Welcome to my A2 media coursework blog. My name is Maisie MacGregor (candidate number 0506), and I will be working in group 4 with Molly Sullivan (candidate number 0816), Ellie Brackpool (candidate number 0100), and Mari Leach (candidate number 0440).

To the right of my blog are labels for my A2 Preliminary task, A2 Research and Planning, A2 Construction and A2 Evaluation, and an archive of each individual post. There is also a live link to the Latymer Media Music Video Blog.

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Tuesday 19 November 2013

Case Study 3 - The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug

1) UK release date?
13th December 2013

2) Institutions behind the film's production and distribution?
Production companies: New Line Cinema, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema were involved in making decisions about the release. Trailers and sneak peaks have been released via YouTube.

3) What is the film's production budget?
$250,000,000

4) Nationality of the film?
USA/New Zealand

5) What kind of production is it?
A studio production

6) Any connection with other films?
It is the second part of a trilogy of films based on the book 'The Hobbit', and is loosely linked to the Lord of the Rings films as it is set in the same fictional world and features some of the same characters.

7) Who is the director?
Peter Jackson

8) Any star names in the cast?
Martin Freeman, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ian McKellen, Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Cate Blanchett, Christopher Lee, Andy Serkis, Stephen Fry.

9) What is the film about?
The story follows on from the previous film in the trilogy, as a hobbit, a wizard and 13 dwarves continue their adventure on the way to reclaim the dwarves' homeland from a dragon.

10) Who will this film appeal to?
Fans of the Lord of the Rings film trilogy/book series, members of the Benedict Cumberbatch/Martin Freeman fandom.

Case Study 4 - Kill Your Darlings

1) UK release date?
6th December 2013

2) Institutions behind the film's production and distribution?
Production companies: Sony Classics Pictures, Killer Films, Benaroya Pictures, Outpost Studios
UK Distributor: The Works

3) What is the film's production budget?
??????

4) Nationality of the film?
American

5) What kind of production is it?
An independent production

6) Any connection with other films?
No

7) Who is the director?
John Krokidas

8) Any star names in the cast?
Daniel Radcliffe, Michael C Hall

9) What's the film about?
The story is set in the 1940s, about a murder which brings together the lives of three poets from the time: Allen Ginsberg, William Burroughs and Jack Kerouac.

10) Who will this film appeal to?
Fans of drama and romance films, and fans of Daniel Radcliffe.

Wednesday 13 November 2013

Case Study 2 - Papadopoulos & Sons - Director Q&A

After watching the film we got the chance to talk to the director Marcus Markou about the production, marketing and distribution of Papadopoulos & Sons. From this I learned a lot about the process of making a film, particularly an independent film.

Papa & Sons had a relatively small budget of £85,000 which came from the business Marcus shares with his brother, and this meant that they had to do things quite differently to someone producing a film with a bigger budget. The Line Producer, a job which previously I didn't know existed, played a massive role in budgeting as they went through the script line by line to figure out a realistic budget.

Marcus persuaded actors to join the cast because they loved his script, rather than for large amounts of money. Stephen Dillane even got Game of Thrones to push their entire shooting schedule back a week just to finish the job when a day of filming P&S had to be cancelled, and for the chance to act as the father to his biological son, Frank Dillane. Similarly, George Corraface, a popular actor in France and Greece, agreed to meet with the director to discuss the job because he loved the story so much.

However, Marcus believes that a working environment like this is better if it is seen as less of a job and more of something enjoyable, as he was never in it for the money. He tried to eradicate the typical hierarchy of the industry on the first day by putting himself on the same level as the actors and extras, which worked well for a family-feel film like Papa & Sons.

The film shared a release date with higher budget blockbuster films who had more money and resources to promote their films. However, Marcus used clever marketing techniques, and rather than paying for advertising slots on TV or around London, he took to social media to promote the film. Sites like Twitter and Facebook were useful as, for example, they decided to contact fish and chip shops on the off chance that they would go to see a film about a fish and chip shop, and in many cases they did. Another way Marcus promoted the film was handing out flyers in the cinemas it would be shown in and telling people why they should come to watch his film.

They chose the locations of the cinemas to screen the film in by finding those near to Greek churches, as where there is a Greek church there is a Greek community, and in the Greek community there will be many people wanting to see the film. Although he never intended for Papa & Sons to be aimed at only Greek people, he found that families, but particularly Greek families, would be the most relatable audience and so targeted them.

Marcus described the film as having "a life of its own" as it has been shown and received well in so many places he could never have imagined, such as being screened in the European Parliament in 2012 as the Greek Prime Minister was making a hosting a talk about the Greek economy in the room below. It has also been shown at film festivals in France, Greece and the USA, which Marcus told us was an excellent way to spread interest in the film.

For me, Papa & Sons is a great example of how a film can do well even with a small budget, and using the resources available such as social media.

Monday 11 November 2013

Case Study 2 - Papadopoulos & Sons - Research


Synopsis from the official website: Following his ruin in the latest banking crisis, a self-made millionaire reluctantly re-unites with his estranged freewheeling brother to re-open the abandoned fish and chip shop they shared in their youth.

Written and directed by Marcus Markou, Papadopoulos & Sons is a British comedy-drama film which was a success in the box office despite being an independent film. The film was distributed through Marcus's own company Double M Films, and though Cineworld initially agreed to screen the film for just one week in a small number of locations, it was so popular that they extended its run.

The film had a positive reception from most critics, including 3 out of 5 stars from The Guardian and praise from other big names such as The Telegraph and Total Film. It also has 82% positive reviews on Rotten T8matoes and a rating of 6.9/10 on IMDb.

Cast
Stephen Dillane - Harry Papadopolous
Georges Corraface - Uncle Spiros
Frank Dillane - James Papadoplous
Georgia Groome - Katie Papadopolous
Thomas Underhill - Theo Papadopoulos
Ed Stoppard - Rob
Cosima Shaw - Sophie
Selina Cadell - Mrs Parrington
Cesare Taurasi - Mehmet Ali
George Savvides - Hassan Ali