darker colours with gloom and fear. Also, due to the scene taking place in a forest filled with trees this would block out the light more for the characters, which could also build on the atmosphere later on.

In conclusion, this non-stop action chase scene was truly a talked about scene for the film and I recommend anyone to watch the scene and the film for themselves.

Multiple . (Unknown). Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (soundtrack). Available: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes:_A_Game_of_Shadows_(soundtrack). Last accessed 1st Feb 2017.

SherlockHolmesFan314. (2012). Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Forest Scene HD. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CztxQIn5ZhQ. Last accessed 31st Jan 2017.