film studies assignment

1. Audiences & Products
YOUR NAME

2. Task 1

3. Passive Consumption
• Passive consumption is when the audience don’t interact with media content,
they consume the information without expanding on it through their own ideas
and creating further content themselves. This can come as an advantage to many
media outlets as sadly these days some news and information released by
newspapers and other media companies is exaggerated or falsified in order to
make for a more engaging story that will sell better amongst the public, and due
to passive consumption the public wont further look into a false story and
therefor believe it to be true. An example of a media text having a direct
influence on a passive audience, was seen during the 2016 U.S presidential
election when a segment from an Obama interview where he is talking about the
issues young Latin Americans are currently facing in the U.S, was put on fox news
stating that president Obama was urging illegal immigrants to vote. Although it
was taken completely out of context many people believed these claims and
more conservative news companies released the same story, only adding to
rumours amongst the public and building on the false beliefs of a passive
conservative audience.

4. Hypodermic Needle Model
• Definition
The hypodermic needle model is a theory that supports the thought of passive consumption amongst audiences, developed in the 1920's
after researchers observed the effect of government propaganda after world war one. The theory highlights how audiences immediately
believe what is told by the media with no need for further discussion.
• Strengths
The theory provides the people with knowledge of the medias mass public influence and shows how they can easily form collective opinions
amongst the public which support that media outlets own beliefs. Knowing this the general public can now question the media and trust
them less, enabling them to construct their own opinions on certain matters from collecting their own facts and information from more
reliable sources.
In the same way media outlets can influence negative impact through this theory, they can also create a positive impact amongst a large
audience, such as the advertisement of charity organisations and news stories on the people negatively effected by the things the charities
try to stop.
• Weaknesses
This theory suggest that the public will believe anything the media says, imposing a false perception on a large audience, such as how female
models and famous woman's looks and 'perfect bodies' are shown throughout the media creating a false pretence of how woman should
look.
• Example
A good example of this theory was seen around the time when the theory was developing, helping to lead support in its recognition amongst
the public. In 1938 Orson Wells performed a radio broadcast of the famous science fiction novel 'the war of the worlds', when the American
public tuned in they automatically presumed it was a news reading of an actual alien invasion, causing mass panic and riots across the united
states.

5. Active Consumption
• Active consumption is when the audience interact with media content,
they consume the information given and create their own content to relay
onto a further audience. An active consumer use their own ideas formed
from the agreement or disagreement of media text to influence further
production, this category of audiences help break down the wall between
media and public as they question information instead of mindlessly
consuming and following false opinion. Segments of the media that invite
audience interactivity help develop active consumption amongst
audiences, such as question time where politicians and journalists discuss
issues and take audience questions on current world and domestic issues.
viewers at home where even able to actively participate through social
media, a platform that has made for a massive increase in active
consumption as the general public are easily able to debate topics or share
information about certain pieces of media from all over the world.

6. Uses and Gratifications Theory
• Definition
This theory supports the idea of active consumption as it refers to what people do with media rather than what the media does to the people. The theory explores why and how certain people actively
consume specific media in order to satisfy specific needs.
Four main categories are covered:
1. Information and education – viewers want to acquire knowledge or information surrounding certain matters, by watching programmes like the news or documentative television.
2. Personal identity – viewers recognise a certain person or product, role models that mirror certain values or characteristics that viewers feel they can relate to.
3. Integration and social interaction – viewers consume certain media products in an attempt to gain information or build on their own knowledge of public information, allowing them to easily produce
topics of conversation with other people in real life or through online platforms such as social media sights.
4. Entertainment – viewers consume media products to give themselves personal enjoyment which they can use as a form of escapism, allowing them to temporarily forget about the worries of real life.
• Strengths
The uses and gratifications theory can have positive effect on audiences as it allows us as an individual to identify the needs in our lives that we fill with media products.
This theory also gives media audiences a positive reception as it acknowledges that the audience are active and choose for themselves what they want to watch instead of being controlled by a certain media
outlet.
• Weaknesses
Although this theory supports an active audience it fails to realise how certain messages are interpreted differently amongst individuals, implying that audiences read certain pieces of information with the
same outlook.
This theory assumes that audiences only actively engage with media to fulfill a need, rather than acknowledging that audiences enjoy whatever is produced by the media
• Example
As the worlds media has developed through technology the escapism through means of entertainment factor of this theory has become extremely apparent. This can be seen in the large increase of online
gaming, specifically online role playing games where players can create completely different lives for themselves in these computer simulated worlds. They are able to converse with people from all over the
world giving them the belief hat they have a second life, one which they often find to be more exciting than their own. A good example of this is the game 'World of Warcraft' which two years from its release
in 2008 had gained 12 million subscriptions, Although they have fun within the game it can have a negative effect on their real life relationships as they become socially detached from the real world but at the
same time the game promotes social interaction amongst players and create virtual community's surrounding the game with forums set up by the game creators blizzard as well as a fan produced art work and
comic strips.

7. Reception Theory
Stuart Halls reception theory looks at how audiences receive and interoperate the
media they consume. The theory states that the producer of a media product
encodes a certain message or value into the product that they want to express to
the reader, the message within the piece of media is then decoded by the audience
but the way that message is received is different for each individual as the
interpretation is influenced by that consumers personal experiences. For example
someone who had lost a parent would react more intensely to the scene in 'Star
Wars: The force awakens' where Han Solo is killed.
Halls theory states that the message can be received in one of three ways:
• Preferred – where the viewer decodes the message exactly how the producer
intended
• Oppositional – where the viewer has an alternative view
• Negotiated – where the viewer generally accepts what the producer intended but
modifies it in a way which reflects their own position.

8. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc) and provide:
• A potential encoded message
Through her positioning and size in the frame the character
'Ray' played by Daisy Ridley is the obvious main character of
this film. A first for the star wars franchise as in the other six
instalments the main character has always been male with
both Luke and Anakin Skywalker used in the earlier films,
with a strong female leading role independence and
equality amongst genders are values that producers are
trying to promote.
• A potential decoded message
Although producers would hope that this character
selection would induce a positive reception amongst
audiences some viewers may see the use of an attractive
white actress taking on the main role as a negative, as it
could be argued that producers know this is what average
viewers want to look at instead of someone of a different
ethnicity therefor promoting message of inequality.

9. Reception Theory
• Choose an image (poster, screenshot from a film, photograph etc) and provide:
• Preferred reading
A viewer who is preferably a republican could easily believe
this story as it was provided by fox new who are themselves
a republican favouring media news outlet that share the
same values as most republicans and therefore this story
would only fuel the beliefs of followers of this party.
• Negotiated reading
Certain viewers may accept the story and have no reason to
believe it false but as they know fox news are heavily
republican they could be suspicious of the story being bias
and read further into it to accumulate their own opinion.
• Oppositional reading
• Someone who is preferably democrat would immediately
see this story and know it is false due to both their
political ideals and how they know not to trust fox news
especially with political information concerning
democrats.
During the 2016 US presidential election fox
news released a story, stating that current
president and democrat Barack Obama was
telling illegal immigrants to vote. Later on the
story was proved as fake news and the
presidents statements had been taken
completely out of context from a separate
interview.

10. Spectatorship
• The spectatorship theory explores how audiences respond to films or
media texts due to their individual entire psychological makeup, it states
that there are four main characteristics involved:
1. Social self – making meaning in similar ways to other individuals
2. Cultural self – referring to other cultural references to make meaning
3. Private self – memories of personal experiences
4. Desiring self – usually sexual self creates response to the content
• Example
For example if an individual has an obsession with cars they will respond
positively to content that fills that desire such as Top Gear.

11. Framework for Interpretation
• List 2 very different frameworks for interpretation;
1
• Age- 18
• Gender - female
• Social status/Class - DE
• Ethnicity - Russian/ english
• Sexuality - straight
• Education - GCSE/ A-Level
2
• Age - 65
• Gender - male
• Social status/Class - AB
• Ethnicity – White British
• Sexuality - straight
• Education - PHD

12. Framework for Interpretation
• Discuss how each may react to a film of your choice based on their framework
• Bridge of spies
1
• The more psychologically demanding
content such as political issues and war
may be to much for the younger, less
educated viewer therefor causing
confusion, leading to overall disinterest in
the film. Due to the subjects ethnic
background they may be able to personally
relate with the films context as it is about a
pinnacle point in history of this persons
country (Russia), they will be able to
connect to the films content through
stories of their own heritage and how the
events of the film may effected their family
members in real life.
2
• A majority of the characteristics used to
describe this particular individual would most
probably qualify them as a part of the
films target audience. Although the viewer may
not be able to directly relate with the film due to
their ethnic background but instead can relate to
it in a different way as they were alive during the
time in which the events of the film took place
(1957) enabling them to re-visit past memories
of hearing about the situations in real life. These
types of political biographical dramas typically do
attract people of this older age and higher
educational/social grade as it employs more
psychologically demanding and serious content,
that highly interests many of the older
generation.

13. Task 2

14. Case Study
• Select a genre (or film franchise) that you like and provide some
contextual background information.
• What is the genre/franchise, what are the key films, who are the key
directors/actors/studios/etc, how successful/unsuccessful was it, how
was it critically received, when were the films made, etc.
• Go over as many slides as necessary

15. Star Wars
• Star wars is an American epic space opera media franchise centred around a collection of
films created by George Lucas, all films take place 'a long time ago in a galaxy far far
away' where the different adventures of various characters are followed. The core of
each story within the numerous different films depicts the battle between good and evil
supplied by the films contexts of 'Jedi vs Sith' and 'Rebellion vs Empire'. A key theme
shown throughout the key films of the franchise is the seemingly never ending search for
'the chosen one' an unknown jedi master who will use the great powers of the force for
good and lead the rebellion to victory against the empire/ first order, restoring peace to
the galaxy. The film employs aspects from a number of different genres which is why it is
characterised under two different styles of film making. Epic, which describes films often
focused on a heroic character with extravagant scenes of mesmerising imagery and an
overall extremely ambitious nature that grips the viewer, shown in Star wars through the
adventures of Luke and Anakin Skywalker and the incredible special effects employed
through the endless spaceship battles and lightsabre fights, factors that in the earlier
trilogy pioneered the industry of special effects. Space opera, a sub-genre of science
fiction which mirrors the aspects of an actual opera like chivalric romance and risk taking
but with certain intergalactic elements and set mainly in outer space.

16. George Lucas
• In 1971 George Lucas made a deal with universal studios two direct
two films under their production company, in 1973 Lucas completed
coming of age comedy 'American Graffiti' which lead to numerous
awards including an academy award for best director. Lucas started
on a script for his new sci-fi film 'The journal of the whills' which
included a lot of similar themes to star wars, the script was rejected
by universal but 20th century fox invested in it. With inspiration from
this a new script was drafted, named 'The star wars' and after
numerous subsequent drafts by 1974 the script eventually evolved
into the original film (Star Wars: A new hope). To write, direct and
produce the film Lucas was offered a total of $150,000 from 20th
century fox.

17. Other directorsWith the money he had made from 'A new hope' and his obligation to other production roles now that he was the sole owner and financer of the star wars franchise Lucas
retrieved the help of a vast majority of highly qualified members of the film industry, although he still had big roles to play in the creation and production of the original trilogy.
As Lucas had developed a huge backstory for the franchise with the original films, the idea of releasing prequels to an extremely large audience of which he had formed
intrigued Lucas into carrying on the saga. In 2012 Lucas sold Lucasfilm along with the rights to star wars to Disney, knowing that the films where in huge demand Disney started
developing the sequel trilogy and as 'Star Wars' was now under a new name Disney employed new directors to carry on the franchise.
• Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Director – Irvin Kershner
Lucas's old cinematics art professor and director of 'Eyes of Laura Mars' (1978)
• Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Director - Richard Marquand
Director of 'Eye of the needle' (1981)
Lucas directed the prequal trilogy himself as he was fascinated in the idea of evolving his own creation himself, although he received help from Johnathon Hales for the
screenwriting of Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002).
• Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
Director – J.J Abrahms
Director of 'Super 8'(2011) and 'Star Trek'(2009)
• Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
Director - Rian Johnson
Director of 'Looper' (2012)
• Star Wars: Episode IX
• Director - J.J Abrahms

18. cast
Lucas liked to use young actors with little experience, something which has been
employed into almost every Key Star Wars films even after the selling of the
Franchise to Disney.
Original Trilogy
• Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker)
Before star wars Hamill had only appeared in television shows and TV films in the
united states.
• Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia)
As well as appearing in American television shows in the 60's Fisher also starred in
the 1975 American Romantic-comedy film 'Shampoo'.
• Harrison Ford (Han Solo)
In 1973 Ford starred in Lucas's American comedy film 'American Graffiti'.

19. cast
Prequal trilogy
• Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi)
As well as a career in television and Theatre McGregor also starred in numerous Films
before Star Wars, such as the extremely popular 1996 film 'Trainspotting'.
• Natalie Portman (Queen Padme Amidala)
Before Star wars Portman had starred in a Handful of Films and worked under Highly
Qualified directors such as Tim Burton and Woody Allen.
• Jack Lloyd (Anakin Skywalker - child)
A child actor who had appeared on multiple television shows and films, including the highly
acclaimed 1996 film 'Apollo 11'.
• Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker – adult)
Before starring in Star Wars Hayden spent the majority of his career in American television
shows.

20. cast
Sequel trilogy
• Adam Driver (Ben Solo/Kylo Ren)
Other than appearing in a number of television shows including law and order and
spending 5 years starring on the HBO television series 'Girls' and a few small big
screen productions, Driver wasn’t really to widely known to audiences before Star
Wars.
• Daisy Ridley (Rey)
Before her leading role in 'The force awakens' Ridley appeared In a number of small
English television shows and short films such as casualty and youngers
• John Boyega (Finn)
As well as appearing in numerous British tv shows Before star wars Boyega was
most known for his role as the lead protagonist in the highly popular low budget
British independent film monsters

21. Key films
Within three weeks of the original films release (Star Wars: A new hope) the stock price
for 20th Century Fox tripled, the films great success completely reinvigorated the
company, with the annual profits of 1977 being £79 million. Fox was saved from
becoming a completely bankrupt production company and turned into the huge media
conglomerate it is today.
• Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope (1977)
Synopsis - The Imperial Forces, under orders from cruel Darth Vader, hold Princess Leia
hostage, in their efforts to quell the rebellion against the Galactic Empire. Luke
Skywalker and Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon, work together with the
companionable droid duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess, help the
Rebel Alliance, and restore freedom and justice to the Galaxy.
Budget - $11 million
Box office - $775.4 million

22. key films
• Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
Synopsis - Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia and Chewbacca face attack by the Imperial forces
and its AT-AT walkers on the ice planet Hoth. While Han and Leia escape in the Millennium Falcon, Luke
travels to Dagobah in search of Yoda. Only with the Jedi master's help will Luke survive when the dark
side of the Force beckons him into the ultimate duel with Darth Vader.
Budget - $18 - 33 million
Box office - $534.1–538.4 million
• Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi (1983)
Synopsis - Luke Skywalker battles horrible Jabba the Hut and cruel Darth Vader to save his comrades in
the Rebel Alliance and triumph over the Galactic Empire. Han Solo and Princess Leia reaffirm their
love and team with Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, the Ewoks and the androids C-3PO and R2-D2 to aid
in the disruption of the Dark Side and the defeat of the evil emperor.
Budget - $32.5 - 42.7 million
Box office - $475.1 - 572.7 million

23. Key Films
• Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)
Synopsis - Obi-Wan Kenobi is a young apprentice Jedi knight under the tutelage of Qui-
Gon Jinn; Anakin Skywalker, who will later father Luke Skywalker and become known as
Darth Vader, is just a 9-year-old boy. When the Trade Federation cuts off all routes to the
planet Naboo, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are assigned to settle the matter.
Budget - $115 million
Box office - $1.027 billion
• Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
Synopsis - Set ten years after the events of "The Phantom Menace," the Republic
continues to be mired in strife and chaos. A separatist movement encompassing hundreds
of planets and powerful corporate alliances poses new threats to the galaxy that even the
Jedi cannot stem. These moves, long planned by an as yet unrevealed and powerful force,
lead to the beginning of the Clone Wars -- and the beginning of the end of the Republic.
Budget - $115 million
Box office - $649.4 million

24. Key films
• Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Synopsis - it has been three years since the Clone Wars began. Jedi Master Obi-Wan Kenobi
and Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker rescue Chancellor Palpatine from General Grievous, the
commander of the droid armies, but Grievous escapes. Suspicions are raised within the Jedi
Council concerning Chancellor Palpatine, with whom Anakin has formed a bond. Asked to
spy on the chancellor, and full of bitterness toward the Jedi Council, Anakin embraces the
Dark Side.
Budget - $113 million
Box office - $848.8 million
• Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015)
Synopsis - Thirty years after the defeat of the Galactic Empire, the galaxy faces a new threat
from the evil Kylo Ren and the First Order. When a defector named Finn crash-lands on a
desert planet, he meets Rey, a tough scavenger whose droid contains a top-secret map.
Together, the young duo joins forces with Han Solo to make sure the Resistance receives the
intelligence concerning the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker, the last of the Jedi Knights.
Budget - $306 million
Box office - $2.068 billion

25. Key films
• Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017)
Synopsis - Luke Skywalker's peaceful and solitary existence gets
upended when he encounters Rey, a young woman who shows strong
signs of the Force. Her desire to learn the ways of the Jedi forces Luke
to make a decision that changes their lives forever. Meanwhile, Kylo
Ren and General Hux lead the First Order in an all-out assault against
Leia and the Resistance for supremacy of the galaxy.
Budget - $200 million
Box office - $1.332 billion

26. merchandise
• The success of the 1977 original film led to Star Wars becoming one of the most merchandised franchises in the world. Whilst
making a new hope Lucas claimed the rights to all star wars merchandising in exchange for a $500,000 pay cut from 20th century
fox. Over the years this small deal ended up costing 20th century fox more than $20 billion in merchandising revenue profits. As
The Star Wars franchise grew throughout the years more extravagant and diverse merchandise was created, such as:
• Star Wars action figures to coincide with the release of each film
• Pez dispensers
• 'Star Wars: escape from the death star' board game
• Risk adapted board games 'Star Wars Risk: The clone Wars edition' and 'Risk: Star Wars original trilogy edition
• Three different tabletop role playing games made in the 90's, 80's and 2000's
• A number of different trading and top trump cards, some of which today can sold for almost $1,000 such as the 1993 Galaxy Series
II "floating Yoda" P3 card.
• Lego star wars pieces and sets accompanied by video games and small television Lego star wars series.
Since the rights for star wars and Lucasfilm were sold to Disney in 2012 Star Wars merchandise has seen a massive increase, as Disney
are already know to be huge developers and suppliers of merchandise for a number of their films they really capitalised on Star Wars
with a whole section of the Disney theme park 'epcot' dedicated to the franchise, with inspired rides, live shows, children Jedi
training and characters walking around the park that interact with the guests.

27. Extensive media
Literacy
Throughout the franchises existence their has been multiple novelisations of the films as well as multiple other pieces of
star wars based fiction:
1. Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (1978) Alan Dean Foster (novelisation)
2. Splinter of the Mind's Eye (1978) Alan Dean Foster (novelisation)
3. Star Wars 7 (1978) Marvel Comics, first installation of expanded star wars universe
4. The Empire Strikes Back (1980) Donald F. Glut (novelisation)
5. Return of the Jedi (1983) James Kahn (novelisation)
6. The Han Solo Adventures trilogy (1979–1980) Brian Daley
7. The Adventures of Lando Calrissian (1983) trilogy by L. Neil Smith
8. Thrawn trilogy (1991–1993) Timothy Zahn (expanded universe)
9. The courtship of princess leia (1994) Dave Wolverton (expanded universe)
10. Jedi academy tilogy (1994) Kevin j. Anderson
11. Shadows of the Empire (1996) Steve Perry
12. Young jedi knights series (1995-1998) Anderson and Rebecca Moesta
13. X-wing series (1996-2012) Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston
After the release of their first series Marvel were set to create another star wars comic book series in the late 80's but the
project was dropped but after Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm and as Marvel entertainment was bought by Disney new
Star Wars comic series were launched in 2015, named Star Wars, Star Wars: Darth Vader and Star Wars: Princess Leia.

28. Extensive media
Video games
1. table-top Star Wars Electronic Battle Command (1979)
2. Star Wars empire strikes back for Atari 2600 (1982)
3. Ataris rail shooter arcade game 'Star Wars' (1983)
4. Return of the Jedi (1984)
5. The empire strikes back (1985)
6. Star Wars:X-Wing (1993) LucasArts
7. Dark Forces (1995) first person shooter
8. Lego Star Wars: The video game (2005)
9. Lego Star Wars II: The original trilogy (2006)
10. Lego Star Wars III: the clone wars (2011)
11. Star Wars Battlefront (2004)
12. Star Wars Battlefront II (2005)
13. Star Wars Battlefront (2015)
14. Star Wars Battlefront II (2017)
Disney launched a new game in 2017 with lenovo, an augmented reality game called 'Star Wars: Jedi Challenges'.

29. Most successful professional parodies
The Star Wars franchise has grown to become a huge icon in todays world and references to the film
are deeply embedded in modern day pop culture, such as the phrase 'May the force be with you'
being used in todays society in order to commemorate 'Star Wars day' where fellow star wars fans
around the world spend the day celebrating the franchise and greeting each other with the phrase
'May the Fourth be with you'. The Original star wars trilogy really brought the sci-fi genre into the
limelight and is seen as the forefront for the now mainstream film genre, making it a prime target
for parodies such as:
• Spaceballs (1987)
• Blue Harvest (2007)
• Something, something, something darkside (2009)
• It’s a trap (2010)
• Robot chickens Star Wars: Episode I (2007)
• Robot chickens Star Wars: Episode II (2009)
• Robot chickens Star Wars: Episode III (2010)
• Hardware Wars (1978)

30. Spin off specials/ films
• Star Wars Holiday special (1978)
Released around Christmas time on CBS the special involves Chewbacca as he returns home to his
planet of Kashyyyk to celebrate 'Life Day' with his family, evidently Lucas hated the special and
forbade it ever to be aired again or produced for home video which almost completely eradicated it
from history.
• Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure (1984)
Wicket the Ewok from 'Return Of the Jedi' helps two children rescue their parents that have crash
landed on the planet Endor and been stolen by a giant known as Gorax.
• Ewoks: The Battle of Endor (1985)
Sequel to 'Caravan of Courage' Wicket and his fellow Ewoks protect their village from foreign
invaders
• Rogue One: A Star Wars story (2016)
First installment of the stories anthology series, which are standalone films which take place before
and during the Original Trilogy. The film follows a group of rebels as they attempt to steal the plans
for the Death Star.

31. Task 3

32. Your Interaction with Media
• Talk about why you like that film/genre and your relationship with it and
how audiences have responded to it, you cover the following:
• How audience engagement relates to the key theories you have outlined in section 1
• Outline and investigate all the different ways in which you and the wider audience
might respond and interact with the film (we’ve covered this at length with the
screenings for Star Wars related material).
1. Active spectatorship, fandom and preferred readings (how do audiences make
active responses to your genre)
2. Frameworks of interpretation, intertextuality and media literacy (consider the
effects of the film on other films/tv/etc and the way this is done, i.e. parody,
pastiche, homage, etc)
3. Social networking, conditions of reception and pre- and post- viewing experience
(how the audience interacts and responds as part of a community)
• Go over as many slides as necessary

33. 1.Audience participation
• With a collective Box office of one billion eight hundred eighty-five million,
the star wars original trilogy was a extramental success in the film industry
during the 1970's and 80's. The mesmerising special effects along with the
intense storylines and blend of multiple genres really gripped audiences
and provided filmmakers and audiences with a completely new platform of
cinema. Audience interaction was already a concept before the star wars
trilogy but People were so engrossed with the films on a scale that had
hardly been seen before in 20th century cinema that audience interaction
was taken to a completely new level. A big way Audiences interact with a
product is through responding with their own media content, an aspect
which is seen a lot amongst Star Wars audiences with things such as fan
films, inspired art and inspired literacy.

34. 1.Fan Art
• Fan art is artwork that relates to a certain work of fiction such as films, comics, television
shows or videogames and is created by the fans of such pieces of media the artwork is
not produced by the creators of that media but by its audience members and usually
depicts a certain character or theme that is displayed in that media. Fan art is usually
found amongst science fiction or fantasy audiences and can be produced in many
different forms, from paintings and drawings to posters, graphic designs or artistic
representations of characters in new contexts and is found amongst the professional
community as well as with amateur artists. Many people see fan art as a good thing as it
gives enthusiastic members of certain audiences the ability to create artistic pieces that
illustrate their own creativity relating to a certain piece of media, allowing them to not
only mirror but evolve certain aspects of that work and share it with people who feel as
strongly as they do. Although some people in the at community say that 'fan art' should
not be considered art at all, as they believe that art must be an individual expression of
the artists and as 'fan art' is derived from some one else's original content it does not
fulfill the qualities of that which makes it art. In argument to this is although the core
concept of the art is imitative of pre-existing content most artists still employ their own
individualistic style into their pieces.

35. These are examples of more traditional fan art
that depicts scenes, themes or characters
already seen in the original content that has
inspired artists to mirror them in different
artistic styles

36. These examples of fan art are illustrations
of characters from Star Wars that have
been put into completely new and
sometimes controversial contexts

37. These types of fan art are a personal
favourite of mine as they not only use
content from the original Star Wars
story but also reference other pieces
of pop culture, I find the use of
intertextuality extremely creative

38. 1.Fan fiction
• Fan fiction is described as a piece of literacy that employs or refers to the
characters or settings from an original piece of fiction, fan fiction is rarely
commissioned by the creators of an original piece of work and instead is
created by the fans of that work that are inspired by its content. Most fan
fiction work is not professionally published and is usually read by other
fans of the subjects in which the work credits, due to recent surges in
worldwide online connectivity it has become easier for fan fiction writers
to share their work amongst fellow fan members. Although there a
numerous catergories and terms in which pieces of fan fiction come under
there are three main categories of fan fiction, stories that carry on the
somewhat unfinished stories of original text, stories that adapt certain
original storylines and stories that aren't completely related to original
storylines but exist within the same fictional universe and may or may not
use original characters.

39. 1.Fan Fiction
A popular topic in star wars fan fiction is the father and son relationship between Luke Skywalker
and Darth Vader, fans are inspired by the extremely complicated relationship that these characters,
the amazing back story to their relationship lays the groundwork for extremely creative fan fiction. I
accessed a star wars fan fiction thread and found some examples.
• Falling back by LMarsh
When Luke rescues Lord Vader from a crashed TIE, he begins to wonder if he can redeem his Sith
Lord father.
• Please by Jay's Wings
A one shot, about Luke's thoughts and questions pertaining to his destiny and his parentage as he
goes to surrender to Vader on Endor, and the surprising meeting with his father that led Luke to
turn himself in.
• The strength to do for his child by skippingsteppingstones
an even younger, more naive Luke finds out about his Father in a truly childish way. When
confronted with the only person in the galaxy who would hug him Vader must question reality.

40. 1.
• Almost sixteen years after the original trilogy ended with 'The Return of the Jedi'
George Lucas released the 4th installment of the franchise called 'The phantom
menace'. With expectations being so high it was almost inevitable that die hard
fans of the franchise were going to be let down and the reality is that a lot of
them were, for many reasons. No real frightening antagonist like Darth Vader or a
protagonist in which the audience can empathise with like Luke sky walker and
storylines that lacked mystery with characters who's origins stories or personal
emotions and relationships are never really highlighted. With the mass amount of
people who were unpleased with the new Films fans took it upon themselves to
create new storylines, that they felt would please Star Wars audiences. Some
people although agreeing with the mass majority of audiences that the new films
were a disappointment didn’t agree with the story changes and the anger of fans
evoked by the film not going their way as they supported Lucas ideas as a film
maker, saying how he made his art not to please audiences but to please himself
he made the films In accordance to his own imagination which is really what art is
all about.

41. 1.Fan films
• As technology has increased massively over the years to the point where everyday people are
easily able to get their hands on cheap good quality filming equipment and then easily upload
there own content to the world through the internet, a new method of audience interactivity has
become very popular fan films. A fan film is a film inspired by certain piece of media such as a
television show, comic book or film, mostly created by amateur film makers or fans of such media
works. Fan films come under similar pretenses to that of fan fiction by creating new or developing
on stories of a certain fictional universe. whilst some copyright holders of the films actively
discourage the creation of fan movies some invite them as they see it as a fun and creative way of
actively interacting and sharing information with their audiences, therefor helping to promote
their work. In 2000 Lucasfilm adapted their official policies regarding fan films and started the
LucasFilms official star wars fan films awards although fan fiction entries were prohibited until
2007. A key reason as to why Lucas prohibited fan fiction from being entered is a compelling
argument as to why fan fiction has a negative effect on the film industry which is shown in he star
wars franchise, it is thought that the numerous fan theories relating to the stars wars prequels is a
big reason why audiences were disappointed as not only did it give everyone such high
expectatiions with the almost unlimited supply of different an thought provoking storylines for
the new films but it can be said that it spoiled some storylines that Lucas would have potentially
used as when they were released so not to look like he was copying the work of amateur film
makers Lucas didn’t employ plots or themes already established on the internet.

42. 1.Fan films
• Hardware Wars
The first Star Wars fan film to be made was Hardware wars. Made by Ernie
Fosselius in 1978 only 18 months after the original films release, Hardware wars is a
short film parody of the teaser trailer from the original film with added puns and
jokes. overall the film was a massive success with over 15 film festival awards and a
box office total of $1,000,000, even George Lucas himself said it was his
favourite Star Wars parody.
• Troops
Troops is a short mockumentary film directed and released in 1997 by Kevin Rubio.
It is a parody of the hit US tv show Cops it depicts two imperial stormtroopers
patrolling the dune sea of tatooine as they encounter some familiar faces whilst
filming the hit imperial tv show 'Troops'. The film was awarded the inaugural
Pioneer Award at the 2002 Official Star Wars fan film awards and is known as one
of the most popular fan films around, probably due to the fact that it was one of
the first fan films to use internet distribution.

43. 1.Fan films
• Star Wars: The Force and The Fury
A short film directed and created by Jason Satterlund in 2017. The story encounters
a lone Jedi who crash lands on an un known planet and is followed by a mysterious
Sith lord who appears to know him. The production is very popular amongst the
Star Wars community for its almost professional standard cinematography,
incredible jungle setting and mesmerising audio effects.
• Darth Maul: Apprentice
Darth Maul: Apprentice is a short action/sci-fi fan film made in 2017 by writer and
director Shawn Bu. The story depicts Sith Lord Darth Maul as he engages in a
heated light saber with six Jedi's, he wins the battle to complete his training. This
film is deemed the most viewed star wars fan film on the internet, which is
doubtlessly due to the professional production value supported by the quick and
intense choreography and incredibly well done special effects shown through the
lightsabers themselves and the use of the force.

44. 2.
• With a franchise as successful and as big as star wars it is almost impossible for it not to have some form of
influence on further pieces of media such as films and television shows. There are two main instances in which
this is seen, Parody and Pastiche. A film parody, also known as a 'spoof', similar to fan films although when
done by professional companies they often are described as parodies, is a piece of work which imitates or
makes fun of in a comedic sense an original work of film. It often involves quite serious themes and context
from a certain film or franchise being alternated into a similar narrative but with comical elements. One of the
earliest parodies in recorded film is the 1922 silent film 'mud and sand', a comedic adaption of Rudolph
Valentino's silent drama of the same year 'Blood and Sand', from this parodies have spawned into a pinnacle
point in the life cycle of almost any genre. Although some people see parodies as wonderful a thing such as in
the encyclopedia of Denis Diderot where it states 'A good parody is a fine amusement, capable of amusing and
instructing the most sensible and polished minds', it can also be seen to have a negative effect not only in the
sense of it potentially ruining or overlapping the more serious pieces of art that people have put a lot of work
into but also with copyright issues. Although most parodies are only imitations which doesn’t often infringe on
any copyright laws some are considered derivative work which can inevitably lead to countless financial
lawsuits and problems. Some people say there is entirely no need for parodies or pastiche's in todays film
industry as films of the same genre are constantly recycling key themes and pieces of narrative that are
somewhat imperative to that genre, meaning even the so called original films are themselves already parodies.
In my personal opinion parodies have had a positive effect on the star wars franchise as not only have they
provided me with a new and in a lot of ways amore comically amusing adaption of my favourite films but they
have created pieces of professional work that perfectly integrates some of my favourite films and television
shows. My favourite characteristics of parodies is seeing characters adapted into new contexts, providing me
with immensely creative pieces of intertextuality and how parodies like 'Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy
Trilogy', especially in the modern sense cross platforms, which develops the franchise and helps it reach a
further audience.

45. 2. star wars parodies
Laugh It Up, Fuzzball: The Family Guy Trilogy
The animated short series created by the makers of hit
television shows such as family guy and American Dad Consists
of three separate episodes that retell the story of each star wars
film from the original series but with more comedic values and
characters from the family guy show represented as characters
from the original star wars trilogy.
Robot chicken: Star Wars
In a similar style to that of the family guy star wars trilogy
(although robot chicken's parodies came before hand), the
trilogy retells the story of the original star wars films although it
seems to employ more different pieces of narrative through real
life situations such as the cloud city weatherman or the Naboo
janitor sweeping up the corpse of Darth Maul. Like the show
robot chicken action figures are used in a stop motion style of
animation.

46. 2.
• A Pastiche is defined as a piece of work that imitates the style or character of original work, similar to
parodies although rather than mocking or implementing comedic values it celebrates the original work.
Pastiche is found in film in two main ways, through cinematography or similar film making style in terms or
such things like lighting or mise en scene or in a writing sense where work is based on or adapts previous
work. In terms of cinematography or production techniques an example of pastiche from the star wars
franchise are the film transitions known as side wipes. Although Lucas did not invent the side wipe and was
in fact himself inspired to use them from the work of Japanese director Akira Kurusowa, due to the great
success and popularity of the star wars franchise, the side wipe has become a direct reference to the films
when used in other works. In terms of written pastiche in accordance to star wars there is the 1983 cult sci-fi
film 'Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn' brought out six years after the original star wars and within
the same year of 'return of the jedi' this space age western jumped on the bang wagon so to speak, of the
new up and coming sci-fi genre and implements certain factors similar to that of Star Wars such as the space
ranger character and intergalactic spaceship fights.
• Homage is defined as respect towards an individual, company, piece of art etc. That is shown publicely.
When describing film homage is basically the overall state that parodies and pastiches are centered around.
Necessarily Homage doesn’t have to be paid within the entirety of the storyline of a piece of work, it can
also be seen in referencing through small parts of a film or television shows narrative, within either physical
content or dialogue.

47. South Park
Scrubs
Friends
The Simpsons
The Big Bang Theory
How I Met Your Mother
Click to add text

48. 3.Audience interaction
• A great thing about the media is that although at times it may force people
apart with contradicting views it also helps bring people together and
creates community's through the common interest of a piece of media.
Audiences interacting with products and each other has always been a
thing but the rise of social media and the internet as a whole has really
developed audience interaction on a massive scale. There are too main
situations in which discussion amongst media communities relating to a
certain product is formed, pre-viewing experience and post-viewing
experience. Pre-viewing experience involves the build up to a film with
things such as trailers, posters and interviews, the knew information such
as characters or potential plot lines that are released create a certain hype
amongst the viewing communities and provides them with points of
discussion surrounding the new film. Post-viewing experience is seen after
the films release where people will discuss the film and analyse
it, debating their own personal thoughts.

49. 3.
• Interaction amongst fans is seen a lot and on a massive scale with star wars audiences especially within the
online community. A big factor is fan sites, of which there a hundreds dedicated to the star wars franchise.
Fan sites are websites created and maintained by certain fans although fan sites can be also be created by
the subjects producer or a company although these are called official fan sites and are not usually credited
amongst audiences as they often carry commercial messages and the content is often more structured and
controlled. Fan sites are used to offer information regarding a media subject along with pictures,
downloadable content and often links to their fan sites but for many the main attraction to fan sites is the
chance to talk to other fan members through message boards. Message boards and online forums give
people the chance to have live conversations with people from all over the world where they can discuss
their common interests surrounding the star wars franchise and debate their personal thoughts. With the
development of social media it has now become easier than ever for fans to create online fan pages, instead
of going through the effort of making a fully functioning website from scratch fans can now use a simple
template provided by someone like Facebook or twitter and have everything set up and ready in a matter of
minutes. Such pages have become more and more popular as everything is in one place and can be accessed
easily by even the more passive audiences which has really helped the online star wars community grow
from die hard fans on star wars websites to almost anyone who is remotely interested in the franchise being
able to easily participate whilst on social media. There are also certain applications that come with the social
media sights that can be really useful, for example recently on a star wars Facebook page I took part in an
online poll that legislators of the page had implemented, the poll stated 'who shot first?' Regarding the
scene from new hope where Han shoots Greedo in the cantina, the poll inevitably lead to a debate in the
comment section amongst a number of fans.

50. 3.
• There is one online star wars fan site which is slightly different to the rest but in my view the best,
wookipedia. Wookipedia: The Star Wars Wiki is a fan built online encyclopedia which provides all necessary
information regarding the Star Wars universe, I feel that this site is the most effective of all as it gives viewers
a full well structured web of all possible information relating to the fictional universe where like the original
Wikipedia, fans are able to log in and add to the page with their own factual information about the star wars
universe and write in great detail something they are really passionate about which inspires others to join in
and add something for themselves therefor developing the site more and more. Although the internet and
social media sights have sky rotted audience interaction and the forming of fan communities, the internet is
not the only effective way for fans to interact. Star Wars conventions are some of the most visited in film
history, there are many different conventions held all over the world where fans gather to meet creators,
actors, experts and other fans to discuss and appreciate the star wars franchise. The most famous Star wars
convention is the 'Star Wars celebration', started by Lucasfilm the first 'celebration' was held in Denver
Colorado in 1999 to celebrate the release of the new film 'The Phantom Menace' overall there have been 12
held in places all over the world from los Angeles to London to Tokyo and have been attended by millions of
people. I think conventions like the star wars celebration are the most effective way for audiences to interact
with one another, although online forums and pages are quick and easy and connect people from all over
the world conventions give fans the opportunity to physically meet and discuss their common or
contradicting thoughts concerning the star wars universe as well as expressing their love for the franchise in
fun, quirky and individualistic ways through cosplay.