Film Production and High Concept Films

Recap

The Studio system in Hollywood.

            Vertical Intergration

            Production line

            Production      Distribution     Exhibition

            The Big 5       

            The Package

                        A treatment for a film, details of actors and directors and locations.

Although film is a creative form always bear in mind that Hollywood is a profit motivated organisation.

Film Finance

Investing in Films is a high risk venture – there is no such thing as a ‘safe bet’.

Managing Risk

Influencing the film

The Dark Night           $185000000

Titanic                        $200000000

Planet 51                    $  60000000

Billy Elliot                 $    5000000

The Producer

Raises finance and develops the idea – builds confidence

The Package

treatment

Genre

Proposed Budget

Storyboard Key scenes

Director

Cast

Possible spin offs

The Pitch

Presentation of the Package to a potential investor. For large budget this will be a major studio. Simplified details often involving a hybrid of two films. Simple story lines easily understood plot and characters.

Leads to what we call High Concept Films

High concept films are a response by Hollywood Studis to the high risks of film production.

Many believe the fire starters were Spielberg and Lucas with Jaws and Star Wars

They may involve:

Repackaging previously successful elements, such as big name stars and directors

Remaking past hits in the form of either sequels or variations on currently popular genre. This often means mixing genres.

Decontextualised action scenes. Not linked to narrative or well-rounded characters.

These scenes can be transferred into promos, music video computer games.

Essentially, the high-concept movie is one where the plot can be summed up in a sentence or two, one that has a simple title that tells you most or everything you need to know about the film, and an idea that breeds easy-to-sell marketability. This includes everything from soundtracks and tie-in pop music (think P Diddy’s hit Come With Me for Godzilla), star vehicles and franchises, consumer goods, and dominant, impact-inspired themes (examples would be dinosaurs let loose on the public – Jurassic Park, meteor heading to earth that will destroy everything – Armageddon, Deep Impact).

Every high-concept movie includes very similar things in its formula. There’s a predominant theme of good versus evil which always sells, with the main character having to face a major problem that will always be as big as Armageddon, or a giant sea lizard type-thing attacking New York city, or dinosaurs running riot downtown, or a bus that will explode if it goes under fifty miles per hour. And they also feature the extraordinary – either the character or the situation, but one is so dominant it fights against the other to create obvious and seemingly unstoppable conflict.

Another reason high-concept films are easily digested is because they rely on plot over character.

Consider a film you have seen recently. Why do you think investors funded it? Make a list of its selling points.

If a major studio is making a film it will usually finance it.

Independent films are those that are financed outside of a major studio. Money can come from a range of sources, banks, rich private investors and government or agencies like the BBC. To raise more money they will pre-sell the rights to the film to other national markets. However if these people become involved before the film is made they become subject to pressure and investors will seek to influence the creative design of the film.