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Narnia review

How to make a good blockbuster!

Empire Mag

Film/Genre written by Rick Altman (British Film Institute BFI Publishing, 1999)

Written notes:

*Genre is usually seen as a device.

*Dudley Andres puts it in Concepts in Film Theory 1984, genres serve a precise function in the overall economy of cinema.

*Genre has a multiple meanings:
genre as 'blueprint' as a formula that precedes, programmes and patterns industry production
genre as 'structure' as the formula framework on which individual films are founded
genre as 'label' as the name of a category central to the decisions and communications of distributors and exhibitors
genre as 'contract' as the viewing position required by each genre film of its audience

*people go to genre films to participate in events that somehow seem familiar. they may be looking for strong emotions, exciting scenes, novel situations and fresh dialogue.

*'Name brands', the more expensive products are trademarketed; they are presented in containers displaying distinctive printing and copyrighted designs.Just an idetifying a name and its list of contents.

*when one genre film has been exploited, the producer is faced once again with the necessity to create an audience based solely on audience fidelity to a particular genre. if the exhibitor situation highlights genre, then this may be an acceptable strategy, but even then the producer must compete on equal grouns with all other producers of genre films.

*a studio automatically develops a pre-sold audience for the next film featuring the same in-house star, character or look. instead of starting over again, publicity for the next film need only to point to its continuity with the previous film in order to assure a strong audience.

*disadvantage: most people a hollywood studio as operating like a factory: from a set of standardized molds the studio produces recognizably similar films, labels them according to their similarity and sells them under that label as long as the market subsists.

Spectacular narratives: Hollywood in the age of the blockbuster. Geoff King

Here are some notes I made whilst reading this book: (It will be used in my catalogue as I regard this source as an extremely important!)

From epic landscape to sumptuous interior, from visions of space, aliens and future cityscapes to explosive action and adventure; expansive vistas spread out across the width of the big screen, their presence magnified by the aural impact of multichannel sound. Everything is larger than life; not real but hyper real, leading us into the imaginary worlds of the cinema but also leaving us to sit back and wonder at its creations.

Growing demand for products that can be further exploited in multimedia forms such as computer games and theme park rides.

Narrative and spectacle can work together

Spectacle may disrupt narrative. May take on the character of ‘cinematic excess’ as Kristin Thompson puts it.

Spectacle, the production of images, has long played an important part in the creation of popular entertainment, from contemporary and early cinema to magic lantern shows, theatre and traditions of religious rituals.

Offer a range of pleasures. The enjoyment of larger than life.

Help to move a plot forward

The targeting of different films to different audiences was heightened by the advent of the ratings system in 1968. the blockbuster format was to create a much wider audience for certain films, an industrial strategy to give these attractions a large viewing. Advertising and promotional strategies baseda round the attempt to sel blockbusters as special events that everybody is going to see. To miss them, therefore, is to miss out, to be excluded.

Spectacular is sold on the basis of its sheer size and impact, its physical scale of image and multi channel sound: its function specifically for attraction. The viewer is sold the illusion of being transported into the world on screen and of experiencing the drama with the characters.

The developments of wide screen digital television, dvd and surround sound systems

‘ a series of blows to the consciousness and emotions of the audience’

Barker and Brooks interview action fans and their findings describe as ‘ the joys of being “done to” by a film’:

One whole way of talking about films describes a wish to be physically affected by them: typical wanted experiences are being knocked out of my seat, making me jump, hitting me between the eyes. This is driven by a demand of pace. A bad film is a slow film that sends you to sleep. A good films of this kind doesn’t just keep you awake, it shocks you awake repeatedly”

Theme park attractions claim to take us into the physical and experimental space of movies. Computer games based on films promise an interactive engagement with something like a world on screen. The latest in giant IMAX engulf us in vast encompassing images. These are the trends in contemporary Hollywood cinema

Where I am in this investigation?

The direction that I am taking with this investigation is exploring the elements of the fantasy franchise.

I have discovered the main reason for these type of films to become a success is from the powers of CGI and special effects. From the media magazine article “CGI pest or pesticide?” explores the positives and negatives of CGI. It almost suggests the competition of CGI between films and how much they can benefit as it can be seen as an indictor of a big budget. However, there can be moments where CGI can be used as an extreme or OTT, which I believe happens in Lord of the Rings quite a lot, which can be used as evidence.

I also found that different types of fantasy films, including my focus films, fall under different fantasy categories. It places Lord of the Rings’ in the “High Fantasy” band and Harry Potter and Narnia in the “Contemporary Fantasy” band. So I have explored how my fantasy films have appealed towards different target audiences. Including the work on the Genre theory (from Genre and Hollywood by Steve Neale) the fantasy genre can be seen as a hybrid genre and another term I learnt whilst on the journey was ‘verisimilitude’, this applies to the props to make them seem believeable.

Notes to make in presentation

Harry Potter: Teen audience – elements of Action, Romance, High School

Lord of the Rings: Male blockbuster audience- elements of Action, War

Narnia: Child/Family audience- elements of Action and Child road style movie

This route showed me that fantasy films appeal to a wide audience, which makes them very popular within the film industry and therefore the fantasy genre can hold many expectations and pressures.