The Big Six

Major Film Studios

A major film studio is a film producer and production company that releases a substantial number of films annually.

The Big Six film studios are:

1. Warner Bros. Pictures. Comprising a whopping 19.7 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures), Warner Bros. Pictures is the biggest player in the film industry. Securing the rights to major films like Harry Potter, Superman, Batman, The Matrix and Star Wars have made Warner Bros. the No. 1 name in the business.

2. Paramount Pictures. With 15.5 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures), Paramount Pictures continues to be one of the most successful film production companies in the world. Star Trek, War of the Worlds, the Mission Impossible series, Transformers and Tropic Thunder are just a few of the popular films produced by Paramount Pictures.

3. Walt Disney. One of the most renowned film production companies in the history of the business, Walt Disney now holds 15.3 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures). With highly successful movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Meet the Robinsons and Enchanted, there's no doubt that Disney will continue to play a key role in the industry for years to come.

4. Columbia Pictures. Comprising 12.9 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures), Columbia Pictures remains a big player in the business. Some of this company's recent successes include Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, the Spider-Man series and Step Brothers.

5. Universal Studios. 12.2 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures) belongs to Universal Studios, which continues to make millions for the film industry. With major hits like the Bourne series (Bourne Identity, Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum), The American Pie series, Knocked Up, American Gangster and The Incredible Hulk, it's very clear that Universal Studios knows what it takes to make money in this industry.

6. 20th Century Fox. Also known as "Twentieth Century Fox," this highly successful movie production company makes up 11.9 percent of the US/Canadian market share (2007 figures). Some of the biggest and most successful movies from this empire include the X-Men series, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Star Wars Episodes II and III, and the Fantastic Four.

Roughly 9/10 films in the UK are seen as a result of these distributers

Four Quadrant Picture

A Four Quadrant Picture is a marketing term used to describe a film targeted to all audience quadrants: men over 25, men under 25, women over 25, women under 25. 

Usage
In the movie business, and it is most definitely a business, everyone is looking to maximize the audience for their picture. A four-quadrant picture is that magical type of film that attracts parents and kids, men and women, and brings in huge amounts of revenue on opening weekend. In the term “four-quadrant,” the quadrants refer to gender (male and female) and age (under 25 and over 25). 
For most studios, the goal is to get enough details to line up so that they have broad-based, family-friendly appeal in designing a blockbuster or four-quadrant film. An important aspect of getting that appeal is the ratings system. An 18 Rating can be the kiss of death for a studio trying to market a film featuring pre-teen characters. A lowering from PG-13 to PG can mean millions more in revenue as parents feel more comfortable bringing young children to a given film like Evan Almighty.

Examples
One of the most famous four-quadrant, blockbuster films is Star Wars and all of its sequels. Jaws is another landmark blockbuster film. Other more current examples include Night at the Museum, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Shrek (1-3), Spiderman (1-3), Pirates of the Caribbean (1-3), andWall-E.

Implications
Another interesting by-product of the rise of four-quadrant films in the industry is cross marketing. Those films often are associated with toys and other products that both advertise the film and bring in revenue on their own. In addition, four-quadrant films are powerful vehicles for product placement advertisers looking to show their wares to the largest audience possible.
On the down side, many wonder how much effort is placed on credible, engaging story lines as opposed to marketing opportunities in these behemoth cinematic endeavors.

Dredd Presentation

A full presentation could not be added due to problems

Dredd Essay

Dredd failed at the box office because of many reasons. One of these reasons was that it was up against three massive comic book films that year. These were The Dark Knight Rises by DC, The Amazing Spiderman by Marvel and The Avengers Assemble by Marvel. All these films made a massive success. Dredd was rival to these films but could not compete as it didn’t have the massive budget like these films and it had no major stars. Another reason why it didn’t win compared with these films is that 2000AD is not a major comic book series unlike Marvel and DC.

Pete Travis (the director) did not help this film either because he is an inexperienced poor director. Travis has only made two real films before he made Dredd, these were Vantage Point which was a success and nearly doubled its profits then End Game which did very poorly only grossing nearly 10 000 at the box office. These two films are not well known so intern Pete Travis is not well known as well. Karl Urban (the main actor in this film) also thought that Pete Travis (the director) was not a very good actor so he turned to Alex Garland (a producer) for directing tips.

Dredd has many film types; these are action, crime and sci-fi. This is another reason why it flopped. Sci-fi is not liked by all audiences and fits into only a certain crowd. This film is also recognised as a cult film, this is because it tailors to the ‘comic-con’ crowd and tailors to the comic book lovers who have followed 2000AD since it began. The next reason why it flopped was that it was an 18 certificate. An 18 certificate is not usual for comic book films as comic book films usually have a certificate of 12a like The Avengers Assemble, The Dark Knight Rises and The Amazing Spiderman; they make these films 12a so the films appeal to a wider.

Unlike The Avengers Assemble Dredd was not a four quadrant film. Dredd isn’t a four quadrant film as it does not appeal to women and doesn’t appeal to people under 25. A survey was completed which found out that 69% of viewers were over 25 and 75% of viewers were male.

Another reason why Dredd flopped was that it had no major a list stars. Even though Karl Urban is a great actor and has been in many films he is not well known and neither is his fellow actor Olivia Thirby. Olivia Thirby is a very inexperienced actor and has not made any big appearances in any films so she not well known either. Overall there were no main stars and people look for big name actors to figure out if the film will be good.

Dredd was produced by DNA films and IM global, these are not major production companies as they are not one of the big six. This means that they are not well recognised and people because people look for the big names in the film business. This film was distributed by Lionsgate and Alliance; these are more recognised than the production companies.

Dredd had a small budget of $35 000 000 which is nothing compared to the $200 000 000 budget of The Avengers Assemble. This small budget means that they had to stay relatively cheap. This led them to filming in Cape Town, South Africa as it is a cheap place to film. On its opening weekend Dredd only grossed $6 278 491 and grossed only $13 401 683 at the boxbox office making the film a failure. Dredd eventually will make a profit from DVD and Blu-ray sales but this will take a long time. One way which was used to speed up the chance of making a profit was when the makers of Dredd announced there would be a greater chance of a sequel if DVD sales went well, this prompted the lovers of this film to go out and purchase copies of the film.  

Filming of Dredd was mainly in Red Mysterium X camera, these cameras shoot 14 megapixels and are used for slow motion footage as they are capable of 120 frames per second at 5K and 300 frames per second at 3K. This camera is capable of 3D capture as well which is suitable for IMAX screening. There were other cameras used in the filming but the Red Mystrium X was used mostly. Anthony Dod Mantle was the cinematographer for this film, this was his first time shooting 3D so he is inexperienced with the cameras. Anthony was a risky move for the production team but he paid off as he managed to do well and possibly won Dredds Best 3D Empire Award. Filming for Dredd was mainly in Cape Town South Africa as it is a cheap place to film and they didn’t want to spend money building sets. Cape Town was chosen for this reason as well because it was noticed that there was a three-walled external space that looked like an interior when filmed at night.

Marketing of Dredd was poor and is the main reason why Dredd flopped. The marketing scheme started with the release of viral advertising site launched in August 2012. This site was called the ‘Dredd Report’ and this site featured a video condemning the use of slo-mo and links to news about the film. This website was not well constructed and was not as effective as the producers had hoped. The marketing scheme also included a comic book tie in; this was published on the 5^th of September only 16 days before the release of the film. The comic book was designed to be a prequel to the film and inform people how slo-mo was created and Ma-Ma’s life before Dredd. To add to the marketing scheme an exclusive film poster featuring artwork by Jock was released in September 2012 at the 2012 Fantastic Fest. All of this marketing was very close to the release of the film so it didn’t have time to make effect. Lionsgate contributed $25 million to the advertising and print costs. 

In the UK Dredd was shown on 415 screens and gained only $1.7 million on the opening weekend. This is nothing compared to the 2506 screens running Dredd in North America, on these 2506 $6.3 million was gained on the opening weekend. This is nothing compared to The Avengers Assemble as The Avengers Assemble was shown across 11 800 screens in North America alone.  Dredd was mainly shown in 3D as distributers denied the request for the 2D version of the film. This decision was a bad one as 2D is the preferred format as people don’t like 3D because of high ticket prices, bulky, uncomfortable glasses, dim pictures and literal headaches. Dredds run in North America ended on the 1^st of November after 42 days.

The final reasons for Dredds flop was that it was classed as not ‘British’ enough and because of developments in CGI superhero films are easy to make and therefore are everywhere.  

Dredd Review And Research

Dredd

This film is an adaptation of a 2000AD comic series called Judge Dredd. Dredd is based on two judges fighting against the drug slo-mo and the mama clan who run peach trees where the most of the film is filmed. The main character, Dredd, is played by Karl Urban. He is perfect for this role as he plays the character which the story dictates not his own version like Sylvester Stallone. Karl Urban’s partner is rookie Anderson who is played by Olivia Thirlby. Dredd was directed Pete Travis who is not a big director but has his own style which makes dredd a good film. Travis was not announced as the director until 2010 which is late in the production as the film was green lighted in 2008. The script writer Alex Garland began writing in 2006 and finished in 2007 but the film was not announced until 2008 and not screened until 2012. Filming was in 3D and began in 2010, it was filmed mainly in Cape Town and took 13 weeks. It was shot primarily in 3D using a range of cameras but some scenes were shot it 2D then converted to 3D. As for some of the scenes though a slow motion camera was used to capture more detail. This film had a $45 million budget, which is a relatively small budget but made even less at box office grossing only $36 million which is an unexpected loss as the movie is filmed in 3D.The marketing of the film is fairly shocking because it only used posters and a website which was not successful. The main problem was it was marketed in 3D and not many cinemas showed 3D when it was released. Dredd had a comic book tie in when it was released, the comic book was to serve as a prequel to inform people how slo-mo was made and what Ma-Ma’s life was before Dredd. This comic was written by the Judge Dredd Magazine editor Matt Smith and was drawn by 2000 AD artist Henry Flint. The Comic book was released on the 5^th of September, 16 days before the release of the film. Dredd was received by the critics in mixed responses because some people thought it was a great action movie when others thought it dragged and the ‘hyperviolence added up to nothing’, the overall Metacritic score was 59%. The critics from Rotten Tomatoes received the film better and gave Dredd an overall of 79%, this was because they thought Dredd was ‘violent, gory and faithful execution of the character that fans should rejoice at’. The reason why the film wasn’t a success was because the marketing of the film was poor, this was because there idea to have a news website like The Dark Night Rises wasn’t a success. Another reason why this film wasn’t a success was that it was tailored to the comic con crowd as a devotion to the comic book series. Dredd was also a remake of a very poor version of Judge Dredd with Sylvester Stallone in it which made people have a bad opinion of it before it was released. Although the bad response the film managed to pick up 2 awards, these were a UK empire award for Best 3D and a Golden Trailer for Best Thriller TV Spot.

My opinion of Dredd is that it is a very good sci-fi action film because it has immense fighting scenes and gore. The film also doesn’t follow the line of comic book violence but branches into realistic violence which I enjoy as no other comic book adaptation has done that. I think that both Karl Urban and Olivia Thirby made the film what it is and especially Karl’s performance as dredd was spectacular. Karl stayed true to the role not removing his helmet and his facial expression made the character. Another part of the film I enjoyed was the slo-mo scenes as they don’t just show detail in the scene but they add an element of beauty to the film.

The Dark Night Rises 

Pre Production 

This film is a sequel to Batman Begins and Dark Knight which have all been directed by Christoper Nolan. The Dark Knight Rises is a production from Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures, with an estimated $250 000 000 budget. This film has Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine as the a list stars.

Production
The Dark Knight Rises was mainly filmed in Downtown, Los Angeles, California. Some of the filming was done in studios such as the batcave scene, that was filmed in Sony Pictures Studios and other parts of the film was filmed in places all across the world. Christopher Nolan had problems casting Selina Kyle (catwomen) as they didn't have an idea of who would be right for the role, eventually they had some tests with Anne Hathaway and she blew then away. They also had a problem casting bane as they believed no one would want to play that role and they struggled with his voice as it would be covered in a mask. They fixed this when tom hardy wanted the role as he fit the character perfectly. 

Post Production
This is the first batman film to not really on special effects as it is the first to have a really heavy characters and not spend its money on producing special effects. The main scene of special effects was the scene at the football stadium, to produce this scene they mainly used cg special effects but most of it was stunning stunt work and physical effects. 3D was not added to this film as 'nobody likes 3D' because of high ticket prices, bulky, uncomfortable glasses, dim pictures and literal headaches. I can not find any information to prove that The Dark Knight Rises required any re-shoots. 

Marketing 
The first step of The Dark Knight Rises marketing began with a story of batman going round the world painting bats in urban scenes, this then was followed by the locations of all of them and people were told that once a photo of every bat had been received the trailer would be released. This sparked people to find them and it took less than a day for all to be received and the trailer was released. Some other ways  they marketed this was in the generic ways of posters and trailers. They also sent the bat mobile to different places promoting the movie by giving out handouts and letting people enter competition to win cinema tickets. The Dark Knight Rises premier was on the 16th of July in New York City.

Film Production

Development - This is simply the process of 'finding' a story. Ideas for films come from a variety of sources, they can range from novels, real life events to computer game adaptations. Once you've got an idea you'll need someone to write a pitch for you which you take to a film producer in an attempt to get some funding to make your film. Even at this very early stage you need a very clear idea of who you're aiming you film at so you can include elements that will appeal to them.

Pre-production - Once you've got funding you establish your budget and can begin to get a film crew together, you can storyboard the script. You also need break the script down into individual scenes and identify all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects needed.

Production - This is simply the process of 'making' the film. Provided you've done your job properly in the pre-production stage making the film should be straight forward. 'Film' is very expensive and difficult to store so an increasing number of film makers are using digital cameras to save money.

Post-production - During this stage you take all the 'film' you've shot and give it to a film editor. They will then begin putting it together. Special effects will be added, a soundtrack will be added, any missing dialogue will be re-recorded and added resulting in a 'rough cut'. This will be shown to the director and a test audience who will offer feedback. Often this causes scenes to be filmed and added or removed.

Scene 1 - The Idea

The idea for a film can come from anywhere, it could be a remake of an older film, a reboot of an older film, from factual events, from original ideas, from children's toys or comics and it could be an adaption. After the idea is created the producer has to give the all clear. After the producer a directer has to be chosen to make the idea a reality. Once the director has visualized the film a writer steps in to make the plot more realistic and then produce a treatment which is a one page description of the film. After these steps have been completed the script is commissioned. 

Scene 2 - Development finance 

Producers have to approach the development company for money to develop the script using the treatment and pitch. if the producer decides to not develop the film the producer can offer the future sale and broadcast rights. If the development company doesn't give the producer money they can go to the UK Film Council for a development grant and if that doesn't work the producer can pitch the idea to private investors. 

Scene 3 - Script development

To start the script development the writer produces a synopsis which they have to agree with the producer on then the script will start to be produced. There are many ways to write a script but most writers follow a step by step guide but the hardest part is the first draft. Once the first draft is completed it has to be sent to the financiers which have their own ideas to contribute after this has happened the first draft becomes a final draft and the writer finally gets paid. To finish the script development a sales development has to be created.

Scene 4 - Packaging

The producer and directer start the packaging by packaging the script into a full commercial proposition, one way to do this is to attach a list stars to the script. Once this has happened heads of departments meet with the financiers to clout the script. After this a budget plan must be drawn up and investors must be told how there money will be spent and how they will get it back. The producer has now packaged the script and it needs opinions from others.     

Scene 5 - Financing

Firstly the producer needs to secure investments and this may mean travelling the world to meet investers the producers lawyers may travel with them to write up a contract for the investors. Money can also be made from pre sales of the rights of the film. Money can be sourced from special departments of banks which are specialized to invest in films, and financiers insist on that a completion bond is in place for insurance. Once the budget has been made the green light is given.  

Scene 6 Pre-Production

Pre-production starts with a kick off meeting, this consists the heads of departments getting the shooting script and then beginning the pre-production. Once this meeting has held place the long process of casting begins and then the blueprints for each shot are drawn up. After this the production manager plans every aspect of the film and employs people to help with this. These shots are relatively easy to effect shots because effect shots have to be planned in much more detail and it could take months to design and build. To finish the first assistant director, the line producer and the production manager make a key logistic triangle of the production.

Scene 7 - The Shoot

To start the shoot, shooting begins and funding is released then the shooting department get ready for the shooting of the footage that the director and editor need. After the cameras are in place the lighting and sound have to be set up then finally hair and make up have to be checked. Once everything is in place the acting begins, the hardest part of acting is the special effects as these need to be carefully planned with minimum risk to the cast and crew. Film productions are set to a tight schedule and if it falls behind the financiers and insures step in.

Scene 8 - Post Production

Once the processed footage comes in the editor can start to assemble the scenes and a native sequence for the film. After this has finished the work on audio begins and to follow the digital effects are added by special effects compositors. After the digital effects have been added the titles and credits are added. The final stage of the picture edit is the colour and fine aesthetics are carefully adjusted. Once the picture edit is complete the sound goes to a dubbing theatre for the final levels to be set. Finally the film reaches final cut and it is put into full lock and copies can now be made.

Scene 9  - Sales

To start of sales a sales agent has to be employed, they are specialists in film sales. After they have been hired a trailer is made to captivate the audience and now the sales agent and producer combine all they need to sell there film. The film market is vast so the film has a lot of work to do to attract people, one way to do this is to make a viewing at a top rated film festival. The product now can be sold to distributors across the world.

Scene 10 - Marketing 

To help with the marketing a marketing team is put together, this consists of a sales agent and a specialist in film sales. The key part of marketing is knowing the audience, this can be gauged from running test screenings. The specific audience is now selected and the advertising and media input can be stemmed around this group. For the film to be in cinemas the distributor has to arrange deals with cinemas to screen it.

Scene 11 - Exhibition

The start of the exhibition of a film usually begins with the premier which is a reason for the media to come out and get the film into the eyes of the audience again. The distributors then deliver the necessary film prints to the cinemas screening the film. The exhibitors then take part of the box office receipt, this is included in the distributors bill. After the distributors have been paid the financiers can recover their money from the recoupment schedule.

Scene 12 - Other Windows

Additional revenue can also come from hotel showings and in flight films on airlines. The main sum of money comes from the sales of DVDs which people spend more money on than cinema tickets. Another way of making additional revenue is to sell game rights for the film. Once the profits have been made the key people in the making can receive their rewards. There can always be income coming in from a film even if it means re-releasing it.