Exam Case Studies

US Blockbuster- Inside Out

• Budget= $175 million
• Director= Pete Docter, Ronnie Del Carmen
• Stars= Amy Poehler (Joy), Phyllis Smith (Sadness), Bill Hader (Fear), Lewis Black (Ager), Mindy Kaling (Disgust)
• Genre= Animation, Adventure, Comedy
• Box Office= $851.5 million
• Production Company= Walt Disney Pictures, Pixar Animation Studios
• Certificate= PG
• Release Date= May 18, 2015 (Cannes), June 19, 2015 (US)
• Reviews= 8.4/10 (IMDB), 94/100 (Metascore), 5/5 (The Guardian)
• Marketing= 
• Used a Sky TV ad (popular, well known company) to promote the movie before coming out in cinemas 
• Used real-time weather ads in Singapore to promote the film
• Ad for Animal Planet's "Puppy Bowl"

Weather ads promoting the film in Singapore

Other facts: 

• Only 45 animators worked on the movie, half the size of previous movies
• Original idea- used Docter's daughter as the main inspiration as she aged through adolescence alongside his own experiences
• Took 5 years to complete- the first pitch was in June, 2009
• The film was storyboarded over 2-3 years
• Seven versions were produced before the film went into production

UK Production- The Theory of Everything

• Budget= $15 million
• Director= James Marsh
• Stars= Eddie Redmayne (Stephen), Felicity Jones (Jane), Charlie Cox (Jonathan)
• Genre= biographical romantic drama
• Box Office= $122.9 million
• Production Company= Working title films
• Certificate= PG 13
• Release Date= 7 September 2014 (Toronto International Film Festival), 1 January 2015 (UK) 
• Reviews= 7.7/10 (IMDB), 72/100 (Metascore), 4/5 (The Guardian)
• Marketing= 
• interviews with the cast, clips while filming, meeting Stephen Hawking
• The fact that this movie was based on the true story of Hawking, this helped to promote the film in a massive way, making people interested in knowing the personal side of his life. 

Other facts

• Took 3 years to convince Jane to make a book adaptation
• Redmayne spent 6 months researching Hawking's life
• The voice of Hawking is his actual electronic voice he uses

US Independent- Whiplash

• Budget= $3.3 million
• Director= Damien Chazelle
• Stars= Miles Teller (Andrew), J.K. Simmons (Fletcher)
• Genre= Drama
• Box Office= $49 million
• Production Company= Sierra/Affinity, Bold Films, Blumhouse Productions, Right of Way Films
• Certificate= R (restricted, under 17= parent accompaniment) 
• Release Date= 16 January 2014 (Sundance), 10 October 2014 (US)
• Reviews= 8.5/10 (IMDB), 88/100 (Metascore), 4/5 (The Guardian)
• Marketing: 
• Facebook page for the movie
• Cast members facebook and twitter accounts
• Twitter account for movie 

Other facts:

• Original concept- inspiration from the directors past jazz band
• Fletcher was based on his past instructor, but the attitude was pushed further than in real
• 15 pages of the original screenplay was turned into a short film to attract investors  
• First time director
• No well known stars 
• plotted & shot as thriller 
• Shot in 19 days with 14 hours filming per day

World Cinema Production- Taken 3(France)

• Budget= $48,000,000
• Director= Olivier Megaton
• Stars= Liam Neeson (Bryan), Forest Whitaker (Franck), Maggie Grace (Kim Mills)
• Genre= Action, Thriller
• Box Office= $326.5 million
• Production Company= EuropaCorp, M6 Films, Ciné+, Canal+
• Certificate= PG 13 
• Release Date= 
• 16 December 2014- Germany (premiere) 
• 8 January 2015- UK
• 9 January 2015- USA
• 21 January 2015- France 
• Reviews= 1/5 (The Guardian) 
• Marketing= 
• Contest for fans through social media 
• Facebook profile picture effects 
• Quizes for fans to complete in time limits 
• Reference: (http://marketingland.com/liam-neeson-promises-find-linkedin-profile-endorse-particular-set-skills-111128) 

Other facts:

• Was originally R rated but was edited down to become PG 13 for theatrical release 
• Many reviews say that this movie uses many of the old worn down aspects of the other movies, producing nothing new of this film
• Liam Neeson said that he would only do the movie if 'nobody gets taken'