FILM INDUSTRY RESEARCH: Belstone (smaller)

 Belstone Pictures.

"Trust | Integrity | Loyalty | Passion"

Founded in 2012, Belstone Pictures, an independent UK studio, came about through CEO Finn Cardigan Bruce, an ex Hurtwood House student, now having 1 film in pre-production, 13 film/TV projects in production, and 1 film in post-production. Initially, Finn started working in corporate filming events but has now moved onto motion pictures. Their headquarters are currently located in London.

Top 3 Released Films 

Director: Nick Gillespie

Cast: Rupert Evans, Michael Smiley

Budget: $50,000

Gross: $22,000

Director: Jamie Patterson

Cast: Jordan Stephens, Derren Nesbitt

Director: Jamie Patterson

Cast: April Pearson, Chris Willoughby 

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As shown above, Belstone appear to work with Jamie Patterson as a director frequently, however, the cast appear to be 'new' actors and are not used more than once in their films/projects. This is because they are an independent studio and do not have the funds to hire an A-list cast.

Due to the independence of Belstone, a wider variety of film genres/styles are offered to a minority audience and upcoming actors have a chance to be seen. They also have the ability to attack more social and political issues as the films aren't aimed towards a global audience.

FILM INDUSTRY RESEARCH: Walt Disney (larger)

 W A L T  D I S N E Y  S T U D I O S

"Where dreams come true."

Steamboat Willie

In 1901 Chicago, Walter Elias Disney was born, who was later going on to start the infamous 'Walt Disney Company' in 1923. His initial cartoon was 'Oswald the Lucky Rabbit' in 1927, however, in 1928 Mickey Mouse was created. The studio's first full length animation in 1937 (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) enabled Walt to start up a larger studio in Burbank with the profits to meet the demands from his audience. 

As of currently, the headquarters are still located in Burbank, California, and the company has been running for 97 years. There is no individual owner as the company is publicly traded; the largest known shareholder is Vanguard Group Inc. with 7.5% of shares - the investment management company also own Time Warner, News Corp and and Comcast, controlling over than 90% of American media. With this in mind, this enables Disney to have wider audiences, greater distribution of their products, cheaper costs and a faster and quicker service, particularly with the role of new media technology. Disney also own Pixar (Emeryville), Marvel Studios (Burbank), Lucasfilm (San Francisco), 20th Century Studios (Los Angeles) and Searchlight Pictures (Los Angeles) - the conglomerate is estimated to own up to 40% of American film and television companies, with 13 films in pre-production, 8 films in production, and 6 in post production.

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The company's top 5 box office successes are as follows (in order):

    

$2,797,501,328                                             

Budget: $356 mil

Director(s): Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Josh Brolin, Bradley Cooper, Danai Gurira, Don Cheadle

$2,070,828,263

Budget: $306 mil

Director(s): J.J. Abrams

Cast: Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac

$2,048,359,754

Budget: $316 mil

Director(s): Anthony Russo, Joe Russo

Cast: Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Robert Downy Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Danai Gurira, Elizabeth Olson, Chris Pratt, Josh Brolin, Benedict Cumberbatch

$1,670,719,887

Budget: $260 mil

Director(s): Jon Favreau

Cast: Donald Glover, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Alfre Woodard, Billy Eichner, John Kani, John Oliver, Beyoncé, James Earl Jones

$1,518,815,515

Budget: $220 mil

Director(s): Joss Whedon

Cast: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Runner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson

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As it can be seen in the films above, Disney tend to work with the same actors and directors if they are already part of an existing franchise, such as the Avengers, or Star Wars - this is to create another factor of appeal for the audience within a film with a well known and established A-list cast, as well as ensuring to maintain the same 'style' for a film so viewers are aware of what they want to watch in terms of technical elements.

As a big institution, Disney are therefore able to:

-> Have wider audiences (globally)

-> Have greater distribution

-> Create more services and products

-> Have faster and quicker services provided to them 

-> Cheaper costs as they own everything from 'End to end'

-> Make more profits

-> Have a consolidation of power

GENRE INTRODUCTION

 GENRE.

-- WHAT IS GENRE? HOW AND WHY IS IT USED? --

Genre is a way of categorising a media product based upon its content and specific conventions; in regard to marketing, genre enables a deeper understanding of an institution's audience and an indication as to who they are in order to sell the piece well whilst also indicating what conventions should be present regarding the production of something. From a viewer's perspective, it allows an individual to identify what they like and to create expectations related to emotions provoked and the narrative.

-- THE 3 TYPES OF GENRE --

GENRE - the most broad and main way of categorising a film (e.g. romance: Call Me By Your Name).

A way of categorising a media product based upon its content and specific conventions. 

SUB-GENRE - a category with a category (e.g. raunchy comedy: We're the Millers).

This type of genre is beneficial when an individual likes a certain type of sub-genre (for example, they enjoy horror but only psychological horror), both helping the viewer to easily establish what they want to watch and helping an institution choose what conventions to put in their piece to meet these needs.

HYBRID GENRE - two or more main genres (e.g Kill Bill: martial arts/action/spaghetti western/mystery). 

This type of genre is beneficial regarding being appealing to a variety of different audiences as there is an element of different genres fused together (something for everyone) - a hybrid also does not follow a stereotypical narrative, leading to something unpredictable and 'fresh'. 

OPENING SCENE ANALYSIS: Trainspotting

 Trainspotting Opening Scene Analysis .

FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

 How does the mise-en-scene and camera angle/composition within the poster communicate concepts and connotations to the audience?

American Beauty, a black comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and released in 1999, follows the story of Lester Burnham: a depressed, sexually frustrated, middle aged father whose life externally appears to be ‘perfect’ when in reality it is far from it. He longs to break free from the lack of respect that he receives from his family and along the way, he develops a deep infatuation with his daughter’s friend, Angela Hayes. Though the narrative is heavily revolved around him, we also learn more about the other people in his life and their psychological issues, as well as their relationships with one another.

Almost instantaneously, the poster establishes the dramatic yet thriller-like undertones and plot of the piece through mise-en-scene; black is used as the predominant background colour, connoting that there is a sense of emotional darkness (Mental illness or depression more specifically) to the film - perhaps even connoting a sense of unknowingness or obscurity to the characters. As Lester Burnham is positioned in an intimate close up angle and as the centre of the frame in the poster, an illustration of how he is the protagonist, and how he is the individual who is experiencing these emotions is crafted well. This is then paired with a faded white and blood red hue; the white could be interpreted as representing the occurrence of a moral tainting, or spoiled purity, whilst the red could be seen as a statement for the strong themes of desire, lust and violence in the film. All of these colours and their shades are extremely bold and do not have positive connotations, further emphasising that this is an emotionally heavy drama. More specifically, the white in the poster is used for Lester’s ‘domestic’ costume of a work button up - interestingly, a white picket fence acts as half of his torso below the collar, symbolising the image of the facade of the perfect, American suburban family. This is heavily juxtaposed on the other half of him, where there appears to be the drippings of blood. The use of symmetry in the composition here crafts an uncomfortably false sense of security and forced ‘beauty’, as though attempting to be pleasing to the common eye, when in reality, the contents of what is within the frame implies that behind the ideal, suburbian family, a masked truth of something far, far darker, corrupted, and impure exists. 

It can also be seen at the top of Lester’s head that a young, fair-haired woman is ripping through his skull as if she is tearing open her own blouse to expose her breasts; this in itself is an extremely sexually aggressive and violent image, succeeding in the presentation of the sexual undertones of the film. She also has a smirk on her lips as a facial expression, suggesting that she is knowingly attempting to seduce Lester. Her eyes cannot be seen, thus depersonalizing the woman; one can argue that she has been depicted in Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory, in Lester’s ‘gaze’ here specifically, as one can deem that she has been posed in an overly provocative manner to the extent where her physicality almost comes off as non-naturalistic, hinting at the fact that perhaps Lester’s perception of her is somewhat unhealthily obsessive and sex-glutted. Additionally, the use of roses (a motif in the film) spilling out of her chest strongly emphasises and further supports the idea that she is a character of desire, lust and romance to Lester. On a more connotative note, the fact that his head has been illustrated as paper and held together by a few pieces of string portrays that he is a mentally weak character, and that this woman, presumably Angela, takes over his every waking thought and is highly destructive psychologically to him as an individual. Right below Lester, a red suburban window can be seen with the silhouette of a woman, her breasts defined, hinting at the idea that there is an essence of voyeurism in the film, even though the individual appears to be entertaining the viewer as she is staring directly back. Lastly, regarding mise-en-scene, Lester’s expression reveals that of distraught and realisation, as his eyebrows are slightly furrowed and raised, whilst his lips are parted in a frown. To the audience, this conveys that he is doomed for an inevitable tragic ending or downfall, and that he is a character who experiences a great deal of emotional stress. Even the lines (wrinkles) on his face underline this about him, and also depict to the audience the age difference between him and Angela.

In summary, mise-en-scene and camera have been used in order to paint the themes of the film, these themes predominantly being but not limited to: desire, obsession, psychological violence, and lust.

OPENING SCENE ANALYSIS: Solitude

 SOLITUDE.
(a collaborative presentation with Lila Sturgeon)

Slides shared 

1, 2, 18

Meadow Armiger

3, 4, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 

Lila Sturgeon

5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 17

FAVORITE FILM REVIEW

What is your favorite film?

A Clockwork Orange

The  Stanley Kubrick 1971 film adaptation of ‘A Clockwork Orange’, based on the infamous dystopian satirical black comedy novel written by Anthony Burgess, follows a 15 year old boy by the name of ‘Alex DeLarge’ (portrayed by Malcolm McDowell). He partakes in various violent crimes (Referred to frequently as ‘Ultraviolence’) with his ‘droogs’, in which he is eventually caught out by the authorities and imprisoned. Faced with the opportunity to take part in an experimental programme in order to have his sentence reduced, Alex walks blindly into Aversion therapy to cure his sociopathic behaviour. We later learn that his treatment was in fact unsuccessful in the long-term when he is released back onto the streets of futuristic Britain as his character remains extremely similar to that of the boy that we met at the beginning of the film. 

I first discovered this film soon after reading the novel that I had picked up in the bookstore by chance when I was 13 (my school at the time were not too fond of me reading it on campus!); I was intrigued as to how someone could possibly make a film out of it as it was so unique in terms of the futuristic dialect used and gory segments. Once I had watched the film, I fell in love with it, and proceeded to branch out onto Kubrick’s other works. On a personal level, I have always favoured more controversial pieces of literature and film, as I believe that they strongly highlight an artist’s ability to bend out of the ‘norm’. A few of Kubrick’s works, such as ‘The Shining’ and ‘Lolita’ (also more of my favourites), really highlighted this characteristic in him. When you take into account the year that A Clockwork Orange was released, one can realise how challenging it must have been to take on a film of that tone as a director, especially in an age where ‘cancel culture’ and ‘cushioning’ were beginning to come about. Kubrick himself banned the film through Warner Brothers in the United Kingdom due to the widespread outrage following the graphic scene of a girl being gang raped. Besides the controversy of the storyline, I think that the film technically speaking was and still is a masterpiece for its time. The classical soundtrack really helped depict how mentally ill Alex truly was, and was an innovative technique to use. Additionally, the variety of camerawork/editing used, such as the speeding up of certain scenes, the slow motion, the angles etc. really added to the contemporary brutalistic pop yet modernistic feel of the costumes, set and speech. From a more contextual perspective, I really enjoy the political undertones of the piece as it satirizes both government and political approaches to fixing humanity and their attempt of ‘perfection’ as the system is extremely inhumane and flawed in itself. In summary, I find this film to be extremely groundbreaking and will remain to be a film that I would happily watch over and over again, and has also been one of the few film adaptations of novels that I have thoroughly enjoyed and preferred compared to the book.

The trailer: