Avatar is a 2009 American epic science fantasy film written and directed by James Cameron. It was produced by James Cameron and Jon Landau. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Gross revenue $2,783,165,628. The film broke several box office records during its release and became the highest-grossing film to date in the U.S. and Canada and also worldwide, surpassing Titanic, which had held the records for the previous twelve years. It also became the first film to gross more than $2 billion. The development of digital technology allowed Avatar to be filmed in 3D which created depth perception. This means it is prolific because the growth in using 3D in films has started to increase, so the audience demand more from the film directors.
20th Century Fox is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fox Corporations and became owned by Rupert Murdoch in 1978. This helped the production because this gave it more financial backing. Also, using 2oth Century Fox meant that it would be produced, distributed and exhibited by them, this allows for cross-media convergence.
Synergic relationship with the Coca-Cola Company who collaborated with Twentieth Century Fox to launch a worldwide marketing campaign to promote the film. Special bottles and cans of coke when held in front of a webcam, enabled users to interact with the website's 3D features using augmented reality (AR) technology. This provides an example of synergic relationships because they are serving each other, by promoting the film and selling more products of coke.
A video game called James Cameron:The Game was released on December 1 2009, nine days before the first release of the film in the US this allows for the audience to engage and interact with the film before the film is released.
The hype for Avatar was built up before the release of the film because the promoting and advertising of the film started almost 2 months before the release of the film. 20th Century Fox did this to generate a lot of interest and make the audience talk about it.
The first promotions was exclusive pictures of the film by Empire magazine in October.
Posters of the film that were released were basic and only had the Avatar form of the main character which gives little clue to what the film was. Closer to the release of the film another poster was released, which gives a lot more detail and gives an idea to what genre the film may be. However the first trailer for the film was released in theatrical formats which is how film trailers were viewed 60 years ago.
Marketing:
Word-of-mouth would have been the most successful way of marketing this film as the hype for the release for this film was extremely high with the cross media convergence they used.
Some critics said the hype was so great that the film might be a significant disappointment at the box office.
The film was heavily promoted in an episode of the Fox Network series Bones. This shows that ownership of production, distribution and exhibition companies can make a film more successful.
Initially, they used 'below the line' advertising which includes reviews and interviews with the stars of the film to promote the film. Zoe Saldana did an interview promoting the film a week prior to the release of the film, and they used social networking sites to promote the film largely.
The positioning of the release of the film by 20th Century Fox contributed to the success of Avatar. The film was released in December before the Christmas Holidays so they can reach their target audience who are 15-29 year old.
They saturated the platforms so the more anticipation grew to watch the film making it more successful.
Exhibition
20th Century Fox Home Entertainment released the film on DVD and Blu-ray in the US on April 22, 2010.
Home exhibition has become increasingly valuable. The development of DVD and Blu-ray has made the demand much more higher.
20th Century Fox can increase their profits because some of the audience may have not gone to see it in the cinema. Also because this film has won many awards this would have helped them sell the DVDs to the audience.
How technological improvements have impacted viewing in the cinema: Digital technology has also impacted viewing films at the cinema. People can now book their tickets online to avoid the queue. Also, the ticket booth at the cinema allows people to get their tickets quicker and easier. In the case of the release of Avatar this would have been a benefit because the demand to see it would have been very high so the audience would go to different lengths to see it.
Piracy has led distributors to'day and date' in which the film is released in all media simultaneously. This is done because it costs the film industry money in lost revenue, because of the introduction of digital technology.
Monday, 9 May 2011
Friday, 15 April 2011
St Trinian's case study
StTrinians is a rebooting of the franchise based on the work of cartoonist Ronald Searle. It was produced and directed by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson. It was released on 10 December 2007 in the UK. It was produced by Ealing Studios and distributed by Enterntainment Film Distributors.
The budget for this film was $13,500,000 and the gross for the film was $24,487,595.
Ealing studios is the oldest continuously independent working film studios in the world. The stages and offices are steeped in history having survived the more recent technological advances in film and TV. The most important reason that StTrinian's was successful was because of the impact of digital technology.
The golden era Ealing Studios had begun. Classics by Ealing studios sin the 50s include Passport to Pimlico 1949, The Ladykillers 1955. Since the 1959 Ealing studios stopped producing film until 2002 when it produced The Importance of Being Earnest. Ealing studios probably produced St Trinians in 2007 because mainly it was a classic remake of the films in the 50s. Also, because the plot of this had a twist and stars from the U.S which would have made it more appealing to more countries than England. The ownership of production, distribution and exhibition companies are rare in the UK, so Ealing studios would have produced this film but they would had to find a distributing company to distribute because British production companies do not have the finance they have in Hollywood to do it all in one company. The distributing company for the film is Entertainment film distributors, who are a distributor for independent films in the UK for various production companies.
The production of this remake of St Trinians has changed from the original films in the 50s with changes in the plot, characters and cast, costume. Also, characters in the 2007 version have ‘cliques’ of their own for example there are emo’s, posh totties, geeks, chavs and first years. The original only had two types of girls: the first years and the sixth form girls who were dressed more outrageously and behave more wildly than the first years.
The cast has been created to attract audience from all over the world especially the U.S audience the directors has added an already famous actress from the U.S Mischa Barton to add to the excitement of the cast. Also Russell Brand features in the film this helped them attract an audience because he was already famous in U.S perhaps because and he appealed to the U.S and UK audience because of his humour and appearance. It also allows them to recognize him as someone they know. Widely famous actors like Rupert Everett and Colin Firth are also in this film so they have used a wide range of famous actors to attract audience and to make it slightly different from the original version. There were two posters created for the promoting of StTrinian's. There was one for the US and one for the UK. The poster for the US was created especially to target them because actors like Mischa Barton and Russell Brand were featured on it so the audience can identify with this stars. However, the UK poster had the likes of Colin Firth and Rupert Everett on them because, they are already famous in the UK.
The DVD was released in March 2008. There was a synergy with the famous English girl band Girls Aloud and others UK artists in the DVD because they had produced a soundtrack with the DVD. This would have also encouraged the audience to buy the DVD because fans of these artists would want to hear the music. This also would have helped them make more revenues from the DVD. The release date for this film was 10 December 2007. This would have helped them because of the positioning of the release date. This would have also helped them attract their target audience because of the Christmas Holidays so there would be more people in the cinemas going to watch it.
My review
I think Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson were surprisingly successful in updating the franchise, and the use of digital technology was a success because in 2009 StTrinian's 2 was released.
The budget for this film was $13,500,000 and the gross for the film was $24,487,595.
Ealing studios is the oldest continuously independent working film studios in the world. The stages and offices are steeped in history having survived the more recent technological advances in film and TV. The most important reason that StTrinian's was successful was because of the impact of digital technology.
The golden era Ealing Studios had begun. Classics by Ealing studios sin the 50s include Passport to Pimlico 1949, The Ladykillers 1955. Since the 1959 Ealing studios stopped producing film until 2002 when it produced The Importance of Being Earnest. Ealing studios probably produced St Trinians in 2007 because mainly it was a classic remake of the films in the 50s. Also, because the plot of this had a twist and stars from the U.S which would have made it more appealing to more countries than England. The ownership of production, distribution and exhibition companies are rare in the UK, so Ealing studios would have produced this film but they would had to find a distributing company to distribute because British production companies do not have the finance they have in Hollywood to do it all in one company. The distributing company for the film is Entertainment film distributors, who are a distributor for independent films in the UK for various production companies.
The production of this remake of St Trinians has changed from the original films in the 50s with changes in the plot, characters and cast, costume. Also, characters in the 2007 version have ‘cliques’ of their own for example there are emo’s, posh totties, geeks, chavs and first years. The original only had two types of girls: the first years and the sixth form girls who were dressed more outrageously and behave more wildly than the first years.
The cast has been created to attract audience from all over the world especially the U.S audience the directors has added an already famous actress from the U.S Mischa Barton to add to the excitement of the cast. Also Russell Brand features in the film this helped them attract an audience because he was already famous in U.S perhaps because and he appealed to the U.S and UK audience because of his humour and appearance. It also allows them to recognize him as someone they know. Widely famous actors like Rupert Everett and Colin Firth are also in this film so they have used a wide range of famous actors to attract audience and to make it slightly different from the original version. There were two posters created for the promoting of StTrinian's. There was one for the US and one for the UK. The poster for the US was created especially to target them because actors like Mischa Barton and Russell Brand were featured on it so the audience can identify with this stars. However, the UK poster had the likes of Colin Firth and Rupert Everett on them because, they are already famous in the UK.
The DVD was released in March 2008. There was a synergy with the famous English girl band Girls Aloud and others UK artists in the DVD because they had produced a soundtrack with the DVD. This would have also encouraged the audience to buy the DVD because fans of these artists would want to hear the music. This also would have helped them make more revenues from the DVD. The release date for this film was 10 December 2007. This would have helped them because of the positioning of the release date. This would have also helped them attract their target audience because of the Christmas Holidays so there would be more people in the cinemas going to watch it.
My review
I think Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson were surprisingly successful in updating the franchise, and the use of digital technology was a success because in 2009 StTrinian's 2 was released.
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Film Industry Keywords
- Production: in production the film is created and shot. The film is assembled by the film editor and it is released to the cinemas and DVD.
- Distribution: is when a company or individual is responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing.
- Marketing: is a campaign to maximize revenue early in the release cycle, trailers are used, television and radio to advertise, internet to advertise, posters, merchandise(promotional giveaways) and promotional tours.
- Audience: The people who buy or consume a media text .
- Institution: The organisation that create the films.
- Digital: the use of digital technology to distribute and project films. A film can be distributed via hard drives such as DVDs or satellite and projected using a digital projector.
- Ownership: a major film studio that releases a substantial numbe of films annually and consistently commands a significant share of box-office revenues in the film market. The big-six majors are based in around Hollywood.
- Convergence: it is technologies coming together for example a mobile phonethat can be used as a image camera, download and watch moving images, use as an MP3 player, access the internet and use as a phone.
- Synergy: is two agents working together to produce something unattainable by any agents independently. E.g Universal pictures working with Miramax Films to produce Bridget Jones Diary.
- New Technologies: are contemporary advances and inovation in various fields of technology. Various converging technologies have in the technological convergence of different systems evolving towards similar goals.
- Hardware: is a general term for the physical artefacts of a technology.
Monday, 21 March 2011
The life of a film: The Wolfman
The Wolfman is a 2010 American remake of the 1941 classic werewolf horror film of the same name. It was directed by Joe Johnston and produced by Scott Stuber, Benicio del Toro , Rick Yorn and Sean Daniel.
Upon Lawrence Talbot's (Benicio del Toro) return to his ancestral homeland, an American man is bitten, and subsequently cursed by, a werewolf.
Lawrence Talbot's childhood ended the night his mother died. His father sent him from the sleepy Victorian hamlet of Blackmoor to an insane asylum, then he goes to America. When his brother's fiancée, Gwen Conliffe, tracks him down to help find her missing love, Talbot returns to his father's estate to learn that his brother's mauled body has been found. Reunited with his estranged father, Lawrence sets out to find his brother's killer... and discovers a horrifying destiny for himself. Someone or something with brute strength and insatiable blood lust has been killing the villagers, and a suspicious Scotland Yard inspector named Aberline comes to investigate.
This film was distributed by Universal Pictures. The budget was $150 million and the gross was $139,789,765.
The Wolfman was distributed in 52 countries. Some of them are Italy, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, New Zealand, Brazil, UK, Canada, India,Indonesia, Egypt, Japan, Turkey and Singapore.
The film grossed $19, 850,000 in its opening day and $31,479, 235 in its opening weekend, coming in third at the box office. The film would show at the 02 because it a classic remake of the 1941 werewolf hoorror film so, because of its international significance it would show at the 02.
This film is available on DVD and on Blu-ray it was released in the US June 1, 2010 and in UK on June 14, 2010. Both editions include the theatrical version and the new director's cut, which incorprates 17 minutes of footage back into the film.
Universal pictures is a subsidiary of NBC Universal Television Distribution.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (sometimes called Universal City Studios or Universal Studios for short), a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios.
Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle,[1] it is one of the oldest American movie studios still in continuous production. On May 11, 2004, the controlling stake in the company was sold by Vivendi Universal to General Electric, parent of NBC.[2] The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBC Universal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. In addition to owning a sizable film library spanning the earliest decades of cinema to more contemporary works, it also owns a sizable collection of TV shows through its subsidiary NBC Universal Television Distribution. It also acquired rights to several prominent filmmakers' works originally released by other studios through its subsidiaries over the years.
Founded in 1912 by Carl Laemmle,[1] it is one of the oldest American movie studios still in continuous production. On May 11, 2004, the controlling stake in the company was sold by Vivendi Universal to General Electric, parent of NBC.[2] The resulting media super-conglomerate was renamed NBC Universal, while Universal Studios Inc. remained the name of the production subsidiary. In addition to owning a sizable film library spanning the earliest decades of cinema to more contemporary works, it also owns a sizable collection of TV shows through its subsidiary NBC Universal Television Distribution. It also acquired rights to several prominent filmmakers' works originally released by other studios through its subsidiaries over the years.
Universal has distributed over 2000 films since 1920.
The Millionaire (1921)
Frankenstein (1931)
The Wolfman(1941)
Touch of Evil (1958)
The Appaloosa (1966)
Diary of a mad Housewife (1970)
The Railway children (1971)
Battlestar Galactica (1979)
E.T the Extra Terrestial (1982)
Village of the Damned(1995)
The Nutty Professor (1996)
The Fast and the Furious (2001)
The Chronicles of the Ridicck (2004)
You, me and Dupree (2006)
Hellboy II (2008)
Leap Year (2010)
Monday, 14 March 2011
Case study- St Trinian's
This is the poster for the St Trinian's film released in the UK. It was directed and produced by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson. It was released on 10 December 2007 in the UK. St Trinian's grossed 12,042,854 in the UK, surpassing its £7 million production budget. Funding for this film had to be borrowed from America because this film was also relwased in America and a poster was made. The UK poster only has three actors names;Rupert Everett, Colin Firth and Lena Headey. This is because these actors are the most popular in the UK and are more appealing to the UK audience. This poster also has a little bubble where there's soundtrack made by the girl band Girl's Aloud, again this appeals to he UK audience because this band are based in he Uk and most people in the UK will know them.
This is the poster for the St Trinian film released in America. It was directed and produced by Oliver Parker and Barnaby Thompson. It was released in the US on the 21 December 2007. In this poster the main actors names are Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Lena Headey, Russell Brand and Mischa Barton. In this poster Rusell Brand was added because he was getting known and becoming famous in America also they included him to attract the US audience. Also, they have included the US actor Mishcha Barton also to atract the US audience and because she is originally a US actor. The poster also has an action feel to it the colours and the effects coming from behind the actors show brightness and action.
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