Thick Description, Short Essay and Critical Feedback Essay:
A Description and comparison of the Watershed, Bristol and Cineworld, Gloucester:
A popular venue amongst fans of art cinema, but not so much with those of entertainment, Watershed is a hidden gem. Much like its location on the waterfront of Bristol. Standing at over 40 feet with a vibrant baby blue top half and a less inviting bottom, it allows for people’s attention to easily become diverted to Watershed. As you come closer you see the adjoining building of the tourist information centre and how overshadowed it is by Watershed. A wall painted with the same baby blue colour as its top half with the name ‘WATERSHED’ spread across on a diagonal angle intrigues you even more and invites you in. Pavements signs sit outside giving us a taste of what the Watershed has to offer with a poster showing what’s on at the Watershed this month. As soon as you push open the doors, you’re hit with the realisation that this is something special. You’re greeted with a desk where you may inquire about movies, purchase tickets or acquire some snacks regardless whether you’re here to watch a film or not. Screens hover overhead showcasing the films being screened and the trailers that accompany them. The employees working behind the desk are likely the first human interaction you’ll have inside the building and they’re perfect at showcasing what Watershed means. They’re welcoming, friendly, knowledgeable and come from wide range of different ages, genders and races. As you venture up the stairs you are greeted with numerous unauthentic plants to give it a welcoming vibe. Until you’re met with an intersection. On the left you have the authoritative desk where you will hand over your ticket and pick up a free programme. This week showcases The Peanut Butter Falcon featuring Shia LaBeouf and Zack Gottsagen. As you open it up you get a sense of the movies that Watershed screen. Nothing from blockbuster studios but instead, independent films, documentaries and re-releases of old films. The back of said programme shows us the full timetable of this week’s film but also additions to some screenings. Watershed offers subtitled and audio described as well as cinebabies which I presume is to offer a break from the struggles of parenthood and watch a film with your child. The affordable prices are also shown on the back with tickets ranging from £5.00-£10.00. Continue ahead and journey down the lengthy hallway to reach your screening for your chosen film. Watershed offer three cinema screens (with a fourth on the way) that all are similar in size. With ten rows and around twenty seats on each their leaves plenty of seats for large audiences to enjoy a film. But on the right of the intersection is another big part of what Watershed is. The café and bar are always lively. Music is heard overhead, loud enough so that you can recognise the lyrics but low enough to continue and overhear conversations. The café is catering to young students, retirees and the odd individual adult enjoying lunch and completing work. Watershed feels like an community with the presence of numerous people from countless walks of life. Opening early every day and closing late at night, offering Free Wi-Fi and affordable meals and drink allows Watershed to act as not only an art house cinema but also a social hub. The buzz of conversation fills the air as you walk towards the bar. Are they here and waiting for they’re film to start or are they making use of the free Wi-Fi to catch up with their friends? That’s what makes Watershed so special: How versatile it is. Up behind the bar stands the hand drawn menu, which is easily read from far away. The overall effect is a clean, professional and welcoming space. Not only for cinefiles but also for those interested in a social area to accommodate.
A cinema that is popular with fans of entertainment and mainstream cinema is Gloucester Cineworld Cinema along the Quays, which is located in a vibrant, dazzling and beautiful harbourside, that offers a plethora of restaurants, both local and franchised. The Cineworld in Gloucester appeals to the masses, and is more appropriate for film fans and spectators, due to the diverse range in films that are commonly advertised. The ticket prices are similar to those of the Watershed, but the cinematic experience is more appealing to families, teenagers and adults. As you walk in, you’re bombarded with the latest posters of the blockbusters and Hollywood films that have been freshly released, and as you go up the escalator, which annoyingly isn’t always in operation, you’re then greeted with a wide range of snacks, drinks and confections of all kinds, the fresh smell of popcorn and the huge pick n mix corner, making it impossible to avoid spending even more money on what they have to offer. There are 10 screens within the cinema, all with comfortable seats and cup holders to try and make your cinematic experience truly special. The large screen and surround sound make the film viewing one that you’ll never forget and aid in making the film more captivating and intriguing for audiences, hence why I prefer viewing films here rather than at Watershed. There are multiple small additional features and facilities at the cinema viewers disposal, including; booster chairs for children, toilets and baby changing facilities, a designated smoking area, and couches for people to relax on before or after the film. These small yet important aspects within the cinema are what complete the experience for people that attend and encourage them to attend again and again. I, like the general spectator, prefer the Multiplex chain over the Watershed as it has more to offer, with a more diverse range, as it releases more films, sells more drinks and snacks, and appears more customer friendly.
Cross-promotion, Franchising and Audiences in ‘The Hunger Games’.
Franchises dominate the modern mainstream film industry and for good reason. They’re profitable. Once a brand is already established, it can lead off to countless spin-offs with the simple goal of making money. However, by doing this it can lead to saturation of the brand and could end in disaster for the studios producing them. Fortunately, this isn’t the case with ‘The Hunger Games’. This series, originally a trilogy of books by Suzanne Collins, is set in a dystopian world where youths from 12 districts are selected at random to fight to the death in an arena for the entertainment of the nation. This is the punishment from a previous failed rebellion against the leaders of Panem, which is the capital, and President Snow.
The film business is an extremely dynamic, volatile and everchanging landscape, with no guarantee of success with audiences and will always remain on a boom and bust cycle. This anxiety about the failures from the big studios led to reliance on already established products. This is the case with Lionsgate, as they picked up The Hunger Games series as well as the Twilight series, another book series aimed at young adults. Lionsgate’s constant attempts to transition books to films is an already established method, done with Ian Flemings novels, turning them into the James Bond franchise.
The problem with The Hunger Games being set in a dystopian world is cross-promotion. As it doesn’t resemble our real world, and instead includes foreign items exempts any product placement being placed in the film, as it simply wouldn’t make sense and would disrupt our immersion into the film. An example of this not happening is in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where a character, Willrow Hood, is running around with an ice-cream machine. This then spiralled into a huge fan reaction where people now cosplay as this character. According to an article from Forbes, they stated top brands were reluctant to be involved within the movies. The reason behind this is that the storyline was not-so-favourable for them at the time. One company leapt on the opportunity, Mattel. They created a Katniss Everdeen Barbie doll that appealed greatly to the young female audience, as they looked up to her. But with the huge success at the box office, brands decided to rethink. With the release of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire many brands such as Subway, who released multiple Sriracha subs to coincide with the release of the film, decided to become involved.
With the option of product placement out the window, the marketing team for The Hunger Games had to become inventive. Much like The Blair Witch Project, The Hunger Games relied heavily on social media promotion. Their Facebook page had over 3 million likes at this point and was the perfect starting point for this promotion. They released clips of the film on their page which created more buzz around the film and allowed for conversations to occur, and then spread news about the film by word of mouth. Multiple apps were created such as ‘District Identification Pass’ which sorted you into one of the twelve districts of Panem and a tab which would allow users to read the first two chapters of the book digitally. As the target audience were young adults, the marketing method of using social media was extremely successful.
The type of audience that The Hunger Games was attracting tended to be of the younger generation and Lionsgate already had experience with this due to the success of their Twilight series. Much like the Twilight love conflict with Edward, Jacob and Bella, The Hunger Games had their own. Katniss’ inner conflict of having to choose between either Peeta or Gale appealed very much to the younger audience and allows the film to have a guaranteed fan base. Like any love story, it allows for fans to pick and choose who they want Katniss to end up, if anyone, which will then lead into numerous discussions over the internet thus creating an active audience. This, in turn, gives the film free promotion.
The casting of these characters was crucial. They had to resemble the original source material description of them to please the fans of the book series, but also had to appeal to the wider mainstream audiences. Jennifer Lawrence, not long after starring as Mystique in X-Men: First Class, was cast in the lead role as Katniss Everdeen. After she was announced as the lead role fans of the novel were not pleased. She was dismissed as too old, blonde and too fair skinned to play the heroine character that Suzanne Collins had created. But with the release of the film in 2012 fans were pleasantly surprised. ‘Producers nailed it in picking Jennifer Lawrence’ (Stevens, 23 March 2012). By correctly casting Katniss, the young female audience had someone to look up to in an ever-male dominated field. The impact she has had on young girls allows her to be one of the most influential characters in recent times, partnered with the likes of Sigourney Weaver in Alien. For the other characters, Liam Hemsworth as Gale was an excellent choice. As an already established sweetheart for females in his previous film The Last Song, it was guaranteed to attract fans. This casting worked well for both the male and female audience, as the males has someone to look up to and aspire to be like, whereas the females had an attractive male that can appeal to them. With Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, a now grown up child actor, he follows the same attraction as Liam and also allows for the rivalry between the two of them for Katniss’s heart. An already working example of this is the Twilight series and Lionsgate followed this same template for the love conflict of Katniss, Peeta and Gale. As these characters were around the same ages as the audience, it easily targets them for the film. However, The Hunger Games also features cross-generational appeal. With the addition of veteran and Emmy Award-winning actor Woody Harrelson as Haymitch. Whilst parents take their preteen and teenage children to the cinema, they may have no interest in Katniss but rather the emotionally unstable Haymitch. By having the secondary audience be adults, it also lets the film appeal to a wider range of audiences and in coalition make more money. This then allows for a ‘double address’ to both adults and children.
As the 20th highest grossing film franchises, at $2.97 billion worldwide, it goes beyond what anyone could have predicted. There are three novels, but Lionsgate decided to split the final book, Mockingjay, into two films, much like they did with Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 & 2 and like Warner Brothers did with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2. This happened to be a bad move on Lionsgate part. They wanted to recreate the previous success of Twilight but there was no need for this. They wanted to drain as much money as possible out of the series and Mockingjay Part 1 suffered from this. Now the franchise may be over for the time being, but the franchise will still be loved. Suzanne Collins is in the process of writing a prequel book about the original rebellion that set the Hunger Games in process, and you would presume Lionsgate are keeping a close eye on it to eventually transfer it to the big screen. Michael Burns, a vice chairman at Lionsgate, has spoken about creating prequel movies and suggested them being about different Hunger Games in their different the arenas ‘The one thing that kids say they missed was there were no arenas’ (Burns, 9th December 2015).
The famous singers that featured on The Hunger Games soundtrack also brought more attention to the film’s release, featuring a single from the up and coming, at the time, Taylor Swift. The song ‘Safe & Sound’ has racked up 159 million views on YouTube and was a driving force after the film’s release, and continued to showcase the movie. Another single, performed by Jennifer Lawrence herself, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 and certified double platinum in the United States. This showcases how strong the audience and fandom for The Hunger Games truly is.
Hunger Games still remains one of the most influential franchises of the recent decade and will continue to do so from the everlasting fan love and appreciation of Katniss Everdeen. She will live on in the fans lives and future generations will be introduced into the world of Katniss, thus creating a cycle and the continuation of The Hunger Games.
Bibliography:
Alien. Directed by Ridley Scott, 20th Century Fox, 1979.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1. Directed by David Yates, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2010.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. Directed by David Yates, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2011.
Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Directed by Irvin Kershner, Lucasfilms, 1980.
The Blair Witch Project. Directed by Myrick, Daniel and Eduardo Sanchez, Artisan Entertainment, 1999.
The Last Song. Directed by Julie Anne Robinson, Walt Disney Studios, 2010.
The Hunger Games. Directed by Gary Ross, Lionsgate Films, 2012.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Directed by Francis Lawrence, Lionsgate films, 2013.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1. Directed by Francis Lawrence, Lionsgate films, 2014.
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1. Directed by Bill Condon, Summit Entertainment, 2011
Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2. Directed by Bill Condon, Summit Entertainment, 2012
X-Men: First Class. Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Marvel Entertainment, 2011.
Critical Feedback Essay
For the group assignment of creating a Blog Website on WordPress, I decided to partner with Luke Gardener and Ben Riggall. Coincidentally we all decided to write about Hunger Games but fortunately, all about different ideas and concepts. We spent our time at the library discussing, creating and developing multiple ideas for our blog. We all had our similar visions for the creation of the website and only had to transfer our ideas onto WordPress. We then allocated individua job roles between the three of us.
We decided on Ben taking charge of the overall design of the blog. Ben, with the help of both me and Luke, chose the layout of the website with different colour schemes and arrangement of titles. With the additions of colours relating to our topic it allowed the overall look of the blog to become eye-catching and visually better.
Luke was elected to work on the look of the titles and other written content. By doing this it made our blog look more appealing to the audience and allowed for easier navigation around the website. He added subheadings with our names with the location of our individual work. Without this, anyone using the blog wouldn’t of understand where to go and where to locate our work.
I was in charge of the overall editing of the blog. This meant I went over the main page of the blog and fixed up what needed fixing. As I felt like I understood WordPress the most out of my group I stepped in to attempt to correct any technical errors made by my teammates. For example, the sizing of certain images was quite difficult and after numerous attempts I felt like I have achieved the same sizing throughout. This was a crucial task as I had control over the final look of the blog and had to adapt to a new blog site with little to no experience.
As a group we worked well. We took our time and allowed everyone’s ideas to be heard as well as working efficiently. As we went to the library to work cooperatively it allowed us to be in a productive environment and work better because of that. Our main issue was WordPress. After countless attempts to navigate and understand how WordPress worked, we felt we were very limited with our knowledge of its capabilities. We tried to place images adjacent to each other whilst keeping them the same size but for some reason WordPress wouldn’t allow it and continued to be a problem. After attempting to get a grasp of how the website actually worked, we became frustrated with the lack of user help that was available and struggled to create anything to the standards we believed we could of. I would work with the same peers again as I believe we worked efficiently and productively as a group. They were both hardworking and reliable on meeting up and contributed substantially to the final product.
The Film Blog 