'Skyfall' (2012) - Brief Case Study (WIP)

Skyfall 

  

Premiere:

Skyfall had it's premiere at the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 23rd of October 2012, which was attended by Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall. It was the first film in the franchise to be released in IMAX venues, and was even released a day earlier on IMAX venues in North America a day earlier than in other venues, despite not having been filmed with IMAX cameras. The release of the film coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Bond series (having started with Dr. No in 1962)

Box Office:

Skyfall has earned $1.1086 billion worldwide, thus becoming the 14th film to ever gross over $1 billion at the box office (worldwide) alone - also becoming the first Bond film to do so.

Breaking Box Office Records:

Whilst it may have only been the 14th film to ever gross over $1 billion at box office, it climbed to the 7th highest grossing film of all time, the highest grossing film for both Sony Pictures and MGM worldwide, the highest grossing Bond film and highest grossing film in the UK.

Once taking inflation into account, Skyfall remains the highest grossing film of the Bond film franchise (surpassing Thunderball's $1.047 billion worldwide gross).

UK Box Office Records:

It holds a record for the highest seven-day gross with £37.2 million, surpassing the previous record set by Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 which grossed £35.7 million in it's first week.

By November 9th, 2012, the film had earned just over £57 million, surpassing both The Dark Knight Rises as the highest grossing film of 2012, but also the highest grossing Bond film of all time.

40 days after it's release, the UK gross totaled to £94.28 million, making Skyfall the highest grossing film in the UK (having surpassed the £94.03 million made by Avatar).

On the 30th of December, 2012, it became the first film to gross more than £100 million.

North American Box Office:

Skyfall received the widest opening of a Bond film in North America with it opening in 3,505 cinemas across the U.S.A and Canada. On the opening day alone it grossed $30.8 million in the U.S.A and Canada, before going on to gross $88.4 million by the end of it's opening weekend - making it the biggest debut yet for a Bond film in North America.

At the end of it's theatrical run, it had grossed $304,360,277, making it the 4th highest grossing film in North American in 2012.

Other Box Office Records/Grossings:

Switzerland: Opening weekend record with $5.3 million

India: Second largest opening weekend of a Hollywood film with $5.1 million

Austria: Second highest weekend opening ($3.4 million) behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King 

France: $14.3 million grossed in the opening weekend
Finland: Largest opening weekend ($1.47 million) when excluding previews.

'Dr. No' (1962) - Brief Case Study (WIP)

Dr. No 

Premiere:

Dr. No premiered the 5th of October, 1962, at the London Pavilion, before being released to the rest of the UK to 168 cinemas 3 days later, meanwhile the North American premiere was much more low profile, being released on the 8th of May 1963, showing in 450 cinemas in the Midwest and Southwest regions of the U.S.A.. 

Box Office:

Dr. No  was shown at 168 cinemas across the UK, and managed to gross $840,000 in just the first two weeks, and became the fifth most popular film of the year there.

Despite having a very low key premiere in the states and being the first of the James Bond film franchise, it quickly returned it's budget of $1.1 million and grossed a total of $59.5 million. 

'Casino Royale' (2006) - Brief Case Study (WIP)

Casino Royale 

Premiere:

Casino Royale premiered on November 14th, 2006 in London at the Odeon Leicester Square, the Odeon West End and the Empire simultaneously. It marked both the 60th Royal Film Performance, and Queen Elizabeth II's third attendance to a James Bond premiere (having also been to the premieres of You Only Live Twice and Die Another Day)

Box Office:

In total, Casino Royale grossed $599,045,960 worldwide (having had a budget of around $150 million), making it the 4th highest grossing film of 2006 and the highest grossing installment of the James Bond series until Skyfall surpassed it in November, 2012 (having grossed $1.108.6 billion worldwide by the end of it's film run).

On its opening day in U.S.A., Casino Royale was the highest grossing film with $14,741,135, and by the end of the opening weekend grossed $40,833,156, coming second behind Happy Feet, however Casino Royale was played in 370 fewer cinemas.

Breaking Box Office Records:

It broke records on both it's opening day and overall opening weekend in the UK, grossing £1.7 million and £13,370,969 respectively. When it's box office run finished, the film had grossed £55.4 million, making it the most successful film of the year in the UK, and is the tenth highest grossing film of all time in the country (as of 2011).

'The Amazing Spider-Man 2' - Case Study (WIP)

Case Study

Name of Film: The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Director: Marc Webb
Stars: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Campbell Scott, Embeth Davidtz, Colm Feore, Paul Giamatti and Sally Field.
Date Released: April 10th, 2014, London (Premiere), April 16th, 2014, UK and Belgium (Public)

How was the film marketed?

The marketing budget for the film is somewhere between $180 million and $190 million.

On July 17th, 2013, Sony revealed a the first footage of the film showcasing Jamie Foxx as Electro to encourage the attendance to their panel at the San Diego Comic-Con International, where they premiered a 4 minute trailer, which - although not publicly released - was eventually leaked onto the internet.
Meanwhile, viral marketing included a version of the Daily Bugle (a fictional tabloid newspaper seen throughout the Marvel Universe, but most predominantly in Spider-Man) on the blogging site Tumblr - which is known for it's ability to quickly share posts around the globe - especially when the post's main audience is a fanbase as large as Marvel's.
The director, Marc Webb, tweeted a photo of a message written in a Drawven language, stating that the first official trailer for the film would debut prior to the 3D screenings of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
On December 8th, 2013, it was announced that new footage from the film was to be shown at the New Year's Eve festivites at New York City's Times Square.

Further promotion of the film came with the World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) "Earth Hour" campaign, the cast being present at the launch of the event in Singapore, whilst the Spider-Man logo was lit up alongside Earth Hour's 60+ logo.
On February 17th, 2014, at the American International Toy Fair, Disney Consumer Products announced a merchandise product line for the film.
In March, 2014, Marvel and Gameloft announced the launch of a mobile game of the same name for tablets and smartphones, and was later released on consoles. Meanwhile Kellogg's also released an application featuring the film.
On April 1st, 2014, Evian released an advertisement titled "The Amazing Baby & Me 2" featuring Spider-Man alongside a baby version of himself to follow up their original "Baby & Me" advertisement from April 19th 2013.
They partnered with NBCUniversal for advertising. Spots for the film appeared on Bravo, E!, USA, Syfy, mun2 and Telemundo, as well as a customized page being made for the film on Fandango.
In May 2014, Marvel announced that Spider-Man's film costume would be available in the game Marvel: Avengers Alliance - a game originally released on Playdom's official website and Facebook, but is now available on iOS and android devices.

What are the producers stressing? What is the film's unique selling point?




Who is the audience?



Where and when was it released? Any significance?



How successful has the film been



How is success judged?



Have you seen the film? What is your opinion as an audience member?

Gone With The Wind

Why Was Gone With The Wind The Highest Grossing Film For 25 Years?

-Note: all cash values are from after inflation is taken into account-

One of the main reasons as to why Gone With The Wind was the highest grossing film (HGF) of all time for 25 years (without considering current inflation rates, in which case it’s the HGF of all time currently) is because of it’s ability to gain ‘classic’ status, and between it’s initial release to the end of it’s 25 years as being the HGF of all time, it had an additional 3 re-releases (1947, 1951 and 1961). These re-releases show that Gone With The Wind gained it’s classic status, and was well received by audiences outside of Depression-era America.

The fact that it’s also a historical romance - both genres being popular throughout the history of film - also means it would attract audiences at each re-release.

While it may be the HGF of all time after inflation, this is mostly because of it’s 8  re-releases that span a total of 60 years. In it’s initial release, it made only $506,000,000 in the U.S.A., so the remaining $2.8 billion came from it’s 8 re-releases.

Jack the Giant Slayer - Shot Analysis

Name of film: Jack the Giant Slayer
Director: Bryan Singer
Stars: Nicholas Hoult, Ewan McGregor and Eleanor Tomlinson
Date released: March 1st, 2013 (U.S.A.)

1. Shot time: 1 minute, 25 seconds into the film

The shot used here is a medium-wide shot, allowing us to see all of the young Jack's room, instantly giving us a sense of what the time period it is and how poor Jack's family seem to be. This is mostly due to the lack of techonology - a few candles being the main light source outside of the scenes current thunder storm - and style of furniture - cruedly made wooden pieces, most likely made by someone in the family as it'd be cheaper/free - telling us that it was most likely before electricity was invented and before metals became a common and relatively cheap material so that even those with minimal wages could afford basic furniture such as beds made from it. The minimalistic colours (mostly dull browns and greys) continue to show us that they're poor - they can't afford the more expensive dyed clothing, or clothes made in more structured styles, only simple and cheap tunics.

The use of the lightning strikes lighting up the room and showing a large shadow towering over Jack's bed foreshadows how later on in the movie he'll be facing the giants.

Bette Davis - A Brief Biography

Who was she?
Born on the 5th of April, 1908 as Ruth Elizabeth Davis, Bette Davis was an American film, theatre and television actress, she's considered to be one of the greatest actors in the world of cinema history.

Whilst her first 2 years in Hollywood were unsuccessful - failing all screen tests in her first year, and when she finally debuted in 'The Bad Sister' (1931) the film was a flop, along with the films she appeared in after that - until fellow actor George Arliss elected her to play the leading role in Warner Brothers 'The Man Who Played God' (1932), finally making her way into Hollywood's limelight.

How did she contribute to Hollywood's Golden Age?

Bette Davis is seen to have mainly contributed to Hollywood's Golden Age - as well as the perception of females in movies - by breaking the typical mould of female characters to be kind and sympathetic (and essential there in the film to be either the love interest or sex object) through her first critically acclaimed role in 'Of Human Bondage' (1934) as the character Mildred Rogers - using the characters viciousness to show off a wider range of acting skills than most women were allowed to do in their roles at the time.

'Strangers On A Train' - Shot Analysis

Name of movie:  Strangers on a Train

Director: Alfred Hitchcock

Stars: Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker

Date released: June 30th, 1951

The movie is in black and white so instead of looking at colours, I'll look at contrasts.

1. Shot time: 6 minutes, 15 seconds into the movie

The shot used is an over-the-shoulder, medium close-up shot to allow the viewer to get a glimpse of Guy Haines' (played by Farley Granger) reactions to the strong opinions and suggestions being made by Bruno Anthony (played by Robert Walker) whilst continuing to show how relaxed Bruno is about revealing all of this to Guy - whether this is due to Bruno's intentions to have Guy kill his father for him or whether it's the side affects of the alcohol he's consumed is unclear. We also see Bruno's relaxation around Guy despite their topic of conversation through Bruno's lack of care for personal space as he slaps Guy's hand away when he reaches to take away his drink before the conversation goes any further.

Both characters in the shot are seen in suits of some description to show off their wealth compared to others on the train - although we learn that it was most likely that it was Bruno's mother that bought him the suit as his father 'hates him' and he doesn't appear to have at the moment (suggested by him speaking about how his father thinks he should be doing).

Comic Book Genre: Why is it so popular?

Superhero movies are becoming increasingly popular in recent years because people from any age group can get into the franchises and depending on which character(s) is (are) in the film, they'll be more relateable.

The Comic Book genre also allows for strong genre mixtures (in particular action and romance).

Their fan-base has always been around just in comic-book format, so by making film adaptions of those comic books, they're making the story's and characters more accessible to the newer generations. Their post-production teams are insanely sophisticated, and it allows for fresh activity in old genres.

DC
Main franchise: Justice League - focus on Batman and Superman
The first Superman film (1978) was nominated for 3 Oscars and grossed $300,000,000 in the original film run. Flying was achieved through wire suspensions and blue screen animations (blue screen matte shots and zooming in and out) and front projection. The success of the first film spurred 3 further films in the franchise in this style.
In more recent years The Dark Knight Rises was released and in its first film run, grossed $1.084 billion.

Marvel
Main franchises: The Avengers, X-Men and the Fantastic Four
In the early 00's Marvel brought back attention to the Comic Book genre with Spiderman (grossing $821 million), X-Men (grossing $296 million) and The Hulk (grossing $245 million), with Spiderman being one of the top grossing films in the 00's.
In more recent years they've released The Avengers and Iron Man 3, grossing $1.518 billion and $1.215 billion in their first runs respectively.

Hollywood's Golden Age vs Modern Hollywood notes

Hollywood's Golden Age compared with current Hollywood

In the beginning of Hollywood and it's Golden Age, there were five main studios: Warner Brothers, Paramount, Fox Film, RKO Pictures and Loew. Currently, 4 out of these 5 studios are still in business - with Fox Film changing their name to 20th Century Fox and Loew changing their name to MGM - while RKO Pictures was dissolved in 1959. Not only this, but there are over a dozen major film studios in LA including the ever-growing DreamWorks Studios and Walt Disney Studios.

To begin with, film studios had control over everything to do with a movie - from the actors, to the directors, the film studios controlled everything that was going on, meanwhile in current day Hollywood, the studios make film deals while having ongoing deals with directors - such as Steven Speilburg, who has a 'first option' choice of film with Dreamworks - so he gets first dibs on any of their film deals.

When films were first made - and particularly in Hollywood's Golden Age - they were much more experimental with camera angles and story lines - however they would still go for similar types of actors and/or characters, however there were always favoured genres - specifically during the Golden Age, romance, comedy and western films were preferred by the masses, most likely due to the family friendliness most of them had, allowing for the family to go for a night out together.

Meanwhile, current day Hollywood films are much more set in their ways for cinematography and target audiences, although through advances in technology such as CGI, they've been able to expand their audiences - not only this, but they've also managed to expand their range of actors and character types, thus becoming much more inclusive. Not only this but the general popularity of film genres currently have shifted to more action-based films such as comic-book and novel adaptions (e.g. Marvel comics and Harry Potter). Also, where as in the Golden Age, all the profit had to come from the box office sales alone, currently the merchandise sold during and after the films release brings in most of the profits (from DVD's to posters to mugs to t-shirts).

'Fractured Fairy Tales' - Notes for class presentation

Notes on the Sub-Genre 'Fractured Fairy Tales'

'Fractured Fairy Tales' is a sub-genre of the Fairy Tale Genre. It is most commonly a combination of the 'Fairy Tale' and either 'Action', 'Horror' or 'Adventure' genres in films.
While Fractured Fairy Tales as a general genre ranges from become more adult-focused as "Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters" and "Snow White and the Huntsman", it also contains films such as the Shrek quadrilogy, however my notes are more focused on the less child-friendly kind.

When did the genre become popular?

The genre has become increasingly popular after the mild success of "The Brothers Grimm", however it's popularity has skyrocketed after the greater success of Tim Burton's film adaption of "Alice in Wonderland" which is currently the 17th highest-grossing film at the box office

10 Most Grossing Films of the genre:

At the box office:

1. Alice in Wonderland (2010) - $1.025 billion
2. Maleficent (2014) - $756.7 million
3. Oz the Great and Powerful - $493.311 million
4. Snow White and the Huntsman - $396.592 million
5. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters - $226.349 million
6. Jack the Giant Slayer - $197.687 million
7. Mirror Mirror - $183.018 million
8. The Brother's Grimm - $105.316 million
9. Red Riding Hood - $89.162 million
10. Beastly - $43.165 million

How reliant is the genre on adaptions?

The sub-genre is entirely reliant on adaptions, as (stated in the name of the sub-genre) for them to be included in the genre, the must be adapted from or take strong influence from a Fairy Tale - however the way the movie interprets the Fairy Tales are entirely up to the director

What is the target audience?

The main target audience for this sub-genre are mostly female teens and young adults, as they're more known to be more attached to and have grown up on classic Disney films such as Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland and Snow White - despite all of those movies having come out years before they were born. Despite that being the general target audience, these films also target males of the same age-range through the chosen actors and actress's and in the increased adrenaline rush but also through the same trait that attracts females of their age - the characters they knew as children have matured. We all know that the stories of Disney's princesses weren't that simple, sweet and child-friendly to begin with, and film makers are using that realization that's happening in their target audiences minds to make characters more accessible to them - they aren't perfect and pristine role models who never do anything wrong, they're more realistic and the plots of these new movies match.

However, while looking at how well these movies did at the box office, I realised something else - the majority of these movies do better outside of the U.S.A. - where most of them are produced. I think this may be a more traditional problem rather than American citizens simply not liking the genre - I believe people brought up in the U.S.A. are often brought up with the Disney movies alone, and even if they weren't they're aware that the stories are set in countries thousands of miles away from them, meanwhile those brought up in countries such as Germany or France - where a large number of the original stories of these Disney films are set - feel a stronger connection to the story as they're brought up knowing that they live close to where some of their childhood fantasies are, and hence forth will be more interested in seeing how someone's adapted it.

What are it's sub-genres?

It's a sub-genre itself, however there are 3 main genres used in conjunction with the necessary 'Fairy Tale' genre to create a Fractured Fairy Tale movie:
'Action' - such as Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
'Horror' - such as Red Riding Hood (2011)
'Adventure' - such as Alice in Wonderland (2010)

What kind of merchandise is sold for films in this genre?

The most common kind of official merchandise sold for this sub-genre are posters, mugs and t-shirts, however if the film is made by Disney, then they're almost certain to release a few dolls and/or teddies of the main characters depending on the characters used in the film.

However, if a film is received positively from the audience, they may get a large enough fanbase to have people make unofficial merchandise, such as cosplay items, their own posters, keyrings and even stickers.

Who are some directors, producers and actors linked to this genre?

Directors: Tim Burton, Robert Stromberg, Sam Raimi

Producers: Tim Burton, Joe Roth

Actors: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Helena Bonham

Do you believe this genre have longevity or is it a short-term thing?

Personally, I think this sub-genre could have a long life span - so long as the films are made well and don't all have the same kind of adaption.

'Star Wars' - Case Study

A Critical Study on 'Star Wars'

Name of Film: Star Wars (later titled 'Star Wars Episode IV A New Hope')
Director: George Lucas
Stars: Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Harrison Ford (Han Solo), Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa), Peter Cushing (Grand Moff Tarkin) and Alec Guiness (Obi-Wan Kenobi) (stars chosen as those listed on the back of the DVD box set release)
Date Released: May 25th, 1977 (U.S.A.)

Marketing and Merchandise:

Marketing:

When George Lucas prepared his initial 14-page story treatment for the space opera, all of the major studios rejected it as they saw it as science fiction which was difficult to market at the time. Eventually Lucas found a sympathetic ear in the form of Alan Ladd Jr. - who at that point was the new head of 20th Century Fox - who had been impressed by Lucas's efforts on 'American Graffiti', thus after extensive convincing, gave Star Wars the green light with a budget of $8,000,000.


During a market test, the studio tried to change the movie's name as the title 'Star Wars' caused negative results in the testing and thus a competition was held during shooting for cast and crew members to think of a new title, but none of them ever stuck. The main cause of the negative feedback for the movies name was because it contained the word 'Wars' which holds strong negative connotations especially during the immediate aftermath of the Vietnam War.

The initial research done by 20th Century Fox using the title and brief synopsis showed that only males under 25 were interested in seeing the film, thus causing Fox to market the film to try and attract older and female viewers by pushing the images of people (in particular Princess Leia) into the limelight and referring to the movie as more 'mythical' than 'science fiction'.

Charles Lippincott was hired as the marketing director for Star Wars, however due 20th Century Fox giving minimal support for marketing outside licensing t-shirts and posters, Lippincott had to look elsewhere. As a fan of science fiction himself, he managed to secure deals with Marvel Comics for a comic book adaption and with Del Ray Books for novelization and he used his own contacts to promote the film at the San Diego ComicCon and elsewhere within the Science Fiction Fandom.

Due to the movies release date being pushed back to the summer of 1977 instead of the Christmas of 1976, Fox  began to worry that Star Wars would be beaten by other summer films, including 'Smokey and the Bandit'. This worry made Fox move the release date to the Wednesday before Memorial Day yet due to less than 40 theaters ordering the film to be shown, Fox demanded that theatres order Star Wars if they wanted an eagerly awaited film based on the best selling novel 'The Other Side of Midnight'.

Merchandise:

For several months after the film's debut, there was very little merchandise available, with only Kenner Products accepting Lippincott's licensing offers. To deal with the sudden demand for Star Wars toys, they used what is known as an "empty box campaign", where vouchers in the "Star Wars Early Bird Certificate Package" could be traded in for four Star Wars action figures between February and June of 1978.

Despite the film itself being set back to be released in 1977, the novelisation of the film was published at it's initially planned release date in December of 1976 - a whole six months before the film itself was released, but it also included scenes that were cut from the final edit of the film. Whilst the credited author was George Lucas, it was also ghostwritten by Alan Dean Foster, who later went on to write the first Expanded Universe novel (Splinter of the Mind's Eye).


Marvel Comics also adapted the film as the first few issues of its licensed Star Wars comic book, unlike the novel adoption, the first issue was released after the films debut, in July 1977, yet it also contained scenes that didn't make it to the final cut of the movie. The comic series was so successful that (according to Jim Shooter) it '… single-handedly saved Marvel' during 1977 and 1978.

In 1979, Lucasfilm gave the film a 24-page children's book-and-record adaption (narrated by Roscoe Lee Brown) where each page contained a cropped screenshot of a key section from the film and a condensed version of the story.

In 1981, a radio drama adaption of the film was produced for and broadcasted on the American National Public Radio network. Written by Brian Daley and directed by John Madden, the adaption received cooperation from George Lucas who gave them the rights to use the films original soundtrack, whilst Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) voiced their original characters. Once again, this adaption contained more scenes removed from the final cut - including Darth Vader's interrogation of Princess Leia, and a skyhopper race.

Initial and Later Success:

Releases:

Star Wars debuted on Wednesday the 25th of May, 1977 in less than 32 theatres, with only 8 more showing it on the following two days. Despite few theatres showing the film, it instantly broke box office records and essentially becoming one of the first ever blockbuster films, causing Fox to increase their plans to broaden it's release.

The film was a huge success for the studio, causing 20th Century Fox's stock price to doubled to a record high within just three weeks of it's release. Before then, Fox's greatest annual profits were $37,000,000, but in 1977, the company easily broke that record by passing a profit of $79,000,000. Despite the film's cultural neutrality allowing it to receive international success, Ladd was anxious at the premiere in Japan as after the film was over the audience was completely silent, however he was soon informed by local connections that silence was in fact the greatest honour a film could receive in Japan.

The subtitles of 'Episode IV: A New Hope' were added starting with the film's re-release on April 10th, 1981. The film was also re-released theatrically in 1997 with additional scenes and enhanced special effects (this version was later further subtitled as the 'Special Edition'). This 'Special Edition' was brought about when Lucas saw that technology had caught up to his original version of Star Wars after the work of ILM used computer-generated effects for Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park (1993), and thus Star Wars was digitally remastered and re-released to movie theatres alongside The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi under the campaign title 'Star Wars Trilogy: Special Edition'.

The Special Edition consisted of more visual shots and scenes that were previously unachievable due to a mix of technological, time and budgeting restraints - one such scene being Han Solo meeting Jabba the Hut, however some of the changes made caused controversy among fans - in particular when Han Solo is confronted by a bounty hunter called Greedo, Greedo is made to shoot first when originally it had been Han Solo to shoot first - this change also led to t-shirts being made with the phrase "Hans Shot First" on them.

Box Office:

Even today, Star Wars is one of the most financially successful films of all time, having earned over $1.5 million through it's opening weekend, building up to $7 million  as it entered wide release and by the end of it's initial theatrical run it had earned over $220 million in the U.S.A. and Canada alone, and by the end of the following year, it had earned $410 million worldwide. After the re-releases in the following years, it's overall earnings in the U.S.A. and Canada to $323 million, and extended it's global earnings to $530 million, and it kept it's position as highest-grossing film of all time until 1983, where E.T. the Extra-Terrestial broke the record.

After the release of the Special Edition in 1997, Star Wars once again reclaimed the North American record for a brief period of time before losing it the following year to Titanic. Overall the film's earned $775, 398,007 worldwide, but after adjusting amounts due to inflation, it;s earned over $2.5 billion worldwide (as of 2011 prices and records), making it the most successful franchise film of all time, and according to the Guinness World Records, at the North American box office before inflation it ranks as the 3rd highest grossing film, while after inflation it ranks as the 2nd highest.

Accolades:

With it's cast and crew, Star Wars has won a total of 24 awards since it's release in 1977.
1977:

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Film
• Saturn Award for Best Costume (John Mollo)
• Saturn Award for Best Make-up (Stuart Freeborn)
• Saturn Award for Best Music (John Williams)
• Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
• Saturn Award for Best Special Effects (John Dykstra)
• Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness)
• Saturn Award for Best Writing (George Lucas)

1978:

• Academy Award for Best Costume Design (John Mollo)
• Academy Award for Best Film Editing (Paul Hirsch, Marcia Lucas and Richard Chew)
• Academy Award for Best Original Music Score (John Williams)
• Academy Award for Best Production Design (Roger Christian, Norman Reynolds, John Barry and Leslie Dilley)
• Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing (Don MacDougall, Derek Ball, Bob Minkler and Ray West)
• Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (John Dykstra, John Stears, Richard Edlund, Grant McCune and Rober Blalack)
• Special Achievement Academy Award (Ben Burtt)
• BAFTA Award for Best Film Music (John Williams)
• BAFTA Award for Best Sound (Sam Shaw, Robert R. Rutledge, Gordon Davidson, Gene Corso, Derek Ball, Don MacDougall, Bob Minkler, Ray West, Michael Minkler, Les Fresholtz, Richard Portman and Ben Burtt)
• Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score (John Williams)
• Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation (George Lucas)
• Nebula Award for Best Script (George Lucas)
• People's Choice Award for Favourite Movie 
• Saturn Award for Best Director (George Lucas)
• Saturn Award for Best Music (John Williams)

2011:

• Satellite Award for Best DVD Extra

'Van Helsing' - Shot Analysis

Name of Film: Van Helsing
Director: Stephen Sommers
Stars: Hugh Jackman and Kate Bekinsale
Date Released: May 3rd, 2004 (Universal City)

1. Shot ime: 7 minutes, 55 seconds into the movie (screenshot will be added later)

The first 7 minutes of the film are in black and white and the shots used are mostly close-ups of either characters or significant props, so by using an extreme wide shot of the Notre Dame Cathedral in colour shows us that things have changed drastically - even if it's only been a year - as well as giving us an exact reference point of where the scene is set and the horse-drawn carriage gives us a sense of what technologies are in common use - despite all of the sleek and modern-designed weapons that Van Helsing (Hugh Jackman) uses during the movie.

Having most of the prominent colour come from the Notre Dame's stained glass window and from the light of the moon behind one of it's towers makes it the key focus point of the viewer as well as setting the scene for the fight between Van Helsing and Dr Hyde.

'Notorious' - Shot Analysis

Name of Movie: Notorious
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Stars: Carl Grant and Ingrid Bergman
Date Released: August 15th, 1946 (New York City)

The movie is in black and white so instead of looking at colours, I'll look at contrasts.

1. Shot time: 3 minutes, 23 seconds into the movie

Devlin, a U.S. Intelligence Agent played by Carl Grant, has his back to the camera throughout the whole part scene, even when the camera changes angles. This makes the viewer curious about his appearance as well as to who he is after Alicia, played by Ingrid Bergman, says that she "loves party crashers". As she says this she seems to look him in the eyes but at the same time look right through him - as though the alcohol and her intrigue with him are the few things that are keeping her up.

The characters visible are the bare minimum - those that are needed for lines - so as not to clog up the screen too much whilst not leaving the screen overly empty either.

Since we can't see the colour of their clothes, they're made to look wealthy through the general style of their clothes - hence why all three men seen in the shot are wearing suits of some description with matching slicked back hair. Meanwhile the two women are shown in two different styles of wealthy clothing - the woman dancing in the background is wearing an expensive looking dress and long-sleeved jacket with puffed shoulders which contrasts greatly with Alicia's short sleeved dress. While the design of Alicia's dress is simple enough, it still seems equally - or even more so - as expensive as the other dress as the darker stripes contain jewels or sequins of some sort which glitter in the lighting.

We also see wealth from the older mans large cigar, the expensive-looking bottles of liquor scattered around the tables of Alicia's home and from Alicia and the old man talking about having a week-long holiday on a ferry.

Films and Finance notes

"Of every ten films made in Hollywood, six will lose money from exhibition in cinemas, one will break even, one will make a little money, one will make good money and one will be a successful blockbuster that pays for all the others." - Armyan Bernstein, procure of Air Force One and other films.

The Film industry is a business - it's the place where art, creativity and business meet all at once, and the film industry in the U.S. is also one of the U.S.'s biggest exporters.

Before a film can begin to be made, the films 'package' must be shown to investors, this package must consist of:

• A script treatment - detailed plots, a list of possible sets, and a basic script (around 10 pages long)
• A story board of key scenes
• Basic character outlines
• Potential casting
• A suggested Director and/or Writer
• Other key creative personnel (e.g. editors, cinematographers, special effects team)
• Any possible marketing spinoffs (e.g. clothing, posters, sequels/prequels)

Currently, 50% of Hollywood's output are adaptions - however with the rising popularity of the comic-book, featured fairytale and novel-based genres, this percentage is expected to increase.

- A crucial point that people often don't know or don't seem to care about, is the difference between a director and a producer. Directors are in charge of all of the smaller decisions whilst the movie is being made, meanwhile a producer is in charge of of the bigger decisions and or raising confidence in the idea (so as to get more backing for the films production).

Films you have to see before you die

One film you have to see before you die (in both my dad's and I's opinions) is 'Monty Python's Life of Brian'. This may or may not have something to do with our shared love for all things Monty Python in general and our lack of any sort of religious beliefs.

Released in 1979, this film tells the story of Brian Cohen - a Jew that just so happened to be born on the same day and right next door to Jesus Christ and hence forth is frequently mistaken for him. Due to it's content being heavily based on religious and political jokes (but mostly due to the large amount of religious satire) the film was banned from Norway for a year, Ireland until 1987, the Torbay Council in Devon refused to show it until 2008, and Aberystwyth only lifted the ban in 2009 when cast member Sue Jones-Davies was elected mayor of the town.

While the banning of the film due to religious purposes is hilarious in itself, the film is still considered one of the biggest contenders for the title of 'Greatest Comedy film of all time', with an astoundingly versatile cast (with 6 of the key cast members playing a total of 40 characters) and having one of the lines being considered one of the funniest in film history to date, and another two coming elsewhere in the top 10 (the lines in question being "He's not the messiah, he's a very naughty boy!" spoken by Brian's mother Mandy to the crowd outside her house being number one, and "What have the Romans ever done for us?" and "I'm Brian and so's my wife" also in the top 10) makes it the must comedy film - well, so long as you aren't highly religious that is.