The 'Big Six' includes:
20th Century Fox
Columbia Pictures
Paramount Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Walt Disney Pictures
Warner Bros
Warner Bros
Click the image to access my infogr.am on the 'Big Six'.
Thursday 15 October 2015
Monday 12 October 2015
Ex Machina Essay
Why Did Ex Machina Succeed At The Box Office?
Calab Smith, a programmer, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company's brilliant and reclusive CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Nathan Bateman. What he doesn't know is that he has been selected to participate in a once in a life time experiment in which he must interact with artificial intelligence and evaluate the human qualities of the beautiful robot Ava.
Alex Garland wrote and directed this sci-fi film, which is an example of an Independent British film. Garland wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film 'Never Let Me Go' as well as other, however he made his directorial debut with 'Ex Machina'. 'Ex Machina' stars Domhnall Gleeson as Calab, Oscar Isaac as Nathan and Alicia Vikander as Ava. Domhnall Gleeson has been in popular films, for example 'About Time' and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two'. However none of the main characters were that well known which made people wonder how the film did so well at the box office. The film was produced by 'DNA Films' and 'Film4' productions. Both of these film production companies are very successful and have produced many successful films. 'DNA Films' has produced 'Never Let Me Go' and 'Love Actually' for example and 'Film4' has produced 'The Inbetweeners Movie' and '12 Years a slave' which are both very popular. This could demonstrate that the production for 'Ex Machina' could be one of the reasons for its success at the box office.
The budget for the film was estimated at $15,000,000, which is a lot less that other films that succeed highly at the box office. However it sill took $250,000 (USA) in the opening weekend and made a gross of $25,440,971 (USA) showing that it was very popular from the beginning. The budget for 'Ex Machina' was a significant amount lower than other films which are successful. This made its success at the box office very surprising.
A24 only released 'Ex Machina' in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles to begin with, including: Regal Union Square Theater, AMC Lincoln Scquare Theater, The Arclight Hollywood and The Landmark.The film managed to open as the most successful limited release of the year, with an $250,000 made already in just the first three days. The film was later released fully on 24th April.
The project had a six-week schedule. The film was shot over four weeks in 2013 at Pinewood Studios and two weeks at Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldalen, Norway. It was shot like ordinary live action which means that no animation was used. No special effects, greenscreens or tracking markers were used during the filming process. This was all done in the post-production stage. To create Ava and her robotic actions, they filmed the scenes with and without Alicia Vikander. This allowed them to capture the picture behind her but then rotoscope (an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films) the parts that they wanted to keep, such as hands and face, while the rest was digitally painted out and the background behind her restored.Camera- and body-tracking systems transferred Vikander's performance to the CGI robot's movements. In total there were about 800 VFX shots, of which 350 or so were robot shots. A lot of hard work and effort would have been put in to complete this to the standard that it has been. This shows that this would have contributed to the success of the film. Later in the film Ava 'dresses' like a human to make the audience feel that she is humanoid and realistic.
Availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional-grade films. This means even if a film had a significantly smaller budget compared to other successful films, it would still able to create the same standard of film due to the evolution of technology. However no CGI was used in 'Ex Machina' which could be seen as a negative aspect of the film. On the other hand, the use of no CGI might be seen as a positive as it is different to other films which makes 'Ex Machina' more individual and realistic.
Location was a challenge due to the the style of the film - it was not intended to be an action adventure, but a more intimate piece. This meant that location and camera angles were very important to portray this in the best way possible. They filmed with the Sony F-65 with anamorphic lenses, which would ultimately make for challenging plate tracking. “We did have one or two witness cams,” notes Whitehurst. The key scenes during the film involved seeing Calab and Ava's relationship grow and develop. However this needed to be done subtly which was coveyed by lens choices, the reflections and the soft, naturalistic lighting. They used long, single, 10-minute takes while the camera moved. Special lights were built which could emphasise certain reflections. These examples demonstate how careful and precise the filming process was. Everything down to the lighting and camera positioning was done to portray the characters, plot and genre in the correct and best way possible.
The post-production stage of making a film could be argued as being the most important. This stage involves the marketing and distribution. This means that it is there to get the viewers. The distributor for the film was Universal Studios and the company A24 Films has acquired U.S. rights. A24 set an April 10 release but it was fully released on April 24. It was released on January 21 2015 in the UK. A24 explores fresh marketing ideas in support of independent projects. It has found success with films like “The Spectacular Now” and “Spring Breakers,” However it also has run into the predictable indie road hazards — films that have instantly disappeared.
Different ways of marketing 'Ex Machina' were used. The marketing team cleverly chose to use the popular dating app 'Tinder' to raise awareness about the sci-fi thriller. They created a profile for Ava and chose SXSW as a launching place viral marketing campaign. This again was very clever as the type of people who would view this type of film would have been there. 'Ex Machina' is not a four quadrant film, which is another reason why marketing would have been so important. In general the film would attract a mainly male audience who enjoy science fiction films. However, for example 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars' are both very popular and successful sci-fi films which indicates that there must be a bigger target audience than just 18-25 year old males. However the film has a certificate of 15 which restricts audiences slightly. This could be because during the film there are aspects of danger, death, discrimination and sex references. This could link to the fact about it not being a four quadrant film.
Overall the worldwide box office took $38,128,313 and the total domestic video sales equalled to $6,714,992. I personally think that 'Ex Machina' is an enjoyable and very clever film which deserves its success at the box office. I think its success was surprising as there is little action and had such a small budget. However I think its success was due to a mixture of the careful choices, the precise filming and the smart marketing.
Calab Smith, a programmer, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company's brilliant and reclusive CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Nathan Bateman. What he doesn't know is that he has been selected to participate in a once in a life time experiment in which he must interact with artificial intelligence and evaluate the human qualities of the beautiful robot Ava.
Alex Garland wrote and directed this sci-fi film, which is an example of an Independent British film. Garland wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film 'Never Let Me Go' as well as other, however he made his directorial debut with 'Ex Machina'. 'Ex Machina' stars Domhnall Gleeson as Calab, Oscar Isaac as Nathan and Alicia Vikander as Ava. Domhnall Gleeson has been in popular films, for example 'About Time' and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two'. However none of the main characters were that well known which made people wonder how the film did so well at the box office. The film was produced by 'DNA Films' and 'Film4' productions. Both of these film production companies are very successful and have produced many successful films. 'DNA Films' has produced 'Never Let Me Go' and 'Love Actually' for example and 'Film4' has produced 'The Inbetweeners Movie' and '12 Years a slave' which are both very popular. This could demonstrate that the production for 'Ex Machina' could be one of the reasons for its success at the box office.
The budget for the film was estimated at $15,000,000, which is a lot less that other films that succeed highly at the box office. However it sill took $250,000 (USA) in the opening weekend and made a gross of $25,440,971 (USA) showing that it was very popular from the beginning. The budget for 'Ex Machina' was a significant amount lower than other films which are successful. This made its success at the box office very surprising.
A24 only released 'Ex Machina' in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles to begin with, including: Regal Union Square Theater, AMC Lincoln Scquare Theater, The Arclight Hollywood and The Landmark.The film managed to open as the most successful limited release of the year, with an $250,000 made already in just the first three days. The film was later released fully on 24th April.
The project had a six-week schedule. The film was shot over four weeks in 2013 at Pinewood Studios and two weeks at Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldalen, Norway. It was shot like ordinary live action which means that no animation was used. No special effects, greenscreens or tracking markers were used during the filming process. This was all done in the post-production stage. To create Ava and her robotic actions, they filmed the scenes with and without Alicia Vikander. This allowed them to capture the picture behind her but then rotoscope (an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films) the parts that they wanted to keep, such as hands and face, while the rest was digitally painted out and the background behind her restored.Camera- and body-tracking systems transferred Vikander's performance to the CGI robot's movements. In total there were about 800 VFX shots, of which 350 or so were robot shots. A lot of hard work and effort would have been put in to complete this to the standard that it has been. This shows that this would have contributed to the success of the film. Later in the film Ava 'dresses' like a human to make the audience feel that she is humanoid and realistic.
Availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional-grade films. This means even if a film had a significantly smaller budget compared to other successful films, it would still able to create the same standard of film due to the evolution of technology. However no CGI was used in 'Ex Machina' which could be seen as a negative aspect of the film. On the other hand, the use of no CGI might be seen as a positive as it is different to other films which makes 'Ex Machina' more individual and realistic.
Location was a challenge due to the the style of the film - it was not intended to be an action adventure, but a more intimate piece. This meant that location and camera angles were very important to portray this in the best way possible. They filmed with the Sony F-65 with anamorphic lenses, which would ultimately make for challenging plate tracking. “We did have one or two witness cams,” notes Whitehurst. The key scenes during the film involved seeing Calab and Ava's relationship grow and develop. However this needed to be done subtly which was coveyed by lens choices, the reflections and the soft, naturalistic lighting. They used long, single, 10-minute takes while the camera moved. Special lights were built which could emphasise certain reflections. These examples demonstate how careful and precise the filming process was. Everything down to the lighting and camera positioning was done to portray the characters, plot and genre in the correct and best way possible.
The post-production stage of making a film could be argued as being the most important. This stage involves the marketing and distribution. This means that it is there to get the viewers. The distributor for the film was Universal Studios and the company A24 Films has acquired U.S. rights. A24 set an April 10 release but it was fully released on April 24. It was released on January 21 2015 in the UK. A24 explores fresh marketing ideas in support of independent projects. It has found success with films like “The Spectacular Now” and “Spring Breakers,” However it also has run into the predictable indie road hazards — films that have instantly disappeared.
Different ways of marketing 'Ex Machina' were used. The marketing team cleverly chose to use the popular dating app 'Tinder' to raise awareness about the sci-fi thriller. They created a profile for Ava and chose SXSW as a launching place viral marketing campaign. This again was very clever as the type of people who would view this type of film would have been there. 'Ex Machina' is not a four quadrant film, which is another reason why marketing would have been so important. In general the film would attract a mainly male audience who enjoy science fiction films. However, for example 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars' are both very popular and successful sci-fi films which indicates that there must be a bigger target audience than just 18-25 year old males. However the film has a certificate of 15 which restricts audiences slightly. This could be because during the film there are aspects of danger, death, discrimination and sex references. This could link to the fact about it not being a four quadrant film.
Overall the worldwide box office took $38,128,313 and the total domestic video sales equalled to $6,714,992. I personally think that 'Ex Machina' is an enjoyable and very clever film which deserves its success at the box office. I think its success was surprising as there is little action and had such a small budget. However I think its success was due to a mixture of the careful choices, the precise filming and the smart marketing.
Saturday 10 October 2015
Mise En Scene- Luther
During this scene there is an exterior and an interior. The exterior in this scene is a busy road and skyscrapers. The skyscrapers during this scene make the two characters seem small and insignificant as the buildings behind tower over them. The colours during this scene are very bland and dull. There isn't any bright colours, they are all very dark. This scene is made to look very harsh because of the buildings, there isn't anything pretty about the setting. The overall exterior is busy and dull.
The interior is quite different to a typical woman's flat. In a stereotypical woman's room there would be bright colours, pretty accessories and soft furnishings. However in this scene there isn't anything like that. The room in general seems very practical and functional. There isn't any soft furnishings, such as a cushion, nor is there anything on the the floor eg: a rug. The room seems quite old fashioned and masculine due to the items she has in there. All the items are very practical and there isn't any personal touches, for example photos of friends or family. Her flat makes her seem quite intelligent as there are things such as a globe, telescope and various books. The room has different things that are to do with space, which also adds to the thought that she is intelligent. It seems as if she is very professional as all the items in her room seem to be to do with her job. The colour scheme is very dull and bland (similar to the exterior). This adds to the non-stereotypical room. The flat is very high up which allows viewers to see the city view. This could represent power or importance as well as it demonstrating her wealth as the flat would most probably be expensive. The telescope could demonstrate her interests. However it could also make the audience think that she uses it to watch people below her on the streets. This put together with how high up she is makes it seem that she isn't close to people. This can also be backed up by the lack of photos of friends and family.
The relationship between the two characters is also non-stereotypical. The woman is most defiantly in charge. She speaks over him even if he is talking and she always gets the last word in. This shows power. The volume of her voice also shows her power as she talks very quietly. This demonstrates that Luther and the audience have to listen closely to her-they have to pay attention and listen to every word that she says. She may do this on purpose to get respect from people she is talking to. Even if Luther is physically bigger than her, she is still in charge and has the power over him. When she touches his face, he flinches which shows this power that she has got over him. Towards the end she issues a direct threat towards him and he believes it, this also shows her position.
Both of the characters outfits are smart. Luther is in a shirt, tie, big coat and jeans. The jeans show that he must have a high up position in his profession as he is being allowed to wear jeans. However he still looks smart and his coat makes it seem as if he has power as it is very sophisticated. His hairstyle is neat and functional which also matches his facial hair. The woman also looks very smart as she is wearing business attire. She is wearing tailored trousers which isn't unusual, however it isn't a stereotypical choice for a women- most would choice a pencil skirt for example. This choice could add to the masculine aspects of her flat. She is wearing high heels however which contridicts the masculine trousers. Her hair is neat and she has chosen to wear a noticeable amount of make-up which could demonstrate something about her personality.
Monday 5 October 2015
Mise En Scene- Skins
This scene is mainly set in Tony's room and shows his morning routine. It also shows him helping his sister Effy and pushing his dad's buttons.
Tony's actions show that he is a typical teenager in the sense that he cares about what he looks like. He gets up and does his weights and then looks in the mirror at himself. This demonstrates how he cares about what he looks like and his body. This may be to impress girls/his girlfriend. However his room isn't a typical teenage boys room. A stereotypical teenage boys room would be messy and may have football posters up on the walls. However Tony's is very tidy and have intellectual accessories to it. For example he has a '8 1/2 Federico Fellini' poster and a 'Blow up- Antonioni' poster. This demonstrates that he has an interest in films but doesn't watch the stereotypical films that a teenage boy would watch. He is shown reading Nausea by Jean Paul which is a highly intellectual book for a person of his age, therefore this also shows that he is intelligent and pretentious. His shirts are layed out neatly in his draw, like you would see in a high end fashion store. This gives an insight on his personality to the audience. It demonstrates that he is a very neat and tidy person, this put together with his extremely tidy room indicates that he could have OCD. In his room the colour scheme is very bland which isn't stereotypical for a teenage boys room.
Tony as a character is shown as being stylish. He isn't fasionable however he has his own style sense which makes him stand out. He has a standard haircut which is low maintenance, which again is not fasionable. In this scene he has just woken up however he has a clean face and tidy hair which shows the audience that he is a put together person. At the beginning of the scene a birds eye view is used and only half of his face is lit. This shows that there could be two sides to him. Church bells are ringing at the beginning of the scene which could represent innocence. His bed sheets have a naked male and female on them which could make the audience think that he could be bi-sexual. The bed sheets are also not creased even though he has supposedly just woken up. Tony has a set routine in the morning which could show a religious aspect as it is like a monks prayer routine everyday.
During this scene the audience is shown various relationships between different characters. Tony is shown helping his sister Effy this shows that he cares about her and looks after her. His relationship with his dad is also shown in this scene. Tony is seen as being manipulative towards his dad, he is also seen as being in charge even though he is only a teenager.
Tony as a character is shown as being stylish. He isn't fasionable however he has his own style sense which makes him stand out. He has a standard haircut which is low maintenance, which again is not fasionable. In this scene he has just woken up however he has a clean face and tidy hair which shows the audience that he is a put together person. At the beginning of the scene a birds eye view is used and only half of his face is lit. This shows that there could be two sides to him. Church bells are ringing at the beginning of the scene which could represent innocence. His bed sheets have a naked male and female on them which could make the audience think that he could be bi-sexual. The bed sheets are also not creased even though he has supposedly just woken up. Tony has a set routine in the morning which could show a religious aspect as it is like a monks prayer routine everyday.
During this scene the audience is shown various relationships between different characters. Tony is shown helping his sister Effy this shows that he cares about her and looks after her. His relationship with his dad is also shown in this scene. Tony is seen as being manipulative towards his dad, he is also seen as being in charge even though he is only a teenager.
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