Kickstarter: Kickstarter is a website where individuals or teams of people can pitch an idea for a film or any creative project and ask for donations towards an end goal. This has meant that smaller companies have been able to make the films that they want, permitting the investors like the idea of the film.
Pro-sumer equipment: Pro sumer equipment is equipment that's of a professional quality but is readily available to everyday consumers for a reasonably price (DSLR's, editing equipment). This means that once again the career of filmmaking is open to a much wider amount of people than 10+ years ago.
Vimeo: Vimeo allows you to upgrade your account to be able to upload 4K quality videos, allowing for new and upcoming film makers to have an outlet source to showcase their productions.
4K Television: 4K TV's allow for consumers to experience movies in a similar quality to what they would see at the cinema.
Guardians of the Galaxy
Budget: $170 million
Stars: Chris Pratt (Parks and Recreation), Vin Diesel (Fast and Furious), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper)
Genre: Sci fi, Comic Book
Box Office: $773 million
Production Company: Marvel Studios
Certificate: 12A
Marketing: The marketing campaign was relatively usual which was decided on because other aspects of the film were unconventional. It was marketed based on the fact that it has an ensemble cast consisting of a wide range of well known actors and entertainers. At the start of the first official trailer, it sets itself up as a serious, even gritty movie with a dark and serious mood, but quickly breaks this impression and shows it in the more lighthearted and jokey fashion that it actually is.
Release Date: August 1st 2014
Reviews: The film was critically praised for it's acting and cinematography.
The Theory of Everything
Budget: $15 million
Stars: Eddie Redmayne (Jupiter Ascending), Felicity Jones (The Amazing Spider-Man 2), Charlie Cox (Daredevil)
Genre: Romantic drama
Box Office: $121.2 million
Production Company: Working Title Films
Certificate: 12
Marketing: January traditionally sees the beginning of the annual awards-movie binge, with Oscar-bait now coming thick and fast until the middle of February. First out of the gate were The Theory of Everything and Birdman, both hoping to grab some vital box-office before audiences become overwhelmed with choice. The victor in round one is The Theory of Everything, with a stunning £3.75m from a broad 532 cinemas, including £803,000 in New Year’s Day previews. The Theory of Everything’s marketing materials will tell you it is based on Jane Hawking’s memoir of her marriage, a book published in the UK as Music to Move the Stars and then reissued as Travelling to Infinity.
Release Date: January 2nd 2015
Reviews: The film opened to a positive reception worldwide and was nominated for a variety of accolades in award shows and film festivals. Redmayne's performance as Stephen Hawking was widely praised, earning him several awards and nominations including the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film received four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama for Redmayne and Best Original Score for Jóhannsson. It received three 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards nominations, winning one for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role for Redmayne. It received 10 British Academy Film Awards nominations and won Outstanding British Film, Best Leading Actor (for Redmayne) and Best Adapted Screenplay (for McCarten).
Nightcrawler
Budget: $8.5 million
Stars: Jake Gyllenhall (Brokeback Mountain), Rene Russo (Thor 1&2)
Genre: Neo noir crime thriller
Box Office: $47.4 million
Production Company: Bold Films
Certification: 15
Marketing: Premiered at Toronto Film Festival, sold as a 'Jake Gyllenhaal film', opened in 2766 cinemas. The trailers of this movie stayed very true to the actual movie itself, and portrayed it as a tense thriller (which it is). The trailers were very high in intensity and this got action fans excited to see it. Because of it being an independent film, and the movie containing a lot of stunts, the film's marketing were relatively obscure, and I personally didn't see any posters or trailers when it was actually released. The marketing was more prominent online. The trailer contains "Jake Gyllenhaal Movie" in it's title, showing that they were trying to cash in on Jake Gyllenhaal's star power to help propel the movie to a wider audience.
Release Date: September 26th 2014 (San Francisco)
Reviews: The film received critical acclaim for Jake's performance and Gilroy's script.
Ida
Budget: €2 million
Stars: Agata Kulesza (Roza), Agata Trzebuchowska
Genre: Polish drama
Box Office: $11 million
Production Company: Canal+ Polska
Certificate: 12A
Marketing: Ida was marketed as an art house film, they didn't try to camouflage it as a blockbuster. They showed subtitles in the trailer so it was clear that it was a foreign film and they are adjusting it to suit American and British audiences.
Release Date: September 11th 2013
Reviews: Ida was universally acclaimed, with praise for it's writing and cinematography.
For our short film sequence, our intentions
are to provoke a negative response in the audience (specifically to scare them). This is because our chosen
genre is going to be horror. We will invoke this response by the use of
deliberate technical conventions and narrative points to surprise and shock the
viewer. The age group that we are targeting will be 15-21 year olds, giving us
a wide range of ages to try to interest. Parallel editing, maybe use black and
white for flashbacks, appropriate use of music to create an eerie atmosphere.
