Art films and Blockbuster Movies
Art Films
Art film producers usually show their
films at specialty theatres and film festivals. The term “art film” is much
more widely used in the United States and the UK than in Europe, where the term
is more associated with “auteur” films and “national cinema” (e.g., German
national cinema).
Art films are aimed at small niche
market audiences, which means they can rarely get the financial backing which
will permit large production budgets, expensive special effects, costly
celebrity actors, or huge advertising campaigns, as are used in widely-released
mainstream blockbuster films.
Melancholia (2011) is an example of a
niche film.
Written and directed by Lars von Trier, Melancholia revolves around
two sisters during and shortly after one's wedding, while an approaching rogue
planet is about to collide with Earth. Von Trier's initial inspiration for the
film came from a depressive episode he suffered and the insight that depressed
people remain peaceful in catastrophic events.
Audience
Art house movies cater for more
discerning cinemagoers, providing advertisers with an ideal opportunity to
target affluent and more upscale audiences.
It is found that typical art house
movie viewers are more likely than the general population to be highly
educated, affluent, professional, as well as being light commercial TV viewers.
Art Movie Age Profile
Art movie gender profile
Blockbuster
Films
The blockbuster film is something which
the contemporary film-going public is intimately familiar with. It is
characterised by extremely high production costs, massive promotional and
marketing campaigns, a wide-release, and is marketed on a pre-sold product or
premise, and deliberately crafted to allow for a multitude of product tie-ins
and resultant spin-offs.
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) is an
example of a Blockbuster film. Directed by Marc Webb, the Amazing Spider – Man is the story of Peter
Parker (Andrew Garfield), an outcast high schooler who was abandoned by his
parents as a boy, leaving him to be raised by his Uncle and Aunt. Like most
teenagers, Peter is trying to figure out who he is and how he got to be the
person he is today. Peter is also finding his way with his first high school
crush, Gwen Stacy, and together, they struggle with love, commitment, and
secrets. As Peter discovers a mysterious briefcase that belonged to his father,
he begins a quest to understand his parents' disappearance and that leads leading him
directly to Oscorp and the lab of Dr. Curt Connors, his father's former
partner.
As Spider-Man is set on a collision course with Connors' alter-ego,
The Lizard, Peter will make life-altering choices to use his powers and shape
his destiny to become a hero.
Audience
Although, Blockbuster films are targeted
to a wider population. There are found to be some gender differences as it is
found that 75% Males view these films and the average age range is 26 years.
Furthermore, these films are viewed by young professionals and or students/ graduates with disposable income and free time.
The two films I have chosen to talk about are Melancholia
and The Amazing Spider-Man.
I will be comparing their posters.
Melancholia (2011)
At first glance the image seems to be a classic wedding
shot. It’s very nice to look at and by looking at it seems quite intense. In
the image we see a bride she is in a strapless white dress clasping flowers to
her chest it seems to be shot in an expensive, way.
Von Trier the
director wanted to portray emotion through the poster. And I think it’s shown
well as its very intriguing to look at. The director said that he feels as
though he had made "a woman's film" and may even lose viewers as he
feels men may not find this very intriguing to watch.
The image to be seems to be half-submerged in water and it
really reminds me of the drowned Ophelia, in the famous painting by John
Everett Millais, surrounded by lilies.
The Amazing Spider –
Man (2012)
The poster presents many bright colours and also a very
different unique close shot which brings out the power and prominence of the
main character Peter Parker. The blue on Spider-Man most probably suggests
depression or coldness, which creates a quite curious and cold atmosphere for
the audience. The colour red could connote power and evil which mixes into the blue,
which could possibly connote his powers are really incredible and that he can
choose whether he wants to be the good person or bad. This a great contrast as it makes you quite
intrigued into wanting to know what’s going to happen in the movie.
The use of New York City behind the character of Spider-Man
portrays that he must probably have so much power that he owns the city as
being on top of it shows the ultimate power he has in his hands. The image
shows he could be very superior, and from putting him in such a high place of
the city, shows the audience the amount of power he obtains and owns in his
ability to do extraordinary things.
Trailer comparisons:
Melancholia (2011)
The beginning of the trailer is of the main character
Justine’s wedding. Here the use of the ambient, typical dreamy wedding
orchestral music is used combined with scenes of white and characters looking
happy, creating a deceiving image.
The titles are written in a particular font. This type of
font seems very classical and romantic in fitting with the genre of film. The
genre of Sci-fi is then portrayed in the trailer as the text is brought closer
and larger to the screen. There is a lot of dull lighting used in the shots. It
maybe suggests that their love isn't as strong as they believe, or the idea
that their love is going to fade fast, just like the light.
The voice over used is of different characters from within
the film and is used as a commentary to construct the main character as well as
some of the other characters. It then returns to the character talking which is
used to create continuity as to not confuse the audience. The voice over of the other characters is
usually accompanied by the name of the actor or actress however in this trailer
their names are never shown. This may be
a factor that separates independent films from big blockbuster films.
The Amazing Spider – Man (2012)
The trailer portrays the film to be a fantasy however there
are other elements, which suggest it may contain numerous action scenes, to
interest a younger generation as well as anyone interested in action movies.
Stereotypically of many fantasy films a young protagonist is presented to
exaggerate the impact of a single event which happens to them when they have
grown. Different techniques show mystery and it creates a type of intrigue. A
series of clips demonstrate the fantasy through the scenes Peter Parker, which
shows his abilities are quite unexplainable.
The use of the harp for the beginning of the clip is
uncommon among movie trailers. However it is ideal because it evokes sympathy
from the viewer. The alternative instrumental purposes to the audience that the
film is serious as well as emotive.
An establishing shot of New York City and this is because
many of the events occur in the city of New York. The two long shots used at
the end of the trailer indicate the amount of power spider man has whilst
showing the possibilities the powers bring him.
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