More Related Content
Similar to Film industry presentation example
Film industry presentation example
- 1. Film Industry Presentation ScottHarrison
- 2. Hollywood and theGerman Industry • In this presentation I will compare the mainstream film industry of Hollywood, with the German film industry.
- 3. The differences betweenHollywood and the German Film Industry • Funding • Ownership • Technology • National identity • Genre • Representation
- 4. Examples The Lives ofOthers (Germany, 2006) • Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck • Grossed $77,356,942 worldwide • Winner of 2006 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film Avatar (USA, 2009) • Directed by James Cameron • Grossed $2,782,275,172 worldwide • Nominated for nine Academy Awards In order to compare these two industries, I will refer in my analysis to two specific film examples, which are two of the highest-grossing films of modern times in their respective industries:
- 5. Funding Hollywood • The Hollywoodfilm industry is dominated by a number of big film financiers called film studios • These studios actively seek out projects that will be the next big money maker for them • Some studios supply the funding for both the production and distribution of the film German • In contrast, the German industry relies more heavily on publicly-funded national institutions, such as the Filmförderungsanstalt FFA (German Federal Film Board) • Germany also provides tax incentives for investors to put money into the making of films, meaning many private investors and companies have involvement.
- 6. Funding – TheLives of Others • Funded by a number of organisations (Wiedemann & Berg, Bayerischer Rundfunk, ARTE & Creado Film), a mixture of studios and TV companies • Budget of $2,000,000 • Written and Directed by von Donnersmarck • Director’s parents were from East Germany, and he grew up there • The film has a very strict sense of German identity, and is about a period of German history in which the country was split between East and West • Due to this, and because of the relatively small budget, the film aims to portray realistic German events, meaning many locations are domestic (in houses), there is almost no CGI, and some of the themes are much more mature and complex in nature than those of Avatar.
- 7. Funding – Avatar •Funded by 20th Century Fox (studio) • Budget of $237,000,000 • Written and Directed by Cameron • Studio encouraged by the success of Cameron’s previous film, Titanic • Studio even gave $10,000,000 for Cameron to produce a short clip demonstrating his vision! • This meant that the film, as a Sci-Fi action epic, was extremely reliant on visuals, including a number of CGI characters, sweeping alien landscapes and large-scale battles. • One could argue that the success of Avatar could be attributed to the money spent on it, as people were eager to see what the film looked like. It was also one of the major breakthroughs in the current trend for 3D films.
- 8. Technology Hollywood • Consistently atthe ‘cutting edge’ of new cinema technology • American films, particularly big budget blockbusters, are always the films which try to introduce new technologies to the cinema world (3D, Colour, sound, etc.) • This is due to the huge amounts of money that are available to directors and producers in Hollywood Germany • German films tend to be lower budget than Hollywood films • This usually means that German films are more focussed on character and story rather than action and effects • These types of stories do not necessarily require expensive new technology, however much like other industries the German industry tends to follow the lead of Hollywood
- 9. Technology - Avatar •Avatar is perceived as being the catalyst for the new revolution in 3D cinema • Some people attribute the extra cost of seeing the film in 3D as being the reason its box office gross was so high • Revolutionary new motion-capture techniques were used to create the alien characters (pioneered in other big budget films such as The Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean) • James Cameron deliberately waited until the Technology was available for him to create an alien world that felt realistic • The film, and its success, was ultimately the product of a time in Hollywood where producers were looking for new ideas (in terms of new and original stories) and new technologies in order to maximise revenue. They saw James Cameron, with his previous successes, as being able to provide this. Many criticised that the all of the big Hollywood films leading up to Avatar were unoriginal ideas such as sequels remakes, and comic book adaptations.
- 10. Technology – TheLives of Others • The Lives of Others is a drama about society in East Germany in the 1970s • Due to its realistic nature, the use of CGI, or 3D technology, was probably not perceived by distributors to be important • This could be perhaps explained because the target audience of the film are more interested in the performances of the actors, and the portrayal of the country at the time. • One could also argue that because it is aiming to portray a time in the past, the use of this technology would be detrimental to the illusion that we are looking back in time. The film as it stands has an aged look, due to the use of film technology which would have been available at the time the film was set.
- 11. National Identity Hollywood • Hollywoodfilms tend to portray the Americans as “the good guys” • Protecting the rest of the world from danger • Foreign accents = baddies! • Films which display anti- American sentiments have difficulty finding funding in Hollywood Germany • The German film industry produces a wide variety of material • Perhaps due to the countries difficult recent history, the most successful focus on political and social issues, as well as the Second World War • Some of the most successful German language films – Das Boot (War film), The Lives of Others (set during The Cold War), Europa Europa (Holocaust-based film), and Downfall (Last days of Hitler)