Originals & Remakes

Originals & Remakes

Spiderman – Original

The amazing Spiderman – Remake

In the original film Spiderman they used the actor Tobey  Maguire and in The Amazing Spiderman they used the actor Andrew Garfield so therefore in the remake they wanted fresh new actors to play the parts of the popular film Spiderman. Tobey Maguire seemed to have been more effective because he was the original spiderman that all comics were based over and the feel of the remake isn't the same since its sort of a copy and its not the same for people who actually read the comic books when they were younger and then actually saw the real Peter Parker in the movie and then to just create the same film but with different characters may seem very confusing to the audience. 
They company Marvel Enterprises that created the original Spiderman probably thought that they didn’t get as much money as they should of at the box office, so the makers of the new film The Amazing Spider created in 2012 probably thought that they would get more money as its remake because people would of wanted to see what type of things that they have added into the movie that wasn’t in the original film.

At the box office:

Original – $403,706,375

Remake - $262,030,663 
Above we can see that this is not the case as the original made more in the box office which could have been because people know the storyline already and didn’t want to spend their money on a film they have already seen but with just new characters so therefore it shows that the original was more effective to the audience. 

Also a younger audience might not have been born or was very young when the original film was released so once they had grew up a little more to the ages about 8 – 10 they wanted to see a more up to date version of the film. It was a decision by the filmmakers to have most of the stunts done on rigs by actors and stuntmen, rather than use a lot CGI animation. In an interview Marc Webb said "they wanted to make the film more physical and thus more realistic".
I believe the original is the best because since it was created in 2002 and it wasn’t just a copy of the film because when you’ve watched the original the audience sort of know what’s going to happen for example in the remake of the film the character always ends up getting bitten by the spider and it happens when the actor who plays Peter Parker goes on a trip with his classmates so therefore we know how it will happen and how he will then develop his powers of becoming Spiderman. Also a few things that are same is the costume that Spiderman wears when he goes out to save people, and Mary Jane the love interest of Peter Parker is the same but has a different name in the remake her name is Gwen Stacey but she still lives next door to him as seen in the original but all that is different is the actors playing the characters. I would say that the character who played Peter Parker the best was Tobey Maguire since he was the person who people got used to when they first watched Spider-Man and it was him that all the comic we books were based around. In the remake of Spider-Man the CGI was much better since technology is more advanced now rather than 10 years before. 

Fantastic Four (2005) – Original

Fantastic Four (2015) – Remake

In the original film Fantastic Four (2005) they use an older cast to play the ‘Fantastic Four’ for example, Ioan Gruffudd plays Reed Richards, Jessica Alba plays Sue Storm, Chris Evans plays Johnny Storm, Michael Chiklis plays Ben Grimm. These actors all played characters in there late 20’s and early 30’s. Where as in the remake of the film, the director casted a younger group of people at the age of late teens to play the ‘Fantastic Four’ for example, Miles Teller plays Reed Richards, Michael B. Jordan plays Johnny Storm, Kate Mara plays Sue Storm, Jamie Bell Ben Grim.

The director of Fantastic Four (2015) may have come to the conclusion that they may have needed younger characters to play the Fantastic Four so that young people would enjoy it more since young people cannot personal identify themselves with adults since they are not adults themselves, so the director may have though a younger audience would have wanted to watch the movie more if they had young actors playing the roles.

Although we can see that there was a big difference at the box office that the remake wasn’t as popular as the original. But this could be down to the fact that its kind of the same story line they get turned into these superheroes the exact same way as they did in the original.

At the box office:

Original - $154,696,080

Remake - $56,117,548

Some of the differences that they used to make it different to the original film was the fact that in the original film Johnny Storm was biologically related to Sue Storm, and in the remake they changed it so that Johnny Storm was adopted into Sue Storms family therefore they are not biologically related.

I believe that the remake of this movie was the best since I was able to relate more with the characters in this and I got some personal identification with the female character of the movie (Sue storm) since she’s an opinionated character and I feel that I am quite an opinionated person. Also these characters are my age and therefore i can relate to them more. I think that the remake characters fitted the role so much better since it was aimed at people who read comic books so children so they should have had teenagers playing the fantastic four in the first place rather than men and women in there early 30's. CGI is so much better in the remake since technology has advanced since 2005. 

Distribution & Marketing

Disturbution & Marketing

Inception

The movie inception is a blockbuster movie made in 2010. This film is based around thieves who steal corporates secrets using dream-sharing technology. The primary target audience that I would say is primarily aimed at young men between the ages of 16-35. However this may appeal to both male and female because of the storyline so I would say that the secondary target audience is females aged 16-35.

Inception made at the box office $292,576,195, which shows it was very successful. The importance that a trailer is to a movie is extremely because the creator needs to make the trailer spectacular and exciting so that people will want to go and spend their money. This impacts the whole movie because it’s the first thing that the audience will see of the movie. The social interaction between the audience may make people say to their friends that either the film was good or was a bad film but this might still make people want to go see it for their own eyes.

Social media makes a huge impact on how films are seen since many people worldwide use social media (Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat). For example on Twitter people worldwide may tweet about the film and spread the word about the film which may make people to listen to what people have to say about the film either giving positive and/or negative feedback as its free and easy to use.

The poster of the film is also another thing that people will see posters may be seen on buses, in tube stations, billboards. This would need to catch people’s attention which on the inception poster its got very dark and dull colours however the only thing that really stands out is the name of the movie which is in the colour red and in bold letters. In the poster we are also able to see that there is an upside down street above the characters which could cause confusion to the audience as to why there could be an upside down street that may make people want to go to the cinema to watch the movie to find out why they have done that. Also the cast may make people want to go the cinema and watch this film for example Leonardo Dicaprio stars in this film which might also make people want to go and watch this movie if they like his acting or personally just like him as a person.  There is also a really short sentence ‘The dream is real.’ That alone may make people want to go and watch the film since they know its about dreams and how dreams can be real since which relates to nearly everyone since everybody has dreams at some point in their lives.

Merchandise is very important and is beneficial as it makes so much money, this is aimed at fans and can buy at anytime they want since they can be bought online for example Ebay, Cafe Press etc. The types of merchandise that fans can buy is suitcases, keychains, pens, t-shirts etc. This is to get people excited and to get people interested in the latest movie they sometimes sell merchandise in the cinema so when people come out of the screening room they are still in that mind set of watching the movie and then would go and buy the merchandise from the cinema where they are selling them. 

Interviews may give give exclusive news and clips from the movie when the movie hasn't been released yet and this would interest the fans if they are excited for the film and their anticipation gets the better of them however they could also just like the celebrity starring in the film and just wanted to listen but this then gives people the information on the film which is kind of giving it publicity to spread the word on chat shows for example 'The Ellen Show' 'Graham Norton Show' etc. 

The link for an interview with Christopher Nolan the maker of inception 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmmakersonfilm/7894376/Christopher-Nolan-interview-for-Inception.html

The most effective ways of Distribution and Marketing are trailers and posters but this is only in my opinion it may be different for other people but trailers and posters are more effective for me trailers are effective because it's the first things that people see of the movie so it would make a bigger impact on the audience and thats what makes them want to go and watch the movie. Also Posters are also effective especially where they are located they need to be shown otherwise people wont see them and there would be no point in making them, so they need to be put places where they will be seen 24/7 for example on streets, on billboards etc.  

Films & Their Audiences

Films & Their Audiences 

Intertextuality

Intertextuality 

Taken & Family Guy 

The audience start to notice when Family Guy is about to reference the film Taken when Peter Griffin gets a phone call from the people that kidnapped his daughter and says similar things as to what Bryan Mills says in the film Taken. However in Family Guy it is more comedic whereas the taken version is much more serious. The benefits of these references are that people who are fans of Family Guy and the movie Taken may get some entertainment of seeing one of there favourite films being referenced in one of their favourite tv shows. Also this can also boosts fans self esteem as they can identify that, that scene from taken was then referenced by Family Guy. 

I would say that the film Taken originally aimed at people 16 - 40 in the C1 - E social groups and primary target audience being males as they have more entertainment with the violence of the movie and secondary target audience being females as women can relate to the actual story line of women being used as sexual objects which is how Laura Mulvey thinks women are seen. 

Family Guy who referenced the movie Taken would possibly be watched by people aged 13 - 30 in the C2 - E social group which may be primarily aimed at males since its about a man and his family and also since this specific episode is about the film Taken so it would be watched by mainly males and the secondary target audience being females since they can also find comedic things with in the tv show family guy. The similarities that are identified is the story line where the daughter goes missing in France with her best friend and is then auctioned off as a sex slave to the highest bidder the scenes are very quite similar. However the father in Taken was the one to go searching for the daughter whereas in the Family Guy the Baby and talking dog go searching for her to try get her home safely. There is definitely some entertainment/escapism which is offered to the audience in both were the audience can switch off from their day to day lives and watch this film and TV show. Also there may be some social interaction where the audience can talk to each other about the show and movie, for example after seeing the movie Taken and then for the audience to watch family guy that has referenced this they might see a different side to the story of were it was very serious and then the side were people can actually laugh about it and make it actually not so serious. 

Taken 

Family guy 

Back To The Future & Family Guy 

The audience start to realise that Family Guy is going to be referencing the movie Back to the Future when the character Peter Griffin picks up the phone like Marty McFly in the movie and says the same things for example he says that he is late for school and then runs outside on his skateboard and holds on to the back of trucks on his way to school and this is exactly the same in Family Guy. The benefit of these references is that it publicizes both Back to the Future and Family Guy. Also it shows Mary McFly as a cartoon character in Family Guy. I would say that the original film of Back to the Future was aimed at 13 - 30 years in the C1 - E social class and i would say that it was primarily aimed at males since this movie revolves around a young male trying to get back to the future from the past and in the process try to get his parents to fall in love again otherwise his brother and sister wont exist too. The secondary target audience would be females since it was about trying to get his parents to fall in love again and some girls might find the romance things as one of their favourite genres. 

In the video there are many similarities from one specific scene where Marty McFly was running late for school and then grabs his skateboard and holds on to the back of a truck on his way. The scene from Family Guy with Peter Griffin is exactly the same as if you were watching Back to the Future as a cartoon. The audience may get some personal identification of being a teenager who goes too school just like Marty Mcfly. Also the audience may get some escapism for example seeing someone going to the past then trying to get home to the future and this would be nice for the audience to see and kind of feel like they have joined in with Marty because its highly unlikely that people would be able to do what Marty does in Back to the Future. 

Family Guy & Back to the Future mash up 

Pre & Post Viewing Experiences

Pre & Post Viewing Experiences

Pre Viewing experiences will engage the audience for The Maze Runner The Scorch Trials, when things like trailers are released as well as posters, which would give audience members the chance for social interaction like talking face to face with friends and family or even on social networking sites who like the same things that they do such as using Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc.

The Maze Runner The Scorch Trials is mainly aimed at the younger audience members primarily for males aged 12-25 years in the E-C2 social class since it is based around teenage boys who get taken each month and are used as little experiments and what is holding them from escaping is the maze as there are deadly creatures surrounding it who have already killed teenagers and the secondary target audience being females since a teenage girl turns up one day out of the blue when there are only males there.

Fans have created websites online to show they are passionate about the film they are obsessing over also on this website they have quizzes, and merchandise and competitions to win merchandise. This would then cause fans to get excited and want to take part in these quizzes so they can be named ultimate fans of the film and people will enter the competition so they can get free merchandise.

Since The Maze Runner The Scorch Trials is so popular they have decided to create another film named The Maze Runner The Death Cure that will be separated in to 5 parts and part 1 will then be released in the fall of 2016 which was also mentioned on the website so what this website is doing is giving fans information which would make them get excited and would also make people want to check up on this website everyday to see if there is anymore news.

Post viewing experiences may cause fans to make YouTube videos for things like sweded videos when fans re create scenes from the movie and pretend they are the characters. Fans also create videos on YouTube were they pick out scenes from the movie and create their own story.

Passive audience members are people who are very lazy and dont really ave an opinion and follow other peoples opinions. Active audience memebers are people who are excited about the movie and have their own opinion since they may be so addicted they can create videos online from the film.

Mise En Scene Analysis

Mise En Scene Analysis

Production Design 

The film The Hunger Games there are very many different types of locations one location that we see is of a close up of the main character in is in the forest hunting deers. In the image the way she looks as the deer and focuses shows that this is not her first time hunting. This shows that she is a very superior, dominant female character that has learned to deal with getting her hands a little dirty at times. This also shows that she doesn't rely on others to do things for her. In the first image we can also see the sleeve of katniss' brown leather jacket however the sleeve looks a little worn out and the colour has faded this is probably because she wears it all the time and can't afford to buy a new one. Another location that we see during this film is the place where people in the same district will be living. The second image shows a very long shot of katniss' new and improved room that she will be staying in the room there is very dark colours with a little bit of yellow around the bed this is probably to represent the way she is feeling which is quite dark at the moment since this scene is after she was picked to go in to the Hunger Games. Also on the wall we can see some large oddly shaped ornaments. The room overall looks very big and spacious but extremely tidy. In the second image the audience can see that katniss is wearing different clothing to what she had arrived in these clothes look more clean, fresh and more comfortable to sit around in. We can see that she is wearing  a clean yellow short sleeved top and wearing black trousers.

Lighting

In first image of katniss pointing her bow and arrow we can identify that the lighting that is used to set this scene is natural lighting, this natural lighting is to make the scene feel more real to the audience. In the second image we can see very low ambient lighting this is to create an atmosphere this may have been used to represent the way she is feeling which is quite low and dark. The low lighting is also quite calming and since she has been through a lot this could be what the people that brought her there were trying to do which was calm her down and that they hope she feels comfortable there since they brought her there to 99.9% die. 

Actors/Actresses 

The way that the actors and actresses deliver their lines to one another is very calming even when they're worried. In this Image of the main character talking to her little sister trying to calm her down Katniss talks very shakily and worried which you can identify whilst listening to her. However the things she says is very all very positive but from the tone of her voice sounds very negative. This probably because she is also scared for her life and her little sisters life because anything can happen. In the film there are many different accents that everybody has most of the characters have American accents but one character in the film talks with a British accent. People might just by looking at her call Katniss very weak and just a typical girl however when you get through the beginning she turns into this brave superior young woman which shows the audience they were wrong about her and that they shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Katniss' body language differs throughout the movie it becomes more confident like she knows what she is doing this is because its like she gets a wake up call from the circumstances that she is under and needs to be focused. She becomes a much stronger character throughout since she could be face to face with death.  

Era


The Hunger Games is set in an unspecified point in the future by Gary Ross and the book was written by Suzanne Collins. You can most definitely tell that it was set in the future because the technology in Panem utilises things like solar batteries, forcefields, holograms which seems very surreal. The film is so technologically advanced utilising science to make life easier. 

Auteur Theory

Auteur Theory 

The auteur theory was coined by Andre Bazin in France in the 1940's. Before auteurs the cinema may have been very unexpected as the audience wasn't aware of what to expect of what sort of film there movie may include.

Once Auteurs came around they must have brought a lot of money in to the cinemas as people knew what to expect when they were going to watch that film. For example if people love an auteur that uses a variety of different explosions then most people would go out and watch that movie with explosions. and then this would make it clear to the audience that, that specific auteur uses explosions, this would make cinemas more popular. 

An auteur is a director who uses specific things in their films that lets the audience know that it was created by a specific auteur that uses that. But as Francis Truffaut likes to say "There are not good or bad films just good or bad directors". This quote shows that he believes that at the end of the day its down to the director. 

I believe that directors need to have clear and open minds to new things such as genre, actors etc. Because what makes a good movie is getting the right actors to play their part and do it well. Also having different types of genres would be like coming out of your comfort zone and this would allow you to try new things so this wouldn't bore any of the audience because it would be new things.

An early auteur is Alfred Hitchcock and some of his techniques are is that Hitchcock used to have a unique style when it came to making movies which was that he used techniques that he wanted people to recognize to the audience as his own, he also made cameo appearances so people knew that this was his movie. He did this in his films like Lifeboat, The mountain eagle, to catch a thief etc fans made it a sport to spot his cameo appearances.

Reception Theory

Reception Theory

Dominant reading: The dominant reading for My Sister's Keepers is that the mother in the film takes her ability of being able to have children for granted this is only to help save her other child as she needs various transplants that only come from a sibling of the child. Therefore this made the child feel used and unloved. This movie encodes a message within the movie and what the directors would like the audience to do is try to decode that message so they create a better understanding of it themselves and it may make the audience feel good about themselves knowing that they have uncovered the message. 

Oppositional reading: People who may not agree to this dominant reading of this film is women of the same age of the mother in the movie as they may not be able to have children because they're infertile. This may effect the audience of the film and may make them think that it has a negative impact on the audience because its like telling people to have kids and not love them when trying to save another child. 

Negotiated reading: People who may not care or maybe agree with this is teenagers or even younger audience members who haven't had children and don't understand as much as an older audience member would for example infertile women. 

This film gives a negative impact on the audience as it could upset people because women who have been in this position could be affected by this because its something they have been through or are going through. Also it's like the directors of the film are trying to say that it's okay to have children for spare parts for another child. 

Representation Theory

Representation Theory 

In the film Inside Man white criminals subverts dyers theory as in the film they are seen as intelligent brave and which in some movies white criminals are seen as seen as stupid and careless. Therefore i would compare this film to Fast and Furious as the white criminals are seen as intelligent therefore they are conforming characters to the white criminals in Inside Man. 






Also in the movie Inside Man dyers representation theory subverts the way black cops are represented. which in this specific film they are seen as trustworthy and intelligent i would compare this film to White Chicks since they do mess around but they know when to get the job done. 

In the movie Inside Man Mulvey's representation theory subverts the way pretty women are seen which in this film is as a sexual object for the men to stare at. However she is a headstrong, and very opinionated woman. I would compare this to the film bridesmaids (Melissa McCarthy) is a conforming character and is counter typical as she is over weight and isn't dignified as a women are seen.  

In the movie Inside Man dyers representation theory subverts the way white female criminals are seen which in this film she is very intelligent, brave, and superior, I would compare this film to Salt as she is also brave, superior and intelligent. In the film Home Alone 4 the female criminal is a conforming character and she is also stereotypical as she is not very intelligent and white criminals are seen as unintelligent. 

In the movie Inside Man Dyers representation theory subverts the way women in power are seen which in this film there are strong independent, head strong and intelligent, i would compare this film to the Other Woman (the Cameron Diaz character) in the film London to Brighton they are conforming as they are seen as inferior and does what men say and when they say it. 

Genre Theory

Analyzing Genre Theory

The film franchise fast and furious is a sub genre movie which is an action romance. 

Throughout the movie you always know that the films are going to be an action movie that many people both male and female aged 12 - 45 of all races. 

Men and women may enjoy this film because of the characters in the film for example the female character Letty Ortiz is a feisty, strong, woman this may make the female audience feel as if she can do i then they can do it to. 

The generic conventions that you would usually find in an action romance movie are weapons, cars, money and violence and the romance part is that boy meets girl and they fall in love. This means the audience expectations as most people who know what to expect in the movie. Neales repetition and differences is most definitely used in this movie. Things are repeated throughout the movie is some of the cars are repeated the characters are always the same throughout each of the movies. 

However there are also some differences for example the locations for example Los Angeles, London. The reasons that they may change the location in each of the films  is so that it doesn't bore the audience but also make the new movie better than the previous making people want to watch it more. Another difference is the villains like Owen Shaw. Therefore Neales repetition and difference theory does apply to this movie franchise. Some examples of the same type of genre as 'fast and furious' is the Transporter movies starring Jason Statham are all similar as they have the same conventions. 

Fast and Furious differs from other movies from similar texts because fast and furious makes you want to be like the characters because when driving to the cinema to watch the film and on the way home from the cinema, i'm sure most people want to drive like them which really effects the audience. The audience receive social interaction with the film because the film gives such a big effect to the audience and it is so popular people want to talk about it with their friends and family this can also create wider audiences because the people who have watched it may encourage people who have not go and watch these movies.