Currently, the top 10 films of 2018 are…

1. Avengers: Infinity War (dir. Anthony Russo)
2. Black Panther (dir. Ryan Coogler)
3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (dir. J.A Bayona)
4. Incredibles 2 (dir. Brad Bird)
5. Deadpool 2 (dir. David Leitch)
6. Mission: Impossible – Fallout (dir. Christopher McQuarrie)
7. Ant-Man and the Wasp (dir. Peyton Reed)
8. Ready Player One (dir. Steven Spielberg)
9. Hong Hai Xing Dong (dir. Dante Lam)
10. Tang Ren Jie Tan An 2 (dir. Siecheng Chen)

These films have made a lot of money at the box office so far – Avengers: Infinity War is currently number 1 and has made over $2 billion. This is an incredible amount of money, and shows how the film industry is quickly becoming one of the most expensive in the world.

Eight out of these ten films are part of a series or franchise, the only two exceptions being Ready Player One and Hong Hai Xing Dong. This shows that most successful films are already known to audiences, or are just another instalment in a famous franchise. Some directors may find it easier to add to a franchise than to come up with a whole new idea. This is because not too much time has to be spent advertising it, as there will already be fans from previous films, who want to see the next instalment. Film companies will happily support films like these, as they can be a guaranteed way of making lots of money – if the film is good. For example, Mission: Impossible has made many films in the past, and dedicated fans will always go to see the next one, which in this case is Mission: Impossible – Fallout.

Many of the top 10 films also have famous actors in, who are easy ways of making money. Audiences would be more likely to go and see a film if they know their favourite actor will be in it, rather than a film that doesn’t feature anyone they know. These top actors will be paid huge amounts of money, for example Chris Pratt was paid around $10 million for his lead role in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. The Mission: Impossible franchise’s main selling point is Tom Cruise, and many fans agree that the films just wouldn’t work without him.

The last two films on the list are the only two Chinese films – the rest were made in Hollywood. This shows how the Chinese film industry is expanding, and how popular it is over there.

The top ten films mainly include action/adventure, which suggests that this is rapidly becoming a popular genre. This can be due to popular actors being cast, CGI and special effects. But a popular idea is the reducing cost to produce these films, most notably; due to special effects. For example, nowadays you can use special effects to show a building explosion rather than explode an actual building which costed films an exceptional amount of their budget in the early 1900’s. This leads to more budget available for more popular and well-known actors to draw the audience in. Actions films are also popular because of their interesting plots and wide range of stunts.

There are also two Chinese films in the top ten, which suggests that foreign films are becoming more popular inside the USA. This can be because more people are speaking Chinese, or even as people are beginning to experiment with new film types and try something new. Although these films are unknown to some Americans, they are famous within the Chinese community which is so large within America; that it contributes to their immense success.

Another observation I noticed, is that many of the films were in a franchise.  These include ‘The Avengers: Infinity War’, ‘Deadpool’, ‘The Incredibles’ and some others. These concepts are so popular because they entice audience into watching them with the promise of finding out what will happen from a previously well-known and loved film. This idea is appealing because it answers any questions that the audience had about the film and offers another opportunity to engage in the series. Viewers will also engage more in the plot because they have chosen to watch it continued so must hold some form of interest in the key ideas.

Another point worth mentioning is the hiring of famous, Hollywood stars which appeal to the audiences. Examples include Chris Pratt who stars in ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, Dwayne Johnson who stars in ‘Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle’ and Chris Hemsworth who stars in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. These stars are well-known and extremely popular in Hollywood which attracts some audience members to their films.

Some films are adaptations of popular novels; an example of this is ‘Ready Player One’. The novel was published in 2011, and was quite popular with the YA and Sci-fi community. The film adaptation did not disappoint, and steered far from ‘copying’ its inspiration and rather opted for making several significant changes from the novel.

Film adaptations of popular fiction are received so greatly because they can serve as an interesting visual for popular novels. They gain large audiences, mainly of those who read the book because they want to see how it will be presented and also adapted/changed. If a particular novel was popular, it can draw in large audiences from those who might not always go to the cinema but want to see how their beloved book will be presented. This is an interested concept because it varies the audience form those who have come from the novel and want to see how it will be and those who are interested in the plot or actors, and have not necessarily read the book.

In conclusion, the top ten 2018 films show that the ‘formula’ for a successful film can vary due to multiple factors. Some are successful because they draw in a large audience in the promise of following up a popular series or film adaptation. Whereas others rely on popular talent to secure their audience.  Finally, some bank on a certain genre because of the many benefits of using it

Activity 1 film Activity 2

Spike Lee has said that white people can’t make films with black people taking the main role. This is my opinion:

I feel like Spike Lee does make a valid point, however, personally I think that a person of any color can produce a film about anything, if they make sure that everything is historically accurate and non-offensive towards anyone. Everyone alive today has as much experience of the times that “Django Unchained” (A film Spike Lee refused to see because it was directed by a white person) as each other. Because no one was alive back then, that still is today. Spike Lee can’t say that black people are the only people who can make films about black people struggling, because he has as much experience as anyone else. This suggests that Spike Lee is trying to bring back segregation, as he is saying black and white people can’t mix. He’s also suggesting that he himself can’t make films with white people in, limiting his ability to cast actors who may be perfect for a role. 

However, there is another example of who can play what role in the BBC show ‘the elephant man’ in which, the main character is disabled. But that character is played by an abled body person, which has caused uproar among disabled actors who could have played that role. I think that this is wrong that an abled body actor played him, because someone who’s disabled in real life has felt the struggle that this character has. However, when it comes to Spike Lee, he hasn‘t been around when his ancestors were enslaved. If he wasn’t there during these events, he has as much experience as the rest of us. Someone like the Elephant man that’s around today, has the experience, and so they can really show it in their acting. That would also open the acting world to disabled people, meaning that many more jobs and dreams can be created for that demographic of people, which struggle to fund jobs, as even simple jobs like working in a shop are blocked off to some people because they don’t have disabled access. 

Box office data analysis    Ayisha Audrain

Many of the top films at the Box Office are from franchises like Marvel and Jurassic park and this shows that people like to watch franchise films because they form a complete story and there are a few Chinese films on the list and this suggests that Chinese films are becoming more widespread because there are large Chinese communities all around the world and this will fuel demand for Chinese – language films and this means that the Chinese film industry is becoming more and more prominent on the world stage.

Opinion on Spike Lee’s viewpoint

To a certain extent, I agree with Spike Lee’s opinion that you cannot properly create a film reflecting  a certain experience of a gender, ethnicity, religion or culture if you are not of that particular group. I think this because despite the extent of research, you cannot truly experience what the person is going through because it is not the same as your experiences. It is hard to put yourself in their shoes despite what you think that you know, especially with a sensitive topic.

Topics such as race or gender can be sensitive to make, since there is typically a large audience for these specific films; they can be extremely hard to get right. Personally, I think these films should be wrote or directed by someone who understand and experience them to a certain extent because I think they are able to relate to the topic well enough to offer a valid and interesting representation

There can be serious issues with films trying to express sensitive views if they have not experienced it first-hand. Sometimes despite research, a director or screenwriter can misinterpret any part of the film. This can feel disrespectful to the audience, usually those linked in with the gender, ethnicity or religion that the movie is expressed.

On the other hand, I can understand the topic of diversity and why experienced directors or screenwriters would want to produce films with sensitive topics. Some of the best films express sensitive topics and not necessarily all are directed by directors who reflect these experiences. This shows that some directors can approach these types of films with such sensitivity and maturity that they produce excellent work which represents the topic positively

There is also the issue of subjectivity, which suggests that we can only direct or write films which reflect us. This is such a problem because it implies that we understand the whole genre. For example, stating a black man should only direct films about a black man limits his potential and suggests that all he knows is retelling himself in a different format. In this retrospect, I think everyone should be offered equal opportunities because this ensures that a wide range of films are covered as much as possible

Inquirers: Should inquire about learning new things and trying new things out of curiosity.

Knowledgeable: To research and explore issues and current affairs.

Thinkers: To go deeper into detail and notice the finer things in film such as sound.

Communicators: Students should be great communicators with others and their teachers, great communication is very important as it helps with knowing what you want to do, what you should do to improve etc.

Principled: is respectful towards peers when working together in group work

Caring: They show empathy and compassion towards others in the project and help to brighten the mood in the environment and ensure that everyone is working happily on the project.

Balanced- You need to be balanced in this subject, so that you can balance how and when you’re doing work, with what the audiences what, but also with what you want to make in a film.

Open-Minded: Students should be Open-Minded; they must be open to different options and techniques that could help them with their work.