Momentum takes just £46 at the Box Office! Why?

Great for GCSE Industry Analysis and AS Level case studies on distribution: you can almost literally see where the £46 spent watching the film went. 

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/24/morgan-freeman-thriller-momentum-flops-uk-cinema

129 of the greatest shots in movie history?

An interesting collection of stills from films via a BuzzFeed post, linked below.
Some wonderful images here.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/danieldalton/there-will-be-scrolling#.dka168LXe

The Business of Film Podcasts

These podcasts narrated by the brilliant Mark Kermode,  are an incredibly useful tool for AS Film Studies, as well as the Industry Analysis section of GCSE Film Studies controlled conditions work.

The link to the series is here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/businessoffilm but I've also embedded them below for you to listen to.

Each episode is only around 30 mins in total and will be a really useful insight into the film industry. Some of the language can be really specific and assume that the listener already knows a lot about film, but these are a really enjoyable and informative listen and are highly recommended.


Episode 1: https://www.dropbox.com/s/x1xc97h0bqw1uhb/businessoffilm%20ep1.mp3?dl=0
Episode 2: https://www.dropbox.com/s/f5zzx1v9j3joj0s/businessoffilm%20ep2.mp3?dl=0
Episode 3: https://www.dropbox.com/s/wnlhzagv03pp382/businessoffilm%20ep3.mp3?dl=0

New worldwide Box Office record for a calendar year.

2014 was a pretty year average year in terms of quality of films, but it was a spectacular one for 20th Century Fox who set a new record for earnings at the Box Office in a calendar year. 

Have a read of the link below for more. 

http://mashable.com/2015/01/05/fox-record-box-office-2014/?utm_cid=mash-com-Tw-main-link

Invaluable resource for AS Film Studies FM2

http://stephenfollows.com/

I was recently told about this blog and it's quite, quite brilliant. It's well worth bookmarking and worth paying regular attention to; we'll certainly be doing so in lessons and in homework over the coming months. 

The making of Batman (1989)

A really interesting video has turned up online to coincide with the 25th Anniversary of Tim Burton's Batman film from 1989.

The video is a 'behind the scenes' style video that looks at various aspects of the film before it was made, showing investors why the idea of a dark and gritty Batman would be a successful one. It seems as though the film was made to show the people whose money was needed to make the film that they should continue to give the film money even though they weren't convinced the film would make money. There is also some really nice background to Batman comic books and the evolution of the character, so could be a really useful watch for both GCSE Film paper 1 and for FM2 section of AS Film.

Well worth 20 minutes of your time:

AS Film Studies Revision

Remember-if there is something you're not sure on or need help with, leave a comment and I'll get back to you asap. 

AS Film Studies Fm2 section a revision pdf from Ian Moreno-Melgar

BFI Statistical Yearbook for 203 & homework reminder

Homework for Friday 16th January

1. Read the Guardian Box Office report again
2. Access the BFI Statistical Yearbook for 2013 below and read chapter 2.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/bfi-statistical-yearbook-2013.pdf

3. Give a written explanation as to what the 5 most successful films of 2012 were and, in your opinon, why each one was so successful.

The death of the film industry?

Last week Steven Spielberg and George Lucas gave an address to the University of California upon the opening of a new building for the famous USC School of Cinematic Arts. Their talk made international headlines as Spielberg in particular, suggested that he believed a massive crash was on the horizon of the film industry, with a radical change in the industry coming soon. One of the most interesting, if perhaps fanciful, suggestions from Spielberg was that Hollywood films may have to charge prices at the cinema that are reflective of the budget of the film. He cited an example whereby the audience "[are] gonna have to pay $25 for the next Iron Man, you're probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln". 

To an extent, this already happens: you pay significantly more to see a 3D IMAX presentation that you for a 2D film, but will this soon be effected by the cost of the film to make? An interesting point of discussion certainly and one that brings in a lot of ideas for FM2 of the AS Level. 


Have a read of what was said:

Hollywood Reporter article

Huffington Post report

Why a meltodown would be good, from The Guardian

How NOT to make a film: The curious case of World War Z

Below is a link a fantastic article by Vanity Fair on Zombie-apocolypse film World War Z which is just about to be released in the UK. Based on a book of the same name, this $200million Blockbuster was originally to be released 6 months ago and despite Brad Pitt starring and producing, seems to be headed for an uncertian performance at the Box Office. Vanity Fair recently published the story of how the rights to adapt such a highly regarded book (Simon Pegg said that it's "An absolute must have ... Brooks [the author] infuses his writing with such precise detail and authenticity, one wonders if he knows something we don't') into a film went so wrong and so quickly.


There is some wonderful insight here and would be a great case study and example for AS Students studying Hollywood, the film industry and the pre and post-production issues that can beset a film.


This is well worth a few minutes of your time and worth bookmarking for later use.

Vanity Fair: The Making of World War Z