The Poster
Interactivity:
Love is something that affects us all, makes us think of how it has affected us in our lifes
Who Wants to be a Millionaire, it is a format that we all recognise, makes us think of times that we have watched it.
Money, Luck, Smarts, Destiny: these are all things that we think about, want and contemplate in life
Vibrant colours draw us in and grabs our attention.
What does it tell you?:
Genre: Romance
Narrative: The boy on the poster has lost his love (the girl on the poster) and needs to find a way to find her.
Themes: Money, love
Target Audience: Rated 15, young adults and adults as the themes affect both sets of the target audience.
Intertextual References: Uses the style of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, something that is recognised world wide.
Selling the Film:
Title: It is mysterious to the audience as we consider how somebody can be both a slumdog and a millionaire.
Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Uses a format that we recognise, makes this unfamiliar film a familiar one
A Danny Boyle Film: We all know that he is a critically acclaimed director, the film is likely to be good
Information: The film is about love, money and poverty, Danny Boyle is the director and there is a high budget as Fox is involved.
Successful in making you want to see the film? : Yes, consists of things that we know and want, the poster is also vibrant, mysterious and we know that Danny Boyle is a good director.
The Trailer:
Interactivity: Asks the audience 'how did he do it?' gets us involved in the film even before it comes out, offers us answers to entise us in.
Uses The Ting Tings, it is a song that we recognise in unrecognisable settings (for most people)
What does it tell you about the film?:
Genre: Romance - from the tag lines and the critics reviews, Crime - the option that Jamal cheated and because of the perception of slumdogs
Narrative: The film is about a boy trying to find his love he lost by entering Who Wants to be a Millionaire in the hope that she is watching.
Themes: Love, Money, growing up
Target Audience: young adults and adults, the themes affect the target audience
Intertextual Reference: Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Selling the Film:
Critics reviews, we trust critics perceptions of films.
From the critically acclaimed Danny Boyle
Music we recognise mixed with music we don't in an unfamiliar setting, offers mystery along with the title.
Information about the film: It's by Danny Boyle, FilmFour, Celador, FoxSearchlight and Wraner Bros. (high budget film)
It's about love, money, poverty and coming of age
Successful? - Yes, we can relate to the themes, and it seems like it will be a heartwarming film (song at the end of the trailer) but an adventure too (The Ting Tings song)
The Website
Interactivity: Numerous things for us to click on and explore, gives us a chance to learn about the cast and crew, offers downloadable screensavers, music from the film playing in the background with the option to turn it over.
What does it tell you about the film? :
Genre: Crime, Romance (from the pictures in the gallery)
Narrative: (from the synopsis) boy from the slums enters Who Wants to be a Millionaire and is one question away from the biggest prize, everyone thinks he is cheating so he tells his life story to explain how he knows the answers.
Themes: Crime, love, money
Target Audience: Young adults and adults
Intertextual references: Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Selling the film:
Downloadables, Critics reviews, Showing the awards won, reviews from ordinary people, intriguing synopsis
Information about the film: Synopsis, the cast and the crew, the awards that it's won, release dates, a Danny Boyle film
Successful in making you want to see the film? : Yes due to the critical success and awards, we trust the critics.
Also the themes affect us all, the film seems to be more interesting as it is set in this unfamiliar setting.
Saturday 31 October 2009
Slumdog Millionaire: Task One
Synopsis: Jamal Malik, an 18 year old orphan from the slums of Mumbai appears on the Indian hit show Who Wants to be a Millionaire and is one question away from the biggest cash prize. Jamal is arrested and questioned as no one believes a 'slumdog' could know the answers to questions without cheating leading Jamal to tell the story of his life and explain how he knows the answers.
Director and other films with production company: Danny Boyle, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave both with FilmFour
Budget: $15.1 Million, high budget film due to Danny Boyle's success in previous films.
Companies: FilmFour, Celador Films, Pathe Pictures International
Where was it filmed? : Mumbai, Agra, Taj Mahal, Dharavi Slums.
Main Actors:
Director and other films with production company: Danny Boyle, Trainspotting and Shallow Grave both with FilmFour
Budget: $15.1 Million, high budget film due to Danny Boyle's success in previous films.
Companies: FilmFour, Celador Films, Pathe Pictures International
Where was it filmed? : Mumbai, Agra, Taj Mahal, Dharavi Slums.
Main Actors:
- Dev Patel - Skins
- Frieda Pinto - Indian actress
- Anil Kapoor - Indian actor starred in Tezaab, Mr India, No Entry, Welcome
Most of the actors are famous in India and haven't had world wide fame or starred in an international movie, Dev Patel is a British born actor hence his role in Skins before Slumdog Millionaire
Distribution: Fox Searchlight Pictures, Warner Bros
Distributed in: UK, AUS, US, India, across Europe, Hong Kong, China, Japan amongst others.
Which country is the film from? : UK: Directed by Danny Boyle, screenplay by Simon Beaufoy, main character is Dev Patel. India: Set in India, most of the actors from there, based on the novel by Indian author Vikas Swarup, Co Directed by Indian Loveleen Tandan.
The film is from Britain because of the style of the film, it uses conventions associated with western films rather than Bollywood, also the executive decisions would've been made by British people. However the film is heavily influenced by India as it is set here and based on an Indian novel.
Festivals: Premiered in Telluride Film Festival, featured in the Torronto International Film Festival and London Film Festival
Awards: Nominated for 10 Oscars and won 8, won 7 BAFTA's, 5 Critics Choice awards and 4 Golden Globes. In total Slumdog won 93 awards and recieved 39 nominations.
Trainspotting : Task Three
Main Message:
Don't do drugs - we see the awful affects that the drugs have on Renton and his friends like the babies death, death of the friend who took drugs because of them, and Rentons realisation that he is alone.
It also shows you that if you try then you can succeed - Renton manages to get off drugs eventually.
Also the past can come back to haunt you, when Renton moves away his old friends follow and bring him back to drugs and crime.
Our Society:
The film can be seen as portraying British people as drug taking criminals, it seems that our society is fuelled by consumerism and our main concerns are sex,drugs and getting the next high (we see this when the baby dies and the response is to take drugs)
However we know that everyone in society is not like the main characters as the films minor characters are caring parents, magistrates, job interviewers, showing that there is good and bad in every society.
Also the characters see the major downside of drugtaking when their friend who only started taking drugs because he was dumped that they led astray ends up dying first.
Why was it successful? :
I think it was successful because of party and drug scene there was in the 90's so people may have thought that there would be a happy ending for the characters, we dont know that there are any lessons to be learnt from the posters or trailer, the film shocks the audience and has the dominoe effect, after you see it you are so shocked that you tell a friend and so on.
The soundtrack offers music that was popular at the time of the film, the film seems modern and like the British Pulp Fiction.
Renton's narration at the beginning of the trailer consists of all things that we think about in our lives, but when Renton says 'why would anyone want to do a thing like that?' he seems wild and out of the ordinary, we instantly are intrigued by this character.
It's from the makers of Shallow Grave that was a successful film, if you saw that then you would want to see this.
Don't do drugs - we see the awful affects that the drugs have on Renton and his friends like the babies death, death of the friend who took drugs because of them, and Rentons realisation that he is alone.
It also shows you that if you try then you can succeed - Renton manages to get off drugs eventually.
Also the past can come back to haunt you, when Renton moves away his old friends follow and bring him back to drugs and crime.
Our Society:
The film can be seen as portraying British people as drug taking criminals, it seems that our society is fuelled by consumerism and our main concerns are sex,drugs and getting the next high (we see this when the baby dies and the response is to take drugs)
However we know that everyone in society is not like the main characters as the films minor characters are caring parents, magistrates, job interviewers, showing that there is good and bad in every society.
Also the characters see the major downside of drugtaking when their friend who only started taking drugs because he was dumped that they led astray ends up dying first.
Why was it successful? :
I think it was successful because of party and drug scene there was in the 90's so people may have thought that there would be a happy ending for the characters, we dont know that there are any lessons to be learnt from the posters or trailer, the film shocks the audience and has the dominoe effect, after you see it you are so shocked that you tell a friend and so on.
The soundtrack offers music that was popular at the time of the film, the film seems modern and like the British Pulp Fiction.
Renton's narration at the beginning of the trailer consists of all things that we think about in our lives, but when Renton says 'why would anyone want to do a thing like that?' he seems wild and out of the ordinary, we instantly are intrigued by this character.
It's from the makers of Shallow Grave that was a successful film, if you saw that then you would want to see this.
Trainspotting: Task Two
Poster:
What does it tell you about the film? :
Genre: Independent Film, most films offer a bit more information about the film, the poster is too ambiguous to determine the genre.
Narrative: From the poster you can see it's about five friends who don't really care (Begbie swearing) who are living the fast life (Begbie, Diane, & Sickboy look as if they are speeding out of the poster) with Renton being the main character and the head of the 'train' as he has had no speed editing done to him.
Target Audience: Adults, 18 certificate, young adult characters, also its by the makers of Shallow Grave an adult film.
Selling the film:
From the makers of Shallow Grave, Danny Boyle's debut that won 14 awards, if you saw that and liked it then you would be more entised to see this.
Title: Trainspotting, which is ambiguous making you intrigued about what the film could be about.
You get to know a bit about the characters, (names, looks) before you even see the film, you can make a judgement and see if you can relate to the characters.
Only one female character, again you feel intrigued as to why there is only one female in the masculine line up.
Information about the film: It's about 5 friends, with number 1 being the oldest and 5 being the main character, ambiguous title, from the makers of Shallow Grave.
Succesful in selling the film? : Yes, we seem to be able to relate to the characters in the mysterious film that we know nothing about from the poster
The Trailer:
What does it tell you about the film? :
Genre: Black Comedy, from Rentons narration and Spuds job interview, Crime and Drama, from the characters running away from the law.
Narrative: About friends who are together in the trailer and having what seems to be a good time, one of the characters meets a girl.
Themes: Crime, sex, work, friendships/relationships, voilence
Target Audience: Again, for adults as it consists of crime, drugs, swearing, sex.
Selling the film:
Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life' is the song for the trailer, his 1977 hit would've been well known by his and The Stooges (his former bands) fans.
Offers an array of characters and lets us know a bit about them all eg. Begbie is a psycho, Sickboy is a Sean Connery enthusiast
Shows all the artists that feature in the film, hopefully the audience likes the music on the film and will see it due to that.
Information: From the makers of Shallow Grave
Renton is the main character as he is now number one and narrates the trailer, from his narration we see that he doesn't really care and enjoys living the 'fast life'
Successful in making you want to see the film? : Yes, want to see the life they live and if it will have any consequences for them, you also feel like you can relate to the characters already.
Music:
Iggy Pop's Lust for Life is directly tied in with Renton's narration, you feel as if the film has been well thought through.
Blur- Big in the 90's as it was the Britpop era.
Primal Scream - part of the mid-80's indie culture, would've been known to adults seeing the film at the time.
Pulp- became big in the 90's Britpop scene
Damon Albarn- frontman of Blur
Lou Reed - former member of The Velvet Underground
The soundtrack consists of acts that adults in the 90's would've heard of growing up and also artists that were big at the time. The Rock/Electronic music used markets the film as modern, youthful and fast paced like the characters themselves.
What does it tell you about the film? :
Genre: Independent Film, most films offer a bit more information about the film, the poster is too ambiguous to determine the genre.
Narrative: From the poster you can see it's about five friends who don't really care (Begbie swearing) who are living the fast life (Begbie, Diane, & Sickboy look as if they are speeding out of the poster) with Renton being the main character and the head of the 'train' as he has had no speed editing done to him.
Target Audience: Adults, 18 certificate, young adult characters, also its by the makers of Shallow Grave an adult film.
Selling the film:
From the makers of Shallow Grave, Danny Boyle's debut that won 14 awards, if you saw that and liked it then you would be more entised to see this.
Title: Trainspotting, which is ambiguous making you intrigued about what the film could be about.
You get to know a bit about the characters, (names, looks) before you even see the film, you can make a judgement and see if you can relate to the characters.
Only one female character, again you feel intrigued as to why there is only one female in the masculine line up.
Information about the film: It's about 5 friends, with number 1 being the oldest and 5 being the main character, ambiguous title, from the makers of Shallow Grave.
Succesful in selling the film? : Yes, we seem to be able to relate to the characters in the mysterious film that we know nothing about from the poster
The Trailer:
What does it tell you about the film? :
Genre: Black Comedy, from Rentons narration and Spuds job interview, Crime and Drama, from the characters running away from the law.
Narrative: About friends who are together in the trailer and having what seems to be a good time, one of the characters meets a girl.
Themes: Crime, sex, work, friendships/relationships, voilence
Target Audience: Again, for adults as it consists of crime, drugs, swearing, sex.
Selling the film:
Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life' is the song for the trailer, his 1977 hit would've been well known by his and The Stooges (his former bands) fans.
Offers an array of characters and lets us know a bit about them all eg. Begbie is a psycho, Sickboy is a Sean Connery enthusiast
Shows all the artists that feature in the film, hopefully the audience likes the music on the film and will see it due to that.
Information: From the makers of Shallow Grave
Renton is the main character as he is now number one and narrates the trailer, from his narration we see that he doesn't really care and enjoys living the 'fast life'
Successful in making you want to see the film? : Yes, want to see the life they live and if it will have any consequences for them, you also feel like you can relate to the characters already.
Music:
Iggy Pop's Lust for Life is directly tied in with Renton's narration, you feel as if the film has been well thought through.
Blur- Big in the 90's as it was the Britpop era.
Primal Scream - part of the mid-80's indie culture, would've been known to adults seeing the film at the time.
Pulp- became big in the 90's Britpop scene
Damon Albarn- frontman of Blur
Lou Reed - former member of The Velvet Underground
The soundtrack consists of acts that adults in the 90's would've heard of growing up and also artists that were big at the time. The Rock/Electronic music used markets the film as modern, youthful and fast paced like the characters themselves.
Trainspotting: Task One
Synopsis: Mark Renton lives in economically depressed Edinburgh, and like most of his friends Renton is a heroin addict. After too many brushes with the law, Renton kicks the habit and moves down to London, but its not long until his junkie friends have followed him to bring him back to a life of crimes and drugs.
Director and other films with FilmFour: Danny Boyle directed Trainspotting with FilmFour and also directed the following with FilmFour, Shallow Grave and Slumdog Millionaire.
Budget: £3.5 Million, a low budget film, this was Boyle's second film so a big budget would not have been available as it was not known if Boyle would be a successful director.
Companies: Channel 4 Films, Miramax Films to sell the film in the US as the British Pulp Fiction.
Where was it filmed? : set in Edinburgh but filmed in Glasgow, chase scene filmed in Princes Street Edinburgh, London scenes in West Kensington
Main Actors:
Director and other films with FilmFour: Danny Boyle directed Trainspotting with FilmFour and also directed the following with FilmFour, Shallow Grave and Slumdog Millionaire.
Budget: £3.5 Million, a low budget film, this was Boyle's second film so a big budget would not have been available as it was not known if Boyle would be a successful director.
Companies: Channel 4 Films, Miramax Films to sell the film in the US as the British Pulp Fiction.
Where was it filmed? : set in Edinburgh but filmed in Glasgow, chase scene filmed in Princes Street Edinburgh, London scenes in West Kensington
Main Actors:
- Ewan McGregor: Star Wars, Angels and Demons, Molin Rouge!, Robots (voice), starred in ER. Found international fame after Trainspotting
- Johnny Lee Miller: Mostly period drama's like Mansfield Park, Emma, internationally famous for marrying Angelina Jolie.
- Ewen Bremmer: Hallam Foe, Fools Gold, Alien vs Predator, Pearl Harbour, Snatch, My Name is Earl
- Robert Carlyle: 28 Weeks Later, Eragon, The Beach, Angela's Ashes, The Full Monty (British Films or films by British directors)
- Kelly Macdonald: No Country For Old Men, Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, Finding Neverland.
Distributed By: Miramax Films, Polygram Filmed Entertainment
Distributed in: UK, US, AUS, Canada, France, New Zealand, Brazil, S.Africa, Hong Kong, some parts like Rentons narration at the beginning had to be redubbed for other countries due to his thick Scottish accent.
What country is the film from? : Scotland: Scottish producer (Andrew Macdonald), Screenplay by Scottish writer John Hodge, based on Scottish author Irvine Welsh's novel Trainspotting, lead character is Scottish, set in Scotland and is highly influenced by the country. England: Film Four, Danny Boyle (Lancaster)
The film is from Scotland due to the many people making and starring in the film being Scottish, also it is based on Irvine Welsh's novel which 'explores the dark side of Scottishness'
Awards: 3 BAFTA's including Best Film, Best British Film and Best adapted screenplay. Ewan McGregor recieved Best Actor from the London Film Critic Awards, BAFTA Scottish Awards and Empire. Hodge nominated for Writing Adapted Screenplay at the Academy Awards.
Controversy: Does it promote drug use or not? US Senator Bob Dole accussed it of moral depreavity and glorifying drug use although he later admitted that he had never seen the film.
Issues of poverty, crime and anti-social behaviour, shows the horrifying consequences of drug use like with the dead baby, however the characters answer to the problem is to take heroin.
Film contains sex, drugs, crime, swearing and shows the tabboos of society in the most extreme forms however critics from Empire, NY Times, Rolling Stone, Washington Post, The Guardian and many others internationally praised the film.
The film also sends an important message out about drugs as Renton says:
'Drugs are good at first...but it's not worth it because the side effects will screw you up forever'
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