Monday, 23 February 2009
Film Exhibition
http://www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Criticism-Ideology/Exhibition.html
To be continued...
Wednesday, 11 February 2009
Star Images
Some websites with film star images:
http://www.allmoviestar.com/
http://www.mtv.com/movies/photo/
http://www.imdb.com/
A warm welcome for UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie at Kakuma camp in Kenya. © UNHCR/M.Furrer - October 2002.
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie talks to returnee women in Nangarhar province during her first visit to Afghanistan. © Getty Images/Marco Di Lauro
Angelina Jolie with her adopted children Maddox, Zahara, Pax and her own daughter Shiloh at the time when she was pregnant with twins.Due to her frequent visits to the third world countries, Jolie has seen many children living in awful conditions, so she decided to arrange adoptions. This has caused controversaries and discussions whether she can take care of so many children.
On March 28, 1996, Jolie married British actor Johny Lee Miller, her co-star in the film Hackers. She attended her wedding in black leather pants and a white shirt, upon which she had written the groom's name in her blood. Jolie and Miller separated the following year and subsequently divorced on February 3, 1999.
She then married American actor Billy Bob Thornton, whom she had met on the set of Pushing Tin(1999), on May 5, 2000. As a result of their frequent public declarations of passion and gestures of love—most famously wearing one another's blood in vials around their necks—their relationship became a favorite topic of the entertainment media. Jolie and Thornton divorced on May 27, 2003.
In early 2005, Jolie was involved in a well-publicized Hollywood scandal when she was accused of being the reason for the divorce of actors Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. The allegation was that she and Pitt had started an affair during filming of Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005). She denied this on several occasions, but admitted that they "fell in love" on the set.Film Reviews
At first it seemed to me that this film is loved by critics, since it received 13 Academy Awards and 11 BAFTA nominations, however, the truth was different. From the 11 BAFTA nominations, it won just three: Best Makeup&Hair, Best Production Design and Best Visual Effects. I believe these were not the kind of wons everyone were hoping for, since "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" was also nominated for categories such as Best Film, Best Director - David Fincher, Best Leading Actor - Brad Pitt, Best Cinematography - Claudio Miranda and Best Editing, basically, the kind of nominations film makers are working/hoping for. The critics reviews were sometimes completely opposite, for example, The Guardian gave it just one star, whereas Empire voted it the highest 5 stars.
Article from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/feb/06/benjamin-button-brad-pitt-cate-blanchett
Article from Empire http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/review.asp?FID=10606
The funniest thing about these two is that they both are complete opposites, not only because of the 1 and 5 star rating, but because The Guardian says: "Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in 166 minutes of twee tedium about a life lived backwards" whereas Empire: "Aptly for a film so concerned with time, Button is 13 minutes shy of three hours and just flies by. If this is Fincher selling out, can he sell out more often please?"
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Film marketing
- Trailers
- On-set posters and action figures
- Talk shows
- Entertainment programs, news programs
- Behind-the-scenes documentary shows
- Advance trailers, longer previews, behind-the-scenes footage on rentals or DVDs
- Studio-sponsored per-film websites
- Viral marketing - free distribution of trailers on film-oriented websites
In print
- Paid advertisements in newspapers, magazines and inserts in books
- Cross-promotion of original book or novelization, including special printings or new cover jackets
- Comic special editions or special episodes.
The advertising of The Dark Knight started in May 2007 when 42 Entertainment began a viral marketing campaign using films tagline “Why So Serious?” They launched a website featuring a fictional political campaign of Harvey Dent. Throughout the pre-release period, fans were asked to complete tasks. On October 31, 2007, the film's website morphed into another scavenger hunt with hidden messages, instructing fans to uncover clues at certain locations in major cities throughout the United States, and to take photographs of their discoveries. The clues combined to reveal a new photograph of the Joker and an audio clip of him from the film saying "And tonight, you're gonna break your one rule." Completing the scavenger hunt also led to another website called Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the false working title of Rory's First Kiss), where fans could submit photographs of themselves costumed as the Joker. Those who sent photos were mailed a copy of a fictional newspaper called The Gotham Times, whose electronic version led to the discovery of numerous other websites.
WhySoSerious.com directed fans to find letters composing the Joker’s message "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules," to send in photographs of these letters, and then featured their photos in a collage.
The Dark Knight's opening sequence, (showing a bank raid by the Joker) and closing montage of other scenes from the film, was screened with selected IMAX screenings of I Am Legend, which was released on December 14, 2007. A theatrical teaser was also released with non-IMAX showings of I Am Legend, and also on the official website. The sequence was released on the Blu-Ray edition of Batman Begins on July 8, 2008. Also on July 8, 2008, the studio released Batman: Gotham Knight, a direct-to-DVD animated film, set between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight and featuring six original stories, directed by Bruce Timm, co-creator and producer of Batman: The Animated Series.
When seeing this poster, there’s no doubt that it is another Batman film. The Bat symbol is used cleverly and even without the writing, everyone would know what the film is about. The poster also features Batman himself, looking arrogant but protective. The letters are quite small, however the star names appear bigger than the name of the director. Most attention is drawn on the release date – July 18 to build up tension. I believe the poster portrays a scene that hasn’t been featured in the film.
After the death of Heath Ledger, the marketing campaign began to focus on the Joker, revising some of its websites dedicated to promoting the film and posting a memorial tribute to Ledger on the film's official website and overlaying a black memorial ribbon on the photo collage in WhySoSerious.com. This poster shows a man who has turned his back towards the camera, however, everyone knows that it is the Joker since he is holding a knife and a play card. The scene behind him reminds of Gotham, where all the action takes place. There are no names on the poster, except for the studio names and distributor. The title has been kept small, but everyone knows it since it features the bat symbol.