Everything you need to know about
Guillermo del Toro's latest, Pacific Rim:
The
auteur has not directed a film since comic book sequel Hellboy II in 2008.
His
version of The Hobbit failed to emerge due to scheduling conflicts and then his
long-awaited passion project At the Mountains of Madness was refused a green
light by a nervous studio.
He has
completed his trilogy of vampire horror novels The Strain with Chuck Hogan
which will now be turned into a series of TV movies.
Synopsis
When a
portal beneath the sea opens unleashing mega-monsters (known as Kaiju) from
other dimensions, the human race must fight back by building 250 foot tall
mecha-titans, known as Jaegers. Two human pilots control these giant robots as
they get strapped into circuitry suits, each controlling a hemisphere (left or
right) of the mechanical beasts.
Set in the not
too distant future, the Kaiju that have emerged from the portal have devastated
earth leading to masses of destruction and millions dead and the fight back has
dwindled human resources leading to a sense of desperation. Charlie Hunnam’s
former pilot is forced to team up with an untested trainee to ‘cancel the
apocalypse’ in the words of Idris Elba’s commanding officer.
Inception
Travis Beacham, writer of The Clash of
the Titans remake wrote a 25 page script treatment back in 2010 which was
immediately purchased by Legendary Pictures. Del Toro then came on board
developing the screenplay with Beacham for two years before principal
photography began on the 103 day Toronto
shoot in November 2011.
Inspired by the Fransisco Goya painting
The Colossus that also inspired video game Shadow of the Colossus, the initial
idea of Pacific Rim was to go back to the earliest tales of monsters that
mankind would tell around campfires.
Casting
Taking a risk, del Toro managed to
secure the cast he wanted without any of the huge star names that usually hold
up a tent pole movie of this size. Legendary Pictures backed his decision,
arguing it is the creation of the world and the concept that will be the main
attraction to audiences.
Idris Elba is the commanding officer
Sensi who will go head to head with the Kaiju. It was a role originally
developed for Tom Cruise who had reportedly shown an interest. Charlie Hunnam
from TV’s Sons of Anarchy takes the washed up Jaeger pilot role as hero
Raleigh.
Monsters
Steering away from the archetypal
monsters of mythology, anime and previous Kaiju movies, the completely original
designs have been at the forefront of del Toro’s mind since the
beginning.
3D?
Del Toro
resisted the pressure to shoot in 3D because he felt that the 3D effects would
miniaturize the robots and monsters and audiences would not get the full sense
of the scale and awe he intended.
Then came the shocking news that del
Toro had agreed to a dreaded 3D post-conversion. Del Toro supervised the
process, taking 40 weeks to do the conversion where it normally only takes a
few weeks to complete on previous movies.
Films with large marketing budgets can also
afford to do radio and television advertising. These TV and radio spots are
very short mini-trailers for the films and are expensive but tell a large
audience about the films. They can be targeted by the programmes and times that
they appear in the media. A film can have several different TV spots that
target different audiences by highlighting different elements of the film. For
example Shaun of the Dead had TV spots that emphasised the romantic comedy
elements and others that accentuated the zombie conventions. Some TV spots highlighted the critics reaction to the film by including quotes (see below). Distributors can
also place adverts in other types of media such as magazines and newspapers.
Film magazines in particular will feature many mini-posters for new release
films.
Increasingly film producers and
distributors are using the internet to market films. This can be similar to
other media advertising with banners and other images from the film appearing
around websites. For example at the top of the Total Film website on 7th
December 2012, there was a banner for The Dark Knight Rises out now to buy on
iTunes.
Also YouTube and other video sharing websites have become some of the
best places to watch trailers. Not only are they all uploaded by either fans or
the studios, but often before people watch a video on YouTube, they have to
watch an advert which could be a trailer for a film. Studios also fork out for
an official website for their films. For example The Hobbit has a site that has
an image gallery, videos, and special features and downloads and these official
sites also often include games, particularly if it is a family film. It also
features the official worldwide release dates.
The Blair Witch Project was an excellent
example of a website that built interest in a film. The makers had not a lot of
money to promote their film and so created a detailed backstory about the
events in the film and made the website appear as if all the events in the film
were true. It got people talking and allowed them to explore the mythology
further.
Other films have since made fake websites to help sell the film. This
viral marketing is becoming one of the most popular ways of building interest
in a film long before it is released. The idea is that people get involved with
the marketing and share it and discover it themselves. Cloverfield had fake
websites including one for the fake drink Slusho that tied into the film (http://www.slusho.jp/). Warner Brothers also
created fake campaign websites for the character Harvey Dent in The Dark
Knight. They even went much further:
‘On December 3rd
a new page appeared at whysoserious.com/steprightup
with a hammer game and some teddy bear toys. Each toy had an address on it
located in a number of cities around the US. The note on the game told
people to go to that address and say their name was "Robin Banks"
(get it, "Robbing Banks") and they'd get something there. It was
first come, first serve, and each location was a bakery. What they were given
was a cake
with a phone number written on it. Now here's the best part: inside the cake
was an evidence bag (complete with Gotham City Police printing) that contained a cell phone, a
charger, a Joker playing card and a note with instructions.’ (http://www.firstshowing.net/2007/the-dark-knights-viral-marketing-gets-very-real-cakes-cell-phones-and-all/)
Another type of
marketing is using other companies to create promotional tie-ins. The hope is
that if the film studios let a fast food or drinks company use their logo, it
will increase consumer awareness and the company hopes to increase sales of
their product through association with the film. This is like branding and
increasing brand recognition. Burger King and Warner Brothers joined forces to
create the The Dark Whopper and a cinema and television advertising campaign
promoting the product and the film.
More recently Volvo teamed up with the
producers of the Twilight Saga:
‘Volvo launched the Lost
In Forks online contest, in which Twilight fans navigate an XC60 through
the town of Forks,
Washington following clues that lead to Edward’s home. It doesn’t matter that
many of the contest participants won’t be old enough to drive in real life.
Volvo said moms will take a look at the XC60 based on their kids’ enthusiasm’ (http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/06/twilight-fans-root-for-team-volvo/)
Part 3 on merchandising and premieres coming soon!
Here's a taster of my new article for Filmoria. Head here to check it out!
'This isn’t about the thrill of seeing a new trailer in a darkened
theatre. This isn’t even about viral marketing or crappy merchandise.
This is about the studios bloated marketing departments and their
endless deluge of trailers, TV spots, clips, featurettes and posters
that recycle much of the same material but also show us half of the
bleeding film before we’ve even paid for a ticket!'
Please head on over to Filmoria to read the rest! And don't even get me started on this fucking poster!
Over the next few weeks, I will be putting up case studies of Hollywood, Independent and British films to help my A level Film Studies students learn more about the finance, organisation, production, distribution and exhibition of different types of films. These case studies can be used in their exam when discussing the American and British film industries.
Director:Ridley Scott
Director of
many profitable Hollywood blockbusters including: Alien, Blade Runner, Gladiator, Hannibal, Black Hawk Down, Kingdom of
Heaven, American Gangster, Robin Hood
Investors
trust Scott to make big budget films, often on an epic scale, with
international stars and make a profit.He has a fan base, as do the stars of the film.It is also in the science fiction genre which
also has a huge amount of dedicated fans and the idea that this film is a
prequel to Alien has attracted many
more people to it.That film, as well as
Blade Runner, are widely considered
to be science fiction classics and Ridley Scott’s return to the genre is a
really big deal for fans.The marketing
is therefore very likely to emphasise the director, the genre and the stars.
Some
discussion of the budget:
‘Ridley asked for $250 Million.
Fox said Make it PG rated and we may give you the money.
Scott said one word..."NO".
Fox said...O.K. think about it some more because we are not giving you $250
Mill for a movie with an R rating ...Lindelhof approached fox
and told them with his new re-writes they could do this thing for considerably
less and apparently the studio agreed with him and cut the budget down to
between 100 and 150 Million..except...there are now some serious reports...which indicates Scott finished this entire thing on a budget
compromise with FOX of $200 million even, and not the 100-150 million that was
being reported’ http://www.prometheus-movie.com/community/forums/topic/316
Scott Free Productions ‘Scott
Free works closely with RSA Films, the commercials company started by Ridley
Scott more than forty years ago. RSA Films represents many established
and up and coming filmmakers and one of Scott Free’s roles is to assist these
directors in their feature film and television projects’ Wikipedia
No
major studios listed as production companies on IMDb (rare for a Hollywood
blockbuster).However it is being
distributed by 20th Century Fox suggesting they have put money into
the production in order to get distribution rights.
Some
information on 20th Century Fox:
‘In October 1985, Fox Inc. was formed in a major restructuring of the
entertainment and broadcasting interests of News America and TCF Holdings. Fox
Inc. is a consolidation of those interests and consists of three principal
operating units:
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Fox Television Stations Inc. and Fox
Broadcasting Company...
William Mechanic was named Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Fox Filmed entertainment in December of 1996. His
remit included all operations of the studio including world-wide feature film
production, marketing and distribution activities, as well as all worldwide
operations for Fox Videos, Fox Interactive, Licensing and Merchandising and Fox
Music...
Along with the impressive performance of the 20th Century Fox production
division, the company has established Fox 2000, a mini-studio focusing on
general entertainment and Fox Searchlight Pictures, which produces specialized
films aimed at sophisticated adult audiences’ http://www.fox.co.uk/about
Production
‘Principal photography began in March 2011,
with filming taking place in Canada, England, Scotland,
Iceland, and Spain. Prometheus is scheduled for US release on June 8,
2012 through 20th Century Fox’ Wikipedia
‘Ridley Scott's sci-fi epic shot at Pinewood Studios using the world famous 007
Stage, the North
Lot and 7 other stages. This is the fifth time that Ridley Scott has shot
at the studios; previous films have included Alien, Legend, White Squall, and Robin Hood.
The Twentieth Century Fox, Scott Free Productions and Brandywine Productions
film, stars Noomi Rapace (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Michael
Fassbender (X-Men: First Class) and Academy Award®-winner Charlize
Theron (Monster).
Ridley Scott said of working at Pinewood and Shepperton: “It’s my
heritage, my personal heritage, I film everywhere in the world and I think all
things considered what we have to offer here are as good as anything you’re
going to get in Hollywood.”
Prometheus re-teams Scott with several of his long-time
collaborators, including production designer Arthur Max (Robin Hood,
American Gangster), Academy Award®-winning costume designer Janty Yates (Gladiator,
Robin Hood), and Academy Award®-winning editor Pietro Scalia (Black
Hawk Down, Gladiator), as well as set decorator Sonja Klaus (Robin
Hood, Kingdom of Heaven)’ http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/production/prometheus
Technology:
‘The entire movie has been shot in 3D and
the experience has been so compelling for Scott that he writes, “I will never
be the same again. Even with a dialogue scene, the arena in the room grows.
There is no question that you can be drawn in further by the feeling that you
are there.”’ http://good3dtv.com/3d-tv/prometheus-3d-in-the-making/
‘Ridley Scott hints that the violence
may have been toned-down enough to facilitate a PG-13 rating, but intriguingly
suggests that the impact will match the R-grade shocks of Alien and
Aliens. "The question is, do you go for the PG-13,
[which] financially makes quite a difference, or do you go for what it should
be, which is R? Essentially, it's kinda R."
"It's not just about the blood, it's about ideas that are very stressful.
I'm not an idiot, but I'll do everything I can to get the most aggressive film
I can."’ http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=33510
Stars:
‘Theron, Fassbender and Rapace are among Hollywood's most
intriguing actors. Theron is a resurgent force, with last year's comedy
"Young Adult" and this June's "Snow White and the Huntsman"
leading the way. Fassbender has recently become one of Hollywood's favorite actors
following his leading role in Steve McQueen's "Shame" and
scene-stealing turn as Magneto in "X-Men: First Class." And Rapace is
ready to take American audiences by storm with her first leading role in the
States following her "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" fame in
Sweden.’ http://www.nyunews.com/arts/2012/04/12/12prometheus1/
Distribution
‘It’s not enough that movie trailers entice you with what you’ll see in the
movie. From the marketing masterminds of ‘Prometheus’ here is a teaser for the
official movie trailer that is to come out on Thursday, December 22.
‘the marketing for Prometheus has really only hinted at its Alien
roots, and a sizable portion of the summer moviegoing audience they need to
show up will likely have never seen Scott's original sci-fi movie. So the
marketing has been even more creative and intriguing than usual, focusing
around the corporation Weyland Industries that sends the Nostromo ship into
space to begin with. There was the model
of the ship itself, the TED
Talk given by Peter Weyland himself (Guy Pearce), and now there's this
video to introduce us to David, the robot played by Michael Fassbender.’ http://www.cinemablend.com/new/prometheus-viral-celebrates-michael-fassbender-robot-david-30460.html
‘The marketing for Ridley Scott's upcoming "Prometheus" continues
to outshine that of recent releases (yes, even you, "Hunger Games").
20th Century Fox just released this video starring the dishy Michael
Fassbender, who plays the android David in the film.
This video is positioned as an ad for the fictitious Weyland Corp. and
introduces the creepy next-generation robot. It was previously teased in a "David
8" viral video.
‘In concert
with the movie's traditional marketing effort, which includes the trailer,
Scott and 20th Century Fox have pursued a second, more innovative path to
publicity. It began unexpectedly at this year's TED conference, with a
presentation by entrepreneur Peter Weyland, who powerfully articulated the
challenges facing a society beginning to question its own nature in the face of
rapidly advancing technology. Weyland's talk was one of the highlights of the
conference of presentations by thought leaders. The twist, of course, is that
Weyland isn't real. He's a character from "Prometheus," played by Guy
Pearce, and he was speaking from the year 2023!
The TED2023 promo video cooked up by Scott and writer Damon Lindelof
("Lost," "Star Trek") was released on the TED blog and
quickly became the subject of online articles and social-media discussions. It
is a great example of a technique sweeping the entertainment industry:
transmedia storytelling , in which a message or story is conveyed across
multiple platforms. Fans who received Weyland Industries
business cards at the Wondercon convention were led to another piece of
in-story content, titled "Big Things Have Small Beginnings," on
YouTube…
Unlike conventional trailers, which use rapidly cut, repurposed footage and
are widely available online along with straight clips, transmedia videos expand
the movie's narrative and encourage fans to immerse themselves more deeply into
the story. The advertising becomes part of the movie -- with the bonus that it
is tailored for mobile devices and sharing across social networks. Brands are
even beginning to leverage the power of HTML 5 technologies to create videos
with embedded interactive and social features’ http://adage.com/article/digitalnext/ridley-scott-s-prometheus-advertising-part-picture/233452/
The
film's opening 10 minutes screen in London, while Ridley Scott and Michael
Fassbender discuss the film's secrets http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/122/1222668p1.html Again, star and director used to promote the film.
Release
dates http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/releaseinfo
are staggered, probably to allow for
more promotion specific to each territory. Stars can attend more premieres, do more press interviews etc.
‘The
IMAX release of Prometheus will be digitally re-mastered into the image and
sound quality of The IMAX 3D Experience® with proprietary IMAX DMR® (Digital
Re-mastering) technology. The crystal-clear images coupled with IMAX's
customized theatre geometry and powerful digital audio create a unique
environment that will make audiences feel as if they are in the movie’ http://www.imax.com/movies/m/prometheus-an-imax-3d-experience/
There you have it: Prometheus in quite a large nut shell. Watch the full trailer below:
Fassbender the robot from Ridley Scott's Prometheus sells himself in this new viral video. Absolutely love it.
It seems Weyland Industries have really outdone themselves this time. This thing produces tears on cue and I just can't wait to see him tackle the tasks that humans may find 'distressing'.
