The Worlds End

The Basics
The World's End (Cornetto Trilogy)
Director: Edgar Wright
Producer: Working Title (Tim Bevan)
Distributor: Universal (Big Six)
Budget: $25 million
Box Office: $46 million

'Cornetto Trilogy' - repeatability for DVD and BluRay

The Audience
The target Audience is male 28-40 (who like sci-fi and comedy and indie music/britpop)
Links to soundtrack which is full of late 80s early 90s hits by bands such as: The Housemartins, Blur, Primal Scream, Pulp, James, Happy Mondays, Suede, The Stone Roses, Inspiral Carpets.
All star 'British' cast

Simon Pegg (Gary King): Star Trek, Mission Impossible, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul - mainstream and niche appeal.
Nick Frost (Andy Knightley) : Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Paul - mainstream and niche appeal.
Martin Freeman (Oliver Chamberlain) : The Hobbit, Love Actually, The Office (TV), Sherlock (TV)
Paddy Considine (Steven Prince) : Dead Man's Shoes, Submarine, The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (TV) - multiple acting award nominations. Target audience of film buffs/ aficionados
Eddie Marsan (Peter Page) : Tyrannosaur, Miami Vice, Happy-Go-Lucky, Sherlock Holmes (Inspector Lestrade). Target audience of film buffs/ aficionados.
Rosamund Pike (Sam Chamberlain) : Die Another Day, An Education, Made In Dagenham, Wrath Of The Titans, Jack Reacher
Other  notable cast members

Pierce Brosnan (Guy Shepherd): James Bond (1995-2004), The Thomas Crown Affair, The Ghost, Mama Mia
Bill Nighy (The Network-voice only): Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Love Actually, Pirates of the Caribbean
Rafe Spall (Young Man): Grindhouse, Kidulthood, Prometheus, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Life of Pi, I Give It A Year

The Director

Edgar Wright: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs The World, The Adventures of Tin Tin (co writer), Spaced (TV)

Themes

The film focuses on uniquely British concerns: pubs, 'lad' culture, British nightlife, loss of British identity, the homogenization of the high street, American influence, school, sleepy market towns. The film is also about growing up, the potential of youth and the disappointment of adult life.

The film was a niche product globally and a mass market product nationally.

Figures
Only 7% of British films make a profit.
Of films costing less than £2 million only 45 make a profit.
Of films costing £10 million or more 17% make a profit
Reception
Rotten Tomatoes 89% approval rating
Metacritic 81 out of 100

Dredd Research

Producer: 

The producers for Dredd were Alex Garland, Andrew MacDonald and Allon Reich. Alex Garland is a novelist and screenwriter and had also wrote the screenplay for Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later'. Andrew MacDonald is a Scottish film producer and is best known for his collaborations with director Danny Boyle and screenwriter John Hodge in the films '28 Days Later', 'Trainspotting' and 'Shallow Grave'. The green light for this film was in 2008.

Distributor:

It was distributed by Entertainment Film, Lionsgate.

Script Writer:

The writer for this film was Alex Garland, an English novelist, film producer and screenwriter. He published his first novel, 'The Beach' in 1996 which was then later created into a film by Danny Boyle staring Leonardo DiCaprio.

Budget:

The estimated budget was $45,000,000

Box office gross:

The box office gross was $36,000,000

Director & Cast

The director for this film production was Pete Travis who has directed films such as 'Vanage Point', 'Endgame' and 'Omaghe' 

The cast included stars such as

Karl Urban who played Dredd who is famous for his roles in 'Star Trek Into Darkness' and 'The Bourne Supremacy.' 

Olivia Thirlby, Anderson, is well known for roles in 'Juno' and 'No Stings Attached'

Lena Headey who plays 'Ma-Ma' who has stared in films such as 'The Purge' and '300'

Jason Cope, Zwirner who is known for his role in 'Doomsday' and 'District 9.' 

Marketing:

The film had a website ( http://www.dreddreport.com/ ) which was good for marketing as it was interactive but could have possibly been hard to find for those wanting to look at it. There were teaser trailers but due to the 18 certificate given they were not widely shown but were mainly found on 'youtube' and the website (above) The last strategy used were still and motion posters to give the last push for promotion.

(http://www.judgmentiscoming.net/motionposter/dreddposter.swf)

Critical Reception:

Fueled by bombastic violence and impressive special effects rooted in self satire and deadpan humor Dredd 3D is a rare example of a remake that actually works.

Dredd was awarded 78% or 7/10 according to review website 'Rotten Tomatoes.'

Reasons for lack of success:

Although the advertising won an award for best thriller TV spot the advertisement wasn't enough. Due to the fact Dredd was highly rated, 18, the trailer could not be shown within a certain time without risk of the younger audience seeing it. This in it's self restricted the viewing audience as people under 18 could not view it. I believe that television advertisement would have been perfect to use if the certificate was appropriate to do so.

Screening options was another issue as Dredd was first originally only shot in 3D and not all cinemas are equipped with such screening necessities narrowing down the viewing opportunities.  

As the film is based on the comic book 'Judge Dredd' only those familiar with the comic would understand the background to the story. Also as the film included various gore and violence scenes only those who enjoy watching such films would go and see it which again limits the audience available. 

Awards: 

Won:

Golden Trailer Award for Best thriller TV spot

Nominated:

• Most original TV spot
• Best action TV spot
• Best graphics in a TV spot
• Best music TV spot
• Best action poster
• Most original poster

Technology used: 

The film was shot digitally and primarily in 3D using SI2K, RED MX and Phantom Flex high-speed cameras and multiple camera rigs were used. Also, some 2D elements were converted to 3D in post-production. 

Tie-Ins: 

Dredd was released on DVD,Blue-Ray and Digital download on 14th January 2013 in the UK. No toys from this film were made because of the high certification rating (18) meaning that its not suitable for a younger audience. A tie in comic book was published on the 5th September 2012 by the Judge Dredd Magazine editor Matt Smith and drawn by 2000AD artist Henry Flint. The comics plot contains a prequel to the films narrative and follows Ma-Ma's life as a prostitute.

Dredd Film Review

I really enjoyed watching Dredd. It had an easy story line to follow and was full of action meaning that the film grabbed my attention straight away. Dredd is an original film based on the comic book character Judge Dredd.  I wasn't entirely sure on what the film was about when it first started and beforehand as I had never heard of the film or character Dredd. I was pleasantly surprised as the film developed, I found the action and violence positively thrilling to watch and I thought all scenes were well directed and all fight scenes were choreographed perfectly. I wouldn’t recommend this film, to those that are squeamish at the sight of blood but for people that love the thrilling adrenaline packed action/sci-fi films, Dredd is perfect. As the film was an action/thriller it included very graphic scenes of blood and violence, if the film was without such scenes I believe that it would be nowhere near as gripping and exciting as I found it. Slow motion shots were used to bring a more elegant and artistic feel to the film which contrasted the gore ridden scenes, which again I feel that if these scenes weren’t included the film would lose the interest of its viewers very quickly. We were informed before the film that Dredd actually lost money at the box office which I was very surprised by as I thoroughly enjoyed the film and thought the balance between the gory scenes and scenes of less intense fighting were just right. One thing I was confused by was when the second group of judges entered the locked down block as it wasn't made clear why they were there and who had called them, I also found a minority of “mind reading” scenes unnecessary and somewhat disturbing. That in itself was very confusing. The initial idea of reading someone’s mind is not exactly challenging but I feel as if it was over complicated as there were several layers to these scenes which weren’t thoroughly explained, resulting in the confusion. One thing that did really interest me about this film is that the villain “mama” was a women, not something you see very often in films like this, I believe that this added to the excitement of the film and her background story we are given makes her appear much more menacing and evil then we initially think. She has a very violent character which is something we wouldn’t expect to see in a film like this which again, makes the film that little more exhilarating. All in all I believe that this is a very well produced film which unfortunately didn't sell as expected but for me as a viewer I thoroughly enjoyed the gripping and tense story line and will most defiantly be recommending it to others and watching it again myself.

Pirates of The Caribbean - On Strangers Tides

Pre-Production - The Pirates of The Caribbean are a series of films and "On Strangers Tides" is the latest of them to be released. There have been 4 released in total and the 5th film is in undergoing production. Writer Ted Elliott came across a novel written by Tim Powers called "On Strangers Tides" and concluded that it would be a good foundation to start, using it as inspiration to create the latest film. The first 3 films were all original ideas whereas this one is an adaptation. The Director for this film Was Rob Marshall as apposed to the previous director Gore Verbinski. Rob Marshall has directed films such as the Emmy-Award Winning film "Annie" and "Nine" staring the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis and Nicole Kidman.The budget for the film was an estimated $250 million. Actors such as Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz were casted for the roles of Captain Jack Sparrow (played by Johnny in all 4 films) and Angelica. It was rumoured that Depp was paid an estimated $55.5 million for his role as they realized that he is an iconic character and that the franchise would be "dead and buried" without him.The studios behind the production were Walt Disney Pictures and Jerry Bruckheimer Films. I couldn't find any information on when the film was given the green light as there were issues with filming which I will explain.

Production -  The filming began on June 10th 2010 in Hawaii but was shortly moved  to California, due to strong tides. The joint total for "Dead Man's Chest" and "At Worlds End" was an estimated $300 million which resulted in the fourth installment for "On Strangers Tides" to be cut, resulting in moving primary production to Hawaii and London as the Tax Credits are much more favourable. The shooting schedule was cut down to 22 weeks as apposed to the original 40. The film was released in 2D, 3D and IMAX. 
The total amount of computer generated shots for On Strangers Tides was an estimated 1,112 which were created by 10 different visual effect companies. Cinesite visual effects supervisor Simon Stanley-Clamp claimed that the most difficult part was doing them in 3D. The lead companies, with over 300 shots each were Industrial Light & Magic and Moving Pictures Company. They were responsible for the majority of underwater shots, mermaid scenes, digital ships and designing cliffs and waterfalls. Filming the Mermaids involved 8 model actresses who portrayed them outside the water, 22 synchronized swimming athletes and a group of stunt women, all of which wore motion capture suits to be later replaced by digital mermaids. To make the mermaids look more menacing underwater the faces of the actresses had some digital touch-ups on the underwater scenes, making the teeth appear sharper and the skin more scaly. As the supervisor of visual effects stated, the film was shot in 3D during the production process and not afterwards. I believe that the reason why I cant find information on the green light is because of the problems due to the financial cut. The filming locations had to be changed and the shots were all very complicated meaning that production stopped and started many times. As far as I am aware there were no reshoots.

Post Production - Although there were a large number of special effects used, the director and production team said that the good story line is relied upon more. They said that without the likes of Johnny Depp the film wouldn't be a success meaning that they relied upon him and the screenplay to make the film successful, the effects are just a bonus. As I said in the Production the film was produced in both 2D and 3D and used a heavy amount of CGI.

Marketing and Promotion -  The first teaser poster of the film followed the pattern of the previous few, showing a skull wearing a red bandanna and crossed swords in the background. The teaser trailer shows snippets of Captain Jack Sparrows classic whit and various special effect scenes. The promoting website included short snippets of scenes and a Story Synopsis. Social Media was also used to promote and market the film, creating "like" pages that showed various videos and behind the scene photographs and film footage. A LEGO version of the characters and famous Black Pearl Ship was created shortly after the film was released. 

On January 6, 2010, Disney announced that the film would be released in the United States and Canada on May 20, 2011. The world premiere of On Stranger Tides was on May 7, 2011, at a premium ticket screening at Disneyland in California, home of the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride that inspired the film series. Many of the film's stars were in attendance and two other early screenings followed, one in Moscow on May 11, and another during the Cannes International Film Festival on May 14.

The 5th Film "Dead Men Tell No Tales" is due to be released in June 2015 but as production has come to a halt it is said that it is more likely to be released in 2016. The production of this film is back to back following the last one and Johnny Depp has been confirmed to return as his quick witted, beloved character Captain Jack Sparrow.

Film Production

The Idea

Film ideas can come from many places such as real life events, adaptations of books, day to day conversation or original ideas. Whatever the idea may be is pitched to a producer who calls in a director. The producer and director work together to produce something that can be filmed. A script writer is called in to make the idea tangible  the relationship between the producer, director and writer is key in the creative field of film production. The writer identifies the main story and characters so that the idea can be pitched to financiers.

Development Finance 

Turning the idea into a script can take a lot of time to get right, in the film industry "time is money." Funding is needed to support the writer, producer and in some cases the director during this process. This is called development funding. The producers go to potentional funders to pitch the idea hoping they will invest money to develop the idea further. 

Script Development

The writer produces a synopsis. Along with the producer they agree on key scenes or events which are written up as a 'first draft.' Once they are both happy with the draft it is sent to the financiers who can also have ideas. When they are all happy with the script it becomes the "final draft' and the writer gets paid. 

Packaging 

The producer and director pack the script ready for financing and add the names of well known stars so it becomes more 'commercial.' The producer needs to know how much the film will cost to make so that they can inform potential investors of the plan to raise the money and how they will be repaid.

Financing 

To make sure the finances are secure the producer must travel as financiers can be located anywhere around the world. The lawyer of the producer constructs a contract to 'seal the deal.' Once all funding is secure the film gets a 'green light' and the preproduction can begin. 

Pre-Production

The script is passed around and the casting director can begin to identify and cast the actors. Storyboards are made and the shots are planned in advance so that the pro ruin designer/s can see   How the film will look. Special effects can take months to design and build therefore they are planned in much more detail. 

The Shoot

The camera department are responsible for collecting all the footage needed to tell the story, once the hair and make up, lighting and set have been checked. The actors responsibility is to create a character the audience can become attached to and must work together to create the emotional world revolving the storyline. 

Post Production

After the footage has been filmed and is handed in the editor them assembles it into sciences and begins to create a narrative sequence for the film. The department that cover the sound add background tracks and edit the sound. The digital effects are then added along with titles and credits. The film is reviewed to make sure the colour and aesthetics are correct and the dubbing theartre set the final sound levels and the final cut is finished.

Sales 

The trailer is made to attract the attention of the potential audience. The trailer includes the most marketable aspects of the film, a high profiled screening at film festivals is ideal publicity for a film and means that the producer can make deals with distributed around the world. 

Marketing 

The team behind the marketing do screen tests to see how the film is received and posters, cinema trailers and tv spots are released to the potential audience. The distributers must make deals with the cinemas to screen it. 

Exhibition 

A premiere is held with media coverage in order to get people talking and up for going to see it. Once the distributors have been paid the financiers can recover the investment. 

Other Windows 

Sales from hotel channels and in-flight entertainment and bring in extra millions and in some cases ,are up for box office failure. The UK audience spend more money on DVDs meaning that they can also compensate for box office failure. Television rights are sold seperate and can be shown on various channels along side computer game licenses. Once there is a profit made the producer and key members can then claim their rewards, the film could be rereleased in the future or have a sequel produced.