REC is a low-budget Spanish horror film from 2007 that was filmed in a handheld documentary style. It was a box office hit in Spain. Quarantine is the American remake produced in 2008. It was released by Screen Gems, a major studio known for remaking horror films. Screen Gems produced Quarantine quickly after REC's success to capitalize on the trend of found footage films and demand from English-speaking audiences who did not want to read subtitles. As a vertically integrated company owned by Sony, Screen Gems profited from both the film's production and related merchandise, helping to increase overall profits for the original REC as well.

1. PR2: Same Film, Different Time and Place
Rec and Quarantine Research Task
Quarantine Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUw2zNR5Dzc
Task 1
Find out the following information:
Rec
Director
Year of Production
Distributor
Budget
Box office takings
Sequels
2007
Film Ax
£2 Million
Quarantine
John Erick Dowdle
2008
Screen Gems
$12 Million
$32,492,948
$41,319,906
2,3 and 4 is to be released
2
JaumeBalauero andPaco Plaza.
Read the interviews with John Erick Dowdle and JaumeBalaguero and answer the following
questions
http://totalscifionline.com/interviews/2761-john-erick-dowdle-quarantined
http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/865/865683p1.html
Task 2:
1. Explain JaumeBalagoro’s reasons for making REC in a handheld, documentary style

2. JaumeBalagoro filmed REC in a handheld documentary style to make it more realistic and so the
viewer feels more involved in the film, this style of film has already proven popular.
2. Is it a coincidence that Cloverfield and Diary of Deadwere released at the same time, or does
it relate to audience demand for horror filmed in this style?
This is not a coincidence, they brought them both out at the same time due to this type of film
being popular at the time so the film companys would make more money from doing this
aswell
3. Why do you think Screen Gems, the distributors of Quarantine wanted to get the remake
out so quickly?
Because they would gain more money whilst REC was still fresh in peoples minds, they
would have seen the Spanish version , and a lot of people don’t want to read subtitles so
they made a English version.
For your article, you need to consider why film production companies produce remakes and the
factors that influence those remakes.
Factors which influenced the remake of REC
Financial factors
Trends
Genre and popularity
Synergy (related products such as DVD’s/books/TShirts)
Vertical integration (where a film company deals with the production, distribution and
consumption of a film)
In your magazine article you will need to comment upon all of the above
Task 3:
In the box below, write your introduction to your article. Use your findings from Task 1 and 2 to
help you

3. P2 describe the
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M2 explain the relationship
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generally correct use of
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D2 comprehensively explain the
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Article intro:
P1.Introduce your article by giving the titles of the films covered and production factors which
influence remakes
Quarantine is an English version of the Spanish movie Rec which was a low budget
film made in 2007. Remakes of films normally occur when the original film is dated.
This will bring in more money for the film company’s because it will extend their fan
base.
P2. REC.
Relate factual information about REC ; director, release date, distributor, budget and box office
takings. Describe the production values and context (handheld documentary style/plot synopsis)
The directors of REC are two Spanish men, JaumeBalauero andPaco Plaza. The film was
released by FilmAx in August 2007, the film was popular in Spain because it was in that
language but not so popular in England because subtitles were needed, never the less they still
made $32,492,948, which is really good seeing as their budget was only $2 Million. The
style of this film is a hand held documentary, which was filmed by the film crew that
was in the movie as they were doing their own news report.
P3. Quarantine
Relate factual information about Quarantine; director, release date, distributor, budget and box
office takings. Describe the production values and context (handheld documentary style/plot
synopsis. Explain similarities and differences with the original.
The director of Quarantine is an American called John Erick Dowdle, the film was released by
screen gems in 2008. Quarantine made $41,319,906 at the box office, when the budget
for the film was only $12 million. Like rec the original, this film is also filmed in a
hand held documentary style.
P4. Production Contexts
Explain why Quarantine was produced so soon after REC. Give examples concerning trends, genre
and financial factors.

4. Quarantine was released so soon after REC because Rec was such a big box office hit in Spain that they
wanted to bring the film to America/England, but a lot of people did not want to read subtitles. So to
fix this problem Screen Gems which is a big film company that specialise in remaking horror films, as
they made a remake of Carrie made an English remake to meet the high demand. Furthermore as
Cloverfeild came out at more or less the same time which is another hand held style of movie, this sort
of film was a trend with people at the time which also made REC and Quarantine so popular
P5.
Explain synergy and vertical integration and how Screen Gems are an example of a vertically
integrated company. Explain how Screen Gems have contributed to the overall success of REC due to
this.
Synergy is when a company expands on the fact that they have brought a film out, for example when a
film is released afterwards DVDs, posters, sound tracks, calenders and books are released to
maximize profit for this one film. Vertical integration is when a company has control over both the
production, distribution and exhibition because of this, they receive all of the profits. Sony is a vertically
integrated company, it owns the production and distribution rights to Screen Gems which made
Quarantine, maximizing the profits when this movie was released. Also Screen Gems have contributed
to the overall success of REC by making a English version of the film, people who went to see
Quarantine knew it was a remake, so they would also want to see the original, so would buy it on DVD,
thus adding to Filmax profit