Dawn of the planet of the apes

1. By Holly Connell

2. Pre-production
• After the release of the first film Rise of the Planet of the Apes, director Rupert Wyatt stated
the possibility of making a sequel. “I think we're ending with certain questions, which is
quite exciting. To me, I can think of all sorts of sequels to this film, but this is just the
beginning.” In addition screenwriter and producer Rick Jaffa also commented that the first
film Rise of the Planet of the Apes introduced many clues to a future sequel.
• In November 2011, Andy Serkis was the first to have announced of closing a deal for the
sequel to Rise of the Planet of the Apes, reprising his role of Caesar, the ape leader. Also
every film they have a different human main character for example in Rise it was James
Franco, Dawn is Jason Clark and in War of the Planet of the Apes will most likely be Woody
Harrelson.

3. Press Release
• In this sequel to 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', almost a decade has passed since the outbreak
of the virus which then spread across the globe. The human population has mostly died off from
the Simian Flu virus and from violence, while the ape population has thrived and grown. A
montage of news reports is shown, with footage of escalating violence among humans who
have contributed to the chaos.
• Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a 3-D uses the same ground-breaking technology as Fox’s
Avatar. Such as 1,200 special effects shots just of the apes
Awards
• Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Visual Effects - 2015
• Satellite Award for Best Editing - 2015
• Satellite Award for Best Visual Effects - 2015
• Empire Award for Best Actor - 2015

4. Official Front cover
Release date :17 July 2014

5. Historical Context
• Planet of the Apes is an American science fiction media franchise,
consisting of films, books, comics and television series. From it’s origins of
the French author Pierre Boulle’s 1963 novel La Planète des Singes,
translated into English as both Planet of the Apes and Monkey Planet.
Then shortly after the film release in 1968 it was a huge success initiating
numerous sequels and tie-ins.
• The first 5 films (Planet, Beneath, Escape, Conquest and Battle for the
Planet of the Apes) were all produced during the late 60s + 70s they were
known for incorporating hot topics of the day in to the films such as
racism, nuclear destruction, warfare vs diplomacy, slavery and
reconciliation

6. General Facts
Release date
• UK – 17 July 2014
• US – 26 June 2014
Production companies
• 20th Century Fox
• TSG Entertainment
• Chernin Entertainment
Distribution companies
• 20th Century Fox
• Big Picture 2 Films
• Geo Films
• Warner Bros
• Film 1
Director
Matt Reeves
Main Cast
• Andy Serkis - Caesar
• Jason Clarke - Malcolm
• Gary Oldman - Dreyfus
• Keri Russell -Ellie
Box Office
Budget: $170,000,000 (estimated)
Opening Weekend: $72,611,427 (USA)
Gross: $208,543,795 (USA)
Filming Locations
• San Francisco
• New Orleans
(USA)
• Vancouver
(Canada)

7. Institutions
The production companies who helped develop the film were:
• Ingenious Media (other films include Avatar, Hairspray and X-Men
• Soho VFX – visual effects (other films The Shallows, Avengers: Age
of Ultron and The Conjuring 2)
• TSG Entertainment – filmography (other films are Deadpool, Joy and
Avatar 2)
• Chernin Entertainment (Hidden figures, Mike and Dave Need
Wedding Dates and War for the Planet of the Apes)

8. Production
• When Joe Letteri, the visual effects supervisor for both Rise and Dawn was interviewed about
how this film was different visually from others before. He answered that the biggest change
was the ability to film in extremely remote locations. He went on to say this filming was so
different from previous as it is set in a really isolated forest all the gear and technology used had
to be robust and wireless.
• The digital effects work cost around $60-80+ million, due to the outdoor locations for almost all
the filming.
• The visual effects for Dawn were done by Weta Digital. Not only used for the apes, but Weta
created other digital animals, such as a herd of elk, a grizzly bear, and CG doubles of the live
horses.

9. Marketing
• The marketing budget for the film was $170 million.
• A viral marketing campaign for the film launched in July 2014 included a "simian flu" website. A
partnership with 20th Century Fox constructed a mobile/PC game Plague Inc. It allows players to
create and customize a simian flu virus to infect the world and eradicate humanity whilst helping
apes survive.
• During the World Cup game an Argentina match against Holland, the trailer for the film was
shown at advertisement break at half time. Even though the clip was released online in June
many of 9.7 million people watching the game said it was their first time viewing.
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRPkO_hKxUk
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aHdDBbXiHQ Simian Flu trailer

10. Merchandise

11. Advertisement
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dweN_7vhhk

12. Who are they Targeting?
• The second film in the series is darker than the first, including higher
amounts of violence and inappropriate language therefore the film is
rated 12, because of this brands such as McDonalds will not advertise
the film for example in happy meals. This may decrease overall
popularity especially with the younger generation. However, this
could possibly become more widespread if this seems more
appealing to older groups as more violence could be more exciting.

13. Compared to Rise of the
Planet of the Apes the
posters for Dawn are
actually a lot more dark
and bleak, this could just
confirm to the audience
this film is going to be
more suitable for more
mature viewers.

14. Online Presence
• Their online presence includes multiple social media
accounts on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, with
many other fan accounts.
• They also included an interesting advertisement
strategy which went viral. The ad did not just show the
trailer of the film but included the Simian virus which
the main aspect of the film why apes have taken over.
Online quiz which ape are you?
http://www.dawnofapes.com/#blue-eyes

15. Exhibition and Exchange
• The released dates for the film ranged from 26 June 2014 in the US all the way to 6 November
2014 in Netherlands. Also Dawn hit the second biggest opening of the summer in 2014.
• A reason why this film was released in July is because it is mid way through the summer holidays
therefore it is more likely for more a larger proportion of people to see the film if it during the
holidays.
• The film was released or both 3D and normal screening, unfortunately the film was not released
as an IMAX because competition from the blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction.
• It is available to stream on YouTube,
Google Play and Netflix.