Film Audience and Institution

Section B Question

Ownership connections between Harry Potter, Paddington and Gravity.

Harry Potter, Paddington and Gravity were all produced by David Heyman. They can all be classified as British films, some more than others as Harry Potter and Paddington feature a British cast. This is different to Gravity as this film feature two hollywood actors (Sandra Bullock and George Clooney). This gives the film a more American feel. There’s no doubt that the definitely Mexican Alfonso Cuaron conceived this Warner Bros financed production. But it was produced by Brit David Heyman, who’s best known as the man behind the ‘Harry Potter’ films. It was also shot almost exclusively at Shepperton Studios using an entire crew of British artists and technicians, with its spectacular visual effects overseen by the team at British company Framestore. Framestore were also involved in visual effects in Gravity and Paddington too. 
I would say Harry Potter and Paddington are the more fully British films out of the three. They are both set in Britain and feature a British cast such as Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson in Harry Potter and Hugh Bonneville and Sally Hawkins in Paddington. However, Harry Potter is made by the huge American company Warner Bros as well as Heyday Films. This is true for Gravity as well. However, Paddington was made by Studio Canal, a British production company. 

Heyday Films

Cross media convergence question

Notes on Synergy Lesson

Notes on The Business of Film (Development Hell):

• The first thing I noted down was something a film producer said. She said how there are 6 million kinds of producers in the industry and that all producers wake up to a new problem everyday. This helped me further understand just how difficult and challenging working in the film industry is. 
• To add on to that point, another film producer commented on how the film industry has to reinvent itself every year. This indicates how important new and fresh ideas are. 
• He also commented on how it is a high risk, high return business, so if companies don'y make big risks and are too safe with productions they won't get any money from it. 
• The show then went on to talk about "Development Hell" and explained that it is when a film has reached a bad stage of development and needs to go back and be though out again. 
• It then talked about the "backbone" of production, the scripts. It was said that 50,000 scripts are registered at the Writers Guild each year.
• The Black List was mentioned and was explained as being a list of scripts that are not able to get through and be made. There are 970 scripts on the list but only 270 of them have been made. This showcases how important scripts are in the film making process. The producer talking explained how "you can make a bad movie from a good script but good luck making a good movie from a bad script". 
• The show then lead on to talk about casting and how "stars" sell films. A famous casting director who has cast for over 200 films explained how a lot of productions come to her with a fixed idea of who they want to cast. A lot of the time she has to be upfront with them because she knows those actors won't want to do that film so she has to negotiate through this.