Les Miserables: Case Study

Star Power

Moulin Rouge!

Skyfall

Micro Analysis Presentation

How The Film Industry Works

1) A producer has overall control on every aspect of a film’s production. They are in charge of acquiring/securing the rights to the film and for bringing key members of the creative team together, such as the director. They deal with finance and the distribution companies and are responsible for the film’s overall success.

2) Directors are responsible for visualizing the script and making the idea become a reality; they work closely with the producer and are the creative aspect of filmmaking.

3) It is important to have a name director as it can help to find money in order to develop the script and attract a good writer. It can also be a good selling point for the producer to later on attract financial backing.

4) Agents make their living by acting on behalf of their clients to get the best deal in return for their time and skills and then taking a percentage cut.

5) A production company can offer money in order to develop the script in return for the right of the film. Due to their early involvement, they can insist on a large percentage of future profits and usually work on a number of films at one time.

6) A distributor will take the development money in exchange for the rights of the film so that it can be distributed to cinema owners (exhibitors), rental companies and broadcasters. Money from a distributor shows the idea is marketable.

7) A film trailer is important because it helps to promote the film; it sells the key elements of the film to the right audience and showcases the value of the film.

8) A sales package contains the key information (cast and crew, target audiences and a synopsis of the film) and is important as these are needed to sell the film to distributors and compete against other films.

9) A ‘buzz’ is anything positive surrounding the film, such as excitement or anticipation, and is important as it creates publicity for the film.

10) The Dark Knight Rises created ‘buzz’ and anticipation/excitement through several film trailers and posters viewed by the audience online, on television and in cinemas.

11) Above the line marketing is the most direct way to reach an audience; it involves trailers, poster campaigns and TV spots.

12) New marketing models are important as they allow the distributors to only target people who are most relevant to their marketing objectives. Internet marketing is an example of a new marketing model; the film can be marketed in a cost-efficient way, rather than wasting money on a nationwide advertisement that could be ignored by lots of people.

13) Package selling involves the distribution company offering a package to cinema owners in order to get as many of their films seen as possible. (If they hold the rights to this summer’s blockbuster, they can use it as a bargaining tool to get exhibitors to take some of the less commercial films). This could help “indie” films as they can be included in the package and therefore shown in the cinema but could also hinder them as smaller distribution companies could struggle to get their films seen.

 14) A film’s ‘opening weekend box office’ is important because it allows cinemas to see if the film will underperform or do well so they know whether to prolong it’s showing or to cancel it.

15) DVD sales are still important to the film industry because they can still find their audiences after the initial release of the film and make a good profit.

Expand Your Mind

The roles of women as portrayed in horror films

This article discusses the way in which woman are presented in horror films and notes how they are no longer always portrayed as the weaker sex that rely on men to be saved but actually as the person who fights/defeats the main antagonist and is able to protect and do what they need to in order to survive. The article goes on to discuss the concept of the “final girl” character in horror films, a term coined by Carol J Clover who was a feminist film theorist/critic. “A final girl character is the last surviving female in the horror film who manages to kill the murderer on her own or at least manages to escape successfully and hence, lives to tell the story.” This type of character can also have something in common or share history with the antagonist and are not sexualised like other female characters in horror films but usually virgin like and not seen in particularly “girly” clothes. According to the article, horror films can suggest, due to the structure of promiscuous girls usually being killed first, that “engaging in sex would constitute death”. Final girls are usually intelligent and carry a lack of sexual urges, Laura Mulvey (another feminist film critic) believes, because these traits “desexualise” women which is needed in order to make them appear equal to men and able to defend themselves independently.

The article also touches upon women sometimes being used as the main antagonist in horror films (For instance, Carrie) and how that helped women to be seen as equal to men. For example, Carrie was portrayed as powerful and full of rage therefore the audience view her as strong. However, the article later on poses that horror film could be suggesting that, in order for a female to be viewed as strong and to gain power against “aggressors”, they have to act like men and they have to be “pure”, hence why so many of these final girl characters are virgins. Although the example of Sidney Prescott in Scream is highlighted, she loses her virginity in the first film yet still acts as the final girl character in the whole series which suggests that being pure and virgin like is no longer as vital for the final girl. This would be referred to as a “reform final girl character” – it does not stick to the traditional stereotype but allows the final girl to “need not be masculine… they could embrace their femininity and yet have access to power at the same time”.

However, the article also uses examples such as Nancy Thompson from the Nightmare on Elm Street series that suggest no change in women being looked as vulnerable in horror films. Nancy Thompson was the final girl character for a portion of the series but was eventually killed off whilst Alice Hardy, the final girl in the Friday the 13^th series, “descended into insanity” which suggests that, in reality, women are still presented as the weaker, less able sex in horror films as they eventually submit to the antagonist or the memories left behind by the antagonist.

I think this article is interesting because I've found that vulnerable female characters with sexual connotations, despite the final girl character being used often in horror films, are what people generally associate with women in horror films and that, even if there is a final girl character present, there is a female included that is made to look promiscuous in order to appeal to the idea of the male gaze and also is usually not very intelligent and unable to defend herself. I like the idea of the final girl as I think it portrays females in a positive light however I do think it is right to evolve some traits of the final character, such as the virginity one, to show that women can still behave in a feminine manner and have power and be viewed as equal to men.

Phallic appropriation: "Carol J. Clover argues women become masculinized in horror films through "phallic appropriation", e.g taking up a weapon such as a knife or a chainsaw against the killer.