The document discusses the comedy films Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World's End, which all star Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. These films use techniques like intertextuality, with recurring scenes and references between the films. They also feature recurring themes like the "three flavors of Cornetto" and similar character types played by Pegg and Frost. The target audience for these films is ages 15-30, who find out about and discuss the films online and through fan communities.
1. PR7: Me & My Movies:
Lydia Cooke
Hot Fuzz along with The Worlds End and Shaun of the Dead are all comedy genre films. In all of
these comedy movies we see that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star in each one. As part of the
audience when we see a film starring these two men, we recognise straight away it’s a comedy
movie as they are well – known for being a duo in comedy movies.The movies they star in are
always having an unconventional narrative compared to other typical comedy movies. They
have also starred in the movie Paul together which is also a comedy genre movie.Hot Fuzz and
The Worlds End were both produced by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner,Shaun of the Dead was
produced by Nira Park. Hot Fuzz was distributed by a number of companies such as Universal
Studios, Paramount Pictures, Rogue Pictures and Focus features. The Worlds End was
distributed by Universal Studios and Focus Features, and lastly Shaun of the Dead was
distributed by Universal Studios and Rogue Pictures. The release dates of all three filmsare
years apart. Shaun of the Dead was releasedon the 9th
April 2004 and was a huge hit at the box
office.Afterwards Hot Fuzz was released on the 14th
February 2007 and lastly The Worlds Ends
was releasedon the 19th
July 2013. All movies were a huge hit at the cinema. The target
audience of these movies would most likelybe males and females, aged from 15 onwards.
Interested in mainly unconventional storylinesin comedy movies, such as horror comedy’s and
fantasy comedies. This audience are most likelyto be very aware of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
movies.
Comedy genre filmsattract me the most as I enjoythe stars that are usually used in a successful
comedy genre movie. For example in this trilogy of films the two actors that star in this film are
Nick Frost and Simon Pegg. They are well – known British comedy actors that work as a team.
They are known for their original, quick humour in their movies and they always refer to their
other filmswhen acting in another film.This is use of intertextuality when an actor or scene
refers to another iconic scene in another film. For example in this trilogy of movies there is one
scene that is used once in each film and the audience can relate this scene to the two other
films.The first movie to introduce this scene was Shaun of the Dead, where Shaun (Simon Pegg)
and Ed (Nick Frost) and also Dylan Moran (David) are running away from the zombies that are
chasing them; they find themselvesin a backyard with a fence in front of them. Shaun asks
David ‘What’s the matter David, never taken a shortcut before?’this scene is replicated in Hot
Fuzz Simon Pegs’ character Nicholas Angel asks Nick
Frosts character DC Danny Butterman ‘What’s the
matter Danny, never taken a shortcut before?’ this
image shows all three quotes from the movies,
including The Worlds End where they also jump the
famous fence. This is a reallyobvious use of
intertextualityrunning through each movie which the
audience recognises if they are fans Simon Pegg and
Nick Frost movies.
Another theme that runs throughout these three
movies is the ‘three flavours of doom’ Cornetto
appearance. In each movie a differentCornetto will
appear to reflect that movie. For example in Hot Fuzz,
2. a blue Cornetto appears when DC Danny Butterman begins to eat it, the blue Cornetto is to
connote the police men in the village.The Worlds End contains a green, mint flavoured Cornetto
to connote the aliens,and finallyin Shaun of the Dead a strawberry, red Cornetto appears which
connotes the blood, gore and zombies. The Cornetto trilogy is also a great use of intertextuality
as the audience can relate each of the scenes in all movies,that the Cornetto appears in.
Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements is clearly included in these movies. Firstly the characters are very
distinctive when it comes to representation. All three films have the same actors that are always
the two main characters. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play very similar characters in each movie,
and have very similar roles. As the audience will notice Simon will always play the role of the
more knowledgeable,focused character whereas Nick will play the uneducated, unware
character. For example in Shaun of the Dead Simon Pegg plays a character named Shaun who
has been faced with a new day, full of zombies along with his friendEd who is played by Nick
Frost. Shaun has a job, a girlfriendand is your average working class man. However Ed does not
have a job does not have a girlfriendand sits at home all day. As a fan/audience of these two
famous actors, we know the roles will always be this way as it’s their style of acting. It’s
something they know they audience enjoys to watch. Another example of the characterisation
of the two would be in Hot Fuzz. As Simon Pegg again plays the knowledgeable,legit police
officer that wants to make a difference and put away the bad guys. However DC Danny
Butterman who is played by Nick Frost is very much controlled by the village,and blindedby the
old, innocent faces that live in the village. He lets cases blow over and doesn’t really see the
bigger picture. The audience enjoy the completely differentcharacters Simon Pegg and Nick
Frost play as they contrast each other, and it’s clearly funny to watch.
The structure of all three movies is very clear, and similar to one another. They all have a clear
beginning, middle and end to the film. The media term to a conventional structured movie
would be act 1 character establishment,act 2 the rising action, act 3 climaxes, act 4 falling
action.
The setting of all three filmswill always be in a small town or village that is always fictional. For
example in Hot Fuzz the location of the movie is set in Sanford, a small British Village which is
described as ‘sleepy’in the movie. There doesn’t seem to be any young children or teenagers in
this village,only people aged over 40. This type of location is very unconventional and extremely
entertaining as the audience don’t usually see non-stereotypical locations in other types of
comedy movies.
There are a lot of special effectsused in these three movies for example in The Worlds End the
town is taken over by aliens disguisedas humans. Their eyesglow a bright glowing green, and
their layer is very other worldly. There have been special effects used in this movie to achieve
that paranormal, alien style.Also in Shaun of the Dead the blood and guts that are continuously
are all make-up artist effects which are made to look as realistic as possible.
We find out about these types of movies through lots of differenttypes of media, whether it be
through the televisionor in the cinema, or through social media which is growing more popular
3. and useful to find out information every day. If movies such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and
The Worlds End have a young target audience from 15 to 30 it is more likelythey will find out
information about movies on the internet such as searching trending YouTube trailers and
finding out the latest movies on social media such as Facebook and Twitter. As the younger
audience tend to visit social media sitesquite often to communicate with their friends and find
out about their favourite celebrity’s. They will also use these social media sitesto become a type
of blogger or a reviewergiving their opinions and recommendations to their peers on what
movies and latest TV Shows they findto be good or bad. This way of finding information is very
similar to word of mouth as someone will always tell somebody they know whether the recent
movie they have watched is worth going to see. Magazines are also a good way of sources
information as various journalists will maybe have a review column in a magazine which reports
on the latest movies. These articles can really influence a person’s decision on whether to go
and see a movie for them.
The audience for these films would be from the age of 15 up to the age of 30. As these films
attract a wide range of audience. Nick Frost and Simon Pegg are older actors, so they attract the
older audience. For example if younger actors were used to star in all of these moviesthere
would be a wider range of a young audience. The ethnicity of the audience is likelyto be white
British, as these movies are British movies, and both actors are British actors. However there will
be audiences from America as these filmsare so successful. The social class of the audience is
likelyto be working class, full time and part time jobs with a big interest in comedy movies. The
audience are more likelyto watch these moviesfrom home or at a friend’s house instead of the
cinema.
I have researched into this trilogy of filmsand found lots of fan art, and clubs on social
networking sites such as twitter, and Facebook. These social networking pages post comical
quotes and screenshots from all three movies which fans follow and relate too. They can also
chat to each other and discuss the filmover these sites,which attracts a wider audience as they
are promoting/sellingthe filmto people who may of not seen this trilogy. Fan clubs can create a
wider audience and they also give the chance to interact with other fans of the films.
In conclusion I think the marketing campaign for Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and lastly The
Worlds End has been successful and met my expectations. It’s interesting to see such a wide fan
base and lots of interaction betweenfans of the movies. There has been boxsets you can buy
created for the audience, and still an ongoing amount of merchandise related to these movies. I
personally think Simon Pegg and Nick Frost make a create team in these movies, and would like
to see more movies by these two men, as I assume to audience would agree.