Ex-Machina Research

Producers: Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich

Director: Alex Garland

Distributor: Universal Pictures

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Sonoya Mizuno

Budget: $15 million

Locations: Pinewood Studios, Juvet Landscape Hotel- Valldalen, Norway, Bloomberg Head Office- Finsbury Square, London.

Technology: The film was shot live action and then had effects added post production, no green screens or special effects were used while filming. This was so that the actors Vikander and Isaac could act out real life conversations while actually speaking to one another to ensure that the audience could relate more. Ava the main robotic character was filmed with the actress Alicia Vikander in the scenes and without her; this was so they could film the background she would be in. As they were only using certain parts of her body, like her hands and face these were kept and rotoscoped and they used camera and body tracking systems to follow Alicia's movements and create CGI robotic movements. They also used other visual effects for different aspects. The visual effects company was the British company Double Negative who have won Oscars for their work on Interception and Interstellar. 350 of the 800 VFX shots were used for Ava and the other robots.

Number Of Screens-Opening Weekend: 1259 in the USA

Number Of Screens-Peak Number: 2004 in the USA

Box Office Figures: $36.9 million worldwide and $250,00 USA.

The production companies for Ex-Machina were Film4 and DNA Films; Film4 is the UK production company that is owned by Channel Four Television Company and is responsible for being some of the productions companies for gritty, real life almost dystopia films like Never Let Me Go, 12 Years A Slave, The Iron Lady, 127 Hours and Slumdog Millionaire. DNA Films is another British company that was founded by Andrew Macdonald and Duncan Kenworthy they have co-produced Never Let Me Go, The History Boys and Love Actually. Both of these companies have worked together in films like Never Let Go and despite being much smaller production companies have still done very well. Both are acclaimed as some of the best British Film Production Companies and as shown by films like Ex-Machina, 12 Years A Slave and Love Actually can be a box office success. While they collaborate with much bigger companies like Universal and Disney they can still produce a very successful film which grips audiences. While these films may not be classed as a big films in comparison to other movies they have still done well, are well received and are generally well known among audiences. Despite these films not having the most impressive budget, they worked with it (such as Ex-Machina being filmed in 6 weeks and using less well known but still credited actors like Domhall Glesson and Oscar Isaac) to create films that are still well produced and a success. This show how production compaines do not need to be massive to produce successful films.

The two productions companies in this film were Film4 and DNA Films and was distributed by Universal Pictures and A24 Films in the USA. By working with Universal to distribute the film this allows Film4 and DNA Films to reach a lot wider audiences as simply Universal are a far bigger company. As a household name in the film industry and with worldwide fame and acknowledgement Ex-Machina was able to reach far more audiences with Universal. Ex-Machina was also distributed on DVD and Blu-Ray by Lionsgate Home Entertainment in the USA another far bigger company that allows more audiences wider access to Ex-Machina helping to improve the success of the film. Film4 and DNA Films working together (as they have done before) can help promote their businesses as it allows them to pool their resources together to create the best film. Film4 having produced more films than DNA Films can offer and thier expertise and experience and likewise DNA Films can provide a great writer and producer of Andrew Macdonald. Andrew Macdonald and DNA Films will also bring more success to Film4 as Macdonald is already a famous writer that will generate interest in the film and boost Film4's fame. Both businesses will benefit from working together as they can also share their money to help improve their budget and audiences will recognize that the two companies worked well together so be more inclined to see a film produced by these companies again especially if they collaborate.

The amount of different ways that audiences can now view films have impacted the distribution companies in particular. In the modern environment what modern day viewers want is to be able view and stream films on any device whenever they want; this is the new technologies. Audiences are more inclined to watch films at home rather than at the cinema. This means that distribution companies and marketing companies really need to be able to entice audiences to go to the cinema to view the film and to also make the film accessible on many different formats. This can be done as while not as popular as it was 10 years ago, the cinema is still something that most people still go to and enjoy. Often the add campaigns and bonuses that are received at cinemas encourage audiences such as the deals on tickets with phone companies ect. Sometimes people prefer to stay at home rather than go out to the cinema which allowed sites like Netflix to become massive successes. This is why film companies need to ensure their film is not just accessible in cinemas but on a lot of platforms to allow for the most success. Ex-Machina is available to view/ download on many different streaming websites such as Netflix, Amazon, iTunes and GooglePlay. This allows audiences to view the film however they like. Ex-Machina was released in the UK by Universal Pictures on 21st January 2015 and in the USA by A24 Films on 14th March 2016. Ex-Machina was also released on DVD, Blu-ray and on download on 14th July 2015. In some cases people don't watch the films legally and use websites like Putlocker to view the film which impacts negatively on the production companies as they make less money. This is a new technology that is recent and nowadays more of a threat to the success of films.

Technologies have not just advanced in the way of viewing films but also in the technology used to create the film, this is something Ex-Machina has taken advantage of to really engage and attract modern audiences. More modern audiences have become used to seeing an impressive array of special effects and Ex-Machina follows this trend by using mainly the special effects company Double Negative. Double Negative are a highly successful visual and special effects company and Europe's largest visual effects provider for film; this British company have worked on highly successful productions like the 2009 Sherlock Holmes film, the Harry Potter franchise, the Batman franchise and Quantum of Solace. As well as working for massively successful films, Double Negative have had personal success too like such as Academy Awards/Oscars for Interception, Interstellar and Ex-Machina. This shows the massive advances in technologies that audiences now expect to see in films and the exceptional standards audiences want. Ex-Machina certainly reaches this standard with stunning effects that earned it an Academy Award. Ex-Machina has gained a lot of success and audience acknowledgement as have Film4 and DNA Films by working with Double Negative as here a massive company in the film industry has brought its success and knowledge to aid production. Winning an Oscar and simply working with Double Negative would have brought a lot more profile and audience interest to the film helping create the overall success of the film.        

Marketing has also benefitted from the new technologies which is shown by how one of Ex-Machina's advertising campaigns was done using completely social media which is also known as viral marketing. A Tinder dating profile account was created using Alicia Vikander as the profile user who then messaged Tinder users with robotic like message such as comments about "humans" before then referring the user to the Instagram page for the film. While this tied in with the whole theme of the film a few eyebrows were raised at the tatics used like a fake account. This type of marketing where direct contact is made with the consumers is a definite advance in technological advantages and although may raise few issues is still very effective and cheaper marketing for films. This innovative marketing technique was also praised as well as frowned upon, which generates more interest and success for the film. Filming and distribution also used new technologies as the film was shot on 4K resolution. This is a digital way of filming and allows there to be a much faster adoption rate which will help benefit and lower distribution costs to cinemas. The quality is also very good on this film and this way of filming has only been around for just over 10 years which shows how new technological advances have benefitted/ been used in this film.

Different technologies have particularly helped each other in this film as shown by how Film4, DNA Films and Double Negative have worked together to create an Oscar winning film. The production teams filmed and prepared all the shots that needed editing with special effects as shown by how they filmed the background ready for Double Negative to use to create Ava. Music was also an important element/ technology for this film as it played a major part in the experience for the audience. The music was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow; Salisbury has worked on the BAFTA nominated David Attenborough series The Life Of Mammals and Barrow has collaborated with Salisbury before to create a album inspired from the film Dredd. This shows how the technologies of the music industry are working with the film industry technology to create this film. The marketing also benefitted from different technologies such as social media as they used Tinder and Instagram to advertise the film; again different technologies are coming together in all aspects of the film.        

As a modern day viewer I like being able to view the film how I would like, where I would like and on what device I would like; sometimes I may struggle to find the time to go the cinema, at my age may struggle to get there and often when I do have free time would rather spend it relaxing at home. This is why apps and websites like iTunes and Netflix are a great benefit to the modern day viewer as it allows us to have control over our own viewing choices. While I see that downloading may not always benefit the film company (such as on illegal websites) it is easy to understand why people do. The new technologies are always a benefit especially when the special effects impress as they do in this film; the soundtrack was also very cleverly put together and another strong point of this film that is hard to believe is low budget film. The advertising campaign for this film was also interesting and quirky as well as the use of social media like Instagram is something that appeals and is effective.

Doc Martin-Regional Identity

The clip starts with the 3 men talking in a room which as shown by the mise en scene is quite basic and someone has just moved in. The basicness of the room represents the typical idea that Cornish people and people who live rurally have less knowledge and are less adavanced. The men are talking which is a diegetic and synchronous sound and this represents their regional identity by their different accents. The father and son are from Cornwall (as shown by their accents) and this carries the stereotypical image of being "backwards" and being less smart. This is represented especially in the older man as he rambles on and doesn't really make sense which meets the stereotype that Cornish people are less intelligent. The son is also Cornish however he is represented as less stereotypical as he knows the answers; however as the shot reverse shots between the father and son show the father laughs at the sons knowledge which installs the typical Cornish stereotype. Doc Martin's far posher, neater and sharper clothes (which is mise en scene) also represents regional identity as it represents him as smarter, more authoritative and modern than the Cornish people who are in workers clothes which represents them as less than him, with less status and intelligence. The use of a wide, establishing shot shows this binary contrast. The diegetic sound of Doc Martins accent also represent regional identity as his is far posher and better pronounced linking him to the stereotypical image of a upper class, almost obnoxious Londoner.

As the scene carries on shallow focus shows Doc Martins frustration and anger at the chaos that occurs this represents the common stereotype of regional identity of city people being more stressed and far more impatient. The sound of him shouting is a diegetic sound which represents the snappy, irritable stereotype of people from the city. The binary contrast to this as shown by the continuity editing is how relaxed the Cornish people are; they come across as not fussed by the mess which meets the stereotype they are more laid back and less tense than city bred people. When Doc Martin is shouting at the Cornish people this diegetic sound and the shot reverse shot editing where shallow focus is used Doc Martin is represented with more power and authority. The shallow focus shows how the Cornish people listen to Doc Martin and follow his commands; this meets the regional identity stereotype that more rural countryside people have less status and are more followers than leaders, this also shows how Doc Martin is still frustrated at their stereotypical lax attitude. The diegetic sound of shouting from Doc Martin can also connotate how he feels is above the others which meets the common stereotype that people from the city are snobby and believe themselves to be the best. Music begins playing when Doc Martin addresses the dog and this non-diegetic and asynchronous sound that begins to play can represent how he holds the power and control over the situation in comparison to the other characters who have no music accompanying them.

This music carries on as he paces up the street and this as well as the tracking shot with the slightly faster editing still represents his frustration and impatience which is a typical image of regional identity of people from the city. The mise en scene of the town paint the typical image of a quite rural town, where everyone is laid back and pretty friendly; this represents country people stereotypically as laid back and relaxed. The music continues while in the police station and this connotes the idea that Doc Martin is still in control which matches the city stereotype. While in the police station the mise en scene represents the police man as a stereotypical countryside policeman: he is hoovering which shows there are no crimes to solve which fits the stereotypical image of a sleepy peaceful town and its inhabitants and there are no weapons on his uniform or in the station again fitting the image of a relaxed and safe town. Doc Martin carries on the city stereotype while talking in the police station; this diegetic sound is him interrupting the policeman and being quite rude which connotates the stereotypical image of people from the city being harsh, cold and business like. This image is further established by the fact that Doc Martin is still wearing his suit which is a binary opposition to the casual clothing of the towns people. The loud diegetic sound of the door slamming is clearly louder over the sound of the music further highlighting Doc Martins frustration.

Once leaving the police station a tracking shot follows Doc Martin down street where he then meets a new character. This woman dose not fully fit the countryside representation as shown by the mise en scene as she is dressed smarter and fancier than the other townspeople and also carries a weaker accent however she is still less formal than Doc Martin which still installs the representation that city people are more formal and professional. While talking to Doc Martin (diegetic sound) she comes across as flirty and a bit of busybody which can meet stereotypical ideas of woman in countryside and rural communities being almost nosy and quite involved in peoples life's. This is further displayed by that she walks with Doc Martin down the street as shown by the tracking and panning shots even though Doc Martins manner suggests the conversation is over. Again Doc Martins power and authority is shown in this sequence as the panning shots show him placed higher in the scene again connotating the image that city people have more influence than country people.

The final character he meets is an old woman unloading her vegetables as shown by a slow climbing shot; this meets the stereotypical idea of regional identity as the woman is clearly a farmer as shown by the mise en scene of her clothes, which are very casual and almost scruffy and her vegetables. She however dose not fit the common stereotype as she is the one person who is portrayed to the audience as equal or better than Doc Martin. This is shown by the way she talks to Doc Martin a diegetic sound that gives her more authority over him, she is also less heavily accented than the other townspeople which links away from the stereotype. When the camera next pans it follows her movements and not Doc Martins like before which also shows how here she in not meeting the stereotype of country people compared to city people.


        

Humans Clip

The clip starts with a pan shot of the inside of the older mans house to the older man who is playing with the medicine pills. Here from the mise en scene age is represented very stereotypically as the area looks cluttered and messy. There is very dim lighting and all the objects in the scene represents an older man as they are all older and there is nothing very modern. There are also black and white photos in delicate looking photo frames and everything seems to be covered in a slight layer of dust. This creates a nostalgic feel and is a typical reprsentation of older people clinging to the past. The dark dim lighting also shows this. There are letters which is an much older way of communicating which also represents the mans age. There is slow orchestral music playing which is an non diegetic and asynchronous sound and this also represents the mans age stereotypically as it is the kind of music that you would expect older people to listen to it also shows the stereotype of old people being nostalgic and missing/trying to relive the past as the music is very old fashioned. Over the sound of the music is the man fiddling with the pills, this diegetic clacking sound is loud and clear and creates tension. It represents the man as uneasy and nervous which can be a stereotypical representation as sometimes older people are represented as more unsure and nervous. Where the old man is the lighting is lighter and clearer yet still messy;this represents the older man in the present as it is brighter than the rest of the house but also keeps up the typical representation of older peoples house being cluttered like they are struggling to manage on their own.

Cross-cut editing is used to show a woman pressing the door bell which above has a sign that says "no visitors". Then using cross cut editing the scene changes quickly to the older man jumping at the sound of the doorbell,this is a typical representation of older people being anxious and jumpy. At this point the man also drops his pills which creates a very loud and clear diegetic noise which represents his nervousness and increases the tension. When he drops the pills the mise en scene shows that there are other medicines on the table and this represents the older man's age very stereotypically as older people being ill, needing medicine and being more fragile is an typical representation. A point of view shot is used when the older man opens door to a middle aged woman. The man only slightly opens the door, keeping it on the latch as shown by the mise en scene before talking to woman which is diegtic and synchronous sound, through this the man is being represented as typically grumpy, snappy and almost rude which is an typical representation of men his age. The woman replies very smartly and professionally and is also presented by her appearance this way as shown by a shallow focus shot. This represents the woman stereotypically as often middle aged women are shown as polished and polite. As the mise en scene shows that the woman ignored the note it represents the woman as better and more powerful than the man. The typical smart way the woman is dressed (mise en scene) represents how the middle aged age group is being represented with more authority and importance than the elderly. Shot reverse shot is used for this part as the man continues to be grumpy by rolling his eyes and muttering under his breath which is a diegtic sound that helps fit the man to the bad tempered old man stereotype. A point of view shot is used when the man closes the door forcefully this re-enforces the irritable old man stereotype.

The next shot is an establishing shot before continuity editing is used to move the scene into the living room. Here the mise en scene remains the same of the room being a bit messy and grimy, fitting the representation that the man is struggling to cope and/or is happy to live the past quite nostalgically. The mise en scene of the characters customs also represents their ages stereotypically; the old man is casual slouchy clothes that looked ruffled, creased and not very clean whereas the woman is dress very smartly and immaculately. This fits the stereotype of middle aged people being more important and capable than the elderly like they look after themselves more. Shallow focus is used in this section to show that the woman is annoyed at what she believes is the old mans ramblings (when he talks about Einstein which is diegetic sound) which represents the middle aged age group as having little time and patience with the elderly and the elderly as being a little bit pointless and slow. As they are talking the woman stands which creates a high angled shot from the mans perspective; this shows the power and authority that the middle aged woman has over the man which represents how middle aged people often try to influence and enforce their power onto the elderly. Throughout the time the woman is talking this diegetic sound is pompous, loud and commanding which is a typical representation of how middle aged people are shown as more in control and important than the elderly. It is also represents how middle aged people can patronize the elderly.  

Continuity editing takes the scene to the bedroom once the woman has left to use an over the shoulder shot to show the older man opening the wardrobe door. The person inside the wardrobe is a much younger man and shallow focus represents his innocence and playfulness which is a typical representation of younger men compared to older men. Quite, soft, nostalgic music begins to play and a low angled shot is used as the man older dabs the younger boys face which represents how in this case the older man is more wise and capable whereas the younger man is represented as less capable and more naive. The music slightly increases as the old man remembers "Mary" and shallow focus is used to show the love and emotion he is feeling; this fits the stereotypical stereotype of the elderly being nostalgic and missing their past.  

 
  

Media Essay 1-Mr Ford

“Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices”.                                                                 To what extent would you agree with this statement, within the media area you have studied?

In many ways Star Wars The Force Awakens needed there to be equally as good marketing and distribution campaigns as the production. Both of these factors are massive influences on the film’s success and wouldn’t have worked without the other.

Star Wars The Force Awakens was able to be viewed in cinemas, and also released by download, Blu-ray and DVD. The film was mainly distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motions Pictures which is vertical integration as Disney produced the film and own Lucasfilm the other major production company for the film. There were also some other distribution companies such as Starz! for USA TV and Columbia Pictures for theatrical in the Philippines,  this is horizontal integration. The film was filmed on 35mm film and 65 mm IMAX and distributed digitally. This helped the success of the film as it meant that it was considerably cheaper than if the entire film had been filmed on film and not distributed digitally. As it was cheaper it meant the overall success of the film increases as the profit made would be a lot higher. This also enabled the film to not just be shown and be successful in cinemas but also be easily accessible online with opportunities like iTunes, Google Play, X-Box and Netflix available. This massively helped increase the success of the film as the specific market of today’s audiences wants to be able to view films whenever, wherever and on what device they want; distributing digitally allows this which increases the success of the film as more people will be more inclined and encourage to watch/download it. This also increased the success of The Force Awakens in cinemas as cinemas more has easier access to it as shown by North America having 4,134 cinemas showing the film in December and from December 18^th  playing on every IMAX cinema in North America. This massively increased the success of the film as being able to watch it on IMAX would excited and appeal to modern day audiences.    

The film itself was marketed extremely well by Disney. Disney has the power, influence and money to create very effective marketing campaigns like the one for The Force Awakens. As well as the usual trailers and posters, which were insanely successful themselves, breaking viewing records, Disney also used the power of social media, merchandise and other companies to market The Force Awakes. A whole day was created on 30^th September 2016 which was named Force Friday and this consisted of a 24 hour live streaming event of fans un-boxing the merchandise. Not only did this increase interest for the merchandise but massively racked up success for the film from the dedicated fans. Star Wars is a franchise that quite unique in the amount of very interested and passionate fans particularly in the UK and USA for the franchise so individual marketing opportunities like this really increased the hype and overall success of the film. Disney also involved other companies in the marketing to enable The Force Awakens to become a familiar sight for particularly the American and British public. By using household brands like Tesco in the UK and Hot Wheels in the USA plus many more the public would be surrounded The Force Awakens which would massively increase the film’s success. This blanket marketing helps ensure success for the film as it increases the excitement and amount of people viewing the film.

The marketing also helped the film be known to all audience demographics that Disney has the advantage of promoting too such as children and families. The Force Awakens would attract massive Star Wars fans however with Disney now producing, distributing and marketing the film it increases the excitement and prosperity of the film for much wider audiences which will help make the film more successful. The wide range of marketing used for the film also massively helped increase its success as it reached and engaged many audience types. This can be shown by how Disney worked with brands like Cover Girl and Max Factor to engage a female audience and also the success of the film in China. The Force Awakens set a new record for the best box office for a weekend release in China for $33 million. This is a particular achievement for the Force Awakens as unlike in the USA and UK there are not many passionate fans in China due to the political climate when the original Star Wars trilogy was released. Star Wars (the first Star Wars film) was released in 1977 when China was under a very strict Communist role which meant that Western, American, Hollywood blockbusters were not widely accepted or even prohibited. This meant that there was a very small Chinese fan base as not many people had grown up with the movies like British and American audiences had. To combat this Disney launched a massive marketing campaign in China to raise awareness, excitement and overall successfulness for the film; this included 500 Stormtroopers on the Great Wall of China and using famous Chinese stars like Lu Han to introduce trailers and create promotional songs. The success of the film in China really shows how important marketing is to have a successful film; Star Wars went from being almost non-existent to breaking records in China mostly due to the marketing.

Production is also important for the success of a film. Again Star Wars in very unique in the fact that there have already been six successful films previously. As the first trilogy was most successful the director J.J. Abrams wanted The Force Awakens to be as similar to those films as possible, as it would satisfy fans and audiences the most. Firstly having J.J. Abrams as the director, and part of the screenwriting and producing teams was a good production practice as J.J. Abrams is very well experienced in producing Sci-Fi Action films like The Force Awakens. He has directed all of the Star Trek films which not only familiarised him with Star Wars fans (as often these franchises go hand in hand with fans) but also shows how he is a successful director, perfect for The Force Awakens. This production practice helped the success of the film as fans knew they could trust this director and would be more inclined to watch the film. Another production practice unique to Star Wars that helped the success of the film was using the same key people and companies in the production. In 2012 Disney brought Lucasfilm for the main aim of producing more Star Wars, they could not do this successfully without the help of Lucasfilm as having produced the other six films they have the very best knowledge and expertise to create a successful seventh film. In many cases the same people were used for example Harrison Ford for Han Solo and John Williams to create the film score like he did for the previous six films. This carried on continuity for the fans and also enabled the best acting and composing as these individuals knew their roles very well, knew the characters and knew what worked; without this idea of continuity mixed with the new the famous line “Chewey we’re home” would never have made the screen and delighted fans globally. Likewise introducing new characters like Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn helped attract new audiences and fans to create a new era for this Star Wars trilogy. These two leads in particular would help attract and increase success in modern audiences of 14-30 years olds as having a female and “black” lead would excite them, as often not portrayed in Hollywood, this audience would be more than happy to watch a female and “black” lead.  This helped the success of the film as the mix of old and new attracted old and new audience which would just keep the success of the film rolling through many audience demographics.

The next production practice of sticking to the original methods and practical techniques as much as possible also helped the success of the film. Going back to the older ways of filming and creating a film like: using 35 mm Kodak film to film many parts of the film, less green screens and using models, sets and paintings instead, using real explosions and having characters like the Luggabeast fully practical, linked The Force Awakens back to the original trilogy which helped the film succeed. This production practice helped the success of the film as it would attract fans back to the franchise and would also impress audiences that weren’t already fans leading them to be more interested to see the film. However a film as fantasy based as Star Wars could not be done without the aid of some CGI and special effects especially with all the amazing technology available; here Disney can really help the success of the film as they have the access, knowledge, money and influence to this technology. The character of Maz Kanata (based on Abrams high school teacher) was created and filmed entirely digitally. A motion-capture suit was used to allow the actress Lupita Nyong’o’s character to come alive which is a very modern and state of the art technology. This production practice helped the success of the film as it added the wow factor for audiences. The quality of this character and other CGI and special effects technology enhanced the whole experience of the film especially for modern day viewers who have become accustomed to great levels of technology in films.     

Overall I believe the marketing and distribution and production practices are equally as important to create a successful film. I completely agree with this statement and do not believe you can have one without the other; as a great film not marketed or distributed well will not reach audiences as shown by the success in China (had The Force Awakens not had such a impactful marketing campaign the film would be less of a success) and a awful film marketed and distributed well would have had much less success in merchandise sales, home media sales or repeat viewing in the cinema that Star Wars massively gained success from.                          

Star Wars Essay

Star Wars The Force Awakens

Star Wars The Force Awakens is the seventh installment of the hugely successful Star Wars franchise. Starting in 1977 with Star Wars this sci-fi fantasy action adventure franchise has gripped worldwide audiences in particular gaining a lot of British and American fans. Star Wars The Force Awakened carried on the success story leading for the eighth and ninth films.

Star Wars The Force Awakens was produced by Lucasfilm which is owned and a subsidiary of Disney. Founded by George Lucas in 1971, Lucasfilm was brought by Disney in 2012, and then released plans to create a new Star Wars trilogy. Disney owning Lucasfilm has allowed there to be a lot more success for this new Star Wars in the box office. Disney is an internationally well-known company, famous for producing some of the best films. This already gives Star Wars a good yet high expectation as people trust that the film will be the best, so would pay and go to see it. Disney also reaches a wide audience of children, teenagers and adults alike which enables Star Wars to be the success it is.  Disney is also a very wealthy company so can afford to spare no expenses. They can easily use the best technology as Disney are leading experts and have a lot of the contacts to be able to get the most advanced. Disney are in a great position to be able to team up with other media companies to get the best of the business. There will be a great cast as not only can Disney afford to hire the best but actors will also want to work for them for their great reputation.

In this case a big company made a big film. Star Wars was already very famous, well known and well-loved before Disney became involved. Disney owning Lucasfilm opens up Star Wars for even more success and their budget and profit shows this. The budget was $306 million and the film made a box office of $2.068 billion which is a massive profit and amount of money to make. Disney enabled Star Wars The Force Awakens to have one of the biggest budgets of the film industry to be able to pay for the best technology, cast and crew.  However, Star Wars also benefitted from smaller companies such as Bad Robot which is owned by J.J. Abrams so automatically has a link to Star Wars The Force Awakens as J.J. is very involved in the film, being the director, part of the screenwriting and producer teams. Bad Robot Productions often team up with other bigger media companies like Disney and Paramount to still be able to produce some of the most successful films like Star Trek Beyond.

As both Disney and Lucasfilm are massively involved in Star Wars The Forces it means they can not only pool together aspects like money to create an impressive budget also other resources like locations such as using Pinewood Studios. This was particularly useful for Star Wars as they wanted The Force Awakens to be more similar to the original trilogy. As Lucasfilm produced the first trilogy they can use their original drawings, plans and models and even in some cases the same people who worked on the first films. By pooling all these resources, it has allowed Star Wars to be the successful and box office record smashing film that it is. This helps to attract but mainly please and impress audiences to help with the overall success and profit of the film.

Star Wars The Force Awakens was distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and publicised by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures and Lucasfilm. Walt Disney Disney Studios Motion Pictures is an American Motion Picture Distribution company that is a division of the Walt Disney Company. This essentially means that Disney distributed the film. Here Disney has worked with Lucasfilm to distribute the film they both produced together. Lucasfilm as it is now owned by Disney means that the rights to Star Wars are owned by Disney, however Lucasfilm is still a subsidiary of Disney and played a massive role in production. Lucasfilm was at least equal if not more responsible for the production of the Force Awakens as they have the expertise and knowledge to create the best film for Star Wars in particular. Disney also publicized the film using their vast amounts of money and influence to create a lot of great merchandise such as action figures ect.. all which are sold either directly from Disney (like in Disney stores) or under Disney’s name. Lucasfilm also publicized the film as they released the trailers however as Lucasfilm is a subsidiary of Disney it is still Disney publicizing the film.

Disney used their massive influence to promote and publicised the film as simply everyone knows Disney. Once fans and the public see that Disney are running and advertising a new film they immediately have high expectations and be prepared to pay money to see the film. Disney is internationally known and as it is a multi-billion-dollar company no expenses will be spared to promote and publicised the film. The best advertising campaigns will be used to ensure that audiences all over the world know about the film and are interested in seeing it.

Bad Robot Productions the smaller production company involved with Star Wars The Force Awakens would work together with Disney and Lucasfilm to promote and publicise the film as they can use the impressive amount of Disney resources and contacts. They will be able to offer their skills such as practice and ease in advertising and producing Sci-Fi fantasy adventure films like their past success of the Star Trek Franchise. They can also benefit from the Disney aid such as the amount of money they can spend on producing and promoting the film and the amount of contacts Disney has to achieve the best for the film. Bad Robot Productions will also benefit from being linked with Disney as this will automatically improve their reputation in the film industry and help them become known to much wider audiences that Disney access and broadcast too. 

First of all, the many different ways that we can now view and exchange films have sometimes impacted negatively for the way we “buy” them as it is now very easy to view films online at no cost. Although this may be illegal many people do it as there is little chance of being caught and it saves money. This is no different for Star Wars The Force Awakens as Disney would have lost money due to people not paying and going to cinema but watching at home online instead. However, many people did still go to the cinema and buy the DVD for the film which still allowed the film to generate a massive profit.

Disney released the film on DVD on 5^th April 2016 on both Blu-ray and DVD. Prior to this on the 1^st April 2016 Disney also released the film via download and Disney Movies Anywhere which shows the different ways that people buy and get access to the film. This allows the film to be viewed on many different devices at any time such as by iTunes, Google Play, Microsoft and Amazon Video. The film can now be viewed on tablets, phones, iPods and game stations which shows how technology has had a massive influence on how audiences view the film. This has a had a positive impact for Disney as some people are more prepared to buy the film as they can view it how and where they want.

Star Wars has also benefitted from the new technology that has been introduced in the production area. While trying to keep The Force Awakens as similar to the originals as possible by using more real techniques, The Force Awakens has massively benefitted from the new technology in the production area too. They used the very best of ILM effects, used the very latest technology of a motion-capture suite which is extremely advanced and used digital work throughout the film. As Disney produced this film it enables The Force Awakens to be able to pay for and have access to prestigious technologies. They also used IMAX cameras and a 65mm film IMAX format to film some of the film which shows how they are using some of the latest camera technology to produce the film.  

The marketing was another area to benefit from the new technologies to be able to market effectively to a mass audience. The very simple and easy way of posting a photo to Instagram helped create a massive buzz and hype around the film; an simple modern day advertising technique. On May 4^th 2014 (Star Wars Day) Pinewood Studios posted a selfie of Bob Iger (Disney’s chairman) with an unidentified Chewbacca actor. This massively helped increase the hype and shows how valuable social media is to advertising which is a technological advance. Trailers were released which hooked audiences while leading up to the film. Not only did they release these trailer the typical ways in cinemas but they also released them on YouTube and the iTunes Store to engage audiences, throughout different methods of viewing the trailers. At the Star Wars Celebration, the second trailer was released and all of this was broadcasted live by Verizon on YouTube, starwars.com and in cinemas. This shows how technology has influenced where and how the trailers are released and more people would view them online. As well as using the latest technology to broadcast the trailers, Star Wars also teamed up with Google to be able to allow the Google users to pick either the “Dark” or “Light” side. This is a very new way of advertising and is solely technology based as Google is search engine, and they also teamed up with Snapchat to help increase the social media hype. This really shows how the new technological advantages of social media have made a massive impact on the way films advertise. They still use the traditional methods of posters but have expanded to much wider advertising techniques using technology.  

Film companies have had to alter, change and add to the way they advertise and exchange the films. They have had to make everything a lot more digital, so everyone is able to get the content on everything from smart phones to game consoles using the internet. This means they had to make both the trailer and the actual film accessible this way. They did this by releasing trailers on iTunes and YouTube and the film on Disney Movies Anywhere. The trailer particularly benefitted by being released online as with fans being able to watch from a variety of devices in any places; the third trailer was viewed 128 million times in 24 hours which was new record for a trailer for the amount of views in 24 hours. This really shows the effectiveness of adapting and releasing the trailer online. Star Wars again use their massive fan base to their advantage by having the “Force Friday” on the 4^th September 2015 a huge global marketing event. This event featured and 18 hour long live stream on YouTube of fans opening and seeing the new merchandise. Not only does this advertise the film but also the merchandise which will help Disney create an even bigger profit. This shows now new technology has really influenced marketing as using an 18 hour live stream on YouTube is one of the most recent ways of marketing using the internet and the idea of access from anywhere.        

As well as being able to view the film illegally (as mentioned above) there are also many ways that people can view the film illegally online. People can use Netflix, Amazon Prime, Sky Movies ect.... This allows people to download the film how they want, onto whatever they want so they can watch it whenever they want. This will encourage people to watch the film at home more rather than go out to the cinema to see it. People nowadays are mare more inclined to stay at home and watch the film. This will still make Disney less money as it is cheaper for audiences than going to the cinema however it will still allow them to make money unlike the illegal ways of watching.

To encourage people to buy the DVD the DVD contains exclusive extra footage which would have really helped to gain sales from the bigger fans. There are also plans to release a Star Wars: The Force Awakens 3D Collectors Edition” in autumn 2016. This is promised to have extra, very exclusive and special footage which will help increase the hype of the film not only at the time of films release but almost a year later too. This can only really be done with massively successful franchises like Star Wars who have an incredible amount of very dedicated fans. This shows how the home media has adapted to having extra, exclusive features to encourage sales.     

Star Wars also offered bonus cinema packages to help increase the box office. On 17^th December 2016 in North America there was Star Wars film marathon finishing with The Force Awakens shown in 3D in selected cinemas. The people who went also got a special lanyard that has exclusive marathon art; this shows how a franchise like Star Wars can use their unique position of having lifelong fans, many that have grown up the films to increase their box office sales.

Disney teamed up with a lot of different companies to advertise the film to be able to market the film in lots of different formats. They also worked with many, many different companies to produce the film. This ranged from 12 different special effects companies that included ILM and many other companies like: Oh So Small Productions for dwarf, short and tall actors, SISS Ltd for security for Harrison Ford, Flying Pictures for aerial filming and many more. This shows the many different expertise companies to create a film of the quality of Star Wars. Disney wanted to get the best they could and used as many companies as needed to do this; this show how the film industry is one massive network that come together to pool the best technologies to create the best films. 12 different special effect companies show how many different technologies all work together by slightly editing, improving and combining each other.

They teamed up with iTunes to enable audiences to buy the film on any Apple product for £13.99. As well as the film Apple users can also buy on iTunes the soundtrack for the movie for £11.99. Another way that the film was marketed was by the merchandise released; Disney released lots of different merchandise such as tee-shirts, figurines and toys and as well as Disney releasing merchandise many other companies have joined in like thinkgeek.com and other similar websites. Disney also teamed up with Hasbro for them to be the main toy manufacture for a deal of $225 million, as well as allowing Lego and Topps to have the right to produce merchandise. This shows how Disney teamed up with some of the biggest and best companies that are very well known to increase the buzz around the film. Disney also teamed up serval major global partners like Max Factor and Subway to help advertise the film; Max Factor created a collection of makeup looks inspired by the film and Subway gave out an exclusive bag and glow stick lightsaber with every children’s meal, that people could collect. This shows how by teaming up with other companies Disney is advertising the film across a wide range of audiences to engage not just the typical male viewers but other audience demographics too like women and children.       

Film companies have massive advertising campaigns to attract audiences that they have differed slightly for different countries, continents and audiences in the world. The Subway campaign was exclusive to the UK and other companies joined in with localised British marketing campaigns such O2.O2 through their Priority, loyal scheme that involved giving away tickets to the UK Premier and various merchandise. On “Force Friday” which began at midnight for the UK the #MidnightMadness trended and the Disney flagship store on Oxford Street in London opened at midnight to allow fans and exclusive, first see look at the products. In the UK Toys R Us, Smyths and Forbidden Planet also let fans in a midnight to get the first chance to see some of the merchandise. Tesco also got involved in the many different ways the film was marketed in the UK, with a Star Wars Weekend discount at Extra stores. This shows how along with standard trailers, posters and social media hype Disney engaged and attracted UK audiences by working with brands that they know and love. This shows how each different country has a different twist to the advertising to engage most audience demographics of that culture. As all these brands are often shown and their advertising is featured a lot on TV, Radio ect.. the British public are familiar to them and will begin to link Star Wars to them as well as becoming more familiar to the film as they will get used to seeing it advertised.

In the USA Star Wars was also advertised by using US brand and releasing products exclusive to the US. This was the case of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles company who released a special adapted Star Wars The Force Awakens car along with an impressive advertising campaign featuring Star Wars characters. Other American brands that got involved were Cover Girl, Hot Wheels and McDonalds to name but a few. America also got to see all the trailers before the rest of the world, Vanity Fair and American magazine got to have the first exclusive cover issue for The Force Awakens and the third, final, most impressive trailer was released during a break in the American TV show Monday Night Football. This shows how priority for American audiences was for them to see the content before the rest of the world; this can be due to an earlier release date of 4 day and that Disney is an American company. This dose show however that American audiences are valued slightly more than the rest of the world and how the fans there may be some of the most dedicated in the world. The film clearly wanted to impress American audiences and this is shown by advertising campaigns. It shows how the American audiences differ from the rest of world as they want to be able to have access to everything first.

Due to the political climate in China and its political history, typical all American Hollywood blockbuster movies were never really a hit or even shown. Though the situation has changed slightly and Western films are more of a hit, this still impacted on Star Wars. As viewers has not grown up with the franchise so there is far less hype around it. To increase the excitement for the film an Chinese trailer and posters were specially released to engage audiences. Famous Chinese actors and musicians like Luhan were used to introduced the trailers, saying about how much they liked the franchise and this helped attract the audiences as they would (like anywhere) find it far more believable if it was highly rated by someone many people looked up to and respected. LuHan also created a created a music video. More Chinese subs were sued in the trailer to help relate it to the audiences more and attract them to the film. The film was advertised on subways and city streets ensuring that audiences simply could not miss it. Disney spent a lot of money doing huge publicity stunts such as having 500 Stormtroopers on the Great Wall and lighting up buildings like lightsabers. They also tried to find the Chinese equivalents such as allowing The Force Awakens on Tencent a streaming service very much like Netflix. All these great and extensive lengths in the Chinese marketing were taken so that The Force Awakens could build and create a bond with audiences. While it will never have the nostalgia that Star Wars holds in the USA and UK it did massively increase the hype and buzz for the film. This advertising campaign massively excited audiences and was very effective.         

       

   

Downton Abbey-Class&Status

The clip starts off with an tracking shot of a boy on his bike before panning slightly and then no longer tracking to show an establishing shot of the Abbey. This is continuity editing and as well as the mise en scene (of the setting) we learn that the people who own and live in the Abbey must be very well off and high class, as it is an impressive and expensive looking setting. This is a typical representation of the higher classes owning big mansions and country estates.

The use of cross cut editing changes the setting to a woman in a bedroom, who appears to have just woken up. She is not dressed however you can still see she is higher class from the mise en scene as the room is large and spacious, with elegant décor. The shot then moves to a high angle shot of her looking down out of a window at the boy cycling. Immediately from this shot we learn how she is much higher class than him and how he has a much lower status than her as she is looking down at him. This represents the power and authority she has over him and how her higher class enables her to do this. This is also a typical representation as she is quite literally looking down at the lower classes.

Using continuity editing the scene then changes to the servants quarters downstairs, where the editing is more fast paced and the music that has been playing throughout the clip increases temo. This non-diegtic and asynchronous sound represents how the servants are lower class as in par with the editing as it is far paces which represents how it is far more chaotic and less controlled. The sharp diegtic sound of the bell also shows how the servants have a lower status as they are subject to serving the woman; the sound is sharp and clear to empathise this. The mise en scene also shows the servants lower status as they are in more humble settings, all eating in and sharing the same room and are all already up. This is a binary contrast to the upper class women who has only just got out of bed and again shows their lower class rolls, of being servants, cooks and maids. Being represented as servants is a typical representation of the lower class especially for the time period this clip is set in and as well as being represented as always busy and serving others.     

Cross cut editing and mise en scene shows how even within the servants there are ranks. When the male servant is getting the paper off the paper boy he is standing on one step slightly higher. There is a slight high angle shot here as the servant looks down at the paper boy which shows how although both their statuses are low, the male servant has more authority over the paper boy. These ranks among the lower status characters are also shown when the older male servant is speaking to the servant who is ironing the papers; here a low angle shot is used from ironers point of view which shows how the older servant has more authority over him. This sequence shows how the status and authority differ slightly between the lower class people in this clip. The mise en scene also shows how this older male servant is slightly higher up as his clothes are more high class and respectful, this shows how is probably in charge of all the others.

Again using continuity editing the scene changes to a higher class man descending the stairs. Immediately from the mise en scene the audience can tell he is of a higher status. His setting and his outfit is very grand, he is very smartly dressed and his posture is very proper. The staircase is immense and very clearly shows the audience how wealthy and higher class this man is. He is also accompanied by a dog which is a stereotypical representation of wealthy, upper class men for the time period. There is a new music as we are introduced to this character and this non-diegetic and asynchronous sound represents the man's high status as it empathises his wealth, power and authority, an high angled camera shot is also used to show this. This is very typical representation of a high status man, particularly for this time period as he is male.

An over the shoulder shot is used while this man enters the room and greets the male servant. This also represents his high class and wealth as the audience are seeing it from his point of view, not the servants. This represents how the servants are less important and lower class. As the higher class women enter the room their high status is represented by the mise en scene; they are wearing every elegant, neat and colourful clothes which is a binary contrast to the female maids/servants plain, bland coloured and simple clothes. This represents the high wealth and status these women have. While looking at the paper shallow focus is used on the three higher class characters which blurs out the male servant in the background. This represents their power and importance over the lower classes which is a typical representation of the classes for the time period as it shows how the higher classes were viewed as more important and powerful. 

Shallow focus is used on the upper class male while is he reading the telegraph to show how his emotions change. Once his emotions have changed the music comes back which represents how he controls the situation. This represents him as the most powerful and important which is a typical representation of the upper classes particularly upper class males for this time period. The music increased temo as a point of view shot shows the man entering another upper class woman's room. We can immediately tell she is higher class as her room is very grand and her nightwear is even more fancy than the first upper class women's who was in the clip earlier. This represents how this upper class women has more of a higher status as dose the fact she is still in bed. This is a typical representation of older higher class women for the time. The music increasing and the point of view shot also represent this mans higher status and power. While in the room a point of view and shallow focus shot is used on the male while the woman is slightly blurred in the background. This shows how the male has the most power, authority and the highest status in the household which is a typical representation of upper class males and the upper classes.          

Hotel Babylon

Different ethnicity's are represented differently in this clip as shown by the camera work, editing, mise en scene and sound.

The clip starts with very tense music which is a non diegetic and asynchronous sound. This music builds the tension of the clip for when we first meet the characters and instantly tells us that the whit police men are not the protagonists in this clip. As we further watch the clip and learn the police men are there for immigration reasons a very stereotypical image of white police men are presented. This is an negative image that is often used when white males police are involved with other ethnic groups. An unusual representation of ethnicity's is shown here as it a white well dressed male against the white policemen. The directors intention here is to the beat the stereotype that the white policemen carry, this was done to show that different ethnic groups can ally together and in this case against the antagonist of the policemen. This represents how ethnicity can be represented as not just separate group but how they can come together. The police men are in a uniform that is typically associated to the police however this shows how they are in some of the lowest ranks in the police force. As this white male is well dressed (which is the mise en scene) we learn that he has quite an high status and power, this is a typical representation of a white male.

As the shot changes to another setting by cross cut editing we are introduced to a white women at reception and more white police males entering the hotel. A shallow focus shot shows the slight hesitation and flash of fear on her face when we first see her be aware of the policemen. This is a less typical representation of white females as it shows how even though she is worried she manages to stay calm and effectively manage the situation. This not typical as white women are often represented as panicky and needing saving. We also learn from her outfit that she is quite high up in society and she is dressed very smartly, however some of her outfit is revealing which is another typical representation of white women. The police men shown here are clearly of a higher rank in the police force. They are not wearing the same uniform as the first policemen are, they are in their own more casual clothes which shows how they are higher up and also one of them has a badge. This shows their power and authority which is a typical representation of white males. The music increases tension and volume and as the camera follows the white male police men it shows their power and authority. When the policeman is speaking to the woman an over the shoulder shot is used from the policeman's perspective which is again shows the power he holds.

During the conversation the white receptionist tells a black man what to do. This is a typical representation of white people having more power and control over other ethnic groups. This music carries on which still shows the increasing tension as it is an asynchronous sound which shows how the white police men have caused a disturbance. Fast paced editing is used while the men are rushing to tell Jackie which also increases the tension and shows how the black man is panicking. This is a binary opposition in contrast to the white woman as she is calm and in control whereas he is panicking which hints he is less intelligent which is an typical representation of black males.

We are introduced to Jackie by shot reverse shot which helps to build the increasing tension. The soundtrack also adds to the tension but as it gets a little bit quieter it can show her power. Jackie is suggested to be clever and in charge as shown by her wearing very smart clothes that are red and lipstick that is red. Red connotes power as we are immediately drawn to look at her more than the others. This is a typical representation of Asian women as we can assume that she is smart to be in the position she is. This is then shown when she talks to the people in the kitchen as she is clearly multilingual which shows she is smart. This diegetic sound represents her as Asian women are typically represented.  














 

Star Wars Questions

1. Disney brought Lucasfilm in 2012 and now owns it.

2. George Lucas founded Lucasfilm in 1971.

3. Lucasfilm was formed in 1971.

4. Kathleen Kennedy became the President of Lucasfilm in 2012.

5. Lucasfilm have worked on the Indiana Jones franchise, the previous 6 Stars Wars and American Graffiti.

6. Lucasfilm was sold for $4.06 billion.

7. Michael Arndt wrote the original screenplay and in 2013 Lawerence Kasdan and J.J. Abrams took over.

8. J.J. Abrams also directed the film.

9. J.J. Abrams has also directed Star Trek and its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness as well as Mission: Impossible 3 and Super 8.

10. Including The Force Awakens there have been 7 Star Wars films: Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi, The Phantom Menace, Attack Of The Clones and Revenge Of The Sith.

11. Star Wars released in 1977 made $775. 4 million in box office.
The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980 made $534.1-385.4 million in box office.
Return Of The Jedi released in 1983 made $572.6 million in box office.
The Phantom Menace released in 1999 made $1.027 in box office.
Attack Of The Clones released in 2002 made $649.4 million in box office.
Revenge Of The Sith released in 2005 made $848.8 million in box office.

12. The first Star Wars (named Star Wars) was released in 1977.

13. ILM stands for Industrial Light and Magic.

14. ILM is a computer graphics and a computer graphics studio. Its effects are used in many films and by many film studios.

15. George Lucas created ILM.

16. George Lucas created ILM because he wanted his own films to feature and amaze audiences with effects that had never been see before. He created the studios because the in-house effects departments at 20th Century Fox no longer operated, so he with John Dykstra created ILM to do this.

17. The casting directors are responsible for finding the perfect cast. They have to find the absolute best actors for the roles, such as finding Daisy Ridley to be Rey. This film had 3 casting directors: Nina Gold, April Webster and Alyssa Weisburg.

18.The first scenes of the film were filmed in the Abu Dhabi desert in United Arab Emirates.

19. Star Wars The Force Awakens was shot on a 35mm film and 65mm IMAX format.

****20. The film was shot on IMAX cameras for some of it and the rest was shot on Kodak film for a more natural look.

21. Pinewood Studios was used for all the inside shots and most of the film.

22. Pinewood Studios is in West London.

23. James Bond is the massively successful franchise that Pinewood is famous for. Some of the Harry Potter, Marvel and Pirates of The Caribbean films have also been shot there.

24. These films all link to Star Wars as they are the fantasy action genre. All the films are fictional and include a lot of effects.

25. J.J.Abrams based the character Maz Kanata on his high school English teacher Rose Gilbert.

26. Maz was filmed entirely digitally.The actress Lupita Nyong'o's movements are monitored and scanned to create the final effect. To do this she has to wear a motion-capture suit.

27. Lupita Nyong'o plays Maz and she is well known for role in 12 Years A Salve as Patsey.

28. Andy Serkis played General Snoke.

29. He is very well known for motion capture acting, animation, and voice work for computer generated characters.

30. The final scene was filmed in Skelling Micheal Island in Ireland.

31. John Williams composed the film score.

32. John Williams has composed the film score for all the other Star Wars films.

33. He has also created film scores for Jaws, Jurassic Park and the first 3 Harry Potters.

34. John Boyega auditioned 7/8 times for the role of Finn according to J.J.Abrams.

35. John Boyega's auditions took 7 months before he got the role.
36. There were two different versions of B-B8 in the film. The puppet version was operated by two puppeteers and the radio control version was operated by three people each with their own remote.
37. B-B8 uses a gyroscope technology to define which direction is down and uses two wheels to move.
38. The B-B8 operators had to wear a green suit.
39. The operators had to wear this colour suit so they could blend into the green screen and be edited out easily.
40. J.J. Abrams did not want to overload the film with a lot of special effects and the main aim was to do everything as manually possible to link the film back to the feel of the original trilogy. They used less green screens preferring to use sets, models and painting instead allowing everything to be shot in camera. They did use some CGI and character animation but mainly it was done as practically as possible.
41. About 200 people watched behind the monitor when Chewie and Han Solo were reunited with the Millennium Falcon.
42. Simon Pegg was thanked at the end of the credits for his role as a alien dealer on Jakku as he was a good friend of J.J. Abrams, a massive Star Wars fan and also helped a lot round the set.
43. IMAX is an widescreen cinematic technique which creates a much larger image (around 10x) than the 35mm film.
44. Star Wars The Force Awakens was shown on around 400 IMAX screens.
45.The rage rating was a 12.
46.UK government gave around 31 million to help fund The Force Awakens and this was about 15% of the production costs.
47. Harrison Ford was paid $25 million and 0.5% of the films global earnings.
48. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega got paid $450,000 each.





 

Luther Clip

Gender is represented in this clip by editing, camera work, sound and mise en scene. Binary opposition and stereotypes are shown in this clip.

At the very start of the clip when Alice first turns to the camera she is accompanied by dramatic music which and non-diegetic and asynchronous sound. This represents her gender as more powerful in this situation as she has the suspense of the music and the power it gives her. When Luther is shown he no music accompanying him which shows how in this situation he is being represented as weaker.

The clip starts using the camera work of shallow focus on both the male Luther and the female, Alice. This shot allows the audience to focus on the emotions and thoughts shown by the characters, here the characters are presented as equal as they both get the same amount of camera time. It represents the binary opposition to be equal and less stereotypical, as Luther dose not have more power like males are normally stereotypically represented to have.

There is also an establishing shot within the first 9 seconds which set the scene for the audience and shows more of the posture of the characters, this is mise en scene. Here you can see that Luther is very relaxed and leaning back into the railings, he is comfortable in the urban city surroundings. As the binary opposition shows here Luther has the power as Alice is a lot more tense and not as at ease in this setting, this is a stereotypical representation of gender as the women is not seen to be as control in the man especially in a city setting. The mise en scene also represents gender stereotypically as Alice is wearing make up and her hair is flawless. This a typical representation of women to have to look perfect and polished.

The mise en scene still represents a stereotypical women as they move into the apartment as the flat is neat and tidy like how women are expected to keep their homes. Luther is still very relaxed in this setting, his hands in his pockets whereas Alice still looks less at ease as she picks up objects and fiddles with them. This show the binary opposite of Luther being more powerful than her and is a stereotypical representation of men and women.

While in the flat there is a pan shot that follows Alice but also shows Luther watching her. Here the binary opposition is more equal as while the camera shows Luther is it following Alice which shows she has more control and power. While in the apartment Alice talks about the black hole, as she is doing she is accompanied by eerie music which adds tension but also give her power. This sound is non diegetic and asynchronous which heightens the power it gives Alice as its not meant to be there. Luther is only shown at this point as a reflection in the photo in an over the shoulder shot from Alice. This shows how Alice has more power and it is being shown from viewpoint and how Luther is just shown in the reflection. Here the binary opposition is representing the female as stronger than the male which is not a typical representation.

There is diegetic and synchronous sound in this clip which is off them both talking. Luther's voice is louder, clearer and more assertive which is a typical representation of males being more dominant. Here the binary opposition is that Alice is being shown as weaker as she is quieter and more softly spoken. Through out the clip Luther is still being shown by the mise en scene as more relaxed, he takes off his jackets, put it's on a chair and leans against the chair. He is being shown as being comfortable and feeling at home which is a binary opposition to Alice who still appears to remain uptight and less comfortable throughout.

The eerie tense music builds throughout them being in the apartment and there are more over the shoulder shots from Alice's point of view. This shows Alice's power as see are seeing her perspective and not Luthers, it reminds us she is there and how its all under her control. This is not a typical representation of females. The tension is also built by the shot reverse shots used as this also shows the power battle between the two. This represents gender in a way that is different to how it is normally represented as males often have the power and control straight away without having to work for it as shown here.

The music hits a climax when Alice touches Luther and gets right under his skin. This music climax also shows Alice's power it shows the hold she has over Luther. Luther has a few more shallow focus shots in this scene and as Alice has some too this shows the binary opposition of the male being presented as weaker. We get to see his emotions a lot more which suggests he is weaker as he is showing more emotion. This really is not a stereotypical representation of the gender as makes are rarely represented as weaker.