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What is Working TitleWoking Title was founded in 1983 and is a very successful British film production company which is based in London and is owned by Universal Studio’s.

Welcome to Working Titles Home Page

Key peopleThe key people within the company are Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Sarah Radcliffe, Liza Chasin, Debra Heyward, Natascha Wharton. Bevan and Fellner have also received two of the highest awards given to British film makers. How they became successfulWorking Title have made many films in there time but what really made a massive different for them and go the name Working Title out there was PolyGram Entertainment buying Working Title. Because PolyGram is a very successful and well know American entertainment company. Working Title was able to produce a film with a budget of £6 million and make a world wide profit of £244 million. One of Working Titles most successful films yet.


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What they makeWorking Title make films which are aimed to appeal to British audiences but also international audiences. They use well-known American actors and actresses so that their films appeal to the American audience as well.

EverestA climbing expedition on Mt. Everest that is devastated by a severe snow storm. The film is rated 12A and gets a rating of 7.4 out of 10 from the IMDb website. The star cast are Jason Clarke, Ang Phula Sherpa and Thomas M.Wright. The film is directed by Baltasar Kormákur.StorylineOn the morning of May 10, 1996, climbers (Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin) from two expeditions start their final ascent toward the summit of Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. With little warning, a violent storm strikes the mountain, engulfing the adventurers in one of the fiercest blizzards ever encountered by man. Challenged by the harshest conditions imaginable, the teams must endure blistering winds and freezing temperatures in an epic battle to survive against nearly impossible odds.

Hot FuzzExceptional London cop Nicholas Angel is involuntarily transferred to a quaint English village and paired with a witless new partner. While on the beat, Nicholas suspects a sinister conspiracy is afoot with the residents. The film is rated 15 and received a rating of 7.9 out of 10 from the IMDb website. The star cast are Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman and Bill Bailey. The film is directed by Edgar Wright.StorylineTop London cop, PC Nicholas Angel is good. Too good. And to stop the rest of his team looking bad, he is reassigned to the quiet town of Sandford. He is paired with Danny Butterman, who endlessly questions him on the action lifestyle. Everything seems quiet for Angel, until two actors are found decapitated. It is called an accident, but Angel isn't going to accept that, especially when more and more people turn up dead. Angel and Danny clash with everyone, whilst trying to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the apparent "accidents".


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Market Position

Where is Working Title in the market? Working Title is owned my Universal so it could be considered to be part of the big eight, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal studios. Who all have a very high level of quality and competition.

Funding Funding is given to British film companies by the BBFC and BFI to be able to get funding the film company needs to for fill certain criteria to be allowed something. The British Film Institute plans to put £273m towards British films over the next five years, and spending more money on backing new films, equipping up to 1,000 new venues with digital projectors so such films can be shown nationwide, as well as giving training in film skills, and a chance for every school child to watch films and experiment in film techniques and skills.

EverestEverest had a budget of $55,000,000 and within the opening week it made $7,222,035, It then went on to make a further $27,671,310 in total world wide. The film has well known actors which will attracted a wide diversity of audiences. Working Title uses this strategy of well know people (star quality) to play characters in exciting and action films. This means their films are able to appeal to the biggest audiences, the film is also based on a true story which will also make it appeal to bigger audiences. More viewers means more profit for Working Titles.


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Competitors

Main CompetitorsWorking Title is owned my Universal so it could be considered to be part of the big eight, 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, Universal studios. Who all have a very high level of quality and competition. The lowest level of competitors Working title have are Tiger Aspect, Studio Canal and Film Four. These three competitors aren't very big companies but neither is Working Title compared to the likes of 20th Century Fox and Paramount Pictures. So Tiger Aspect, Studio Canal and Film Four influence Working Title a lot on how they produce and distribute their films. Positives of CompetitorsThe competitors could push Working Title to produce a higher quality of film to try and beat the competition. In turn this could increase the amount of viewers as the quality improves. Also when another rival company makes a mistake it could mean audiences come to them instead of the rival companies, therefore increasing profits.

Negatives of CompetitorsIf Working Title do not keep up with their competition they could lose out on priceless film ideas which would lower the quality and originality of their films and they could lose certain audiences because of that, which in turn loses them reputation and more importantly money.


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Film Analysis Page

1Film title

Length

(minutes)

Date realised

(UK)

Production companies

Budget

Box office Main actors Directo

r

Johnny English

88 11th April 2003

Studio Canal and Working Titles

$40 million

$160,583,018

Rowan Atkinson,Natalie Imbroglio,Ben Miller andJohn Malkovich

Peter Hewitt

Shaun of the dead

99 9th April 2004

Studio Canal,Working Titles andBig Talk Productions

$6.1 million

$30 million

Simon Pegg,Nick Frost,Kate Ashfield,Lucy Davis,Dylan Moran,Penelope Wilton andBill Knight

Edgar Wright

Thunderbirds

95 23rd July 2004

Studio Canal andWorking Titles

$57 million

$28,283,637

Bill Paxton,Anthony Edwards,Sophia Myles,Ron Cook and Ben Kingsley

Jonathan Drakes

Hot fuzz

121 14th February 2007

Studio Canal,Working Titles and Big Talk Productions

$12 million

$80.7 million

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost

Edgar Wright

Mr beans holiday

85 24th March 2007

Studio Canal,Working Titles andTiger Aspect Productions

$25 million

$229.7 million

Emma de Cannes,Max Bawdry,Willem Dafoe,Karle Rodin andJean Rocheport

Steve Bendelack

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

109 2nd April 2010

Studio Canal,Relativity Media,Working Titles andThree Strange Angels

$35 million

$93,251,121

Emma Thompson,Rhys Evans,Maggie Gyllenhaal,Asa Butterfield,Ewan McGregor,Maggie Smith,Bill Bailey andKaty Brand

Susanna White

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Hot FuzzIconographyThe very beginning of the film is shot in London. This film is a British film with British cast so promotes the country by showing British icons. A London bus is shown which is a very well know and iconic figure. The scene where they Nicholas and Danny go to the farmer’s house and find all the guns. The farmer has a very strong accent which is made obvious by Angle having to get it translated. This is showing the stereotypical farmer.

ConnotationsNickolas Angel has a peace lily plant which he takes extremely good care of. He talks about the plant quite a lot about how it reduces stress and oxygenates the room. He also talks about his job in depth very often. The scene where he is standing up on the train on the way to Sandford, holding his peace lily under his arm. This scene gives the impression that Angle is a very simple man who’s only goal in life is to be the best at his job. This also suggests that he will not give up on a case until he solves it. This shown by the in depth studies he carries out on each ‘accident’ that occurs in Sandford.

SemioticsThe voice over at the beginning of the film sets the scene very well. The voice over is a stern male voice who uses many police terms and language which gives the film a serious side, not just all comedy. The facial expressions and how smart Nicholas Angel is dressed compared to the other officers at Sandford gives a clear difference between the life of a London Met cop and the life of a quite rural cop. Also props like Angels note book which he uses regularly gives the impression that he is a very well organised and professional officer.

Mise-en SceneThe setting of the film is firstly set in London but mostly set in the rural town of Sandford. The London setting is very expensive and modern looking, with the very large police station with the London busses in that scene making it clear to the audience that it is a very British film. As Angel is the best officer in the Met (the best force in the Britain) he is shown to be a very talented officer. The overall look of sergeant Angel is very professional. He has all of his correct police equipment when on duty, compared to his college Danny who isn’t very smartly dressed and not wearing the correct equipment for the job. When Nickolas first arrived in Sandford he makes many arrests with under aged drinkers in the local pub and he also arrests Danny (who he doesn’t know yet) for trying to drive a car while drunk and almost running Nickolas over.


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The storyline of the film: PC Nicholas Angel (Simon Pegg) is the best cop of London’s Metropolitan police. He is out performing his colleagues and making them all look bad; as a result of this, his superiors chose to promote him to Sargent in this rural sleepy town of Sandford. When he arrives at the town he is paired with Danny Butterman (Nick Frost). Everything seemed normal and quiet in the town until after a few days after he arrived two actors were found dead. Everyone believes that is was an accident and that “accidents happen all the time round here.” But Angel doesn’t accept that and starts digging further and further into the suspicious lives of the towns people as more and more “accidents” continue to happen.

The budget of the film was £8,000,000 this budget made it possible for the producers to add more into the film like special effects. The special effects like to explosions and gore of the injuries that happen. Also a higher budget means they can afford more expensive and better quality cameras and equipment to get the good shots. Therefore making it eye catching and more exciting for the viewers. It made $23,618,786 in total worldwide; this was a huge success even though people didn’t think it would be able to be anything like as successful as the previous film Shaun of The Dead.

The package of the film includes Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright as they both have history together making successful films. The film also uses two very well know actors (Pegg and Frost) who are known to be partners in successful films. The film also promotes Britain by using British land marks like the double decker busses shown in one of the scenes. The start quality includes Simon Pegg who is a comedian and was in Shawn of the Dead, Spaced etc. Nick Frost is a comedian and was in Shawn of the Dead, Spaced etc. Most of the cast are well known comedic actors, which gives the film a higher reputation when competing against other films of a similar genre.


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The target audience is comedy fans, action fans, fans of Shaun of the Dead and fans of Working Title Fans. The film appeals to most people as it has something or everyone in the film, like different types of comedy to suit different people but also has a slightly serious side at certain points in the film. This would appeal to action and adventure film fans also there is quite a lot of mystery which would appeal to people who like that.

This close up shot of Simon Pegg when he is in the supermarket going to try and arrest the people behind all the murders. This shot focuses the audience on Pegg’s facial expressions to show the audience his determination.

This shot of Simon Pegg is a medium shot, the background on this shot is blurred, this is to focus the attention of the audience to the guns he is carrying.

This is a long shot of Frost and Pegg trying to catch the swan, this shot show a large amount of background and allows the audience to see what is happening.

This mid angle shot is used to show a character or characters socialising with each other, so that they are all seen by the audience to be the


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Target Audience

Working Title’s target audience is mainly the British public but also focuses on the American audiences as the big film distributor originate from there. Also the American audience is larger than the British audience therefore there is more profit to be made overseas.


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Distribution Advertising

There are many different film distribution companies, like Universal, Entertainment One UK, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros. and many more. The film distributor is responsible for the advertising of that particular film. The distributor aims to make to most profit they can, depending on the budget of the film they can spend a massive amount of money advertising. But if the adverting pays off the distribution company and make high profits.

Hot Fuzz was distributed by Universal Pictures which is a very well known and successful company.

Above the line advertising would involve using TV interviews, radio station, and an interview.

Below the line advertising would involve things like TV adverts, internet sharing, advertising posters in the centre of different cities.


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Questionnaire results/ analysis Page 1

Male Female0

0.51

1.52

2.53

3.5 Question 1: Gender

under 10

11-15 years

16-20 21-25 26-30 31-35 36+0

0.20.40.60.8

11.2

Question 2: Age

02

Question 3: How often do you watch film?

Action

Ganste

r/Crim

e

Roman

ce War

Dance/

Musical

Drama

01.5

3

Question 4: What genre of films do

you like to watch?

012

Question 5: Why do you like certain

genres?

Haven't see it

YouTube TV advert

Related website

00.5

11.5

22.5

Question 6: Where did you watch the trailer?

¾ of the people asked where male. This could be because the film appeals more to the male audience due to the action and violence.All of the people asked where aged between 16-20 years.The favourite genre of the people asked was action, horror and comedy. Hot Fuzz is an action comedy type of film so appeals to fans of action and comedy. The film was rated very highly. It was rated between 6-9 and the work of the director was also rated between 6-9. Most people said that the story line and famous cast of a film attracts them to watch it. Hot Fuzz has a brilliant storyline which keeps the audience hooked. And it also has many very well know comedic actors, this boost the profile of the film and encourages people to watch the film just because of the start quality.

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Questionnaire results/ analysis Page 2

Cinem

a

DVD/Blu-

rayNetfl

ix

Amazo

n Prim

e024

Question 7: Where did you watch the film?

024

Question 8: Why did you watch the

film?

TV Radio Posters Word of mouth

0

2

Question 9: How did you hear

about the film ?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 100123

Question 10: On a scale of 1-10 what would you rate the

film?

Bellow £5

£5-£7 £8-£10 £10 and above

00.5

11.5

22.5

Question 11: How much would you be willing to spend on a DVD of the film? 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

0

1

2

Question 12: How would you rate the

directing of the film?

Famous

Directo

r

Famous

cast

Storyl

ineGen

re

Good t

railer

012

Question 13: What en-courages you to watch a

film?

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The aim off the BBFC is to give films a rating based on the content of that film. A film can be rated either U, PG, 12, 12A, 15, 18, and R18.

Every 4-5 years, the BBFC carries out a public consultations to find out what everyone thinks about the age rating of films before they are released and if the classification standards are up to the standard of the public.Hot Fuzz is rated a 15 by the BBFC as the film contains very strong language and strong comic bloody violence.

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiTr6DHx87JAhWGRhQKHc53CCgQjRwIBw&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BBFC_Logo.svg&bvm=bv.109332125,d.d24&psig=AFQjCNEpv0t5cneFTpElgSTnOpum0L-ohA&ust=1449742965476346


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Ofcom (Office of Communications) is government approved and regulates films and media, they also have a wide-range of powers across the television, radio, telecoms and postal sectorsThe ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) is the UK’s independent regulator for advertising in all media. We apply the Advertising Codes, which are written by the Committees of Advertising Practice. Our work includes acting on complaints that are made and checking the media to take action against misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements that cause upset to consumers.


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Inoculation/Desensitisation Model- says long term exposure to repeated media messages make the audience immune to them, so they will no longer be shocked by it.

Problems with this model- despite many things being normalised by the media not all people are violent, it also ignores changes in culture like attitudes to swearing and other attitudes which have changed over time and treats the audience as passive.

The Cultivation Analysis- is heavily based on ideology for example teen agers are violent, pensioners are old fashioned and the French are all romantic. The media reinforces these ideas through people being stereotyped in the media.

The Two Step flow Katz and Lazarsfeld- says the audience receives media messages through opinion leaders, individuals who pay close attention to the media and filter information the family and friends, so receive messages without consuming the text. This model is treating the audience as active and not passive.

Gratifications Model- identifies for needs that are met by viewing television, suggest that audiences make active use of media to fulfil their needs. The four needs are Escapism, Personal Identity, Information/Surveillance, and Social Interaction.

Reception Theory- this is the ides that an active audience has to decode the meaning within the text, therefore different audiences will do so in different ways. Preferred reading is where the reader accepts the dominant reading of the text as it reflects the views or beliefs of the audience. Oppositional reading is when

Active and Passive Audiences

P.I.E.S- Personal Identity, Information, Entertainment, and Social Integration.

someone makes a conscious rejection on the preferred meaning. Negotiated reading is when someone understands the meaning but it doesn’t relate to them so is of no interest for them to decode it.

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Active and Passive Audiences Pick and Mix Theory- this is the idea of audiences that ignore some aspects and choose aspects which suit them the best at the time. New ways of viewing media like on demand TV and Netflix for example, allow us to create our own viewing schedule.

Reality TV needs- programs like Celebrity Big Brother meet escapism/entertainment needs, information needs, personal identity needs, and social interaction needs.

Factor effecting media response- is gender, age, and ethnicity.

Marxism- says that the media is controlled by whoever is in power politically and economically.

We consume media texts because it gives us reassurance, voyeurism (please of watching someone without being watch), and intertextuality (pleasure of spotting references to other media texts).

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Active and passive audience questionnaire

1. What is a active audience?

2. What is a passive audience?

3. Would you class yourself as a active or passive audience member?

4. In your opinion is it better to be a passive audience or a active audience?

5. Do you think film producers prefer an active or a passive audience?

6. Why do you think film producers prefer that type of audience?

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Justification of the film’s ratingThe film Hot Fuzz is rated 15 by the media organisations like the BBFC. The main factors to why the film was rated a 15 is because of the use of strong language, horror and violence. The repeated use of swearing in the film classifies it as a 15 straight away. Depending on how offensive the words are the film could be rated 18, but as the words used are not extremely offensive the film is able to be rated 15. Even though works like c**t are used which would normally result in a film being rated 18, due to the comic nature of this film the use of that work is not seen as directly offensive to anyone and doesn’t warrant rating the film 18.

There is a lot of graphic violent in the film but as the film is a spoof of well know cop movies and action movies. The nature of the violence isn’t seen as funny and not serious so therefore isn’t seen as offensive or distressing and doesn’t need to be rated 18.

Education

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