MEST1 Section B: Independent case study - Spectre

The basics
1. Name - Spectre
Director - Sam Mendes
Notable Stars - Daniel Craig, Ben Whishaw and Christoph Waltz

2. Release Date - October 26, 2015

3. The genre for Spectre is Action Adventure and Thriller. The iconography with the gun would suggest that the film would be an action film. Other conventions could include the explosions that are present in the film's trailer. The locations that the protagonist goes through would also suggest that this would be an adventure film as we would see James Bond (Daniel Craig) in a snowy area. The Thriller segments could include the car chases that are in the film as this would also be seen as a part of the Action genre as well.  

4. The critical reception for Spectre had an IMDb rating of 6.9/10 while Rotten Tomatoes had rated it 64%. And finally Metacritic had a rating of 60%. The general reception from those who had disliked had said that the film was reliant on the "007 formula" of the film as it had tried to make connections with past Bond Films. Meanwhile those that had liked the film found the action sequences quite enjoyable. 

Broadcast

1.  Media Language: The trailer conveys the message that James Bond is a strong character as we see him go through dangerous areas and locations. These dangerous stunts that he partake in could be the crash landing of the plane that he pilots. Other moments that convey that James Bond is a strong character are the car chase scenes that are also teased in the trailer which could show that an audience would be expected to watch an action film as it would use action sequences to attract their target audience.

Institution: The producers behind Spectre are B24, Columbia Pictures, Danjaq, Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn Mayer and Sony. Columbia Pictures/Sony, Danjaq and Metro-Goldwyn Mayer are all considered the copyright holders. Meanwhile, Eon Productions are presenting the film. The distributors of the film in UK would be Sony Pictures Releasing for its theatrical release. But it was distributed by 20th Century Fox on DVD. Financially, the film had done well since it had a budget of $245,000 and had $70,403,148 on opening weekend in USA at February 7, 2016. In addition to this, it had grossed $872,474,269 Worldwide at 16 January 2016. The film had a DVD release of February 22, 2016 in UK.

Genre: The main conventions behind Spectre would have the guns in the trailer as iconography. Guns have always been used in action films and so when an audience would see a gun in this trailer, they would know that a gun connotes the genre of the film as action which can also be said for the explosions which are present in the trailer. There is also the car chase that is in the trailer which can also be identified in the action genre as an audience would also see that the film is action based. However there is also the Adventure genre that is present in the trailer with the different locations that Bond has travelled through as this would also fall in as a part of the "007 Formula". In addition to this there is some aspect of Thriller that is shown with the writing of "James Bond" in red to potentially connote that it was written in blood to suggest that James Bond is being hunted down by the person who wrote that down. The feature of the mysterious logo that is present on Q's laptop could also signify that this is a Thriller film as this mystery would act as an enigma for the audience who haven't seen the film as they wouldn't understand the motives for the villain in this film. 

Representation: The representation of the film presents Britain as quite strong since they are sending out James Bond who is a British male who would be trusted to handle the problem that is occurring. This could enforce the stereotype that men are strong and women can't handle themselves and are the damsels of distress. Another scene in the film that connotes this would be the black haired woman who had surrendered upon gun point. However the blonde female that is in the film contradicts this view on women as she is seen on the plane with James Bond as the plane starts crashing down. This could suggest that she is a strong and determined woman. However the male gaze is present with the shot of the character in her dress which could suggest that she could still be seen as a sex object.

Audience: The main audience that this would attract would be males with the age range of 12-55 as it would include some of the throwbacks as it would address the Childhood line of appeal with the feature of the suit that James Bond wears near the end of the trailer and on print material which could suggest that it is focusing on an older audience who would appreciate the "007 Formula" as it would present the action sequences, foreign enemy, and the female character that the protagonist falls for which could follow Propp's Theory of characters which would have James Bond as the Hero, Christopher Waltz' character as the antagonist or villain, Q as the Donor, and Madeleine as the Princess that maybe rescued however the trailer appears to make her the Helper who would help James Bond in his adventure in Spectre.

Ideology: Todorov's equilibrium theory is present in the trailer as it would only present the disequilibrium throughout the trailer. They wouldn't want to spoil the new equilibrium as this is what an audience would want to know. This could also link to Barthes' enigma codes as it would demonstrate how James Bond would take down Christopher Waltz' character who is seen as the antagonist. In addition to this there are also sequences in the trailer that would make an audience question as to whether the protagonist would survive the action sequences involving the plane crash sequence as the audience can only see that he has lost control of the plane for a brief moment. 

Narrative: The story that is present in the trailer present that James Bond is being questioned for his actions in the first action sequence of the trailer as he is shown shooting at a window which may have triggered an explosive that would explain the explosion. The audience can later see that James Bond could be hunted down by a big organisation called Spectre as the audience can see his name written in presumably blood in a list of names which could support this. The narrative is also not shown as much as the audience is given a small segment as the bigger details would be unfolded when the watch the full feature length film. 

2) 

This interview with the star Daniel Craig tries to promote the film by having the star of the film being the main selling point for the movie. Fans of Daniel Craig might end up watching the film as they might trust that Daniel Craig would be in a film that they would enjoy. James Bond fans would find that this interview would be interesting as one of the prominent cast members are talking about Spectre so they might be intrigued to hear what the film would be about. Especially considering that they would talk about the narrative of Spectre from their character's perspective.

This would promote the film as it would feature actors who are in Spectre. This anecdote would be one of the key elements of chat shows as they would get stories based on their experiences filming on set to try and promote the film by talking about the characters that they portray as well. However for the most part they would use the population of audience who watch the Graham Norton Show to try and publicize Spectre so that it could gain some recognition. 

The TV Spot presented above tends to be for 30 seconds and considering that it would mainly feature some action sequences to entice an audience into purchasing tickets. However in this case it is only trying to publicize by using action as its main feature as Spectre fits in the action genre.

3) I would argue that the broadcast promotion on adverts like the TV Spots don't heavily present the cast as the main selling point as they would feature the franchise like the use of the theme and the action that would allow them to attract an audience. However in the interviews and chat shows, they feature the cast which would suggest that they would make the cast the selling point for Spectre.


Print

1) "Spectre relaxes a little (even if it debates the ethics of surveillance and the relevance of licensed-to-kill boots on the ground in an age of drones)."- Empire

"...this sees Mendes tipping his hat to Nolan, with the support of Insterstellar cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema". - The Guardian

"Unfortunately, Spectre is to Skyfall what Quantum of Solace was to Casino Royale" - Screen Rant

2)   

This billboard presents the two main cast members and judging by the fact that there isn't any credits on the advert, then this would suggest that these two actors are both recognisable actors so therefore they won't need to have their names on. Daniel Craig looks to be holding a pistol which would be seen as iconography as this would suggest that the genre would be action. In addition to this there is a distinguishable "007" logo behind the two characters which also features a shot of the mysterious character with the skeleton mask. This could suggest that they want the mystery of this character to be one of the selling points to this film. 



3) Poster Amalysis

The use of "007" at the bottom of Spectre could suggest that this would be the selling point for the film as this is a recognisable film franchise that many may want to watch. The synergy in this poster could be feature of Daniel Craig and his significance as he is widely recognised as James Bond by a majority of his fans. The feature of a pistol could suggest that this film is an action film as the James Bond Franchise is also known for the action that they feature. Especially with Daniel Craig's adaptation as a majority of the action sequences aren't like a spy film as his films don't feature crazy inventions that older adaptations had featured in the past which had used inventions to present to their audience that this is a more modernized film. In addition to this, James Bond contrasts the background as he is wearing a white suit. This could suggest the significance of wearing the white tuxedo quite familiar to what previous Bond actor Sean Connery had worn. This can link into the lines of appeal as this would fit into the childhood line of appeal since this suit maybe viewed as nostalgic to the Bond Fans who have seen all if not a majority of the Bond Films. 

4) The brand of James Bond has been constructed with Daniel Craig being the main person to feature in a majority of the promotion for Spectre. This would be since Daniel Craig's fans might associate him with the role and that this would be one of his most recognisable roles. The next part of the brand would be the logo that is pretty recognisable to many fans as this ha also got it's own fragrance. And the next part of construction which isn't print related is the Theme Tune that would play at the end of every trailer for Spectre. This is an iconic track that many fans would recognise and would connect that this brand is about James Bond. 

E-media

1) The films social media helps promote the film since it would notify their audience of details about the films that they might want to know such as release date and when it would be coming out on DVD and other platforms. Also since people would be sharing their tweets, this could also help with the promotion of the film if they don't follow the twitter page then they may still be notified from the re-tweet.

2) The synergy would be the promotion of the film on platforms such as iTunes, Google Play and other platforms. There is also the synergy that the social media is linked with the website as they could be lead to the official twitter page from the website and same would be applied with Facebook. Since this would also be promoting the same movie, there is also the seen they would feature the same footage and clips and pictures that would've been shared on their social media.

3) Spectre didn't seem to include a marketing campaign that would include interaction with it's audience as it was already a popular brand with many recognising 007

4) Naomi Harris has promoted Spectre on Blu-Ray through her tweet. 
https://twitter.com/NaomieHarris/status/704442139166404608


Audience

1) The target audience for Spectre would have to be a gender split of M 65/35 F with the age range being around 12-55. The psychographic could be targeted to a mainstreamer as this is a popular film that would be seen by many. 

2) The cross media platform target this audience as this audience would be fans of the action that would be in Spectre as it has been shown in many trailers. The suit which was mentioned earlier is quite nostalgic so there would be those hardcore James Bond fans who would like this appearing in the film as they would see this as an iconic costume. The film is also cross promoted about it's release on theatres with tweets and the website that would've offered a link to purchase tickets.    

3) The film pleasures that would be in this would be the locations that are in this trailer. The actors that are in this film are British with a British lead that may attract a British audience. The use of brands such as Aston Martin would be quite pleasuring to an audience who own one or know that this would be James Bond's ideal car brand.

4) The Bourne Identity - This film also uses the same conventions which would make it ideal for them to watch it.

Skyfall - This would also be recomended to those whose first Bond Film would be Spectre and would see this film as also pleasing.

The Man from U.N.C.L.E - This is also another spy film that many will enjoy as this would have some of the similar conventions however it is based on another timeline.

Institution  

1) Eon Productions. They have also produced films like the other Bond Films.

2) The distributors are Sony Pictures Releasing and they have also been known for filoms like Chappie, Whiplash and Elysium.

3) Eon has always been apart of the Bon Franchise I I believe that it would be one of their most well known brands to handle. 

4) $245,000,000

5) It had been successful financially and this may be due to the fact that this film has a following from Skyfall and previous 007 films.

The data shows that the film did better nationally in England than compared to other countries such as America which is where most of the viewers are from (for other movies). England has made 400,000,000 more than compared to America. However internationally, the film still beat England's box office hit record. The film managed to gain nearly 700,000,000 at the box office. Films now days are not always dominated nationally. This is because it is considered mainstream in one country, but can attract a whole segment of viewers in another. And the type of film can actually attract a larger group of people due to its content being different.

7) Certificate for the film and reason:

The film Spectre was given a 12A and I do agree with this decision to an extent. This is because the film contained a lot of violence and action scene which is the primary reason for the 12A certificate and cannot be viewed by a younger audience. However, I do disagree with this as Bond films do tend to have sexual activity within them and according to the points for a 15 certificate, sexual encounters would be closer to a 15 certificate. Furthermore, the film doesn't structure its entire film around this,
it is mostly filled with action and violence which is probably why it isn't with the 15 certificate as there is not much sexual or even strong language present during the film. This is why the film is a 12A certificate, as it focuses on the action sequences which is what makes a Bond film great in the public's eyes.


Representation

1) The most common representation is of the British male. The character James Bond is seen to represent the country, portraying it to the world that Britain has men like this; men who take risks and care for society.
Another representation is Britain being portrayed as a white dominant country. There are a few non-white characters in this film and is largely dominated by white ethnic people. This represents Britain being more of its historical ethnicity.
Furthermore, the white characters are seen to be fairly upper class. Even in the scene where James is in public, we see a lot of white people smarty dressed showing their class.
Finally, the foreigners are seen as the villains. We see that the villain (or part villain) is a foreigner and is not from Britain. This shows that the film carries those ideologies of non-Britons being a threat.

2) The location of the film is the biggest aspect of Britishness and it is the location than theme that makes this film stand out. Most films that are released are from America and are often set in America, however one of the biggest soy films is British and it is the location and type of character that makes British people want to watch it. It makes Britons proud that they have a successful film franchise like James Bond.

The British people is another aspect of Britishness that is represented through the film. The film seems to be conveying to the world that Britain has people like this, like James Bond who are dedicated towards their country. Its as if the film is portraying the typical British person through their most well known film character.

3) Representation of Britain compared to Ill Manors:

Both films portray Britain is a different way. The slogan of Ill Manors even states their portrayal of Britain. First of all, Ill Manors, basing it off of them, tone and style of the film the audience can see a negative view point of Britain. There is very little colour and if there was, it would be dull and grey colours. In addition to this, the people are portrayed very differently. In James Bond the characters are presented as strong and loyal to their peers whereas Ill Manors have their character speaking slang and dressed like criminals.

In addition, Ill Manors was created on political ground and had a political aspect to it whereas Spectre didn't. The main purpose for creating Spectre was to carry on the franchise of the well known James Bond franchise as well as to continue and entertain the public. Ill Manors director Ben Drew even stated that his film is to create a message to the government and to the people around the world. He dislikes the changes made to the country and its affect on young people. He wanted to make a film that would show how the youth are suffering from this change and how the government are doing wrong.

4) Values and ideologies seen in the film:

The most well known  ideology seen in the film is that Britain is proud of its historical state. There are many scene through out the film which take place in famous landmarks around Britain. The film makers are trying to make the audience realise this by setting certain scenes in historical places known to Britain.

Another value and ideology is that Britain can make as good films as America.This film is to counter the American films and show how Britain can still create fine films such as this. The film is seen to represent the country. Furthermore, another film that represents Britain in an equal state is Harry Potter. The film is set around London and is themed around the country. This franchise represents Britain as holding the most amazing franchises as well as authors.

Case study comparison

Similarities-
Ill Manors and Spectre both take place in the same country/location- Britain. Even though they are both created and set around these locations, it doesn't mean that their portrayals of these locations is going to be the same. Both Ill Manors and Spectre are themed and are known to be set around Britain/London. Their characters are also there to reflect their environments. This is clearly evident as both characters from both films seem to be different due to the different take/portrayal of their environment.

Both films consider and relate to justice in a way. Ill Manors is about, how young teenagers need to watch themselves from the police as they may be seen doing criminal related things. The idea of justice is also the main motive for the director Ben Drew to make the film Ill Manors. This is because he wants to create justice for the youth and how they are being ill treated by society, and by him creating this film he is trying to create a message to society to change their view of the youth. Spectre on the other hand, is about a man who is trying to bring the bad guys to justice due to them harming James and his country.

Differences-
Ill Manors is more accurately based on truth and true event that have occurred whereas Spectre is mostly made up and is not based around reality. Ill Manors isn't a films for just entertainment purposes. It is also their to inform and educate the consumer/viewer of the content. Ben Drew wanted the viewers to understand the problems that the youth face due to the changes made by the government. Spectre on the other hand, is primarily there to entertain audiences and those who are fans of this franchise. Spectre has generated this big fan base that goes back to 70 years worth of James Bond related content. The current James Bond films link with one another and therefore, it is needed for another movie to come about to finish off the story line or perhaps continue a new one.

MEST1 Section B: index

1) The British film industry: Media Factsheet questions
2) Institutional context of the British film industry: Factsheet questions
3) Ill Manors: film review
4) Ill Manors: trailer analysis
5) Ill Manors: music video
6) Ill Manors: TEDx lecture
7) Ill Manors: broadcast platform concluded
8) Ill Manors: print platform (newspaper interviews)
9) Ill Manors: print branding
10) Ill Manors: e-media Tag London campaign
11) Ill Manors: e-media social networking research
12) Ill Manors: official website analysis
13) A Field In England: reading, research and questions
14) Ill Manors & A Field In England: institution research

MEST1 Section B: Institution research

Ill Manors: Funding and production budget

1. The estimated budget for Ill Manors is £100,000.
2. The money came from funds such as Film London, BBC Films, and Microwave Film.
3. The budget for Ill Manors is quite minuscule in comparison to Skyfall as Skyfall has a budget of $150-200 million.

A Field In England: Funding and production budget

1. The estimated budget for A Field in England would be £316,879.
2. The film had received more funding in comparison to Ill Manors because it had P&A Spend supported with funding from the BFI.
3. The film had been financed by Film 4 as it was stated in the BFI Insight Report that it had been "Fully financed by Film 4".

Film London and Microwave Film

1. Film London is a service that would fund film makers and support them with training to help them create the film that they would want to create. They would have specific funding schemes that would help low budget films with a specific category. This would include the training, production support and the distribution that would help with the success of the film as it would help a low budget film.
2. The purpose of Microwave Film would be to provide short films with help and support financially and help with their skills at production. The skills of production could include distribution to "script surgeries". The funding however can go further with a short-listed six who would gain production funding up to £100,000 and distribution funding up to £25,000.
3. A film that was produced by Microwave Film is Lilting. This had shared the social realism genre that Ill Manors also had. The big differences would be the narrative that it has as Lilting is heavily focused on the death of one man and how that death can cause connections with others who were also affected in comparison to the drug influenced story of Ill Manors.


 Vertigo Films and Warp Films

1. Sweeney, Monsters, Spring Breakers and Hawking.

2. Sweeney was successful with its audience since it had been based on police action with an officer taking down criminals in a style that would suit a criminal rather than a cop so this twist of a police film could attract and entertain an audience who likes action.

Monsters was a survival story that had the protagonist travel around the infected zone of Mexico to get to the U.S Border. This could be entertaining for an audience who would like to watch stories about survival.

Spring Breakers would interest those who like action and adventure since this film features the use of guns, drugs, and various other elements of a film that may revolve around crime since the women want to get "an adventure".

Hawking would appeal to people who are mostly interested in learning about Stephen Hawking and his tragic accident and his other times in life. This would also Stephen Hawking himself which would be a unique selling point for the film.

3. Action and Adventure, Family, Thriller, Animated and Sport.
4.Warp Films had started out in Sheffield and London where they were producing short films.  
5. '71, This is England and Four Lions.
6.They have helped by presenting controversial and award winning films that would help with their success as they strive to support content creators who have unique stories.
7.Four Lions has some similarities to Ill Manors it features the same actor who would play Aaron in Ill Manors. However another film which is quite similar is '71 as they both feature the protagonist on the run from people that are armed with firearms.

Certification: BBFC

1. There would be people who examine and view the film so that they can check their eligibility for the age rating. They would give feedback which would tend to cut out parts of a film which would allow the film to be the rating that they had wanted.

2. Ill Manors would be regarded 18 as films rated 15 may not feature topics such as sexual content by presenting some nudity as well as excessive use of drugs which would make it look like it's acceptable so therefore this film would be regarded as 18 as films such as horror films would present the bloodshed rather than present the killing from shadows on the wall which would be seen as censoring the action on screen.

3. Ill Manors was given 18 due to it's consistent swearing, drug use, sexual scenes, crime and killings, and have a serious tone throughout the film which could show that it would be rated 18 due to the content that is present.

4. This was rated 15 as it had only included the use of drugs and hadn't really included adult themes such as criminal activity as the protagonists in the film are seen as escaping the warzone to go on a trip in the field as the title suggests.

5. The advantages are that the producers could create scenes that could tell the story in more detail if it was a crime and horror film as well as include action sequences that could include brutal fight scenes that would attract an  audience of that age. Another advantage could be that they could also include different elements of a location that may not be regarded as pleasant for people under 18 so that it gives a more authentic feeling in certain films.

The disadvantage to this is that they wouldn't be able to make as much as other films. Due to the age restriction, not many younger viewers could watch the film unless they are accompanied by an adult aged 18 or older which would make a minor improvement in sales but not a significant mount. Also since this is 18, the marketing would be on after watershed hours so that it could fit the audience that they are marketing it to. So awareness may not be as successful.  

 

A Field In England: the appeal of arthouse film

1) The suggested audience pleasures for an art-house film would be the 
narrative that is driven by the characters that would go on in this story. This would also have the lack of a new equilibrium. The art-house film would also be "artistic" which would also be another appealing factor for their audience so that they could then have the different factors that would appeal to them. These factors would involve the different stories that may have been featured in the narrative. Subtitles would also be another factor as if a foreign movie is quite wordy then this might seem off putting  for the audience as they would have to try and focus specifically on the dialogue rather than what is on screen. These would also often try and not be as simple with its story as they are purposefully difficult to understand which might not make a mainstream audience seem off putting due to their overall impression of a basic storyline that they could understand due to its simplicity. An example that was mentioned in the article would be Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. This has the audience assuming that this would be a RomCom however there are some aspects of violence which fit into the overall theme of Armageddon.  

2) Some people may not like the art-house films due to it's lack of narrative closure. As previously mentioned an audience would want a story that they could follow through and have a resolution that would make sense rather than an abrupt ending which would stop in the middle of a character's journey. This would be due to how an audience would use arthouse cinema. For a majority of the viewers, they would want to watch it for entertainment purposes. However arthouse films may tend to make the closure of films not really entertaining and so this would be a reason as to why arthouse films would be off putting. This is due to the influence that a majority of the Hollywood films have had which would include the new equilibrium which would resolve the problems and have a new piece that would be a fitting resolution. 

3) One of the main reasons as to why this would be tailored to more of a middle class and an older audience would be due to the cultural capital. This would mean that they could understand the references that would be made by the characters in the film due to the fact that they may have watched these previous films and have seen a diverse range of films which would allow them to understand references. Also since this the film might use these references, a viewer who may not have understood the reference or haven't seen any films referenced may not get the pleasure from understanding it. The class distinction would be due to the films that they would watch. This would be evidenced with the audience for highbrow films as they would understand all if not a majority of the references made so therefore this would be appealing to them in comparison to a Hollywood film which would follow a basic storyline that a mainstream audience could follow.

4) A Field in England would probably be tailored for an older audience due to it's historical setting. They may be interested as to how life was like in that time line so therefore they would want to watch the film. Also since this exhibits the use of drugs, then this would have a mature audience to watch this film with an age range of 35-65. And since this would include drug usage then this film would include more males than females as this might be a story that they would be interested in. Since this would have a cast that mainly consist of men then this would also make this relatable to men as they might understand the struggles that they would go through that a female audience may not understand as well. Since this is a film that would use a monochrome filter, then this would also be another reason for the suggested older audience as they would understand the use and also wouldn't mind it.

MEST1 Section B: A Field In England

Summary: The article talks about the benefits and drawbacks of the distribution method that was demonstrated with A Field in England. This article had talked about the various ways that it was distributed alongside quotes from experts and their opinions on how this  alternate distribution method was a good choice for an independent film such as A Field in England and how this would benefit them from threats such as how long it would stay in theatre for. This talks about the sales of the film for it's physical copy release as well as the viewer-ship for Film4 at the time that A Field in England was broadcast into TV for an audience to view.

1) The release for A Field in London is different in its release in the sense that the distribution of the movie has covered a majority of the platforms on the same day. In comparison to the other films who would have high budgets which would go into physical discs or other platforms such as VoD and on broadcast TV. This is also different to a high budget film as a high budget film would take a few years before the film is presented on broadcast. However in this case, the film has distributed on TV alongside the theatrical release of the film which would then take into consideration the amount of people who may not watch the film which could then compensate for the amount of people who didn't go and watch the film in cinema. 

2) The advantages to this distribution method is that this would allow a variety of people to watch the film. For instance, the cinema release could be tailored to more of an upper class audience who could purchase a ticket to watch the film in theatres. Meanwhile the DVD/Blu Ray discs would target those who would either want to watch the film again for themselves if they are interested in the film. The broadcasts would cater to those who may not be mobile so that they could also experience the film.

3) The disadvantages to this are that those who are watching it on TV wouldn't be paying for the experience besides paying for the TV License. This would mean that they may not be financially successful as there would be a cheap and free option that would most likely encourage repeat viewings of the film on TV rather than earning more box office.

4) The target audience for A Field in England would most likely have an age range of 18-35 due to the consumption of drugs that are present in the film and the trailers. This type of content would also appeal a social class of possibly ABC1 since they may want to look at art-house films as they may also watch the film in cinemas. Their psychographics would probably be the Explorers as they may be interested into the narrative which shows the use of drugs.

5) I don't think that future films would follow the same distribution structure unless they are mainly low budget who would need awareness or that may not be successful. This may cut down their box office earnings that would be beneficial to them so therefore this distribution method may not be as ideal since there would be cheaper options besides cinema. In conclusion, I don't think that this distribution method would be practised again as this may lose some costs that may have been recovered if they had released it in theatres for a limited amount of time.