What does the top 2018 movie list tell us about the formula for a successful film. Firstly, one should explain that since this list is “international” there are many different film industries from different countries however Hollywood is by far the largest film industry on this list.  The top eight out of the top 10 films are Hollywood films. This tells us that film is a a huge part of western culture. The last two on the list are both from the Chinese industry so one can infer that film is also very popular in the eastern culture, partially because of the sheer amount of people living in china.

Additionally, looking at the genre of film can help determine the formula for a successful film. Many films such as “Avengers: Infinity War”, “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Black Panther”. This implies that the action genre is very popular in the film industry, especially in western culture. Therefore using a popular genre is a key part in making a film successful.

Not only that, but bankable stars are very important. having your favourite actor in a film can attract you to it before you have even seen the trailer. People are more likely to see a film with a good/popular actor as they will assume the film is going to be good just because of that actor/actress

Finally, occupying the bottom of the list are two Chinese films, this reveals that China has a very large population and a very large cinematic audience and therefore can make this list whilst only being viewed in one country.

One amazing example of mise-en-scene in a film is in “Titanic” (James Cameron, 1997) the set design was incredible. This is because a full size replica was created just for this one film. Although initially the replica was full size, some parts were removed since they did not contribute to the scene e.g could not be seen at all.

This film was incredibly well made and has left audiences in awe even watching it today due to the intricate plot and terrific set design.

Example of costume:

The example of good costume design in a film i will be using is Captain Americas ‘nomad’ costume in Avengers: Infinity war.

This is a good costume due to the contrast it has to his regular outfit.

As seen below, the later costume is worn, weathered and aged, all whilst missing the signature star that is usually sported on the front of his chest. This change of costume is significant as it is symbolic to Captain America’s character development, as he goes from being loved by the american people and government, to being wanted and  having to be in hiding from the government on the run hence the name being the ‘Nomad’ outfit, this is shown in his costume by the lack of the regular patriotic look, red white and blue gone, missing star and shield being replaced etc. This symbolism in the costume is what makes this a good costume design.

Additionally, him gaining long hair and a beard add to the idea that he has been on the run and not settled or maintained.

A good costume from a movie I remember is Darth Vader from Star Wars, directed by George Lucas. The black gas mask creates an intimidating impression with the audience due to the black design showing the audience his evil nature and it as well giving him a robotic and larger than life impression on the audience.

As well the unique design that looks nothing like any of the other costumes in Star Wars help to elevate his significance in the story to those watching. As well a eluding to his powers with the force.

Lastly the costume helps to signify his part in the empire by its pristine look. Since everything associated with the empire in star wars is well designed and clean. His suit having that quality as well as its similarity to a storm trooper suit helps to associate him with them.

Lastly since most of the backgrounds hes in are either grey or white, it has a nice contrast off them

I chose the Cinderella (By Kenneth Branagh, 2015) dress for my example but although it is simple, it is elegant and reflects the simple beauty of Cinderella which Branagh is trying to get across. It also uses soft and pastel colors which pictures innocence yet beauty

The example that I chose was from Lord Of The Rings (By Peter Jackson, 2001) , which was filmed in New Zealand. I chose this because the location was interesting enough to allow the audience to be transported into the atmosphere and world of the film. It is also not too complex and uses basic ideas to seem realistic enough to the audience

i chose this example of set design from the Matrix ( dir Wachowski siblings , 1999) because it fits into the distinctive world of the film   and it has the green color pallet  that the film is quite famous for , this particular example helps to immerse you in the world of the film and it creates a distinctive mood as you are watching it.

Activity 2

Battleship Potemkin

Director	Sergei Eisenstein
Date of release	December 24 1925
Genre	Soviet Silent Film
Category of film	Historically Significant Film, Odessa Steps Sequence led to inspiration of many marches in other films.

 

A Bugs Life

Director	John Lasseter
Date of release	November 14 1998
Genre	Animated Comedy Adventure
Category of film	Mainstream, carrying off the success of Toy Story.

 

The Shape of Water

Director	Guillermo Del Toro
Date of release	December 1 2017
Genre	Romantic Supernatural
Category of film	Art Film

 

The Seventh Samurai

Director	Akira Kurosawa
Date of release	April 26 1954
Genre	Samurai Drama
Category of film	Historically Significant Film, Remains a very influential film as it is regarded as the most copied and remade film.

 

The Breakfast Club

Director	John Hughes
Date of release	February 15 1985
Genre	American teen comedy
Category of film	Historically Significant, seen as one of the best takes on American teen drama.

 

The Wizard of Oz

Director	Victor Fleming
Date of release	August 12 1936
Genre	Musical Fantasy
Category of film	Historically Significant, first fil ever in colour.

 

 

Once upon a Time in the West

Director	Sergio Leone
Date of release	December 21 1968
Genre	Spaghetti Western
Category of film	Mainstream, was carrying off the success of the Dollar trilogy.

 

Deadpool 2

Director	Dave Leitch
Date of release	May 15 2018
Genre	Action Comedy
Category of film	Mainstream, carrying off the success of the original and R-rated superhero films.

 

Submarine

Director	Richard Ayoade
Date of release	March 18 2011
Genre	Coming of Age Comedy
Category of film	Art Film

 

Love Simon

Director	Greg Berlanti
Date of release	March 22 2018
Genre	Romantic teen Comedy-Drama
Category of film	Art Film

 

Fitzcarraldo

Director	Werner Herzog
Date of release	March 5 1982
Genre	Adventure-drama
Category of film	Art Film

 

Alphaville

Director	Jean-Luc Godard
Date of release	May 5 1965
Genre	Sci-fi noir
Category of film	Historically Significant, influenced many things.

 

 

 

Manhattan

Director	Woody Allen
Date of release	April 25 1979
Genre	Romance Comedy
Category of film	Historically Significant, library of congress made it culturally significant as one of the most funniest movies ever.

 

Toy Story

Director	John Lasseter
Date of release	November  5 1995
Genre	Comedy Adventure
Category of film	Historically significant, first feature length film to be completely computer animated and first feature film from Pixar.

Knowledgeable- Has a wide range of all specific knowledge to the subject while also being able to understand terms.

Risk-takers- Will take risks by either following the source or changing the original source to fit the purpose.

Communicators- Willing to talk to others to improve your work or advice is general for the subject as a whole.

Reflective- Will check over work, to check mistakes or to see if there is something what does not work in the final piece.

Balanced- Will have a balance of ideas by not having too much or too little or two genres what will not work together.

Open-Minded- Will take outside ideas from others as well as bringing in outside issues from what affects you personally and include it into your work.

Thinkers- Someone who comes up with many ideas and is creative with those ideas.

Inquirers- People who have interest in the subject and will learn the skills to learn independently.

Caring- Someone who will be consider others wellbeing and may incorporate that into their work.

Principled- Someone who is respectful and will accept the blame where they went wrong and will handle the consequences if good or bad.

The current top 10 shows a lot for a formula of success for a film. The main thing shown from all these movies is the market for action films is very popular with all films in the top 10 having some type of action included into the film. With this part incorporated  into the film, its guarantee for a success as the film doesn’t even need to have good review scores or audience scores to gain profit such as Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom what has both an average critic review and audience score around 50% on rotten tomatoes. However it helps this film and any other film on the list what comes from an existing film franchise like Marvel or Jurassic park. A major example of this is Tang Ren Jie Tan An 2 (Detective Chinatown 2) what gained a $400 million more than the original film at the box office.

Another formula for success what is shown from the top 10 is the studios attached to the films with 4 films distributed by Disney what also shows that they use a good part of the film budget on marketing. A key for a successful movie is to put a good amount towards marketing as it cost an estimated $140 million for both the marketing of Avengers:Infinity War and Black Panther as examples. While also the the fact Disney is involved with these films is enough to sell to different market audiences such as families as there image alone is enough to promote their movies. So a good studio backing a movie is a very helpful to make a profitable movie.

Licensing helps movies as 4 movies have the use of marvel comics characters what further proves that source material helps a movie. The reason for this is it brings an existing fanbase with the material used for the film what will give the film an audience before the films release. With 4 films based on comic books while Ready Player One is based on a book what was a bestseller in 20 different languages, what helps internationally at the box office with using an original source.