Weekly Podcast 7

This is our Weekly Podcast

In this we talk about:
Evaluation question 3
Our case studies:
'71 (Demange, 2014)
About Time (Curtis, 2013)
The Theory of Everything (Marsh, 2014)

Film analysis: The Theory Of Everything

Film analysis of The Theory of Everything 

Production Background

The Theory Of Everything is a Working Title film. Its initial release date was the 

26th of November 2014. 
Director: James Marsh
James Marsh is known for The Theory of Everything (2014), Man on Wire (2008) 

and Shadow Dancer (2012). This is quite rare having an unknown director with a 

limited track record for high budget films directing this film. Another example of 

this is in the film Elizabeth which was directed by Shekhar Kapur. This is quite 

unusual as the director was Indian and the film is a traditional British film but 

they did this as they wanted the directer to have a fresh and new view on the history.

Box Office
Budget:

  $15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

  $208,763 (USA) (7 November 2014)

Gross:

 $29,055,497 (USA) (23 January 2015)

World Wide:

 $81.8m

Budget and Implications

The budget for this for was $15 million. By having quite a low budget for the size of

 the marketing this meant that they could of got a bigger star. Eddie Redmayne was

 their main star. Being a british actor that isn't well known in british film it was a massive 

risk for Working title getting him for the starring role as they may not get box office in

 England never mind America.

Distribution and Marketing

This is The Theory Of Everything'sFacebook page. This page has over 300,000 likes which is a lot for a film that has only recently been released. 

Twitter Page

This is the poster for the film and also the DVD cover. The way he is looking at her signifies that she isn't of has fallen out of love with him even though this is a romance. It is also a two shot which also signifies romance.

• two shots
• sci-fi
• about her in small text

The Theory of Everything has got different distributors for different countries. In the UK it was distributed by Universal but in the USA it was distributed by Focus Features. This information also shows where they have already planned to release the film on DVD as well as cinema. This is quite interesting as working title had a 7 year cycle with NBC universal that said anything under $25m had the green light so seeing focus features distributing the film in the US is interesting. This is because NBC 

universal thought that there would only be a niche market for this film in the USA

 therefore letting Focus Features (who are owned by NBC Universal) distribute this

 film in the US. This is because Focus better at distributing art house films for a small 

audience, but the massive proportion of hype and awards for this film, intrigued a larger

 audience in the US than expected therefore opening up the niche market into an 

extremely big one. The main reason for this is the amount of awards they got nominated

 for at The Oscars including all of the main ones you can receive. 

Theory Of Everything just has an International trailer.

 This is quite interesting that they only made an international trailer as it shows they 

were trying to get their film released wherever they could.

Critical Reception

This is part of the Guardian's film review

It stands or falls, of course, on its central performance. But Redmayne towers: this is an astonishing, genuinely visceral performance which bears comparison with Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot. His Hawking starts askew – the glasses, maybe the shoulders a touch – and over the course of two hours contorts and buckles into a figure at once instantly familiar and fresh. This is more than just skilful impersonation – it's inhabitation. To look on as his face and body distort is to feel, yourself, discomforted, even queasy.
The film's emotional punch, however, comes from the trauma the disease wreaks on Hawking as one half of a couple. It manages that rare thing in any movie, least of all a well-upholstered biopic, and that is a realistic relationship, with grace notes, and a 

bedrock of respect and affection. Jones makes for a formidable opposite number; she's a consistently brilliant actor who needs a breakthrough.
It's a film to leave you reeling but cheered, too. It's about battling love, as well as illness. 

A universal story, extracted from a unique one.Perhaps this may prove to be the movie. Though Redmayne will deservedly hoover up a great swagbag of awards, Jones shouldn't go home empty-handed. One beautifully underplayed scene between the two near the end hits with such choking force the viewer is left almost giddy.

Overall it has a very good review with their rating out of 4 out of 5 stars and the IMBD rating

 of 7.8 out of 10 makes this review a good watch.

Media Language - Genre + Audience
The Theory of Everything is a hybrid of a documentary and a romance. It's primary audience 

is both older woman and men as his best known by older people although young people are

 also a key part of the audience as they may look up the the main protagonist and want to be

 like him when they are older.
Media Language - 'British'
This film has all southern British characters set in the south of England. It is mainly set

 in the heart of cambridge and at the well known Cambridge University. This is easily

 identified by a US audience by the arcitecture and mise-en-scene. The main protagonist

 who plays Steven Hawking  is also British making it authentic and more realistic. If we

 compare this to 4 Lions which took a more stereotypical approach as it was set in Bradford 

in the middle of a city with muslim characters 

• Compared to 4 Lions which is set in britain it is the more steriotypical approach
• Commutation test and set it in bradford not the south of england wold get a totally 
• different view

Typical WT Film?
On one hand this is a typical Working title film as it is set in southern britain and also

 has british actors but on the other hand focusing on the genre, its not as working title 

don't usually do a documentary genre but this film is not a typical Working title film. The 

budget for this film is quite a low budget for working titles standards with no A list-stars in the

 film at all. The main reason it isn't is the director. The director is very unknown and they

 have only ever picked an unknown director once before in Elizabeth. They have also 

taken a very artistic approach to this film not a commercial approach which is unusual

 with Working title as the budget for an Artistic film is very high making it hard to get 

mass box office results compared to a commercial approach.

Film analysis: About Time

My film analysis of About time

Production Background

About time is a Working title film

Initial release: August 8, 2013 (United Kingdom)

Director: Richard Curtis

Richard Curtis has previously directed numerous films for Working title including Love Actually (2003 which he also wrote) and wrote Notting Hill (1999)  and also directed The Boat That Rocked (2009)

Distributed by Universal Pictures

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

 $1,076,250 (USA) (1 November 2013)

Gross:

 $15,294,553 (USA) (20 December 2013)

Overall Box Office $87.1m

Budget and implications of this

Their budget was $12 million. This could have restricted WT from casting a more recognised  lead male actor. Domhnall Gleeson the Irish actor who is well known in the Uk, having been in a few of the Harry Potter films as a minor role and another minor role in Anna Karenina. But he is fairly unknown in the US therefore he would have no impact on the sales of the film over there. However Rachel Mcadams is a very well known Canadian actress in the Uk and US due to her famous roles in The Notebook and Mean Girls, so her A list status will bring in a lot of money from all countries. Their budget could also have reduced the number of locations they could have filmed in, as the more locations used the more expensive the cost.

Distribution and marketing

About Time Facebook page

About Time UK Facebook page

About Time Twitter

This is the Uk and international poster 

This is the DVD cover

The About Time soundtrack

Fan made video 

Rachel Mcadams is clearly shown in the centre of the shot and Domnhall Gleeson is less obvious in the corner of the shot making sure all focus is on Mcadams (the more famous actor) 

The trailer 

Critical Reception

IMDb gave this film 4 stars out of 5

Rotten Tomatoes gave it 3 1/2 out of 5 

The Independent however gave the film a grilling review:

Tim, in any case, knows straightaway how he's going to use his power: he wants to get a girlfriend. Things look promising when he meets a cute American, Mary (Rachel McAdam, already a veteran of such whimsy from The Time-Traveler's Wife) but on account of a glitch he "loses" that first encounter and has to woo her all over again. Then, deploying his time-bending lark to edit out all his gaffes on their Big Night – a stumble on the stair, a fumble with the bra, a tumble in the sack that's not quite perfect – he makes smooth the course of true love without Mary suspecting a thing. This might have struck us as a clever conceit had we not seen it done with far more wit, heart and precision 20 years ago in Groundhog Day. It's the same routine that Bill Murray's misanthropic weatherman follows, obliged to rehearse the same moves and learn the same lines over one eternal day until he wins round the woman he loves.

Media Language- Genre
It's a romantic comedy-drama. Its audience is partially focused on the American audience as it contains a famous American star. Its also directed towards the type of people who were fans of Love Actually, Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral as they mention that this film was directed by the same director who directed these films very centrally and largely on the poster, and in the right hand corner of the DVD cover. This market for rom-coms are usually focused on the female audience as the romantic genre is key how ere the comedy aspect also appeals to the male audience. The age rating is R therefore the audience is not restricted. 

Media Language- British and Typical Working Title film
The lead characters are all upper class attractive Brits. The focused family have a house in the country and in London, these are the main locations for the film. The lead male is played by a rich, upperclass. bumbling, awkward man who is kind of a remake of many Hugh Grant for example in Notting Hill and Four Weddings and a Funeral. These are all qualities of a Richard Curtis Working Title film. 

Summary
As a whole I didn't mind the film, it wasn't great but it did contain Bill Nighty who I love and who brought a few laughs ti the film. Overall the film didn't receive great reviews however the Britsh and American audience seamed to like it due to the high rates and gross profit of the film. 

Next steps

What I need to do now
After the feedback from our first rough cut I was told that the scenery shots weren't all the same length and pace so my next task is to do this as well as figure out a font to use of the titles. 

RECORDING SOUNDTRACK

On Thursday we went to see Conor in Leeds to record some of the music that

 we want in our film opening. Now with all three of us there we were able to tell Conor 
and Sam exactly what we wanted and how we wanted it done.
This did take longer than expected so we only managed to get one song recorded
 but after Christmas we will schedule another date to record the other parts of the soundtrack.

Soundtrack lyrics: Shop scene

The lyrics for our sound track

For the shop scene we have decided to do a music video style entry for
 one of our main protagonists. We are using the song 'Try a Little
 Tenderness' by Otis Redding. Due to the limited time we have to 
screen our film opening, we will not be able to use all of the song 
as it is over 3 minutes long. I have selected and cut some lyrics out to make it a lot shorter.

Original lyrics

Oh, she may be weary
And young girls they do get weary
Wearing, that same old, shaggy dress, yeah yeah
But when she gets weary
Try, a little tenderness, yeah yeah
Oh man that..........Uh

You know she's waiting
Just, anticipating
For things that she'll never, never, never, never possess, yeah yeah
But while, she's there waiting, without them
Try, a little tenderness
That's all you gotta do

It's not, just sentimental no no no
She has, her grief and care yeah yeah yeah
But, the soft words, they are spoke so gentle yeah
It makes it, easier, easier to bare yeah

You won't regret it no no
Some girls they don't forget it
Love is their only, happiness yeah
But it's all so easy
All you gotta do is try, try a little, tenderness, yeah
All you gotta, do is man, hold her where you want her

Squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave her
Get to her, Just try
Just try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah
You got to, know how to love her man, take this advice, man
You've got to, squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave
You've got to, hold her and rub her softly man
Try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah
You've got to rub her gentle man, ah, watch it uh, ooh what don't bruise her no no
You've got to love her, tease her, don't squeeze her
Gotta try um nah nah nah, try
Try a little tenderness, yeah, watch her groove
You've gotta to know what to do, man
Take this advice
You gotta love and squeeze
Don't tease my baby
Love her, lord

Our Lyrics

Oh, she may be weary

And young girls they do get weary
Wearing, that same old, shaggy dress, yeah yeah
But when she gets weary

Just try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah

Squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave her
Get to her, Just try
Just try a little tenderness
You got to, know how to love her man, take this advice, man
You've got to, squeeze her, don't tease her, never leave
You've got to, hold her and rub her softly man
Try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah

Try a little tenderness, ooh yeah yeah yeah

Rough Cut practice shoot: Introducing Bad boy- Shoot 5

Bad boy practice shoot

 

In this video it is explained how the practice shoot went and why we have chosen to add certain aspects. 

Rough Cut: Shop Scene

This is the rough cut for the shop scene

This is the rough cut for the Shop scene.

In this we have edited together the dance scenes me and ben took at the shop. 
We have tried to make the editing quick and to fit the beat of the music. 
A temporary backing track has also been added. 

Rough Cut: 1

Rough Cut 1

On our first rough cut is:

• The idents are not on yet. 
• I have used different types of fonts to help us decide on which one we prefer.
• The sound track for the bedroom scene is on
• All scenes are on. 

Audience feedback that we have received on it is:

• Some shots are shaky and need to be edited too make them shorter.
• We defiantly need music and ambient sound all the way through.
• Not all of the scenery shots are the same length and time.
• The long takes in the bedroom need to be cut up and they are too long.
• The love triangle is the classroom scene is not clear yet.

Rough Cut: Classroom Scene- Shoot 4

Rough cut 1 for the class room scene

Our intention
This is our first rough cut. In this we have edited together key moments from the classroom shoot. In this we want to portray the love triangle within the three central characters. 
How we did it 
We did this by highlighting Harri's glance at Hollie by framing them both in a two shot, so all attention was focused on just these two characters. Also Brad throwing the ball of paper at Harri hints at his flirting with Harri. 

Rough Cut: Scenery + Title

Rough Cut: Scenery + Titles

Rough Cut

This is our first rough cut

Weekly Podcast - 6

WEEKLY PODCAST 6

In this podcast we talk about:-

The filming of the classroom scene
Our first rough cut
The Worlds End case study

The Worlds End:Why Audience Research Is Vital

Why Audience research is vital- The worlds End 
This is one of The Worlds end official websites.

The film had promotional media sites including Facebook, twitter,
YouTube and email updates.

Not only did they distribute posters and trailers but also combined the two to create a motion poster as well. The Worlds End motion poster
The film received critically acclaimed reviews from not only British and American media but also A-list stars like Robert Downey JR.

SHAUN OF THE DEAD (EDGAR WRIGHT, 2004) [Wiki]
BUDGET: £4m [IMDB]    WORLD BOX OFFICE: $30m     Released in 16 countries. [boxofficemojo]
[BBFC: 15]



HOT FUZZ (EDGAR WRIGHT, 2007) [Wiki]
BUDGET: $8m [IMDB]    WORLD BOX OFFICE: $81m     Released in 42 countries. [boxofficemojo] 
[BBFC: 15]


THE WORLD'S END (EDGAR WRIGHT, 2013) [Wiki]
BUDGET: $20m     WORLD BOX OFFICE: $46m     Released in 18 countries. [boxofficemojo] 
[BBFC: 15]
NB: This is the 'official trilogy trailer'


The first two films in the cornetto trilogy were a lot more successful than The Wolds End. Shaun of the Dead multiplied their budget of £4m by 5 to create their world box office total of around £20m. Hot Fuzz's budget of £8m was multiplied by 7 to around £54m, where as The World's End world box office total of $46 was only just larger than double the budget. Therefore their over all profits were less. 

The Worlds End: Why Accurate Audience Research is Vital! 

The Worlds End (2013)
BUDGET: $28m (£18.4m)
BOX OFFICE: $46m (£30m) Worldwide
DIRECTOR: Edgar Wright
BBFC: 15
CAST INCLUDES: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, 

Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike, Eddie Marsan,

 Pierce Brosnan and Paddy Considine.
GENRE(S): Adventure, Horror, Comedy



DISTRIBUTORS
The World's End was released in 18 different countries by:
 Universal Home Entertainment, Universal Studio Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures Benelux, NBCUniversal Entertainment, Home Box Office (HBO), Universal Pictures International, Synca, Parca Co. Ltd., Interfilm Distribution, Focus Features, E1 Films Canada AND Universal Studios. 
[IMDB]


FRANCHISE
The World's End is the last film in The Cornetto Trilogy franchise which has the other two films Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead also. 

SOUNDTRACK

The soundtrack is clearly aimed

 at the older generation as younger audiences may not have the same 

reading, preferred reading, as the

 older audiences. This is because 

most of these songs and artists are

 from the 80's and 90's. 














TIE-INS
The most obvious tie-in in this film 

and the other two films is the 

Cornetto that they eat at some 

point in each film, hence the 

name, "Cornetto Trilogy".



TRAILERS AND TEASER TRAILERS
The first teaser trailer was released on the 8th of May 2013, it was an international trailer

 and it got a record number of views for Universal UK. The teaser trailer shows the plot 

line of a group of friends wanting to finish a pub crawl they started when they were

 younger. Immediately this is aimed at an older audience as younger viewers wouldn't 

be able to relate to this. Also it limits the global audience as some countries, (USA), 

might not understand this concept as it is a British concept. 

DID THEY MARKET IT RIGHT?
No, not in my opinion. I think they tried to market it at 15+ and both genders but I don't 

think anyone below the age of 25 would find this film that appealing. Different elements 

of this film signify that a younger audience wouldn't understand or wouldn't like this. As 

I've said above, the soundtrack is dated and the theme of a pub crawl is something 

someone 18+ can do, therefore someone under 18 would find it hard to follow the 

preferred reading making it difficult to deduce anything about the film. Also in the 

trailers it focusses heavily on the main pub crawl theme, maybe if they had used other

clips from the film it might have appealed more to the American and global audiences. 

Also, the genres it is associated with doesn't appeal to a female audience very much, 

there doesn't appear to be much romance in the film from the trailers or the posters 

and the male actors in the film don't really appeal to a female audience either.  

Fan Art

In this short video clip it shows Simon Pegg and Nick Frost 

reviewing the fan art they received from the audience. 

This is showing how the line between producer and 

audience is cracking as the audience has a bigger

 impact on the film its self. 

Posters

I've found posters for the worlds end and I saw a reasons why this film 

may have failed. The age of the characters signifies to younger people 

that this film is too old for them as there are no young characters to 

sympathise or communicate with. This stereotypical image that is 

shown on the poster had a massive impact on the younger target 

audience. Also as the main focus around this film is alcohol and 

pub's, parents of the children may not want them to watch the 

movie as it may have a bad influence upon them. 

Gender is also another key point that is shown in these posters. There 

is only one with a woman. Her eyes, hair and facial expressions are all 

signifiers that signify a sexual appeal towards men. Compared to the 

audience being for woman where there is no sexual appeal towards 

them as the characters are purely chosen for comedy not looks.

Trailers

Trailer 1(official trailer)



Trailer 2 (international trailer)



When looking at the different trailers I found that trailer 1 was used for 

the english audience unlike trailer 2 which was used for the RoW audience. 

The 2nd trailer shows a lot of comedy and also action which is easy for anyone to relate too.

What would you do differently if you were producing or distributing this film?

If I was producing The Worlds End, first of all I would have a character that 

could relate to the younger age group of 12 years upwards. By doing this 

it would make my target audience much lager therefore more people 

would come and watch the film. I can prove this by using the commutation

 test; for example if I swapped one of the group with a 16 year old boy 

it would  encourage younger teens to go as they would want to aspire 

to him. I would also make the film more relatable to woman by having 

some kind of romance and maybe another woman that then can get 

into a love triangle with one of the characters adding more binary 

opposition and making the story more interesting.

If i was distributing this film I would change the main poster that is

 the face of the film to one with the main male protagonist and the 

female protagonist with the other characters in the background. I 

think this is important because it then relates to woman as they 

may see the poster and automatically get a reading of romance 

but yet the fire in the background and the knowledge that it is 

the 3rd film of the cornet trilogy, would keep the male audience

 eager to watch it as they want to see their favourite comedy 

duo getting up to know good once again.