UNIT 26 - Film remakes

Film Remake

Spiderman VS The Amazing Spiderman

Spiderman the film (2002) was about a normal teenage boy who had gone on a trip with a school, he then go bitten by a genetically modified spider which had then given him super human powers like climbing walls and shooting webs. This then leads to him fighting crime against villains and wrong doers. Now in 2012 Sony Pictures had decided to remake the film and call it The Amazing Spiderman. This film was a remake of the original back in 2002. 10 years later producers of the film decided to make a few significant changes to the film.

Some people say the film was remade because producers weren't happy with how the original story planned out and how everything turned out to be. They then decided after months of meetings that there would be a remake featuring the same characters just played by different actors.

The story line hadn't changed much despite the fact that the well known and much loved actor that played Spider-Man in the original back in 2002 Toby Maguire was replaced by a new actor called Andrew Garfield.

One thing that did feature in the remake which did not show in the original was that in the beginning there was a short cut-scene / flash back memory to the time where Peter Parker was a child and this scene shows us and gives us more information as to what happened to his parents. In the original there wasn't much clarity on the subject however the remade version had added some more detail to what was the cause of his parents abondoning him. In my opinion I think the remade narrative was better with this as it gives the audience a subtle insight and shows more detail instead of just saying "Peter Parkers parents abondened him at a young age". This could also make the audience connect with the character emotionally that little bit more.

Another noticeable difference I noticed from the two films is that even though two different actors played the same characters the character within the film was portrayed differently to how he was before. Let me explain, in the original Peter Parker was the stereotypical nerd in high school, good grades, nerdy glasses, and was also getting bullied a lot and never really was noticed or fitted in. However in the remade version Peter Parker was represented in a nerdy way yes, but as this film was made 10 years on from the original people's view and opinions of the word 'nerd' has changed. Nowadays people would find 'needs' sort of cool (in my opinion) as a pose to how they're "different" and "interlectual". Peter Parker within this film is seen as a cool college student/nerd/geek who skates around the hallways of school with his ambitions in mind at all times. This can also engage itself with the audience as the whole scheme fits in with the audience and time period of how people interpret and think so this is a really effective way of engaging with the audience.

Within all Spider-Man films there is a high use of editing. The editing within the film may take up most of the past-preduction as in most of the scenes within the film is Spider-Man himself roaming, shooting webs, jumping off buildings, explosions and other various crazy action scenes. So the importance of technology being used in this remake is very high. This also links me on to talk about a reason as to why producers may have wanted to remake the film again. One reason was that technology has come a long way now since 2002 so editing would be of a better standard and it would look more appealing in effect. This would also increase the enjoyability of the film. Also there was a huge cost difference in making the two films, the remade version had a budget up to $230million whereas the original had a budget of $140million. The ramada version would obviously come to a higher cost as it needed way more advanced equipment and technology.

Also within the film the director added some modernity in the remake. I watched a YouTube video called 'The Amazing Spider-Man (costume featurette) HD', which explained how the director wanted technology everywhere within the film. For example in many scenes we within the film we see people, and what are they usually holding?, a phone. Seeing as this film was made in 2012 it is going to be the usual seeing everyone with a phone or earpiece to their head. This adds some realism so that the audience can engage with the film that little bit more. If there wasn't this small detail then it would seem pretty fake in my opinion. Furthermore the film then developed Spider-Man himself with a technology based mentality. Let me explain, in the original Spider-Man Peter Parker had super human ability which meant that he can shoot webs naturally. However in the remake Peter Parker develops these electronic web shooters to shoot the webs for him, he does still have his natural ability to shoot webs but this was made invade he ran out. This shows an advance in technology in the film because I think the director wanted to reach out to today's audience and relate to them as much as possible (mainly through technology). Seeing as most young people are interested in technology I'd say that the primary audience would be young kids of the ages 10-12 then the secondary audience would be young adults/teens of the ages 

13-23.

In my own personal opinion I think that the original Spider-Man was very unique and had many classical features to it and it also has that 'old school' touch. However the remade version was also very fun to watch for me as Andrew Garfield is a funny person and the use of modern day things within this film made it very appealing to me. In an overall conclusion I'd say that the original Spider-Man is always going to be the best as it was one of my childhood favourites and j always looked up to Spider-Man as a role model. The original sticks with me more as it was known as an all time classic.

UNIT 26 - Distribution and Marketing Task

Distribution and Marketing Task

Film: Transformers

The film Transformers was a very known blockbuster film which was made in 2007. The film was directed by Micheal Bay. The film is about an ancient struggle between two cybertronian races, the heroic Autobots and the evil Deceptions, comes to earth, with a clue to the ultimate power held by a teenager.

Primary and Secondary Audiences

The target primary audience for this film in my opinion would be teenagers of the ages 15-19. I say this because this film is a sci-fi based film and mostly teens take an interest in this. the film being a Micheal Bay film contained a lot of explosions, fast cars/robots, guns etc. so it wouldn't really be of interest to any older ages. The producers would think that this audience group would bring the most success as most teenagers would pay to see this film. The secondary target audience would be in my opinion young adults from the ages 21-24. young adults of this age may be interested in this film as it features actors such as Shia Labeouf and Megan Fox. these actors can attract audiences from this age group as they are seen as wide icons in the film industry. This would mean that the film will get more attention and also means that it would be very successful as in present time mostly teenagers and young adults go to the cinema, so the film would be making a lot of money because of the target audiences.

Box Office Revenue

Every film made by a big production company or a very well known director has an estimate amount on how much it made at Box Office. Transformers made up to $319,246,193 at box office,
this shows the success of the film. It also made up to $70,502,38 on its opening weekend, again showing how successful the film was when released. There are many reasons as to why this film had such great success, this can vary from the people that were involved when making the film to the quality of acting within the film. Because of the amount of money the Transformers franchise made they were able to make more Transformer films. Again referring back to the success it had at box office audiences would expect it to have the same impact. this sets up an image for the film company.

Trailers

Trailers are used to publicise a certain movie to the audience. Trailers give sneak peaks of the film but do not reveal everything. This would intrigue the audience make them want to watch the film, by doing this companies are practically selling their production and will eventually be making money from it. If companies were to not make a trailer for their film then the movie wouldn't get as much publicity which leads to the company not making money. The trailer also tells audiences when the film will be released so they know when to go watch it. If a trailer came out the day the film was released it wouldn't get as much attention as it would compared to that if it was publicised before hand. So it is very important to have a trailer to inform the audience on what is to come. In the Transformers trailer there was a lot of action and cut scenes from various moments in the film. By seeing this it makes the audiences want to go and watch it. 

Social Media Impact

The impact if social media in present day plays a big role in getting attention and getting something to go viral. In terms of media, obviously the involvement being social media is very
useful in effect. Nowadays most of the society we live in today have a form of social media. This means that most people are connected with each other which also makes sharing easier for people to find out about productions. Friends for  example can communicate with each other and can spread the word and publicise it themselves to their friends. This is also a way of getting the production more known across to a wider audience. With Transformers and social media on twitter the hash tag #TFM (Transformer madness) was trending in first week it was publicised. because of this more people were able to find out about it.

Poster Effectiveness

In terms of films and movies posters are used to also publicise and spread the word of the film. Posters also get people to go and watch the film. For example if a child sees a poster which has a lot of colour showing a new animation that has just been released then they would ask their parents/carers to go and see the film. Posters are usually put in areas where everyone can see it such as tube stations or on buses going around the city. This is a way to get more people to go
and see the film. An example for a poster was the Transformers poster that was out around cities to get more attention. The contents of the poster contained the characters that will be featured in the film. It also had some of the action going on in the background. By making a poster like this it catches peoples eye and by it being seen everywhere, more and more people will know about it which could lead to them going to see it.

Merchandise

Of course any majorly successful film has to have a large fan base and fans of course love merchandise. Merchandise is also a part of what makes a really successful film. The merchandise bought by the audiences creates more money for the franchise. For example in Transformers action figures of the characters were put up on shelves in toy stores across the world, this meant that people were able to purchase them which went towards the entire Transformers franchise. This also brings a better connection with the audience and the film as a unit.


Press Junkets


 Press junkets is the films promotion which generally includes press releases, advertising campaigns, merchandising and media, and interviews with the key people involved with the making of the film, like actor and directors. This enables audiences to get a deeper view of the whole production settings and the behind the scenes action. If audiences are interested by the film they can find out more about it through these features. Many people who enjoy a film would want to know more about it, whether its interviews with the stars of the film or just the behind the scenes info audiences who love a film would always try and find out more about it. With Transformers there were various ways in how they done advertisements, merchandising, interviews etc. The behind the scenes were taken in up most interest as it took the production crew so much time to have the final masterpiece of one of the scenes which was the battleground scene. This scene was very expensive to shoot and set and took more than a couple times to get perfect. Thus would intrigue audiences who have seen the film or are yet to see it as they'll have an understanding of how much time and hard work has gone into the making of this film.