THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING:
THE BASICS:
1) What is the name of the film, the director and notable stars?
James Marsh is the director of The Theory Of Everything and Eddie Redmayne is the lead actor of the film, he also won the 2015 Oscar for best lead actor for his role as Stephen Hawkins.
2) When was it released?
The Theory Of Everything was released on the 1st Of January for 2015 New Years.
3) What genre is the film? What are the generic conventions that tell you the film belongs to this genre?
This film is categorised as a Drama, Romance & also Biography. This film may be classed as a Drama And Biography because the director is telling the story of Stephen Hawkins life with a cinematic edge with a lot of role play, it also goes under Romance to attract more of a female audience and also because Stephen Hawkins had a strong yet complicated love life.
4) What was the critical reception? What is the film rated on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes?
The Theory Of Everything was rated a solid 7.8/10 on IMDB which is actually very high, it received very positive attention from critics in reviews as well as positive reviews from the audience and viewers.
BROADCAST:
1) Write a close-textual analysis of the trailer using the MIGRAIN key concepts of Media Studies.
The trailer uses a simple piano soundtrack that you will mostly find in British films, also the trailer shows old buildings, vintage clothing and old schools, this suggests that the film will be set in the past. The trailer also shows a lot of romance which helps broaden the genre and attract a larger audience of couples and females. The use of using very posh, strong British accents also helps re inform the stereotype of British people having these strong accents.
2) Find examples of television promotion on YouTube (adverts, chat shows, ‘red carpet’ interviews etc.) and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.
This form of broadcast is a youtube video which is an nterview of the cast talking about meeting Stephen & Jane Hawking who are the people they will be acting as in the movie, it helps promote the film as it shows how real the film may be at rein-acting the life of Stephen Hawking and how the movie production team have been accurate.
This video is a on set clip of when Stephen Hawkins himself came to the shooting of the scene where Stephen takes Jane on his first date, this once again informs the viewer on how dead on accurate the production team has re created memories of Stephen Hawkings life.
This video is a interview Q&A with Jane Hawkins and it is based on The Theory Of Everything, it helps promote the film by showing how genuine it is.
3) Does the broadcast promotion use stars to create interest in the film?
The promotion uses the real life people that are based in the film to help promote the film, this is because the film is a documentary drama therefore by using Stephen & Jane Hawkins they are able to tell the audience that the film is very real and accurate on capturing memories, it will make the audience believe the story more and help interest them to watch the film.
PRINT:
1) Read at least THREE reviews of the film and provide a quote from each one.
"This wonderful production, so well scripted and paced throughout, serves to explain that vital anomaly in Hawking's life. And it is made all the more poignant as it is based upon the account written by his wife who has borne so much."
"What a wonderful accomplishment of a film by James Marsh (Man on Wire) who brings such depth and beauty to the life/love story of Stephen and Jane Hawking."
"The film acts as a moving oil painting. Benoît Delhomme shoots to utter perfection. Intimate in scenes requiring the viewer's undivided attention, and taking the liberty to capture the essence of the time where the innocence of love offers many possibilities. The scenes ultimately feel as if we're in a dream sequence, sleeping silently as these two lives play out in our minds."
2) Find examples of print promotion (e.g. film poster, billboard adverts etc.) on Google images and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.
This poster helps promote the film due its incredible acting and by placing the oscar nominations it helped justify its quotes.
3) Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience.
The simplicity and basic style to the poster suggests that the film will be a documentary, also by using the main centre image as the couple it also suggests that there are elements to a romance genre. By using `A Triumphant Film" as the headline and critic quote it tells the audience that the film will be fulfilling, also triumphant is a word that can describe Stephen Hawkings life very well. Also, by releasing the film on new years day it gives the film a more magical touch then what it already is, it also relates to the story of the film as Stephen Hawkings theory was about time and space.
4) How is the film’s brand constructed? What does the brand connote? Does it remind you of any other brands or similar films?
The brand is shown to be very minimal and elegant, its shown to be royal and straight to the point as they use very simple colour schemes and fonts, the elegancy works well as the film has beautiful dreamy cinematography throughout which is very simple yet effective.
E-Media
1) Research the film’s presence on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. How does the film’s social media presence help promote the film?
The social media accounts for this film helped promote the film by constantly pushing exclusive content prior to the release of the film, they uploaded behind the scenes, interviews and clips to help engage the audience for release. There was also a number of celebrities that tweeted about the film, this helped gain more attention and overall success for the film.
2) Analyse the official website for the film. How does it use the film’s brand? What examples of synergy can you find with the other platforms?
The brand is represented to be successful as its main page has a large banner of the awards it has won, it also has a link to these awards with a still from the movie of the couple watching fireworks, also the use of the gold and white colour theme shows elegance.
4) Can you find any examples of the two-step flow theory online – did celebrities or journalists tweet or post about the film in order to promote it to their followers?
Most tweets were posted by the viewers of the film tweeting about how good the film is and what they would rate it. Also there was alot of retweets for when Eddie won his oscar for best male actor.
Audience
1) Who is the target audience for this film? Demographics and psychographics.
The target audience for this film may be male and females due to the romance concept and of the age criteria of 15-50 year olds. Reasons being that many students may be interested in the film and also that stephen hawkins was very famous in the 1980s -2000s. The psychographics would be Reformers and Mainstreamers.
3) What audience pleasures does the film provide? Think about the BFI lecture on audience pleasures in British film.
Diversion and Personal Relationships are the audience pleasures the film went for.
4) What similar films would the target audience enjoy? Justify your suggestions.
A Fault In Our Stars would be a perfect example of a relatable film as its based on a couple that face problems due to health problems. This is the same equilibrium that is faced in the theory of everything.
Institution
1) Which film studio produced the film? What other films have they produced? Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?
Working Title Films & Studio Canal produced the film, They have produced films like Paul, Hot Fuzz and United 93.
2) Which company distributed the film in the UK? What other films have they distributed?
The film distributors for the UK were Universal Pictures, they have worked with films like ET, Jurassic Park, Jaws & Despicable Me.
3) Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?
They do have some films that suit the category like "A Beautiful Mind" and Universal have some of the top grossing movies of all time.
4)What was the budget for the film?
$15,000,000
5) How successful was the film financially? Why do you think this was?
The film made $117,200,000 in the box office making it very successful, I think this is because of the time of release and that they used romance as a key element of marketing, making it suitable for couples.
6) Was this film more successful in the UK or worldwide/USA? Why do you think this is?
This film was successful worldwide as Stephen Hawkins is known worldwide and the film is about his life, therefore it wold have attracted a lot more people worldwide as appose to just the UK.
7) What certificate was the film given (12A, 18 etc.)? What was the reason for this certificate? Is the certification important for this film in terms of targeting its audience? Why?
This film was given 12A age rating, this will not effect the overall targeting of the audience as this film is entirely aimed at people in education or people that are interested in the life of Stephen Hawkins, therefore not many children under 12 will be into this film. Also, as they used romance as a targeting technique 12A is a suitable range to fit the couple target audience.
Representation
1) What representations of people, places or groups can be found in this film?
This film gives a strong representation of the middle to higher class people in the 1960s, it represents educated and also white people as there was hardly any diversity of race and ethnicity throughout the on screen time of the film. It also shows the lifestyle of university at the time and what it was like to live in the 1960s.
2) What representation of ‘Britishness’ does the film contain?
The film was almost entirely set in Britain within oxford university. The film gives strong representations of british people being very clever and smart. They represent British people to be quite rich and elegant. I also feel that some accents were a bit too forced and very strong.
3) How does the representation of Britain differ to Ill Manors?
This representation of British people differs a lot to ill manors as the theory of everything represents elegance, posh and higher class britons that are smart and in education or working. In Ill Manors, the britons are represented to be strugglers that hardly have anything and hustle for a living. They also show to be very thug and to be criminals that do very bizarre things for a living. Also shown to be around a lot of sex, drugs and violence and not any sign of education or positive meanings were represented towards these births characters.
4) What values and ideologies can you find in your chosen film? (E.g. The King’s Speech is extremely patriotic, pro-monarchy etc.)
The dominant ideology in this film would be education and overcoming problems, this film is very inspiring and motivational with concepts of romance.
Case study comparison
1) What similarities and differences can you find between Ill Manors, A Field In England and your chosen case study film? List all that apply.
I similarity is that all these films are British and show aspects of Britishness in each film. They each individually show they're own representations of Britain in they're own ways. A difference is that they're representations are completely different, with ill manors showing a negative side and The theory of everything with a positive side, and then a field in England showing history in England..
