Action Adventure Film Session 2Learning Objectives:

1. To be able to explain the financial and institutional issues in determining a films’ success or failure

2. To understand marketing strategies for promoting films

3. To revise the conventions of the film poster as a marketing tool

Narrative Structure

Share your homework with a partnerWhat similarities and differences do your ideas have? Did anyone find a film that didn’t conform to Todorov’s theory?What conclusions can be drawn about the Action Adventure genre?

Key terms

Budget: how much a film costs to make – production & marketing costs (budget numbers for movies can be both difficult to find and unreliable. Studios often try to keep the information secret and will use accounting tricks to inflate or reduce announced budgets)

Box office: how much was gained from ticket sales alone of a film’s cinema release (check whether it is domestic (USA)/ foreign/ worldwide)

Gross : total amount made (Some figures will include ancillary sales e.g. DVD and related merchandise. Others won’t. Check a range of sources and always compare like for like)

Net: amount made (or lost) after production costs have been subtracted from gross figureFigures will usually be in $ as opposed to £

www.the-numbers.com

www.boxofficemojo.com

www.imdb.com

Measuring Success

Films have the potential to skyrocket the profits of a studio, or to send it into ruins and bankruptcyFilms that cost more to make than they take in revenue (both domestic and worldwide) are considered box-office catastrophes The following list of films that lost the most revenue is based upon two factors: the total cost of each film's production and marketing, minus its total worldwide gross. The total net loss has then been inflation-adjusted for the year 2008.

20 biggest box office flopsCutthroat Island (1995)The Alamo (2004)The Adventures of Pluto Nash (2002)Sahara (2005)The 13th Warrior (1999)Town & Country (2001)Speed Racer (2008)Heaven's Gate (1980)Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (2001)Inchon (1982)Treasure Planet (2002)The Postman (1997)Red Planet (2000)Soldier (1998)Gigli (2003)Around the World in 80 Days (2004)Ishtar (1987)A Sound of Thunder (2005)Hart's War (2002)Hudson Hawk (1991)

Source: www.filmsite.org

Why do you think so many of the films listed are recent productions?

Research task

In your assigned pair, research one of the 4 Action Adventure films:

Box Office Flops:- Sahara (2005)- Stormbreaker (2006)

Box Office Hits:- Avatar (2009)- The Expendables (2010)

Reliable starting points

www.imdb.com www.filmsite.org www.boxofficemojo.com www.the-numbers.com

Pairs

Elliott & Holly CKieran and KatyConnor and HolliEstelle and LaurieCameron and JakeTaylor and LukeJack and CoralRory and Gemma

Sam and ChantelleJames H and TommyJames B and KimZak and HannahMichael and Kirsty

Prompts

Try to find out:Production costsWorldwide gross to dateNet profit (or loss)Notable names (director, writer, actors etc)Production companyReasons for success/failureMarketing strategies (e.g. new technologies, synergy, merchandise) Other significant information

Jigsawing

Split from your partner and form new groups of 4, with each member representing a different filmShare your research ensuring the key information for each film is recorded in your book

New groups:

Group 1 Group 2 Group 3 Group 4 Group 5 Group 6

Connor Holli Katy Elliott Luke Holly

Kirsty Michael Kim James H James B Tommy

Cameron Jake Laurie Chantelle Estelle Sam

Rory Coral Zak Hannah

Sahara (2005)

Director: Breck EisnerStudio/Distributor: Paramount PicturesTotal Cost: $241 million Domestic Gross: $68.7 millionWorldwide Gross: $119 millionTotal Net Loss: $122 million (inflation adjusted at $133 million)

Sahara (2005)

The enormous flop suffered from exorbitant production and marketing costs that inevitably dwarfed its revenue intakeIts muddled production was the result of its 20 producers and 4 credited screenwriters (although ten scripters were paid almost $4 million in fees and bonuses)Major expenditures were made for salaries and 'star perks' for the two starsThe tabloids were heated up over the one-year affair between Cruz and McConaughey that began when they met during filming

Stormbreaker (2006)

Director: Geoffrey SaxStudio/Distributor: Weinstein coBudget: $40 millionDomestic Gross: $659,210 Worldwide Gross: $9,351,567Total Net Loss: $30.6 million

Avatar (2009)

Director: James CameronStudio/Distributor: 20th Century FoxBudget: $237 millionDomestic Gross: $760 million Worldwide Gross: $2.8 billionTotal Net Profit: $2 billion

Avatar (2009)Visionary director James Cameron's monumental work was a futuristic, epic 3-D live-action film, with ground-breaking special effects, and an estimated budget of $300 million (much of it spent on CGI)It became only the fifth film in movie history to exceed $1 billion in worldwide grosses, and did so in less than 3 weeks, and soon surpassed The Dark Knight (2008) to become the top grossing (domestic) film of the entire decadeShortly later, it became the highest-grossing film of all-time (worldwide and domestic)It was the first Best Picture nominee to be entirely filmed using 3-D technology

The Expendables (2010)

Director: Sylvester StalloneStudio/Distributor: LionsgateBudget: $82 millionDomestic Gross: $103 million Worldwide Gross: $251 millionTotal Net Profit: $148 million

Damage limitation

No one can guarantee the success of a film, but measures can be taken to limit the risk of it becoming a box office failureWhat measures can you think of?

Marketing strategies

Thinking back to the film poster planning and production work you did in Year 10, sketch out a rough design for a theatrical poster which advertises your own Action Adventure film

Film Posters

Film Posters

Film Posters

Film Posters

Marketing strategies

In addition to the film poster, how would you market your film? How would you appeal to different demographics?