My Brother The Devil

Today I'm going to look at a UK Drama Film "My Brother The Devil", directed and written by Sally El Hosaini. It has won multiple awards, including at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival. It is starring  James Floyd, Fady Elsayed and Saïd Taghmaoui. It was released in UK on the November 9, 2012 and was in US cinemas from March 22, 2013. Further releases in Canada, Germany, Australia and New Zealand. Box Office figures shows that My Brother the Devil has earned  $10,305. Later on, there was a UK DVD release on 18th of March 2013. Sally El Hosaini said that the budget was about £650,000, raised through private investors.

They have advertise this film mostly by a use of social media."My Brother the Devil" by a use of Twitter and Facebook, was able to hit their target audience which would be teenager/young adults. This is called below the line advertising. Use of this type of advertising is a good solution for a small scale films as they don't have to pay anything for it. My brother the devil has its own twitter account which is: https://twitter.com/MBTDFilm. Here we can see how they use a #mybrotherthedevil to advertise their product. The reason that we know that it works is that we can see that people are retweeting their posts, by which they are spreading the word, what means that more people will watch it.

Another social that my brother the devil has is facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mybrotherthedevil?fref=ts. It helps with their advertising as people can share the page and invite friends to like the page.

Within the film we can also hear a song by Cashtastic, a musician from Youtube. This film helped this artist get his music heard to the larger audience. Furthermore, it also helped the film it self as Cashtastic's fans will also watch it and recommend to others.

Here we can see that this film has received numerous International awards in 2012/13 including:

• Nominated Best Newcomer - Fady Elsayed at BFI London Film Festival
• Won Best European Film (Europa Cinemas Label Award) at Berlinale
• Won Best Cinematography at Sundance Film Festival
• Won CBA Worldview Sundance Impact Award at Sundance London
• Won Best Newcomer - Sally El Hosaini at BFI London Film Festival
• Won Most Promising Newcomer - Sally El Hosaini at Evening Standard Film Awards
• Won Grand Jury Award at LA Outfest
• Won Audience Award - Annonay Film Festival, France
• Won BIFA for Best Newcomer - James Floyd at British Independent Film Awards
• Won Best Actor - James Floyd at Milan Film Festival
• Won New Vision Award for Cinematography - Manaki Brothers Film Festival, Macedonia
• Honorable Mention Outstanding First Feature, Frameline Film Festival
• Nominated Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival
• Nominated BIFA Douglas Hickox award for Best Debut Film - Sally El Hosaini at British Independent Film Awards
• Nominated Sutherland Trophy (Best First Film) - Sally El Hosaini at BFI London Film Festival
• Nominated Most Promising Newcomer - James Floyd at Evening Standard Film Awards

It has also many reviews that made this film become even more popular within larger range of audience:

• The Hollywood Reporter called it "A crackling debut...Slick, muscular, entertaining and emotionally satisfying."
• Empire named it "a compelling gangland saga...crisp, cool and consistently street-smart." 
• Variety wrote 'An energetic and imaginative tale...a film that so artfully refuses to surrender to convention.' 
• The Independent praised it as 'gritty and gripping' 
• The Daily Telegraph called it their 'favourite narrative feature' at Sundance 
• Total Film gave it film of the day and placed it in its Top 3 Films at Sundance 
• Screen International named it 'a luminous event'

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is one of the three fantasy adventure films, based on three volume novel ''The Hobbit" by  J. R. R. Tolkien. The Hobbit is directed, produced and adapted by Peter Jackson. Jackson's three Hobbit films together are imagined as a prequel to Jackson's earlier film adaptation of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings novel.

Several actors reprise their roles from The Lord of the Rings, including Ian McKellen, Andy Serkis, Ian Holm, and Hugo Weaving, as well as actors whose characters did not appear in the novel, such as Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Elijah Wood, and Orlando Bloom.

The most significant new involvement in the series is the participation of Guillermo del Toro, originally chosen to direct the films, as co-writer, but left because of ongoing delays. Jackson has stated that del Toro's "creative DNA" will remain in the scripts and designs.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug is scheduled to premiere on 2 December 2013 in Los Angeles, and will be released internationally from 11 December 2013. 

Most of filming was finished during 2012, ending in July 2012, but during May 2013, additional shooting for the film and the sequel began in New Zealand, which lasted 10 weeks. 

Peter Jackson has provided the first details about the second film in the series at a live event held on 24 March 2013. The access code was attached to the DVD editions of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The live-broadcast event revealed some plot details; Jackson said that the role of Tauriel, acted by Evangeline Lilly, is a part of the elven guard and a bodyguard of the Elvenking, Thranduil. In addition, he revealed a scene from the film in which Gandalf and Radagast the Brown search for the Necromancer fortress and discover that the Ringwraiths have been released from their graves.

The first trailer for the film was released in early June. A video blog containing behind the scenes footage was released on YouTube. Later a second trailer was released but was just a slightly abridged version of the first.

"The making of "The Hobbit" trilogy has already cost Peter Jackson and his team over half a billion dollars, which is double the amount spent on the director's trademark series - "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, according to Variety.

The new trilogy, with its second film "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug" which is slated to release in December, has cost an astounding $561 million so far. This was revealed from the financial documents filed online by New Zealand's Companies Office that placed the cost at NZ$676 million" - http://www.ibtimes.co.in/articles/511841/20131007/hobbit-lord-rings-trilogy-peter-jackson-cost.htm

Movie Details: 

Production Budget: $250,000,000
Theatrical Release: December 13th, 2013 (Wide) by Warner Bros.
                                  December 13th, 2013 (IMAX) by Warner Bros.
Franchise: Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings
Source: Based on Fiction Book/Short Story
Genre: Adventure
Production Method: Animation/Live Action
Creative Type: Fantasy

Links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/pjacksonwingnutfilms?feature=watch - On a youtube channel of Peter Jackson you can watch the production diary which he created to keep up to date with his audience. 

http://www.thehobbit.com/index.html -This is the link to their official website, where they are showing trailers, sneak peeks and worldwide release date.

https://www.facebook.com/TheHobbitMovie -This is a link to their official facebook page, but this page they were able to keep up to date with their audience and also promote a film.

Use of Sound

Today I'm going to briefly analysis use of sound in advertising. The first advert that I'm going to analyse is :

• Burger King - Angus XT  

In this advert we can hear a use of 'Diegetic Sound'. Diegetic sound that has a source, it is visible on the screen. Diegetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame. 
In this advert we can hear a background noise of people talking, which would be a diegetic sound as it is a sound that was recorded in a filming process. However, it may have been added in but it's still a diegetic sound as we can see the source of it. Another diegetic sound that we can hear is a a dialog "mmmmm...!!" which is repeated throughout the advert, it is also possible that they added the sound while editing to make it louder and clearer. Other back ground noise that we can hear is phone ringing, shower, bus. (They are all diegetic sounds)
At the end of the advert we can hear a synchronized sound which is a sound that is added on top of the video to tell the information about the product. It is mostly used in dubbing. In the same image we can hear a non-diegetic sound which is added as a backtrack. 

• Citroen- Orchestra 

This advert is an excellent example of 'Contrapuntal sound'. Contrapuntal sound is a sound that works in contrast with the image of the screen. The image that we see on the screen ( which is an orchestra) contrasts with the heavy metal music in the background. You would expect this type of music to be played during orchestra, it doesn't match the image. The sound in this video is also non-diegetic as it was added through the editing process. Non-diegetic sound is an opposite of diegetic sound. It is the sound that world of the film doesn't occur within the world of the film. Later on music continues to play as a non-diegetic sound at the end of the advert. We can see it happens when the image on the screen is changing from orchestra into a car driving. As in the previous advert we can hear a synchronized sound, which has been added over the video to say the dialog. 

• Persil - Garage Band   

One again this advert is using a diegetic sound which then at the end it turns into a non-diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is coming from the garage doors opening and also from the noise of all the instruments. The dialog which is "1,2,3,4.." is also a diegetic sound, as it was recorded in a filming process.  This advert is also using a parallel sound, what means that music fits the image on the screen. The music that they decided to play fits the atmosphere of the video. It is turning into a non-diegetic sound as towards  the end of the advert the sound is layered on the top of another image.  We can also notice that there is a non-diegetic sound at the very end of the advert which could have been added by using editing software. We call it foley session, which is the sound effect are added to a media text afterwords. 

• Nestle - Yorkie 

This advertise has a mixture of different sounds and we can hear it from the very beginning of the advert. At the beginning of the advert we can hear a diegetic sound, which includes birds singing. As the man takes out the all the shopping bags music turns into a non-diegetic, creating a parallel sound which is appropriate with the image. We can also hear a lot foley sounds, such as explosions and sound of a sword. There is still diegetic sound going on in the background, as we can hear a sound of him opening a door and also putting the shopping bags on the floor. This advert is an excellent way of showing how diegetic and non-diegetic sound can work together. At the end of the advert we can still hear a foley sound 'boom'. There is also some synchronized sound  going on at the end when there is a voice over of the dialog. 

• Go Ahead! - Chocolate Thins 

In this advert we can mostly hear a diegetic sound such as a sound of hitting the ball and birds singing. There is no music going on for the first half of the advert. Later on we can hear a dialog going on and foley song, which has been edited to exaggerate the sound or add an effect. Then we can hear more non-diegetic sound in the background of the video. It's making every single move of the character exaggerated, as with every move there is a foley sound. 

Swedes (it has nothing to do with Sweden)

You may have or haven't heard about the new phenomena which is "swedes". For those of you that never came across with it. I'm going to show you an example of sweded trailer, this one has been made by Dumb Drum channel on YouTube. 

The video that you have just watched is a swede. Swede is a homemade movie trailer or a scene. They are making every shot to look just like an original version of the scene. However, they are using cardboard for the background, sound effects made by their mouth, toys to show action and usually with a bit of jokes in between. They are usually targeting the best Hollywood creations and re-making them. We can say that they are now part of advertisement industry as they are showing the actual scenes and every single information of the original trailer. 

There are a lot of  YouTubers that have already created some sweded trailers, such as Dumb Drum and CinFix. They have already made some amazing swedes that are attracting a large number of audience. They are all funny and watchable. I highly recommend them to anyone, I promise you that they are worth your time. 

Production, Distribution and Exhibition

Today I'm going to look at 3 aspects of film industry:

• Production
• Distribution
• Exhibition 

As my example I'm going to use The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug.

PRODUCTION-  The production has 3 different stages:

•  Pre-production,
•  Production 
•  Post-production. 

Pre-production includes research and planning. This is the first stage of film making, film making office would have a team which includes the producer, director, assistants and administrative. It can take from six to two years time and involves planning, writing a script and scheduling shooting. This is very expensive procedure as it involves actors, equipment etc.  In production the stars of the film are the most important. Audience likes to see stars that they recognise because then they are more likely to see the film. In  The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug they used the same cast as they did in previous film of The Hobbit as everyone knows them. Cast will include stars such as Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Orlando Bloom etc.

The production is probably the longest part of film making as it is the process when all the animation, shooting and other elements of production is taking place. Production is known as the most expensive part of film making. It is the actual shooting of the film where everyone is involved. The stars, producer,director, cast, make-up etc. 
In most of the films there are different types of producers such as: producer, co-producer, associate produce etc. All of them are involved in the production differently. The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug is produced and directed by Peter Jackson, with assistant director Carolynne Cunninghma and his partner, Fran Walsh.

Post-Production  is the last stage of production. It involves editing and sound. In The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, we could say that this part is playing a big role in the whole film as The Hobbits is a Fantasy film. They would use green screen behind a setting and then film editor would use editing software to change it into a 'fantasy' background. Music in the movie is also very important especially in The Hobbit as it is a adventure story.  

DISTRIBUTION- Warner Bros. Pictures are distributing The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, just like did previous films of The Hobbit and The Lord of The Ring.

Distribution is a a process in which film is available for the audience. It allows film to reach public cinemas, DVD and television.  Distribution companies takes on a certain number of titles each year.

They are responsible for many decisions such as:

• release date
• how many prints to produce and i which cinema to screen them
• advertising
• designing art work for adverts, posters, billboards
• premiers 
• press interviews 

"Peter Jackson has provided the first details about the second film in the series at a live event held on 24 March 2013. The access code was attached to the DVD editions of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The live-broadcast event revealed some plot details; Jackson said that the role of Tauriel, acted by Evangeline Lilly, is a part of the elven guard and a bodyguard of the Elvenking, Thranduil. In addition, he revealed a scene from the film in which Gandalf and Radagast the Brown search for the Necromancer fortress and discover that the Ringwraiths have been released from their graves." This a marketing example of how people got to know about new The Hobbit film.  

Soon we will probably be able to see The Hobbit advertisement everywhere as it a film that everyone is willing to see it. The premiere in the UK will take place on 13th of December. It will most likely be then released on Blu-ray and DVD as previous film. 

EXHIBITION- It is a process of showing a film to the audience, it's mostly refereeing to cinemas as they are the number one option when it comes to big films. Exhibitor will have posters, advertisement, date and times of the screening of films outside their cinema. It is done to draw public attention to their cinema. Exhibitor is selling an experience of  the film. The exhibitor's role is important in promoting locally. 

Also, the trailers often plays in the cinema around six weeks before the release of a film. The trailer is made to raise the awareness of a film. Trailer should be able to create a desire to see the film. In case of The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug, Warner Bros Pictures has already created trailers to attract the audience.