Thursday 27 November 2014

Grand Budapest Hotel Task 3

Marketing:


5 secrets to the film's success.


  1. The UK Secret Cinema did a performance of Grand Budapest Hotel called 'Budapest' this is different as normally this group perform classic films and Fox SearchLight toured a small scale of the hotel form theatres from Hollywood to Berlin.
  2. Some of the props used, such as the moustache wax and bow ties, and the books called the 'The Society of the Crossed Keys' are being sold.
  3. They put out recipes to create the cakes in the film 'Mendels', the video of this went viral and people were sending in their creations of this.
  4. Due to the success of 'Moonrise Kingdom' on 2012 Anderson has now got fans that are significantly younger than his intended audience.
  5. The film got a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this was only beaten by 'Moonrise Kindom' and 'Fantastic Mr Fox' and critics say "We don't see the ceiling yet".


How did Anderson use the QE2 to market the film?
Anderson used the QE2 to show a special screening of the film to guests who were on the cruise ship from New York to London.
What connects Prada to the marketing of this film?
A Prada store in Berlin collaborated with Anderson for the opening of the film Grand Budapest Hotel by decorating their store with little pictures or props from the film which created a 1920's/30's look.


How the plot was revealed:
Through this website small hints are given away to what happens in the film, such as the travel visa that Zero has as he is traveling on the train, there are many more throughout the website.

Monday 24 November 2014

Grand Budapest Hotel Task 2

The Story





Cast:
Zero - Anthony Quinonez
M. Gustave - Ralph Fiennes
Dmitri - Adrien Brody
M. Chuck - Owen Wilson
Agatha - Saorise Ronan
Kovacs - Jeff Goldblum
Madame D - Tilda Swinton
Jopling - Willem Dafoe
Serge X - Mathieu Amalric
Henckels - Edward Norton
M.Ivan - Bill Murray
M. Jean - Jason Schwartzman
Young Writer - Jude Law
Mr Moustafa - F. Murray Abraham
Ludwig - Harvey Keitel


Building A Hotel:




Where did scouting for a hotel take place?
Central Europe
Which location did the production team eventually use?

A department store in Goerlitz, East Germany
Did they film on location or on a sound stage?

They filmed on location
Where were the production offices located?

On the top floor of the hotel
How did they film the 60's and 30's hotel?

They created the 60's hotel and filmed those parts and then tore that down and created the 30's hotel which they then filmed on.
Where did inspiration for the hotel's interior come from?

Took ideas from when the production team went around Europe to find a hotel to film at.
How many extras did it take to fill the lobby?

150 extras.

Tuesday 18 November 2014

Grand Budapest Hotel Task 1

Grand Budapest Hotel

What is Indian Paintbrush and who owns it?

Indian Paintbrush is a small film production company, that have produced films such as Fantastic Mr Fox, Grand Budapest Hotel, and The Darjeeling Limited. The company is owned by Steve M. Rales in 2007.
Which company is Fox Searchlight a subsiduary of?
20th Century Fox
Which type of films do Fox Searchlight distribute?
Fox Searchlight specialise in the US distribution of independent and British films, drama and horror, as well as non-English language films.
Which two countries financed the film?
England and Germany
What did Anderson use instead of CGI (computer generated imagery)?
Instead of using CGI, Anderson used paintings for the background and he filmed inside hotels.
Where did the inspiration for the Hotel come from?
Palace Bristol Hotel in Karlovy Vary
Which film festival opened with The Grand Budapest Hotel?
64th Berlin International Film Festival
Alexanre Desplat wrote the score, which major Hollywood films has he worked on?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, The Imitation Game, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Kings Speech, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Godzilla, and The Golden Compass
How many awards has the film won?

Berlin International Film Festival - Jury Grand Prix
David Di Donatello Awards - Best Foreign Film
Golden Trailer Awards - Best Graphics in a TV Spot
Nastro d'Argento - Best Costume Design
World Soundtrack Awards - Best Original Score of the Year
Gotham Awards - Best Feature
Initially how many cinemas did the film open on in the US?
4 Screens
How much did it average per cinema?
$202,791.5 per screen
The film was released on Ultraviolet BluRay, what does this enable consumers to do?
This allows people that buy this sort of BluRay to burn a copy onto a disk without breaking any copyright laws.
Which companies do not support Ultraviolet?
Walt Disney and ITunes
What complaints did Ultraviolet encounter when it launched?

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Representation of disability in TV drama


Mise en scene:
Alex's clothes are brown and he is wearing jeans, the store he is in is bright colours that have connotations for Christmas, this could be to show that Alex's disability makes him different from the rest of society.

Editing:


Camera:
At the beginning of the scene Alex is shown to be looked down by the camera by the use a high angle shot, as this presents him as being smaller and insignificant. When Alex is talking to the lady in the shop the camera is looking up at the lady from Alex's point of view, this could suggest that the lady is above Alex as he is disabled and his brother is shown at the same angle as the lady, this is to show that they have more power than Alex. When Alex and his brother are shown in the mirror, his brother is shown in the centre of the shot with Alex on the edge, this could suggest that Alex is less important which links to the stereotype of people with disabilities being marginalised.

Sound:
The Christmas music is diegetic sound, it could be there to show contrast to Alex's bad mood.

Monday 10 November 2014

Regional Identity

Scottish
  • Accents - The Scottish seem to have a very strong accent making them hard to understand.
  • Location/ setting - When Scotland is shown on TV or films it will be shown in the run down parts where a lot of vandalism and attack happen, in Edinburgh or Glasgow showing all of the architecture and the civilised places or the country side will be shown as it is tranquil.
  • Slang - Bonnie means beautiful, wee is small, tatties is potatoes
  • Clothes - The Scottish wear kilts, tartan, tam hats, and glengarry hats
  • Pastimes - Alcoholics, farmers
  • Attitudes/ behaviour - Violent
  • Stereotypes - All Scottish play the bagpipes, wear kilts, eat haggis, are alcoholics, are red heads, and wear tartan.
  • Reality - Most Scottish people do not have a very strong accent as it quite easy to understand, most of Scotland is tranquil and calming although some of it is run down, not all Scottish people wear tartan kilts or are red heads, also they are not all violent alcoholics.
Liverpool
  • Accents - Very strong accents making it hard to understand them
  • Location/ setting - Council streets, littered, unclean, gloomy
  • Slang - Bins - spectacles or sunglasses, down the banks - give grief, and jarg - fake
  • Clothes - Tracksuit, skimpy outfits
  • Pastimes - Miners
  • Attitudes/ behaviour - Angry, alcoholics,
  • Stereotypes - All the people from Liverpool are violent people that wear tracksuits and are living on council streets.
  • Reality - The accents can be quite difficult to understand although not everyone's is, there are some parts of Liverpool that are nice and clean, and not everyone wears tracksuits or are angry, violent alcoholics.
Newcastle
  • Accents - String accents making it hard to understand them
  • Location/ setting - Council areas, littered, unclean, tranquil, clean, breath-taking scenery
  • Slang - Howay man is exhortation or encouragement can be positive or negative, wey-aye, man means yes
  • Clothes- Skimpy outfits on the 18-25 year old women, vests
  • Pastimes - Violent, angry
  • Attitudes/ behaviour Violent, angry
  • Stereotypes - Strong accents, living on benefits on a council estate, wearing inappropriate clothing that are violent.
  • Reality - The accent is strong and is sometimes difficult to understand, there are nice clean places to visit, only in some parts of Newcastle are there inappropriate clothes being worn, they aren't all violent and angry
Yorkshire

  • Accents - Strong, not difficult to understand
  • Location/ setting - Country side, farming
  • Slang - Gaffer - boss, courin' - going out with, 'ow do? - how do you do?
  • Clothes - Flat caps, wellingtons, plaid shirts, jeans
  • Pastimes - Farmers, family people
  • Attitudesbehaviour - Kind although can be quite harsh if people go on their land.
  • Stereotypes - They all sound like farmers and are farmers, it is all country side, everyone wears the same just in different colours, they are all family and are very nice unless you get on the wrong side of them.
  • Reality - The accent is not very difficult to understand, there is a lot of country side but there are towns and cities, they are not all farmers and therefore do not dress like farmers, some are very family based as it is important.

Exam questions



  • The issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice; (how does who owns a media company influence the type of film made and its potential success? For example do BIG companies make BIG films and therefore make all the money? Is it possible for small companies to succeed?) An example of a big company that make one genre of film is Marvel, they only make films of superheroes as this is what they have done from the start of Marvel being created. Big films companies do make big films which bring in lots of money, although some films will not do very well, such as Universal Pictures created the film 'Howard the Duck' which brought in less 50% of their budget for the film. Also an example of a small film company that made a big film is See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions who both co-produced the film The King's Speech, which had a small budget yet had a huge gross profit.
  • The importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing; (how do companies work together to produce, distribute and publicize a film? How can Disney use their size to promote and publicise a film? How can small companies work together to promote their business' when making and promoting a film?)
  • The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange; (how has the introduction of digital film, 3D, DVD, Blue Ray, internet streaming, downloadable content, home cinema influenced the types of films made, the way we watch them and the way we 'buy' them?) It has changed the way film companies make films as digital film, 3D, and Blue Ray have allowed films to be made in better quality so that people who watch the film have a good experience whilst watching. Internet streaming, downloadable content, and home cinema have allowed film companies to have their films watched easier as it is all available on the internet, these allow the viewer to watch films in the comfort of their own home instead of going to a cinema to watch them. Due to all of the above people can now buy and rent films form their houses, as they can have them delivered or have them straight onto their TV.
  • The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences; (how and why have film companies had to alter the way they work now everyone has web enabled phones, PC's, consoles etc? How have audiences changed their viewing habits now we no longer need to go to the cinema to watch a film) Film companies have made it easier to view films on phones, PS's, consoles etc as these are the devices that are easily accessible for a lot of people, this means no trips to the cinema which in the end reduces the carbon footprint as less cars are travelling there. Now that films are accessible on multiple types of devices it makes it easier to pick them up or turn them on and play a film, as they do not have to travel to a cinema to see a film. 
  • The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences; (can you think of examples of how different technologies have come together to help the film industry?) New cameras have made the quality of the films better as they are becoming more accessible to smaller film companies, the use of surround sound is used in every cinema as it creates a better viewing experience for the audience.
  • The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions; (how do film companies try and attract their audience? Do they do different things in different countries?) Film companies will release a trailer of a film to try and get people interested in the film, this will happen as the companies will show some of the best looking or funniest bits of the film to show people what is in the rest of the film. Marvel for example announce a film during Comic-con as the majority of people there are into comics so it appeals to Marvels target audience.
  • The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour. (what is your opinion on the above? Do you see the developments as a good or bad thing?) I believe that the developments in technology is a good thing at then it gives the film companies that might not have as big of a budget a chance to create a good quality film, also the fact that you can get films on many different devices has had a huge impact on the amount of films watched as they are available by the press of a button. It is also good that smaller companies can join together or join with a bigger company to create a film as this means that the smaller companies have the chance to create a film that could get a large gross profit.

Spooks Ethnicity




Danny: Does not conform with the black stereotypical, as he speaks the Queen's English.
He is less powerful than the terrorist as he is tied to a chair, does not agree the black stereotype of being intimidating.
Danny is not scared of the terrorist as he stands up for what is right, this shows he is brave which does agree with the black stereotype.
Spy/Agent/Police
He links himself to the aggressor.
He's the better man as he distracts the gun man by getting his attention away from the woman, makes himself the focus,


Mise en scene:
Dark room with nothing in, only light is coming from through the windows, has a very tense atmosphere.
Gun mans associate in the background dressed stereotypically to a hit man as he is dressed in all black wearing a ski mask.
The lady looks like she is dirty which suggests that she has been captured by the gun man for a period of time which agrees with a terrorist stereotype.


Sound:
Islamic call to prayer - eerie
Tense - Black vs Arab (Ideological differences)
Spanish guitar suggests otherness - not British


Editing:
Lots of cuts - editing highlights the bravery of Danny (shows he is strong willed) and the evil of the gun man (untrustworthy/evil)
Crying white man on the phone gets some screen time as it shows binary opposites.


Camera:
Shaky - nervous effect
Low angle - looks up at the gun man sows he has the power.
Close-ups - Danny shows the determination and the emotion on his face.
Close-up - Gun man's gun shows that he is nervous as it is shaking.

Infogram


Gender Stereotypes

Gender Stereotypes


Male stereotypes:
Men are obsessed with sex.
Men are seen to be physically fit.


Stereotypes of men in the media:
The Joker who is someone that will be able to make a group of people laugh with ease, could be seen as a mask of masculinity.
The Jock is a man that is very athletic, physically fit and is popular, they are seen to show no emotion and is the person men want to be and women want to be with.
The Strong Silent Type is seen  to be in charge of everything, is decisive, and that talking about their emotions is a sign of weakness.
The Big Shot is shown by his personal status, owning items that society thinks are valuable, has got a job that pays well, encouraging the stereotype of men being economically and socially successful.
The Action Hero is known to be strong and gets what he wants, often is found to be angry and seems  to show no emotion, suggests that he is brave and not scared of anything.
The Buffoon is seen to try and do the correct thing but might mess up, commonly seen as a father figure, has good intentions and is light hearted.