PR7: Me and My Movies.

For this assignment I will be choosing a specific genre of film and analyse 3 different varied films

from which come under that certain genre. For each film I will talk about how these films attract me

to them and what I enjoy so much, things such as the stars in the film, the special effects and

different ways to create a better film and the story line to it. Also I will analyse the deep content in

the film for example the Intertextuality for were the film might contain certain actors, scenery or

objects which relate to previous movies, and also things that the director uses to attract the

audience to watch the film. There are many ways in which the director can do this star theory is a

good way to attract an audience because big celebrities who play good roles in other films gain fans

which will pay to see an upcoming film just for the actor being a part of it. One of my favourite genre

of film would be a mix between Action and Comedy, this being an enjoyable film which contains a lot

of action and fighting as well as making you laugh the whole way through.

The 3 of my favourite films which come under Action/ Comedy will be…

Kick Ass (2010)

Zathura: A Space Adventure (2005)

This Is the End (2013)

Kick Ass (2010)

Kick Ass is an action comedy film which involves a middle

aged high school teen who has a dream of becoming a

real life super hero. As nobody has conquered and

succeeded in such an impossible childish fantasy, David

Lizewski makes a purchase in a wet suit to cover his

identity and becomes Kick Ass. He was way over his head

when he planned to fight crime amongst his home town

and keep the city safe but where there are heroes villains

also form… Kick Ass comes close to death but is saved

and later accompanied by 2 bigger and more dangerous

heroes (Hit Girl and Big Daddy) played by the big

Celebrities Chloe Grace Moretz and Nicolas cage who are

well known for featuring in massive blood thirsty action

pack films and make the most unknown movies into big

hits. These 2 heroes know what lies beneath New York

City and a empire of drug dealing mafia gangs has caused

chaos throughout this heroes life and his only mission is

to bring it to an end.

Zathura A Space Adventure (2005)

Brothers Walter (Josh Hutcherson) and Danny (Jonah

Bobo) can never seem to get along with each other, or

with their older teen-aged sister, Lisa (Kristen Stewart).

While staying at their divorced father's home while he is

away at work and Lisa is asleep, the boys discover an old

clockwork-driven space-themed board game called

"Zathura" in the basement. The two begin to play the

game, the goal to be the first to reach the final space

named Zathura. During each turn, the game provides a

card with instructions, but the two quickly realize the

cards affect reality, starting with a meteor shower. They

soon discover the house is floating on a small rock in

outer space. Meanwhile, Lisa looks out the window, and

believing it is merely dark, goes to shower for her date.

When the boys try to warn Lisa about what has

happened, they find she is frozen in cryonic sleep as a

result of one of the cards. The brothers realize that the

only way to end the game and hopefully return to Earth is

to reach the end space of Zathura.

This Is the End (2013)

This is the end is an apocolyptic real life based f ilm about

the end of the world and 6 massive hollywood celebrities

have to work together to survive. What makes this film

unique is that its made ariund their real life style so there

not playing as made characters their specific role is to

play themselvs and what they would probably do if the

end of the world occurred. It starts with a big house

warming party of james Francos new crib in Beverly Hills

many of the stars who have been in a variety of other

films with James Francon e.g. Seth Rogan, Craig Robinson

and Danny Mcbride, but turns into disaster as jay

Baruchel is uncomfortable being around people he

doesn’t know that well goes to buy a packet of cigarrets

at the local store. This is when the end begins and many

of the people who attended the party get killed and the

world goes to dusk.

Kick Ass (2010)

The first movie of my choice which I’ll be analysing and explaining is the comic based film Kick Ass.

The reasons behind why I enjoy this movie so much is that the multiple action and tummy tickling

scenes which make you want to know more as well as giving you a good life throughout the film. I

have always been into super heroe films which can really pack a punch when it comes to action, but

kick ass was a little different to the odd cliché heroe character e.g. Spiderman/ Superman. These

films are very similar when it comes to the story line and plot for the film and can make it more

unenjoyable because you feel like you’ve already seen it all before, like the way they gather there

powers is through un natural type things like getting bit by a bug which late r gives you all of the bugs

abilities. Kick Ass is unique how a kid around the same age as its target audience tries to prove his

friends and reality wrong by purchasing a cheap costume giving himself a completely un super heroe

name and trying to keep his home city (new York) safe. I find this method in story lines much more

enjoyable because its different and can relate to many other middle teen aged kids in this world as

every kid has always dreamed of becoming a super heroe. The film could also be bad upon the world

because it could influence kids to go fight crime in their city but as you see from this film where

there is heroes villains also evolve which could cause massive trauma in kids and could ultimately

lead to death.

There is a lot of intertextuality during the film, its mainly the characters which make it so similar to

other films. For example the biggest character which refers to another big character in other films

would be Big Daddy played by Nicolas Cage, this character is a big part in the film how he is a prime

character for what Kick Ass wanted to be. This heroe is out for vengence as a mafia gang framed him

for doing drugs which got him jailed for years, but when he came out he promised to get revenge

with is child sidekick Hit Girl played by Chloe Grace Moretz to put an end to Franc Domico’s twisted

mafia scheme. Big Daddys out fit and personality is so much related to the notourious big DC comic

star Batman in the way of non super but big high tech equipment almost makes him invincible. This

is also mentioned during the film that Big Daddy looks a lot like Batman which is big intertextuality

referance.

Big Daddy (Kick Ass) Batman (DC Comics)

There are other ways which can grab attention for not only comic book entusiasts but major hit stars

who play the roles of the comic heroes in the films. What interests me most about this is the

previous films that the stars have played in because they could have done a big part in another

action thrilling film which wouldn’t be the same if it was a different star. Nicolas Cage is probably the

biggest well know star in this film because he has starred in the most popular films and wouldn’t be

as action packed with out him. In Kick Ass Nicolas Cage plays the most action packed character who

has a soft side and a super hard kiiling machine side which is suspencefull and thrilling which Nicolas

Cage is perfect at doing. Nicolas Cage is known world wide and is a massive star in so many films

which are quite similar to the role as Big Daddy in Kick Ass, so using him as the big star for that role

will appeal to the audience because of his previous movies.

There are ways in which the director of this film can contribute and promote the film in significant

ways. For example before showing the final producted film directors commonly use advertising

strategies to promote the film and appeal to the audience for what the film will be be about. People

don’t pay to watch a film which they have no clue of what genre and overall target audience its

aimed at so using methods such as Trailers, billboards, posters/ banners on the side of public

transport etc… are the most common ways to gain profit.

The 2 posters above I have found on the internet, they both show no coparisant but explain a lot of

things you need to know about the films. The first one shows no signs of character or genre, but they

have used colours and slogans which can show a lot in terms of genre. First the use of red and yellow

font for the big title written across the poster give the effect of blood being splatted, this explains

genre by the blood being representative of a gory type fi lm which obviously wouldn’t be targeted at

the younger generation. Other than the title the only other crucial part of this poster would be the

slogan and the stars names put at the top of the poster, the slogan ‘No power. No responsibility.’ Is

used to say that it’s a heroic genred film with the use of Power being the main subject.

Main stars names

put at the top of the

poster to show star

theory.

Use of slogan to

show genre for

the film which

being a comic

hero film using

the word

‘Power’.

Location

shown in

background

which could

be used to

show genre

within the

film

For the second poster there is more shown which explains more about the movie. This poster shows

location using New York city being the based location for this film, this is ironic because a lot of

heroe and crime films use New York as a common city for this type of action to occur. Star theory is

also used within this poster because you can see the stars who play the certain character in the film

within the poster. The film makers do this to appeal to the audience who are deliberately more

interested in the actors of the film than genre and story line. This is just another way for the

producer to gain more profit and more views of the film.

Zathura A Space Adventure (2005)

For my second action comedy genred film will be Zathura A Space Adventure. This Scifi action

packed adventure film contains thrilling and gripping scenes which make it more enjoyable for the

viewer including myself. The film starts with 2 young brothers whos interests arent really

compatable, but are forced to spend the afternoon at their house to keep themselves entertained.

The younger brother Danny played by (Jonah Bobo) discovers the mysterious game in the basement

clumped by dust and rags after being teased by his older brother Walter played by (Josh Hutcherson)

they think this is just an average board game but as they role the dice the consequences become

reality…

What I like most about this film is the thought and creativity which has been put into it making it

enjoyable in fantasy type of way. The film is almost like a sequel to the massive hit film Jumanji

which is a similar storyline and scenes which occur in both films. Another reason for choice for this

movie is the Director Jon favreau who is a big hit director creating massive hit film such as the Iron

Man franchise of films and the christmas classic Elf which made millions of dollars profit. These other

films are also among my list of faves but don’t really come under the catogory of genre which Ive

picked to analyse.

The way this film appealed to me from the start is that its simmilarities to the film Jumanji which I

thoroughly enjoyed when growing up. So when I discovered this film from trailers, ads and friends it

appealed to me in a way of a sequel towards Jumanji. Star theory also came into context when

viewing the trailer for Zathura mainly towards the actor Josh Hutcherson, Josh has been quite a star

from his early years one film that I found really good and he played the role great was Bridge to

terrabithia which is a fantasy childs film which I really enjoyed. And when I noticed that he was

playing a roll in Zathura it caught my attention because I enjoyed his previouse films so much. This is

known as star theory which is a good way for directors and film makers to increase their chances of

making a big hit film ultimately incrasing profit.

Jumanji Board game (1995) Zathura Board Game (2005)

The images above contain the board games which is the main subject off both films, this is a lead of

intertextuality having the same type of object as a previous film just more modern and elabeated to

suit the day in age. For example the board game from jumanji is very similar to the board game in

Zathura which shows that these two films are going to be very much alike so fans and people who

enjoyed the Jumanji would be interested in zathura as it contains the same type of objects and

storyline idea. Directors can also make profit by using theses enanemit objects as types of synergy

e.g. kids or people who have a common interest in these films would like to own a Jumanji/Zathura

board game of their own so products would be made for the world to buy which ultimately gain

money for the film makers. Synergis can be found everywhere such as DVD’s of the film and clothing

which are commonly purchased by people who favourite certain films, producers do this to earn

more profit from films whilst keeping their fans loyal towards their career in film making.

Before viewing this film myself and most likely other people who were interested in this film did a

little research to idealy find out more about the film. Research like vi ewing the trailer online or

reading the article about the film and reviews upon the film which would tell you more about it. I

myself was more interested in the trailer and adverts as ive seen billboards and posters around

which were advertising this film. Obviously people enjoy a range of different genred films and

without the use of advertisements the audience will find it harder to grasp what the film is based on

before paying to view. The director and film makers make so much more profit with the use of

advertisements than they would just straight out publishing the film because the audience that its

targeted at wouldn’t have clue what the film is about if they just published the film straight to

cinemas.

This Is The End 2013:

The last of my action comedy film choices would be the more recent film This is the end. This is the

end is a fiction apocolyptic film which involves a bunch of Hollywood actors who are faced with the

end of the world, the events start with the star Jay Baruchel comes to Beverly Hills to visit and hang

with the well known star Seth Rogan. The events then take place at James Francos house warming

party where Jay feels uncomfortable being around many other star actrors who he doesn’t know

very well. Jay and Seth nip out of the party to grab a carton of cigarettes at the local convience store

which is where the apocolypse begins. Blue lights shoot down from the sky and flames engulf the

world leaving Jay and Seth mortified and confused from this crazy outbreak. The gang is then left to

decide on civilisation surrounded by death and monsters there only way out is to do something

heroic.

There are many reasons for why this film is among my list of favourites, one being how the film is

about the end off the world buy this group of stars act completely normal and make the whole deal

more funny than a serious horror story lined film. This of course comes from the actors playing as

themselvs in the film using their real names etc… and showing what there lives are like being a

hollywood star. This film would have made a lot of profit using a directors method off star theory,

star theory is a way film makers use highly paid actors in films so that it appeals to the fans of those

actors. If film nmakers used amatuer actors who arent so well known then the film wont have a wide

audience because some people pay to see films deliberetly for the stars in them. Considering this

film contains many celebrities such as Emma watson, James franco and even Rhianna then this film

will appeal to a very wide audience ultimetely making the film a big profit.

The picture above is off the films dvd front cover and poster, this image was also shown on

billboards and advertisements. Not much is shown from the poster besides the stars who play roles

in the film, looking at it without any idea of the story line it would be hard to grasp the plot and

concept of the film. I think the director of the film did this because the fiilm is based on outside life

of these hollywood stars so the poster only needs to contain the featured people, also the title and

slogans pretty much give away the films storyline “Nothing ruins a party like the end of the world”

pretty much tells you about the film with that one sentence.

Another reason why this film so enjoyable and entertaining is the fact that its based on the actors

real lifestyle doing drugs and partying etc… its highly inapropriate but unique as no other films have

been made in this way.

The use of actors

names above shows the

audience who will be

featured in the film.

The director used all

the main stars in the

middle of the poster to

show star theory and

the appeal to the

audience who are fans

of the director’s work

and stars in the film.