Week one – Section B: Institutions & Audiences – The Film Industry
Film: ‘The Princess and the Frog’.
- Production year: 2009
- Country: USA
- Cert (UK): U
- Run time: 97 mins
- Directors: John Musker, Ron Clements
- Cast: Angela Bassett, Anika Noni Rose, Bruno Campos, Jim Cummings, John Goodman, Keith David, Oprah Winfrey, Terrence Howard
Film: James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’.
- Production year: 2009
- Country: USA
- Cert (UK): 12A
- Runtime: 161 mins
- Directors: James Cameron
- Cast: CCH Pounder, Giovanni Ribisi, Michelle Rodriguez, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Stephen Lang, Zoe Saldana
Walt Disney Animation Studios presents the musical THE PRINCESS AND THE FROG, an animated comedy set in the great city of New Orleans. From the creators of “The Little Mermaid” and “Aladdin” comes a modern twist on a classic tale, featuring a beautiful girl named Tiana (ANIKA NONI ROSE), a frog prince who desperately wants to be human again, and a fateful kiss that leads them both on a hilarious adventure through the mystical bayous of Louisiana. The Princess and the Frog marks the return to hand-drawn animation from the revered team of John Musker and Ron Clements, with music by Oscar®-winning composer Randy Newman. –© Walt Disney
What are examples of media products within the film industry?
For this particular family, animation film, it has many different products that promotes it for examples as it is a Disney film they are particularly children orientated films and therefore will have products based around these key categories. Toys, Home, Fashion & Accessories, and Beauty. This particular film utilized these categories and distributed products such as soft bodied toys and dolls associated with the characters of the film. Colors are normally bright when looking at childrens films as it is an effective way of capturing the attention of the kids to which the merchandise is aimed at. These types of products contrasts to that of the like of ‘Avatar” as they would more likely produce toys in the forms of figurines as they are more appealing to the older child, rather than soft bodied toys which are child friendly and are more safe for younger children to use. Also it has fashion accessories aimed at female children as well as dress up costumes and health and beauty products such as bath lotions and beauty gift sets. Also included are the DVD, soundtrack CD’s, wallpapers and themes for the PC. These products have greatly aided the promotion of the film as well as the industry. In addition to the film being promoted through the previously stated elements it has also been promoted through at both the Disneyland Resort and the Walt Disney World Resort, with a live parade and show called “Tiana’s Showboat Jubilee”.
Other films such as Avatar which are aimed at the older age group will rather have things like clothes i.e t-shirts linked to the film, and hard plastic figures that come in sets relating to the characters in the film. As this is a form of action, adventure, fantasy film these forms of merchandise will go down well with its potential consumers. The insertion of blu-ray DVD’s as well as video games and computer games also are a main attraction with these sorts of adventure, fantasy films.
Find out about film producers. Which are the major studios/film industries around the world?
Today’s Big Six
^1 Warner Bros.: 20.1% (Prev. totals: 2008—19.4% [primary—18.1%, subsidiaries—1.3%]; 2007—20.5% [primary—14.7%, subsidiaries—5.8%]; 2006—14.9%; 2005—21.7%; 2004—17.7%)
^2 20th Century Fox: 13.8%; Fox Searchlight 2.3% (Prev. totals: 2008—13.2% [primary—10.6%, subsidiaries—2.5%]; 2007—11.9% [primary—10.5%, subsidiaries—1.4%]; 2006—17.0%; 2005—16.5%; 2004—11.7%)
^3 Paramount: 13.7%; Paramount Vantage: 0.6% (Prev. totals: 2008—17.2% [primary—16.3%, subsidiaries—0.9%]; 2007—16.1% [primary—15.5%, subsidiaries—0.6%]; 2006—11.0%; 2005—9.8%; 2004—6.8%)
^4 Sony/Columbia: 13.4%; Sony Classics: 0.5%; Screen Gems: 0.3% (Prev. totals: 2008—13.4% [primary—11.1%, subsidiaries—2.3%]; 2007—13.4% [primary—12.9%, subsidiaries—0.5%]; 2006—19.3%; 2005—11.1%; 2004—16.8%)
^5 Disney: 11.4%; Miramax: 0.5% (Prev. totals: 2008—11.4% [primary—10.5%, subsidiaries—0.9%]; 2007—15.3% [primary—14.0%, subsidiaries—1.3%]; 2006—16.7%; 2005—14.6%; 2004—16.5%)
^6 Universal: 8.5%; Focus Features: 1.5% (Prev. totals: 2008—12.9% [primary—10.9%, subsidiaries—2.0%]; 2007—12.7% [primary—11.4%, subsidiaries—1.3%]; 2006—10.9%; 2005—13.2%; 2004—10.8%)
(Wikipedia) – Extract
The Princess and the Frog was produced by Peter Del Vecho who has also produced other Disney films such as Chicken Little, Hercules, and The Emperor’s New Groove . The Princess and the Frog is a 2009 American animated family based on E. D. Baker’s novel The Frog Princess , which was in turn inspired by the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale “The Frog Prince”. As this was a Disney film it was created in the Walt Disney Animation Studios, which is the largest entertainment and media conglomerate corporation in the world, as well as one of the biggest Hollywood studios, and perhaps the most recognizable.
Who are the primary audience for these industries?
Due to the fact that this film is a creation of Disney, it is most likely to be emphasized to a young audience probably around the ages of 3-6 and this is done by creating an animated film with extravagant characters made up of bright eye catching colors, which Disney know are a hit with their target audience. .
What techniques are used to target specific films at audiences?
Disney used a hand drawn technique when creating the characters, rather than the normal use of computer generated images. they include the elements of fun and excitement into this film as this is who young children are, fun loving individuals. Usually Disney uses COmputer generated images for their films, but with this movie, the choice by the animators was to use hand-drawn images to add a unique effect to the film.
On the other hand with the film ‘Avatar’ it was made to be appealing to its target audience by using fantasy like characters with added adventure. also because it was available in 3D it also caused the target audience to feel a part of this fantasy world. This was a real hit with the viewers as their reviews reflected this. Elements of mystery and adventure were also included into this movie , which was also another way of attracting its older audience, compared to that of Disney who catered to the younger generation.
These techniques from both of the film were very effective in its appraoch to its audiences, as it not only attracted its target audiences but it also was able to capture the attention of other audiences. for example as the film ” Princess and the Frog” was aimed at young children but it also managed to drawn in the the slightly older audience.
