manchester film industry seminar

ROY STAFFORD - LECTURER
4 stages: preparation, production, distribution, exhibition

KEY TERMS
1. film territory
A territory where you can buy the rights to distribute a film

2. windows
the period between a film's cinema release and DVD release amongst other periods between releases. for example, the period of time between a DVD release and a TV release

3. saturated film release
releases films in every multiplex cinema in the world over about 36 hours

4. holdover
showing a hit film again and again in cinemas

5. a film with 'legs'
literally a successful film that keeps running

6. DCP
digital cinema package - films are no longer on film


THE BIG 6
paramount (102 years)
columbia (96 years)
warner bros (91 years)
20th century fox (79 years)
disney (64 years)
sony (27 years)
- longest running, biggest distributors


cultural test (in the uk, to qualify as a 'british' film)
- submit your film
- different things are taken into consideration: are the directors/writers/actors british? was the film made in britain?
- 31 points taken into consideration; 16 of these qualify as a british film
- why? because the british get funded for their movies (soft money)


property: the rights to develop a story e.g. a novel
the hunger games
harry potter
the wolf of wall street
twilight
50 shades of grey

the wolf of wall street- every day advertising

the wolf of wall street marketing team used billboards, buses and bus stops in the street to their advantage:

 before the oscars they asked oscar voters to consider their movie by adding four billboards around america with its signature big, yellow font over memorable pictures of the movie, calling it 'his best performance ever', saying that it was 'the movie of our time' and 'bold brave classic' -

- and a joke from the movie. dicaprio states "I use Xanax to stay focused, Ambien to sleep, pot to mellow out, cocaine to wake up and morphine … because it's awesome."

the wolf of wall street- marketing

each poster that got released in turn gave a little bit more information about the upcoming movie:

theme: money

director: martin scorsese

main actor/star appeal: leonardo dicaprio

theme: money, crime

director: martin scorsese

screenplay: terence winter

main actor/star appeal: leonardo dicaprio

supporting actor/star appeal: jonah hill

supporting actor/star appeal: matthew mcconaughey

supporting actress/sex appeal: margot robbie

theme: debauchery, work

director: martin scorsese

main actor/star appeal: leonardo dicaprio

based on: the story of jordan belfort

screenplay: terence winter

coming soon

theme: debauchery

director: martin scorsese

main actor/star appeal: leonardo dicaprio

based on: the story of jordan belfort

screenplay: terence winter

release date: december 25th

website: thewolfofwallstreet.com

'the big 6' - top grossing films

walt disney pictures:

1. the avengers - $1.46 billion

2.       pirates of the carribean: dead man’s chest - $1.07 billion

3.       pirates of the carribean: on stranger tides – $1.04 billion

20^th century fox:

1.       avatar - $749,766,139

2.       star wars: episode I - $431,088,295

3.       stars wars: episode III - $380,270,577

paramount:

1.       titanic - $600,788,188

2.       transformers: revenge of the fallen - $402,111,870

3.       transformers: dark of the moon - $352,390,543

warner bros:

1.       the dark knight - $533,345,358

2.       the dark knight rises - $488,139,099

3.       harry potter and the deathly hallows part 2 - $381,011,219

sony/columbia:

1.       spider-man - $403,706,375

2.       spider-man 2 - $373,585,825

3.       spider-man 3 - $336,530,303

universal:

1.       despicable me 2 - $368,061,265

2.       e.t.: extra-terrestrial - $359,197,037

3.       jurassic park - $357,067,947

british film

british films are known for:


- comedy
the cornetto trilogy (sean of the dead, hot fuzz, the world's end)
monty python
the inbetweeners
paul









- gritty dramas or 'grit flicks'
kill list
ill manors
this is england
tony
the selfish giant

uses and gratifications

Uses and Gratifications	Blockbuster	Selfish Giant
Who is the audience for your film? Primary and secondary audience Niche or mass audience	Primary audience: 18-49 year-old moviegoers; Scorsese fans Secondary audience: DiCaprio fans, those attending with their friends; those who heard about it through word-of-mouth	Primary audience: British cinemagoers, ‘arty’ audiences who are into independent films Secondary audience: word-of-mouth people; those who saw it nominated for Best British Film at the BAFTAs
Personal Identity ·         Finding reinforcement for personal values ·         Finding models of behaviour ·         Identifying with valued other (in the media) ·         Gaining insight into one's self	·         Relationships and cheating ·         Drug and alcohol addiction ·         The greed of the economic business	·         Identifying with the characters who struggle with poverty, large families that aren’t well-catered for, young children who have to support their families ·         Identifying with some characters who audience members may vaguely know e.g. from school or around the neighbourhood
Information  (also known as surveillance) ·         Finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world ·         Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices Satisfying curiosity and general interest ·         Learning; self-education Gaining a sense of security through knowledge	·         Realising the extremes that the wolf of wall street and his business went to	·         Finding out that life is still that bad for some people and that they actually live like that (evokes empathy/sympathy)
Entertainment ·         Escaping, or being diverted, from problems ·         Relaxing ·         Getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment ·         Filling time ·         Emotional release ·         Sexual arousal	·         Sexual arousal from multiple pornographic scenes ·         Hilarity of a scene from the POV of a drug abuser ·         Male gaze; Margot Robbie (sex appeal) naked; in lingerie etc. ·         Kanye West soundtrack; modern, relevant ·         Memorable quotes, scenes (e.g. humming song, banging chest)	·         Being diverted from one’s own problems by being shown the problems of those who are worse-off ·         Emotional release
Social Interaction and Integration ·         gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy ·         identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging ·         finding a basis for conversation and social interaction ·         having a substitute for real-life companionship ·         helping to carry out social roles ·         enabling one to connect with family, friends and society	As it is an 18, many teenagers who wanted to see it couldn’t. This in itself sparked a lot of interest (why is the rating so high?) and it has been widely talked about due to the graphic and crude nature of some scenes. Memorable quotes and scenes used frequently, sparking more interest (e.g. humming song, banging chest). Big social network connection (the trend #wolfofwallstreet etc.) Gaining insight into the lives of those who were affected by Jordan Belfort, both in the company and out.	Gaining insight into the lives of families living in poverty, children who have to work to help support their families, large families with little money etc. Causing audience members to have more empathy/sympathy and not to jump to conclusions about people as they aren’t aware of others’ backgrounds.

 

fan reviews

'roger ebert' review- matt zoller seitz
3.5/4 stars