City of god- practice question

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques? 

[35]

One scene which depends on uses of film techniques is the scene in which the character Steak'n'Fries has a decision of whether or not to join Lil Zé and his gang as they confront the Runts. Camera techniques are important in these scenes as it shows us how the decisions of Steak has negative outcomes as well as how the decisions of characters such as the Runts do not matter to those in higher power. Throughout this scene, camera angles are important as they portray each central character and issues that are in this scene in different ways. 

As the position of power, Lil Zé and his gang has been filmed with high angles throughout his interaction with the Runts who have in contrast with Lil Zé, have been filmed using low angle shots. This contrast between the two groups of characters displays the positions of power each person is in; the high angles used to portray Lil Zé gives him a higher power in contrast to the low angles used to portray the runts as powerless. 

La Haine- practice question

How far does the impact of the films you have studied for this topic depend on distinctive uses of film techniques? 

[35]

One scene which depends on uses of film techniques is the scene which shows them in the mall as the news of Abdel's death. Camera techniques are important in this scene as it shows the friendship between the three characters and their reactions to the news of a friends death. A close up shot of the three of them looking past the camera, showing the three friends together, however we see the separation which is consistent throughout the film by the way that Hubert is separated from Vinz but instead leaning towards Saïd. By showing this in a close up we see the separation take place without them realizing, showing how they're not proud of what they had done and the attitude Vinz has towards those in power. Therefore Hubert who is represented as equality leans towards Saïd (fraternity) instead of Vinz (liberty). 

La Haine- word associations

• Bleak- shot in black and white so that no colour can be seen, the projects are unwelcoming to those outside of it, filled with an overall violent atmosphere to the area which. 

• Hopeless- being surrounded by peers that have violent attitudes raises the other youths to have a life of violence. Vinz hopes to be arrested in order to be accepted into the "gangs" more, he has been surrounded by this violence so much that it is the only future he has to look forward to as he does not know anything else. 

• Pessimistic- focusing on the worst aspects of the projects, looking over the positive aspects of it (Hubert's boxing gym, helping youths move away from violence and using their time for something else). 

• Menacing- the excessive use of guns and violence gives off an intimidating feel to the audience. The film gives a negative stereotype to those living in areas such as the projects and youths such as Vinz, Saïd and Hubert; because of this they are portrayed as threatening and violent. 

• Tense- the increasing amount of suspense being built up throughout a variety of scenes cause the audience to feel tense at certain points. For example, in the last scene tension is built up as Hubert is forced to make a decision of whether or not to kill the officer or not, leaving the film on a cliffhanger to cause the audience to question what had happened in the final seconds. 

La Haine- representations

6 images that represent the issues;








6 words that represent the issues

• Liberty
• Fraternity
• Equality
• Class
• Race
• Corruption

Scenes of poverty;

Scenes of power;

Scenes of conflict; 

How important is film marketing in attracting audiences?

Film marketing is a very important aspect of attracting audiences to films. Aside from actors, many people find movies through various different marketing campaigns created by the production companies. The success or failure of the marketing campaigns of films will have a large influence on the success of the film overall, impacting the box office success of the film. These marketing campaigns include things such as trailers, posters, contests and many other ways to reach out to potential viewers before releasing the movie. 
The trailer(s) of a film is vital for focusing the intended audience’s initial attention towards the film. Trailers use various enigma codes embedded within the video clips to grasp the attention towards certain aspects of the film, yet giving away small details of the film to draw them in even more. As there are many other trailers, each one uses various different designs in order to seem unique, selling the film to audiences before they have even seen the movie itself. 
Media advertising is another way by which companies market their films as it reaches wider audiences across more platforms, whether it be advertising the movie posters on billboards or sharing interviews on social media. In the modern day, marketing films using the internet is a widely used strategy; the marketing campaign for the third movie in the Taken franchise, Taken 3 used the internet to market the film. To market this film, 20th Century Fox created a YouTube video of the star actor Liam Neeson in character asking viewers to follow a link which then takes you to the movies LinkedIn page where they could enter a competition by following the page. This strategy is successful in marketing the film as it uses a variety of popular platforms to promote the movie, as well as giving something to the fans. 
The US Blockbuster Inside Out also used media advertising to attract audiences in many effective ways. Prior to releasing the movie, the production companies teamed up with companies such as Sky TV and Animal Planet, releasing advertisements promoting the movie as well as showing clips that are not a part of the movie. These advertisements were shown on many platforms, from advertising on the TV to on pages of the internet- attracting a wider audience to watch the film. Another way in which this movie was marketed was through real-time weather reports. To help market the film, characters from the movie were featured in weather advertisements in Singapore, using the different emotions to portray the weather. 
However, some strategies to promote films are not as important as others due to the negative outcomes of them, such as word of mouth often creates a bad stigma for a movie. One example of this is from the movie Taken 3 as word of mouth created a bad stigma for the movie- with many reviews openly stating that the film had lost its originality. Many fans of the previous two movies speculated the outcome of the third, asking whether or not the same ‘family member gets taken, main character rescues them’ plotline would appear in the third movie. With these questions and reviews, this movie was not as successful as it could have been due to many fans being put off of the third movie. This can also be found from Item 1, showing how word of mouth affected the film in negative ways. 
In conclusion, film marketing is very important in attracting audiences as it gives them an idea as to what to expect from the movie, as well as keeping them intrigued as to how good the movie will be overall. 

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' 

Section A Practice Question

“What are some of the main factors that influence different kinds of film production today?”

There are many things that influence the type of films that get produced today; these include the production companies, actors, certifications and funding of the film.

       Referring to Item 1 of the resource material in Part A, the article shows how the five studios worked together to produce a variety of movies, using what’s popular and creating films around that. The two studios which produced 2015’s “Inside Out” were Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios, both of which came together to produce this movie. These well-known production companies are an example of how studios influence what type of films are produced as they are well known for animated movies which help to influence the types of movie which they would create.

       Another factor that would influence the type of film that is made is the actors involved in the film. Linking to Item 2, the report talks about how the film “Dallas Buyers Club” would not have been created if it weren’t for Matthew McConaughey joining the film. The article talks about how the film was declined and rejected 137 times before finally being made. The leading actors Léa Seydoux and Adéle Exarchopoulos in the film “Blue is the warmest colour” were cast almost instantly as the director thought they suited the roles.  Another example of this was from Disney’s “Inside Out” as animators based Anger off Lewis Black who eventually did voice the character. The actors who are involved in a film are an important factor in film production today.