Media Essay- “Successful media products depend as much upon marketing and distribution to a specific audience as they do upon good production practices”.

328426957 Successful Media Products Depend as Much Upon Marketing and Distribution to a Specific Audience a... by Isabel Denney Foster on Scribd

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

1. Who owns Lucasfilm?- Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas in 1971. Since 2012 Disney has owned Lucasfilm.
2. Who formed Lucasfilm?- Lucasfilm was founded by filmmaker George Lucas
3. What year was Lucasfilm formed?- Lucasfilm was founded in 1971.
4. Who is the president of Lucasfilm?- Kathleen Kennedy.
5. What other major films have they worked on?- Indiana Jones and the previous Star Wars films.
6. How much was Lucasfilm sold for?- Roughly $4.06 Billion.
7. Who wrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens?- Collaboratively written by Lawrence Kasdan , JJ Abrams and Michael Arndt.
8. Who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens?- JJ Abrams
9. What other major films is the director responsible for?- Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Super 8, Mission Impossible III and Cloverfield.
10. How many Star Wars films have there been so far (list them)?-       -- Star Wars (1977) - Later renamed Star Wars IV: A New Hope
    - Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
    - Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (1983)
    - Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
    - Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
    - Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
11. How much money have they all made at the global box office?- $6.4467 Billion, roughly.
12. When was the first Star Wars film released?- 1977
13. What does ILM stand for?- Industrial Light and Magic.
14. What do ILM do?-  They aided Lucasfilm by creating visual effects.
15. Who created ILM?- George Lucas
16. Why did they create ILM?- To help create/ design special effects for Lucas' original Star Wars film.
17. What do casting directors do?- Casting directors choose the actors and actresses, to play the roles staring in the film, during pre production.
18. Where were the first scenes for Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmed? - Abu Dhabi
19. What format was Star Wars: The Force Awakens shot on?- The film was printed on IMAX film.
20. What types of camera were used to film Star Wars: The Force Awakens?- Arri Alexas, IMAX Mk3s, IMAX MSM 9802s and Panavision Panaflex Millennium XL2s.
    
21. What studio was used to film a large portion of the film?- Pinewood Studios
22. Where is the studio?-  London, England.
23. What major franchise is famously filmed at this studio?- The James Bond films have been filmed here.
24. How does said franchise link to Star Wars: The Force Awakens- Daniel Craig stars as the Storm Trooper who Rey uses her mind tricks on in the film.
    
25. Who was the inspiration for the character Maz Kanata?- JJ Abram's high school teacher.
26. What technology was used to create Maz Kanata?- CGI and a motion capture suit
27. Who played Maz Kanata & what other roles is she famous for?- Lupita Nyong'o. She is famous for her roles in 12 Years a Slave, Non-Stop and The Jungle Book.
28. Who played General Snoke?- Andy Serkis
29. What is he renowned for in the movie business?- Andy Sekis is well known for voicing CGI characters in films such as his unforgettable and irreplaceable role in The Lord of the Rings as Gollum.
30. Where was the final scene filmed?- Skellig islands south of Ireland.
31. Who composed the film score?- The legendary John Williams.
32. How many Star wars films has he composed the music for?- All the previous Star Wars films.
33. What other famous films has he created the music for?-  The first 3 Harry Potter films, Indianna Jones films, Jaws and Jaws 2, Superman, ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan.
    
34. How mant times did John Boyega audition for the film (according to JJ Abrams)?- 9 times for the role of Finn.
35. Over what period of time did these auditions occur?- approximately 6 months.
36. How many people operated B-B8?- Puppet B-B8 was operated by two puppeteers. The radio-controlled B-B8 was controlled by three separate operators with remotes.
37. What type of technology was the main version of B-B8?- RC technology as well as sphere technology.
38. What colour suit did the B-B8 operator wear? Green or Blue.
39. Why did he have to wear such a suit? This was so they could be removed during editing.
40. What type of special effects (SFX) were employed on Star Wars: The Force Awakens?- A mixture of practical effects and CGI.
41. How many people were behind the monitor watching the scene when Han and Chewie returned to the Millenium Falcon- approximately 200 people watching.
42. Why was Simon Pegg thanked in the credits for Star Wars: The Force Awakens?- He was a consultant on the film. He was also casted as the portly alien dealer from Jakku.
43. JJ Abrams shot part of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in IMAX. What is IMAX?- A film format which displays at a clearer and greater size and resolution.
44. How many IMAX screens was The film available on?- A little less than 400 of them.
45. What was the age rating of the film in the UK?- It has been given the rating of a 12 in the UK.
46. How much money did the UK government contribute to the production of Star Wars: The Force Awakens? (Express this figure as a percentage of the total cost and as a figure in pounds). The film was given tax relief during its production, this saved the film around 25% of its first budget (£20 million). Approximately £170 million was saved.  
47. How much was Harrison Ford paid to reprise his role of Han Solo?-  $25 million as well as a 0.5% share of the profits.
48. How much were Daisy Ridley and John Boyega paid?-  $460,000 each as well as a share of the profits.

Research the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens directed by JJ Abrams.

 Find out about the following:

• Producers/ Production companies

JJ Abrams (also the film's director), Kathleen Kennedy and Bryan Burk.
production companies-  Lucasfilm (George Lucas' own production company, owned by Disney), Bad Robot (Director JJ Abram's own production company) and True North Productions (British production company).

• Director

J.J. Abrams             

• Screen writer

Writers:

Lawrence Kasdan,  

J.J. Abrams
Michael Arndt
George Lucas		(based on characters created by)

• Actors-

This movie stars many actors such as:

Harrison Ford	...	Han Solo
	Mark Hamill	...	Luke Skywalker
	Carrie Fisher	...	Princess Leia
	Adam Driver	...	Kylo Ren
	Daisy Ridley	...	Rey
	John Boyega	...	Finn
	Oscar Isaac	...	Poe Dameron
	Lupita Nyong'o	...	Maz Kanata
	Andy Serkis	...	Supreme Leader Snoke
	Domhnall Gleeson	...	General Hux
	Anthony Daniels	...	C-3PO
	Max von Sydow	...	Lor San Tekka
	Peter Mayhew	...	Chewbacca
	Gwendoline Christie	...	Captain Phasma

• Budget

$245,000,000 (estimated)

• Locations

England, Ireland, Iceland and United Arab Emirates.

• Greenlight date

30th October 2012

• Screens shown on (opening weekend, peak figure, weeks at cinema)

5,500 screens (roughly) worldwide on its opening weekend.

• Critical reaction (Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic)

Rotten Tomatoes score of 92% and a Metacritic score of 81%.

• Box office figures: worldwide, US, China

$2 Billion worldwide over its time in the box office

• Music (composer of score/ soundtrack)

Soundtrack by John Williams

• Marketing (teaser trailers, trailers, TV spots, posters, websites etc)

Teaser trailer was released in 2014. Followed by full trailers, TV spots and film clips. posters were released also.

• Tie-in products

Lego, action figures, costumes as well as toy Lightsabers.

• SFX (special effects - technology used)

Produced by many companies and studios. Film in majorly practical effects.

• Any issues

Harrison Ford-  the Millennium Falcon set landed on him. as a result he broke his leg. He also had a plane crash during filming.