Thursday 2 January 2014
Laura Mulvey
The Male Gaze
Laura Mulvey is a film theorist who came up with the idea of 'the male gaze' this is the theory that suggests film audiences have to 'view' characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The camera lingers on the curves of the female body and events that occur to women are presented largely in context to a man's reaction of these events. Laura and other feminists believed that this relegates females to being seen as 'objects' or 'props' in films, and could affect how the next generation think of women.
Criticism
Some women enjoy being looked at E.g. Beauty pageants. The Gaze can also be directed toward members of the same genders for several reasons, not all of which are sexual, such as in comparison of body image or clothing.
Tuesday 17 December 2013
The British Film Industry
- What % of global box office was the British film industry responsible for? %15
- What was this % in 2009? 6.8%
- What might this change indicate about British film? This could mean that British films are appealing to more people and gaining a wider audience
- What films have been responsible for this change? Harry Potter Deathly Hallows Part 2, Skyfall and The Kings Speech
- What % of the British film industry makes a profit? 7%
- What % of Hollywood films make a profit? 17%
- How does that % differ between £2m and £10m budget British films? When films are made for £2 million they make a 4% profit whereas if they are made at £10 million they are likely to gain a 17% profit
- What might we infer from this difference? That there are certain maxims which you have to use to gain the right profit, as anything far over £10 million you will begin to decrease the chance of making a profit, so spending that much on a film is the perfect budget to gain a profile
- Which age group makes up the largest % of UK cinema goers? over 45's
- Why do you think this might be? I think this is due to the increase in films that appeal to an older audience such as The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel which involves a-list stars like Dame Judy Dench and Dame Maggie Smith
- Which 'type' of film has seen an 18% drop in attendance? 3D
- Within that 'type' which genre has seen the biggest fall? Big Family Films have failed miserably, these are films like Madagascar 3 etc...
- What did Charles Grant put this decline down to?
- Who is Paul Greengrass?
- How did he describe the British film industry?
- What did a BFI spokesperson say was the point of less profitable low budget British films?
- What was the budget for Filth and how much money did it take?
- What advantage did James McEvoy feel £100m films have over low budget films?
- What is VOD?
- What % increase did VOD see last year?
- What impact might VOD have on distributers and Studios?
- What impact has it had on Blockbuster rental stores?
- What was unique about Ben Wheatleys 'A Field In England'?
- What does director of The Machine Caradog James think is the toughest part of film making?
- Why have rules been relaxed on what makes a film 'British'?
- How has the use of visual effects in films been encouraged?
- Name five of these rules and link them to The Kings Speech, Kill List, The World's End
- What rules has chancellor George Osbourne announced for tax on British films?
- What is the highest grossing film in UK box office history?
- How much has it taken and how many screens was it available on?
Thursday 12 December 2013
Stereotypes
What is a 'stereotype?'
- A simplified representation which focuses on certain characteristics of a group and assumes these to be shared across all group members
- Inherent within a stereotype is a judgment on this character
Eg. 'All women are bad drivers'
'all millwall fans are gypsies'
'all tottenham fans are jewish'
'all muslims are terrorists'
How do the media use stereotypes?
- To communicate complex information about a character, time period, location etc. as quickly as possible
- They do this, as they do not simply create stereotypes, they reflect the stereotypes that have already been created in modern culture
- By using these stereotypes, the media can be said to be reinforcing the ideas behind the and consolidating the views they contain
- Often the media is criticised for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of the audiences way of thinking bout the world anyway
- A simplified representation which focuses on certain characteristics of a group and assumes these to be shared across all group members
- Inherent within a stereotype is a judgment on this character
Eg. 'All women are bad drivers'
'all millwall fans are gypsies'
'all tottenham fans are jewish'
'all muslims are terrorists'
How do the media use stereotypes?
- To communicate complex information about a character, time period, location etc. as quickly as possible
- They do this, as they do not simply create stereotypes, they reflect the stereotypes that have already been created in modern culture
- By using these stereotypes, the media can be said to be reinforcing the ideas behind the and consolidating the views they contain
- Often the media is criticised for creating stereotypes, but they are usually part of the audiences way of thinking bout the world anyway
Tuesday 26 November 2013
The Kings Speech
The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the new King relies on Logue to help him make his first wartime radio broadcast on Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939
In the UK and Ireland, the film was the highest earning film on its opening weekend. It took in £3,510,000 from 395 cinemas. The Guardian said that it was one of the biggest takes in recent memory, and compared it to Slumdog Millionaire (2008), which, two years earlier, earned £1.5 million less. The King's Speech continued a "stunning three weeks" atop the UK Box office, and earned over £3 million for four consecutive weekends, the first film to do so since Toy Story 3 (2010). After five weeks on UK release, it was hailed as the most successful independent British film ever. The kings speech is about a cunt with a lisp who can suck my cock
Most people would define a ‘British’ film with reference to obvious cultural elements such
as: a setting in the UK or a focus on British people abroad; a predominantly British cast; a
storyline about some aspect of British life — past, present or future — or notably by, or based
on a work by, a British author. Recent examples include Billy Elliott, about a boy in North East
England, and Bend it Like Beckham, about a girl from West London, both portraying
particular social issues. The nationalities of scriptwriter, producer, director and, perhaps
especially, the ‘investment’ seem less obviously significant. However, both artistic and financial
considerations serve to complicate this issue.
The UK's mainstream media doesn't usually pay much attention to cinema box office, but a likely exception is the inspiring performance of The King's Speech, a plucky-underdog success story that's as headline-friendly as it gets. Even distributor Momentum Pictures's wildest expectations were exceeded with a £3.52m opening weekend, including modest previews of £227,000. A rousing true tale about an English monarc htriumphing over adversity that stars Colin Firth: clearly there are elements appealing to the older, upscale British heartland. But when you consider the opening grosses of Slumdog Millionaire (£1.83m), Calendar Girls (£1.88m), it's clear The King's Speech has taken a leap forward, even allowing for inflation.
The film lost some Saturday evening showtimes to the live streaming of the New York Met Opera's production of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West but seemed to feel no pain, grossing over £40,000 at London's Chelsea cinema, and breaking house records at the capital's Curzon Renoir and Richmond. The top six sites were all in London, led by Odeon Leicester Square (£106,000), Vue Westfield (£51,000) and Vue Islington (£45,000). Top regional site was Odeon Guildford, with £28,000.
Celebrations presumably took on an ironic aspect at investor the UK Film Council, which had already replaced the specific production fund that had backed it (thePremiere Fund) in advance of its own elimination by the coalition government. The UKFC, and the Premiere Fund in particular, always attracted criticism that it backed films that "would have been made anyway". That was hardly the case with The King's Speech, since both broadcasters – BBC Films and Film4 – passed on the project and no one was in a hurry to make a film about a shy prince who grew up in the shadow of his dashing, confident, controversial elder brother (the abdicating Edward VIII).
| Directed by | Tom Hooper |
|---|---|
| Produced by |
|
| Screenplay by | David Seidler |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Alexandre Desplat |
| Cinematography | Danny Cohen |
| Editing by | Tariq Anwar |
| Studio | |
| Distributed by | Momentum Pictures The Weinstein Company |
| Release date(s) |
|
| Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £8 million ($15 million) |
| Box office | $414,211,549 |
Wednesday 16 October 2013
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