Assignment 3: Frozen frenzy

This is an article that intends to explore the relationship between the producers, Disney and the audience 5-15 year olds. 

$400,738,009 is the box office that has been taken by Disney's Frozen so far. The film Frozen is about two sisters, Anna a strong fearless female character and Elsa, a strong independent woman who has lived her life in fear. Because of her magical powers Elsa has managed to get herself into quite some trouble which has caused her to hold back her powers and keep them a secret from everyone, and in order to do so she had to be isolated away from everyone, even her sister. One day her powers become revealed to everyone because she loses control of them so she runs away to let herself be free, which causes the Kingdom of Arendelle to have a eternal winter. Anna goes on a long journey in order to save her sister and the town. This film has become extremely successful due to the relationship it developed with it's audience and through Frozen events like the sing along event that was put on for the audience who enjoyed Frozen, and the heavy marketing with all the teaser posters and different trailers. 

Frozen directed by Chris Buck & Jennifer Lee and the producers were Disney. This film was the most discussed film on Facebook in 2014 which is primarily due to the fact that Facebook is used more by the primary audience; 5-15 year old young females. Disney appeal to their audience by creating merchandise targeted at a specific age group and gender based on the film, for frozen they created a lot of merchandise targeted at young girls knowing what they want and putting a Frozen logo on it which will make the young girls want it even more EXAMPLES. The relationship between Disney and their audience is built on the selling and marketing of films and the merchandise. For Frozen they made their merchandise gender specific. They have made more girl merchandise than boy merchandise because Disney targeted their film for young girls and there are more girls that watched the film than boys. 

The film became so popular that sing along events were made in the Royal Albert hall. The stars that voiced the two princesses were Kristen Bell (Anna) and Idina Menzel (Elsa). Kristen Bell is known for acting in Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Veronica Mars while Idina Menzel is known for being in another Disney film Enchanted and also is known for being in 2005 film Rent. Whenever anyone hears about a Disney film everyone automatically thinks of romance and magical stories that people could only dream about, instead of this film being a romantic magical film its a film about a relationship between sisters that has a stronger bond than any other sort of relationship. This is the reason why the film became a blockbuster, purely because this film wasn't about another relationship that ends so perfectly but its about how woman don't need to rely on a man to fulfill their wishes. This teaches young girls that you don't need to be in a relationship to be happy, this film is different from other Disney films because the majority of Disney princess films all end with the girl meeting the perfect boy and they skip happily into the sunset. Rather than the audiences expectations being met, it wasn't what they expected it to be but it still got positive feedback.

The normal Disney princess films was teaching young girls the wrong idea of love, which sets their expectations too high so when reality hits them they will be disappointed. This constructs a more positive representation of woman which is why I believe this is one of the main reasons this film became really popular. The box office domestic total gross came up to a shocking number of $400,738,009 and worldwide it made $1,274,219,009. Arguably Disney is the most successful animation production in all of history.

Frozen has targeted 5-15 year olds as their primary audience. This film was mainly targeted at young girls but a minority of boys have also found this film appealing as well, ''At 3:36am the other week, my son climbed into bed with me and started singing that he was the queen in a kingdom of isolation. He’s five.'  (SOURCE)

This film appeals to this specific targeted audience because at this age children are more vulnerable and easily influenced and this film teaches the younger audience that family is all you need, you don't need a hero to save you, you just need your friends and family. This film teaches younger people to be more independent. 

When Ana goes after Elsa telling everyone at the kingdom that she is going alone shows that she relies on nobody but herself.








Elsa is another example of how independence is shown in the film, she runs away from the Kingdom and builds a life for herself on her own without anyone with her. 









People find Frozen a easy film to relate to since there is the big theme of isolation which a lot of the younger audience and the older audience can relate to. For anyone who has ever felt alone can relate to this film easily because in the beginning of the film Elsa had to isolate herself from everyone to prevent anyone from knowing her secret, she was scared to mingle with people just in case she hurt them.


Frozen uses marketing to promote the film with its target audience (5-15) by creating a lot of promotional teaser posters and theoretical posters, after the posters Disney created a teaser trailer and a theoretical trailer as well, because of the teaser trailer people got confused and thought this film was all about a snowman that's on a journey, the teaser trailer had nothing to do with the actual film so this tricked a few people into watching it. The theoretical trailer presented Elsa to be a bad character, which didn't give too much away about the film, from the trailer it looked like any other ordinary princess Disney film. After getting such a big reaction from the audience and media frozen sing along DVDs started coming out which made the film an even bigger hit. Frozen merchandise started selling loads so Disney saw this as an opportunity to make a lot of money and keep the film at the top. Children's frozen clothing started coming out as well as toys, bed spread sheets, plates, towels and even phone cases. Not only was this a popular film for children but a lot of adults enjoyed this film as well. Frozen events started happening and even frozen costumes came out. Because of how much frozen was promoted more and more people started talking about it which also helped Disney with promotion. This film became the new hype because of how much it was talked about,


Looking deeply into the film Frozen it has made me realize that there was a deeper reason why the film got so popular. The marketing for the film definitely helped keep the hype going which excited the children  which made them demand more. A film would have to be a good film for it to get popular, the marketing for Frozen only advertised what the film was going to show.

I did some Primary research to see what girls between 5-15 thought of the film and what gender do they think its aimed at and why, here are the answers I received:

'I thought that the film had a lot of meaning behind it, I really enjoyed the twist at the end.
I think its more aimed at females because its about two girls, and since its a princess film it seems more girly.' 

'The film was a good film because it was about 2 sisters rather than a couple, I think its aimed at girls because its a princess film.' 


From the answers I got people believe that this film was more directed at females rather than males. 

I feel that this film is a great film for the younger audience to look up to, it gives them a whole new sight of what love is really like and how family should come before anything. 

Assignment 2: Old for new report

The Departed, (Martin Scorsese, 2006) is a remake of the original film Infernal Affairs, (Wai Keung Lau, 2002). Both films were very successful except the original was more successful in Honk Kong than anywhere else because the film was in Chinese. One of the main reasons Scorsese remade the film was because of the language and the unknown actors which made it difficult for the film to become big in the US, so he remade it in English using famous well known stars and it became a big hit.

The film critic Roger Ebert did a review on The Departed and believed that Scorsese still made this remake of the film his own because he is an auteur. In Hollywood film remakes are highly popular but normally when a film is remade it's normally exactly same as the original and it either does better or worse. The Departed wasn't just a remake, Scorsese managed to make this film slightly different to make it his own. "What makes this a Scorsese film, and not merely a retread is the director's use of actors, locations and energy, and it's buried theme. I am fond of saying that a movie is not about what it's about; it's about how it's about. That's always true of a Scorsese film." (Ebert, 10.12.14)

After watching both 'Infernal Affairs' and 'The Departed' both films have similarities however The Departed had a greater sense of exposition than the original. In the beginning half of The Departed, the film had narration by one of the characters 'Frank Costello. The character 'Frank Costello' is established as dominant and powerful because of his opening sentence from the narration 'I don't want to be a product of my environment, I want my environment to be a product of me.'  Here he is saying that he doesn't want the environment to have an impact on him but he wants to have an impact on his environment, he wants to take charge and be dominant this is one of the key characteristics that he displays during the film.

Here is a screenshot of Frank Costello while he was narrating.

 'no one gives it to you, you have to take it'

As part of the exposition 'Frank Costello' lets the audience know what exactly is happening by narrating, It is this strong sense exposition that is in contrast with the film 'Infernal Affairs.' An American audience may  understand less about Infernal Affairs because it didn't have the narration explaining what’s happening. charcacter and themes

At the very beginning of the film, it showed some archive footage of what the crime was like before, this helped give exposition by showing the audience Boston’s crime before the character Frank Costello took charge.

Instead of shooting the film in its original destination Scorsese decided to film in the town Boston. Martin didn't pick this place randomly, he decided on Boston because it has a lot of violent history behind it which suited the films scenes and themes.

Here is a screenshot of the archive footage in Boston showing the audience what Boston was like in the past.  'the city experienced conflict starting in 1974 over desegregation busing, which resulted in unrest and violence around public schools throughout the mid-1970s.'

 When the film started the characters names were used a lot which helped the audience identify each characters name. In the beginning of Infernal Affairs there wasn't any narration over the film to tell the audience what the plot was, but there was also not a lot of use of characters names, this technique could make it more difficult for a mainstream audience to understand the narrative.

I analysed both films ‘The Departed’ and ‘Infernal Affairs’ and noticed that ‘The Departed’ had more exposition. ‘The Departed’ was made for the American audience, having more exposition is typical for mainstream American films since the Americans are a passive audience,  while ‘Infernal Affairs’ was set in Japan and the audience there is an active audience. The departed has more drama, romance and exposition. This is typical for a film that comes out of Hollywood rather than Hong Kong.

Infernal affairs is a crime thriller whilst The Departed is a crime/drama thriller. Because the remake had better exposition which made it easier for the audience to understand, The crime genre was more identifiable in The Departed than Infernal Affairs. The crime scenes were rushed into in Infernal Affairs This could be because of the lack of narration.

Love triangles, drug abuse and alcoholism; these are some of the dramatic scenes that occurs in The Departed. The love triangle is between the three characters Billy, Collin and Madolyn. Madolyn originally meets the character Collin first but she notices Collin keeping things from her, and then she meets Billy. They start of with an argument and then they get to know each other and Billy ends up having only her to trust. They met because Madolyn was his psychiatrist and Billy was asking her to put him on some pills, this is where the drug abuse scene starts, she only gives him the pills because he shouted at her which shows drug addict behavior which adds to the drama. Another drug scene is when Billy is with his cousin selling drugs to get the attention of the character Frank. 

Having more drama in a film keeps the audience entertained and it also appeals to a wider audience. In Infernal Affairs there wasn't as many dramatic scenes which caused the film to feel like it was dragging on for too long which causes the audience to feel less engaged. Because of the wide variety of scenes The Departed was more commercially successful as a result.

The stars in The Departed did have an impact on the film because they bring the attention of their fan  base to the film, the stars fans would watch the film just because they're in it rather than watching the film because they like it. In Infernal affairs the American audience didn't recognize any of the actors so their attention wouldn't have been as engaged as it it would of been if they saw an actor they knew/liked. 

The Martin Scorsese film costed approximately $90 million to make while Infernal Affairs was 50 million Hong Kong dollars. For The departed it made a grand total of $132,384,315 in the box office and Infernal Affairs made $169,659. 

Assignment 2: The departed remake

The Departed:

Why was it remade?: The departed is a remake of the film Infernal affairs, the original was directed by the director Andrew Lau. It was remade because the language of the original was in Chinese, so to make it appeal to the American audience more they remade it, changing the language to English.

What genre is it?: Departed was made as a crime drama film but the original 'Infernal affairs' was made as a crime thriller film.

Interesting facts:
While filming the

http://quickmoviefacts.com/drama-movies/the-departed-fact/

Assignment 2: Film Remakes

Romeo & Juliet

Assignment 2: Terminology research task

Vertical and Horizontal integration
Vertical integration is when the production company has ownership of the means of the production so the distribution and the exhibition of the film is by the same company, because of this they will receive all the profit.

Horizontal integration is when the production company looks into other areas of one industry, this allows the company to develop in a certain area of production or they can buy out another company that deals with the same areas


Synergy
Synergy is when two companies join together for promotional purposes, for example; a bands music being in a new film. Both companies will gain a bigger audience if both fan bases join together.

BBFC
BBFC stands for 'The British Board Of Film Classification.' It is a trusted guide to media content. Their aims are to protect the public especially children from content which might raise harm risks, provide and effective service to enforcement agencies and provide a cost effective efficient classification service within our statutory remit.


MPAA
MPPA stands for Motion Picture Association Of America. This company decide on the age certifications given to films released in the US.

Assignment 2: Old films for new

Production, distribution & exhibition 

The American romantic comedy film 'The Proposal' was released in 2009 set it Sitka, Alaska. It was directed by Anne Fletcher and was produced by Todd Lieberman. The company that was involved with this film was Mandeville Films. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures were the company that distributed the film. Because this film isn't a new film that's just got out it can be bought on blue ray and DVD, watched on Netflix and streamed online.

Genre: 
What genre was the film
The genre of the film was a romantic comedy

How was the genre identifiable? 
You could tell that this was a romantic comedy by the title and the picture they decided to use for the film

Who is the audience for this genre? 
I think that the age for the this would have to be 15+ since there are some scenes in this film that are inappropriate for the younger audience to watch. I think this film is mainly watched by girls but the film is okay for a guy to watch as well, I don't think there was a specific gender target.


Stars:
Who were the main actors/actresses in the film?
The main actors/actresses in this film were Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds

Are they popular? 
Both actor/actresses are well known since they have starred in a lot of the big popular films

Do you think they would help sell the film and why?
I think that because both celebrities have a big fan base their fans are more likely to watch the film because they are in it than watch the film because they







have they ever been in similar films? which ones


Social
Does the film have any social significance
do you think the director has something to say
is there an underlying message in the film?

Assignment 1: Talking heads video and evaluation

In my talking heads interview I discussed how Auteur theory makes it easier for audience to identify who the director is and it makes it easier to see the common themes throughout the film. It also makes the film more interesting since the audience will be able to guess who the director is. In a classic Tim Burton film the most common themes he uses in his films are isolation, someone being an outsider and death. With the common themes running through the film it makes the guessing game for the audience to guess what auteur it is a lot easier. The audience benefits from all of these things because if they are fans of the auteur they will be able to identify it and know they are watching a film directed by their favourite director.

For example in the above images from Sleepy Hollow an audience can easily identify this as the work of Tim Burton as they reflect his stylistic approach as an Auteur. The themes in these images clearly show the theme of isolation, the outsider and death. The image of the long shot of the town has a spooky mysterious look to it and it also makes you automatically think something bad is going to happen which makes the audience excited and keeps them on edge. The first picture of Johnny Depp (Crane) is when he is alone in the quiet town of Sleepy Hollow and the characters in the house would shut the windows as he walked past which indicates they have something to hide and that gets the audience asking questions as to why this is happening, and who’s guilty and who’s innocent. The questions the audience asks themselves to help them solve the mysteries within this film keep them engaged and alert, this makes it more interesting for them since they will feel like they are playing the detective role themselves. 

Assignment 1: Key Questions- Analysis of Tim Burton through the Auteur Theory

 1. What is Auteur theory?

An auteur can be identified through their body of work. It is somebody who creates art that reflects their personality and is less likely to be influenced by the prospect of making money. Auteurs are recognised through themes they use, the visual style and the narrative construction of their films. 

the theory first came from a french magazine called Cahiers du Cinema, and has influenced the film criticism since 1954. 

Alfred Hitchcock, Stanly Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Ingmar burgman and Charlie Chaplin are all examples of famous auteurs. 

 2. Are there any contemporary auteurs that appeal to a young audience?


Tim Burton is an American film director, producer, writer, poet and stop motion artist. He is known for his dark, gothic themes and quirky horror and fantasy films such as Edward scissor hands, sleepy hollow and Sweeney Todd the demon barber of fleet street. 

Burtons films appeal to a young audience because the narratives that Tim uses are something that the young people can relate to.  


3.  What are the themes Tim Burton deals with?

Tim Burton uses a lot of themes in his work but the main themes are rejection, isolation and death. 

These three themes can be found in both 'Sleepy Hollow' and 'Edwardscissor Hands' 

In sleepy hollow as constable crane was walking through the sleepy hollow town people would be looking out the window and shutting them as he walked past, the same thing happened in Edwardscissor hands when Edward would walk past a neighbours house windows and curtains would shut. 

The theme of death appeared at the very beginning of the film 'Sleepy Hollow' in the cornfield, heads were chopped of bodies of two people. Before this happened there was dripping red wax which appeared like blood on the floor, this could be a foreshadow of what was about to happen. 





 4.  Does the visual style of Tim Burton's work stay similar or do they often change?

Tim Burtons films haven't changed a lot from before, the visual themes and narratives are all the typical Tim Burton styled film. Tim Burton started off with working for Disney but ended up leaving  because his work was too dark for the younger audience to view back then, now he is with Disney once again but is still is doing his style of film but it is now okay for children to view because the younger audience can now relate to his work more making it more appealing for them. 

Alice in Wonderland and Frakenweenie are two examples of the more recent Disney films he has created. Frakenweenie is a remake of one of his old films which he turned into a animation and Alice in Wonderland was a sequel to the first one made 

5. Do you think Tim Burton's narratives reflect upon his personality?

Because Tim Burtons films involve such strong emotions that many people from the younger audience has most probably experienced it makes the film better to watch when you understand the emotion. The three themes Burton uses the most are: isolation, death and rejection. Many of the audience can relate to these themes since they happen in daily life. 

Burton is well known for his dark and unique films he started of with Disney but ended up working for himself. 

Tim Burton uses the emotions he felt during his childhood and uses it to make films. He also uses his preferences in a few films too. Tim Burton enjoys science fiction so he created 2 films that are different from the rest of his films called 'Planet of The Apes' & 'Mars Attacks' 

 6. Are there any examples to suggest that Tim Burton's not an auteur?

Tim Burton has made two films that are different in style to the rest of his work but they received some negative responses from critics and the public, Planet of the Apes and Mars Attacks. Arguably, since he created these two films which were still a work of passion even if the audience didn't enjoy as much as his other films makes him more of an auteur since he made the film because he wanted to rather than making it because he wanted the publics attention and money. 

 7. As a young fan of cinema, what do you find interesting about the Auteur Theory and the work of Tim Burton?

What I find interesting about the Auteur Theory is how the Auteur has a different vision of success, they judge their success on whether the film is exactly how they pictured it in their mind rather than how much money the film makes. Tim Burton is one of my favourite auteurs because the themes in his work stays consistent so its easy to identify him. 

Assignment 1: Relationship between director, film and theory

As a child Tim Burtons favourite activities were painting, watching movies and drawing. His first job was for Disney, he had to draw the characters for all the disney films but he didn't enjoy this job because he couldn't express himself through this art because the things on disney had to be suitable for children but he wanted to draw more dark characters that wasn't suitable for children. Shortly after the studio realised that Burton's talent wasn't being made use of so they made him a conceptual artist. This is when you design characters that appear in films. He did early work on The Black Cauldron, which was a fantasy series. Burtons artwork did not match up with this since Disney was not made to be dark.  Because it didn't go too well it wasn't used.


When Tim Burton left The Walt Disney Company, after recieveing positive reviews from the film studios, Tim burton was looking for a full length film to direct. When Reubens and the producers of Pee-Wees Big Adventure saw Tim Burtons work on Vincent and Frankenweenie, They decided to let Burton direct for their film.


When Burton created the film, Edward Scissorhands, it was the first time Burton had full creative control over a feature film, he also wrote the story and produced the movie. The film was hit with moviegoers and critics and that marked the beginning of Burton being taken seriously as an artist.

Assignment 1: Analyzing through narrative - Tim Burton

The types of characters that usually appear in Tim Burton's films usually have a dark, mysterious side to them. The protagonist always appears to be an outsider while the rest of the characters tend to be the complete opposite; perky, happy and full of life. The happy characters tend to end up turning against the outsider but there is always one person that falls hopelessly in love with the one everyone else rejected. An example of this would be the film Edward ScissorHands  or Sleepy Hollow. The characters personality or looks don't always match up to their location, there are times when the dark characters are in the places where all the shallow, self centered people live which usually shows the different contrast in locations that Tim Burton decided to use. Burtons films usually only have two different locations that contrast with each other which is the Gothic, isolated location and the bright and happy location, having two very different obvious locations which helps the audience identify what the characters in that location are like.  The locations are not the only thing that help the audience get to know the character a bit more, The events that happen in the film also are big clues to what will happen in the end.

Assignment 1: Visual style of James Wan

James Wan is the writer and director of both films 'Insidious' and 'The Conjuring'. was born on February 26, 1977 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia but grew up in Australia. Ever since James was 11 years old he knew he wanted to be a film director so to achieve his dream he went on to receive his bachelor of arts degree from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in Melbourne, then began making shorts and music videos. Wan met an aspiring filmmaker Leigh Whannell at school, and together they came up with an idea for a horror movie. Whannell wrote the screenplay, and Wan directed an eight-minute sample short on DVD for them to shop around for financing.




Insidious- 

What I enjoyed:

For me I enjoyed the plot behind insidious, how the boy got so lost in his nightmare that he ended up in a coma. The best thing about the film for me was the twist at the end where the dad tried to go into the boys mind and tries to save him and get him out but while saving the boy he gets possessed by something in the dark side, nobody finds out apart from the old lady who gets killed by the man. 

Assignment 1: Auteur Theory

Auteur director  is one who brings to a film signs of their individuality perhaps in the way the narrative is constructed, the way a certain themes are explored or in the visual style

Patrick Phillips suggests that we can identify am auteur director through three key areas

Narrative construction
themes that are explored
visual style


Auteur theory has influenced film criticism since 1954

Auteur gets more money and success because they are individual and influenced by nobody

This method was associated with the French new wave













A directors visual  can be analysed through mise en scene CLAMPS

Costume - The costume this character is wearing is quite dark and looks quite scientific. Judging by what the characters are wearing seems like the film or this scene is set in the past.

Lighting- The lighting has been put on low key which gives the dark and gloomy effect which makes the audience know they're in a abandoned place.

Actors- Famous actor Johnny Dept stars in a lot of Tim Burton films.
The character at front seems to be shocked, its almost like he has spotted something through the magnifying glass and the others can't see which makes them look more confused.

Make up- All the characters in this picture look really pale and ghostlike, the make up is usually done like this in Tim Burton films. Because the skin is pale it makes everything like the hair and clothes look darker.

Props - The magnifying glasses on actors Johnny depts face suggests they are all looking for something. The hats, wigs and coats of the characters in the background.

Settings- The setting is what makes the scene look even more dark and gloomy, its set in the forest. The place looks deserted, its almost like nobody has been there in a long while.

Assignment 1: Notes on key films

Assignment 1: Micro Elements

Discussion of micro elements of film:

Cinematography (Camera work)

This means how the camera is moved.

Movement:

Tilt (Pivot up and down)

Crane (Moves up and down or left and right quite fluently)

Pan (Pivot left and right)

Track (Move forward and back and left or right)

Angles:

High angle (Birds eye view, aerial shots)

Looking down (Making someone look vulnerable)

Low angle (Worms eye view)

Looking up (Making someone appear powerful)

Example of angles being used:

When Peg first spots Edward coming out the dark in his house a low angle was used to make him appear powerful and fearful.

Sound:

Diegetic- Sound in the world of the film

-Birds

- Car

- Dialog

Non diegetic- Only the audience can here

- Music

- Narration