EXHIBITION QUESTIONS

1) Why are there no viable arts/independent cinemas in many areas? Why/how is Southampton able to sustain the Picturehouse (Harbour Lights).

2)What is the relationship between movie going and video/dvd/blu-ray hire/sales?

3) What does the programming of the Sky movie channels and Film Four respectively say about the relationship between pay television, niche marketing and consumer behaviour?

4) What is the most appropriate response Contemporary British Cinema can make to Hollywood dominance.

5)Should British films be distinctive at the expense of profitability ir profitable at the expense of distinctiveness?

6)Is it possible for British films to be both distinctive and profitable? If so, how ?(please use examples in your response)

There are handouts on British film in the class room!

DISTRIBUTION QUESTIONS

1) How has Hollywood come to dominate world markets?

2) Why do i get to see the films I do at the local multiplex?

3) Do we get to see the films we want (demand led) or do we see films that are provided for us (supply led) and why?

4) Why are more people going to the cinema today?

5) look to see whether films hold there positions well in the charts over a few weeks or whether they fall away quickly. What reasons can you come up with to explain this success or failure.

PRODUCTION QUESTIONS

1) How has the status and power of stars changed over cinematic history?

2)Take any film you have seen recently and find out who produced it. Then try to find out more about this person. What was their role on this particular production? What have they and others got to say about their involvement and contribution? What projects have s/he been involved in previously, were these ventures successful?

3)Why are certain kinds of films guarenteed to make large profits and others high risk?

4) Which genres are currently popular/unpopular and why?

5) Why was Hollywood under the studio system so successful?

6) What hads been lost and gained as a result if the replacement of the studio system by the producer/agent/deal system?

7) How and why has hollywood again become vertically integrated?

8) What are the consequences of vertical integration?

Please respond to these questions fully - the links on the blog should help your research.

MOODLE

Please check Moodle to see what work you have outstanding! Remember the spring challenge! Work as hard as you can and you will achieve well! xx

Producers and Audiences

Please make sure you are working on your INDIVIDUAL case studies. You have been given the Hollywood Case Study Focus Sheet, please use tis to ensure that you have covered all aspects fully. Post this to your blog. This needs to be done in great detail and with care and attention as it will be what you refer to in your exams. I look forward to seeing your progress.

High Concept Films continued....

Focusing on Top Gun as an example of a high concept film please apply your ideas of how the film fits into the high concept model. You must give examples from the film "Top Gun". Once again you will need to use the Unit 3 sheets on The High Concept Model. I expect you to break down your response under the following headings. I want at least half of this done by the end of todays lesson Tuesday 2nd February 2010.
The headings that you need to know are listed below;

• A style of post generic filmmaking
• Use of extended montages (type in montage and watch some examples)
  
• Production design frequently reflects the graphics, glossy look and layout of contemporary advertising styles (remember this film was made in the 80s)
  
• Scenes are easily replicated in trailers (you should be able to view this online)
• Formal excess (not in a melodramatic sense)
• Music track interrupts the film narrative for a separate 'performance'
• Self concious allusion to other films and television
• 'Detached' appearance of stars, like the guest stars in a television series
• Hyperbolic physiques of protagonists and hyperbolic action
• Ironic distanciation: Walking-talking brand

If you refer to your sheets you should not have any problems. This is class work so I expect it to be completed to a high standard. If I do not see good progress by the end of the lesson then I will be forced to mark you absent.

High Concept Films

Read through UNIT 3 section in the handout you received in class today and create a checklist of the factors that make a film high concept, bring checklist to tuesday's lesson ready to apply it to "Top Gun"!