Lego Movie
Tuesday 14th September 2022
Lo: to understand the narrative and characters in the lego movie
characters:
-batman
-wonder women
-Dumbledore
-green goblin
-Gandalf
-super man
settings/lego worlds:
-the old west
-cloud cuckoo land
The lego movie is about an ordinary builder called Emet who becomes the 'special one' as he needs to save the world from the president who wants to destroy everyone.
The main message in the movie is to have fun with individual creativity is a value that should be encouraged and that everyone is special.
Wednesday 21st September 2022
Lo:to research the process,companies and regulators behind the film industry
Industry research
In the film industry production is when they start shooting, distribution is making the movie available for the public and exhibition is allowing the movie in theatres.
Media conglomerate is a company that owns large number over other companies that varies in media.
They put the age rating as a U 7+.
The film industry in the uk is regulated by the British board of film classification (BBFC).
The video standards council regulates the video games in the uk (VSC).
The rating for the lego movie video game is peggy 7.
The two main companies that produced the lego movie were Lin pictures and warner bros in the film industry.
Phil Lord and Chris Miller both directed the lego movie.
TT fusion company produced the lego movie.
Warner Bros pictures distributed the lego movie.
The advertising standards authority (ASA) advertise content in the uk.
Wednesday 28th September 2022
Regulation
regulators are usually industry bodies that do one of two things:
-classify products (normally by age rating)
-ensures content of products meets acceptable standards
they rate this movie a U to get a bigger audience.
1) i think its important for a film regulation to exist because it helps protect the vulnerable people who are either to young or have a health problem -which could effect them.
5) I think the warners bros where very keen for the film to achieve a U certificate so that more people are allowed to watch it (targets a larger audience) meaning they earn more money.
Vertical integration
Two benefits of vertical integration, is that it helps increase profits this is because smaller companies that work under the same main company produce different parts of the film industry and work together under the main company meaning they don't have to share the profit money out. It also helps increase the exposure of a brand or franchise because the main company grows more wealthier.
Wednesday 5th October 2022
Lo: to explore the narrative and apply narrative theory to the lego movie
Narrative theory
Postmodernism:
challenges genre conventions- might be a mixture of many genres: challenge character roles etc....
pastiche- imitates other texts, humorous take on society/culture
hyper-reality-makes the audience aware that they are watching a movie
equilibrium- the city is following the rules as a repetitive cycle (time loop) and it is seen to be 'perfect'
Disruption- the protagonist (emmet) falls and finds the piece of resistance -which is needed to stop the glue-
recognition of disruption- Emmet realises that its needed and tries to protect it by staying away from lord business/the antagonist
Attempt to solve- Emmet and his team protect the piece and stop president business and rescue the master builders
New equilibrium- creativity and team work is encouraged, president business is forgiven ( the boy is aloud to play with his dad)
The hero- Emmet
The villain- president business
The Donor- Vitruvius
The helper- Wyldstyle
The princess- Wyldstyle
The dispatcher- Vitruvius
The princess' father- Vitruvius
The false hero- Batman /wyldstyle
Wednesday 12th October 2022
Lo: to identify the target audience using demographics and psychographics
The movie targets a family audience.
The Lego Movie appeals to each part of the audience this is because:
For the kids they use characters like Uni-kitty and the Pirate as well as the humour in different scenes in the movie.
For teenagers it contains the scene at the end where the child is arguing with his father. It also includes characters like batman, wonder woman, harry potter mainly for boys and for girls they use wyldstyle as the emo style was popular at the time.
And it appeals to adults because it is linked to the matrix (which most adults would have watched) and the american society. It also contains Benny -who is a 1980 Lego character.
Guardian:
1.What are the building blocks of success? A brand will create entertaining content for consumers that will eventually pay for the company's service/ products. The Lego marketing team's challenge was to make their movie appealing to children,but also adding in some humour for adults.
2. What did Lego do right? they partnered up with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to create a funny movie. They made it important that adults enjoyed the movie just as much as the children.
3.How has it laid the foundations for future success? Finding their audience in the cinema at first will get the eager audience to buy a DVD that can be viewed several times, but as they grow up they would feel nostalgic about the films they watched, watching it again in their adult-hood, maybe even showing it to a younger relative, and the cycle repeats.
Zesty:
1.How has it got heart?
It has an emotive storyline that explores the meaning of love, partnership and humanity.
2.How is it all about you?
The lego movie forces us to ask questions not just about the characters or the storyline but also about ourselves. This is because as humans we constantly question which of the categories we fit into.
3.How does it show that it knows its audience?
They divide the film based on their objective and their audience this gives the ability to offer 'something for everyone'. They do this by giving the kids a slapstick the teens a cultural savvy and a hilarious social commentary for the grown ups.
Tent-pole production- when a film supports financial performance of a film studio
The Lego movie is a tent-pole production because incase it didn't make any profit
Since the first lego movie in 2014, there has been a lego movie 2 which was released on the 7th February 2019.
Wednesday 19th October 2022
Lo: to explore marketing and promotion of The Lego Movie; to link the methods used to the target audience
Ways to market and promote a movie:
-Posters
-Adverts
-trailer/teaser
-social media
-write a press release
-billboards
-magazines
-publicity tours
-movie premier
Synergy:
Lego released some tie-in merchandise to go alongside the movie:
-17 Lego world sets
-16 collectable mini figures
-The Lego Movie Video Game
-Range of school supplies
-Sticker and activity books
Other than merchandise, the methods they used to promote the movie were:
-each week in January 2014, a new character poster was released
-Lego stores scheduled linked events
-Free accessory packs were available in stores after building creative models in-store
-Video Game released on 4th February
-On the 7th February, McDonalds released collectible 3D cups with Happy Meals
-A website enabled fans to make versions of themselves
LEGOtainment
In dancing on ice at 7:27pm on Sunday 9th February 2014
-five days before the movie launched- ITV broadcast a world first, an add break make entirely out of LEGO....
British heart foundation, confused.com, Bt and premier Inn all paid for the production costs of their adverts themselves.
Each advert is made of Lego bricks, building an entire Lego 'world'.
The adverts all have a warm, friendly and humorous tone.
Successful?
Nearly 6m people saw the LEGO movie break live on TV, with an additional 1.1m seeking out on YouTube within a week
By making it a piece of branded entertainment in its own right, over 1 million people actively sought out a 3min 20sec AD BREAK and watched it in its entirely
It went viral on social media
The Lego Movie marketing campaign broke boundaries with the TV ad and linked social media campaign and became successful because the four companies that where advertised in lego paid The Lego Movie the costs of having it done. It was also very unique meaning it went viral through the whole world and expanded on the target audience, buy using different popular ads that everyone knew to target kids, teenagers and adults in lego at 7:27 and at the same time they added it to YouTube so that people who missed it and saw social media going wild about it could watch it -which was also successful as over 1 million people went to watch it.
Wednesday 2nd November 2022
Lo:to evaluate the methods used to market The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience
Warner brothers chose to have their logos made from lego because the movie is a movie made out of lego. They wanted the logos to be shown before the trailer because to get people more interested as the movie is done by warner bros.
Equilibrium- Emmet is watching TV following instructions
Disruption- President business threatening to put people a sleep if they don't follow instructions
Recognition of disruption- When president business made his announcement
attempt to solve disruption- all of the action from the second half
new equilibrium- they do not show the new equilibrium
1. So that t makes the audience more excited to watch the movie and can show more of the action scenes
2. to grab their attention as the action scenes are more likely to spike their interest.
Camerawork:
Q.1. because they are focusing in on the main characters to introduce you to them
Q.2. shows the setting/where the film takes place in the movie.
Q.3. To show their power and they are the good guys.
Sound:
Q.1. To tell us the story of the movie
Q.2. To show its n action movie and adds more excitement
Q.3. makes it more dramatic as it goes through the movie as the action increases
Editing:
Q.1. The pace of the cuts increases to build tension, but slows down at the end for a humorous effect
Q.2. To make it appeal to the older generation (parents)
Q.3. To emphasise the drama/drama and to show that everything is made out of lego
Mise-en-scene:
Q.1. They match everyday places
Q.2. The colours that are used are bright to appeal to younger children
Q.3. To tell us what kind of jobs the characters do
Wednesday 9th November 2022
Exam style question:
Explain how The Lego Movie trailer uses TWO elements of media language to target different audiences.
One element used in The Lego Movie trailer is editing. For example, throughout the trailer the pace of the cuts increase, but then slows down closer to the end to show the humour in scenes throughout the movie. This would appeal more towards the adults because it portrays that the movie has a genre of comedy as well as action.
Another element used in The Lego Movie trailer is Mise-en-scene. For example, throughout the trailer the colour pallet is bright and vibrant. This would appeal more towards the younger audience to show that the individual creativity should be encouraged. As bright colours connote fun, joy and adventures.
The Lego Movie Video Game:
Lo: to explain how vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using uses and gratification theory
The game developer- TT Fusion
Game publisher- Warner Bros interactive entertainment
Released date- 7th February 2014
Genre of the game- Action/adventure
Platforms it was released for- iOS Microsoft Windows, Nintendo 3DS, OS X PlayStation, 3 PlayStation, 4 PlayStation Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Game modes it has- single-player and multi player
video games that where released close to the lego movie
-Ghostbusters
-spider man
-iron man
-sonic
-uncharted
Simultaneous Releases:
Profit maximised- increases potential audiences
Familiarity- bran, plot and characters known
Extends pleasure of the film- chances to be a part of the film world; can have extended narratives
Cross-promotion- efficient use of marketing of both products to promote the other
Uses and Gratifications:
1) Personal Identity- helps us consider who we are; what ideas and values we identify with
2) Information- new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing
3) Entertainment- offers distraction from the world
4) Social interaction- we find things we can share and discuss with others
Personal Identity because people may relate to some of the characters.
information because you get to know more information about the film.
entertainment because you can get distracted in the game.
Social interaction because you can play with your friends.
Explain what uses and gratifications audiences might get from the video game according to the trailer.
It uses personal identity in the video game to make people feel attached by emotions as they would feel like they relate to the individual characters. For example, girls may relate more to Wyldstyle as back in 2014 emo style was really popular this shows that teenage girls physically relate to Wyldstyle more due to the trailer.
Wednesday 16th November 2022
Lo:to explain the effectiveness of the campaign; to analyse the representation on the poster campaign
Poster Campaign
Denotation- what we see
Connotation- what the image means to an audience
Denotations- batman, building, fire shaped as a bat, smoke, debris
connotations- The fire shaped as a bat could foreshadow events later on in the film and can link to the character on the front of the poster -batman. Could represent destruction and danger/anger
The smoke portrays a type of villain in the movie
A dark colour palate connote the darkness, mystery, death and evilness through the film
Low angle and the light around the character could represent a victory and is the main character. The word knight also tells us that he is a good guy rather than a bad guy.
The Lego Movie Video game cover appeals to the target audience of 7+ because they used a colourful colour palate to draw in the children as saturated colours are easier for young developing eyes. The choice of vibrant colours such as reds and oranges (warm colours) also tell us that the genre of the movie is action and connotes the fun, enthusiastic, exciting vibe in the game.
The position of characters could also tell us how important they are in the movie and game for example Emmet who is the main character in the movie is at the front of the cover in the video game. Batman is far back in the cover and is set as a low camera angle like in other movie posters besides The Lego Movie. Though with president business, he is towering over all the characters this shows that he has power over everyone and is possibly the bad guy in the movie.
Wednesday 23rd November 2022
1) the explosion in the background, weapons and the city show us the genre conventions
Teachers example:
In the LM poster, there is an image of Benny the spaceman in the middle ground, flying slightly above the rest of the characters. This character would appeal for the older part of the target audience (parents). This is because the character is from the 80s Lego sets and they would recognise him and it would create a feeling of nostalgia for them.
In The Lego Movie poster, they put the character Wyldstyle (who is dressed in black) with the front section of characters just behind emmet. This would appeal to the teenagers because back in 2014 the Emo style which would connote emotion, elegance as it was a popular style of trend and if she is close to the front it shows that she is quite popular in the movie.
In the Lego Movie poster, they put popular characters like batman, wonder woman and the green lantern on show at the front. This would catch the older generation interests because them sort of characters have been around from the early 19s.
In the Lego Movie poster, they use of a bright colour palate and have characters like uni kitty to present the genre of action/adventure to show the creativity within the movie . This is to make it look more appealing towards the younger generation like kids because at a young age bright colours are easier to see and understand. The saturated colours also connote entertainment, excitement and the fun in the movie.
Wednesday 30th November 2022
DIRT
1. use accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar
2. explain WHY certain elements of media language appeal to the TA
3. Use the PEEl chain to structure your analysis
4. Use CONNOTATIONS to explain the appeal
The Lego Movie: Representation
Lo: to analyse the representations throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign
Wyldstyle representation:
stereotypical representation of females- makeup (eyelashes,lipstick,eyebrows) long hair style, hair dye, represented as a side kick.
anti-stereotypical representation of females- wearing black clothes, serious, determined facial expression (not scared).
Trailer and video game trailer (Wyldstyle)
stereotypical representation- comes on half way through the trailer,shown as a prise
anti-stereotypical- fighting, driving, building
Wednesday 7th December 2022
Lo:to analyse the representations throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign
Representation
1st Character:
Jacob
-male
-gets bullied by the jock and his friends for being a nerd
-glasses, greasy hair, weak
2nd character:
Madelyn
-female
-popular, rich, overloaded with makeup, media famous
-captain of the cheerleading team
3rd character:
Massey
-female
-shy, quiet, arty, dyslexic, has anxiety
4th character:
Sam
-male
-strong, fit, jock
-captain of the team
Age is presented in the poster campaign for The Lego Movie:
President Business has rinkels to show that he is older than others the same as Vitruvius.
Wyldstyle has makeup to make her look younger.Emmet wears business clothes on and has no rinkels to show he is young .Vitruvius has white hair, a beard and rinkels to show how he has aged this makes him look old and wise.
Wednesday 4th January 2022
Lo: to explore exam style questions and how to answer them effectively
The Lego Movie: Put it all together
film- BBFC
tv and radio- Ofcom
advertising- ASA
magazines and newspapers= IPSO or impress
video games- VSC
character stings in between each advert
Wednesday 18th January 2023
-For Q6 i need to revise factional information and definitions
-For Q7 i need to explain the benefits in more detail.
vertical integration is where a single company controls both the production and distribution of a product.
Horizontal is where there is multiple different companies that control the production and distribution of a product.
can help increase profits through not having to share revenue with outside companies.
can make the production process more efficient as nothing is outsourced at different
-For Q8 read the question and explain and include the promotional campaign
Elements in the promotional campaign:
trailer,video game, advert, posters
use of range of genre conventions in posters and trailers to appeal to a range of demographics
LM campaign, was designed to appeal to a range of audiences: young children, cinema-going young adults and adults with young children; both genders.
-For Q9 i need to explain more of the characters in the bigger posters as well as including more clear
stereotypical representations used throughout: lord business as evil antagonist, male dominance etc...
Q9- improvement
In The Lego Movie poster campaign, they portray different genders with the characters. For example, the poster campaign include stereotypical representations throughout each poster. This is seen when they use lord business as a evil antagonist to show the male dominance and masculinity within the character. The campaign include a angry facial expression to show that the character is arrogant and ruthless like he wants everything his way.This stereotypes the men in this generation to be overpowering over others.
The campaign also uses the character Wyldstyle to stereotype as a typical female in real life. This is because of the makeup (eyelashes,lipstick, hair dye etc...) that are used which could make the female audience relate and feel a connection to her more due to her looks and style. This is because when The Lego Movie was released, the style 'emo' was very popular and common within girls. She is also shown in the main poster as a sidekick -which stereotypes how females are treated in real life and are seen to follow men. In both posters, her facial expressions are seen to be unbothered and are hard looking to show that she is tough and ambitious.
Monday 4th December 2023
target is audience is family which has 3 segments to go along with it:
-young kids who play with the lego
-parents of those kids who used to play with lego
-young cinema goers (15-26)
users and gratification: audience
Personal identity- help us identify the certain characters to find out who we are
Information- new information to understand what is around us
Entertainment- escaping from the real world
Social interaction- share and discuss with friends and family, for example the game is multi-player
intertextuality- batman, wonder woman, green lantern
stereotypes- older characters are more serious to stereotype that the older people are the more serious they become as emmet and wyldestyles facial expressions show that they are less serious
Wyldestyle also wears makeup to stereotype how woman feel about how they look in the present generation
video game:
Personal identity- you can choose your own character as there are 'over 90'
Information- new information with each character by the editing, set in a city
Entertainment- its a video game thats seen as action in the first 10 seconds (editing is fast and music is energetic/fun)
Social interaction- play with your friends ( gender equality as there in a mixture of genders in the trailer)
-it focuses on specific dialogue on intertextuality as well as scenes that can been seen as comedic
advert break:
in between each advert there are each characters featuring in to attract the different age groups
British heart foundation
confused.com
Bt broadband
premier inn
followed by the actual trailer
Sunday during dancing on ice then released it onto youtube straight after
the hero- Emmet
the villain- lord business
the helper- Wyldestyle
Revision:
Gender representation in the main film poster campaign:
-It is dominantly male characters
-The main character is a male itself- who anti-stereotypically, is scared by his facial expressions- whereas Wyldstyle who is placed on one side of Emmet, is seen to be brace and resilient by the choice of facial expressions, but to also fulfil the role of supporting the protagonist -who is alos seen as the weaker male- to be shown as a tough woman (post-feminist context)
-All characters are running away from danger to show that is an action movie
-The poster consists of intertextuality with male characters by using vitruvuis as gandalf and lord business as the matrix to attract an older audience
age and ethnicity in the film poster campaign:
-Emmet: Dressed in work uniform and has a scared facial expression, so he doesn't look like a typical hero, his skin is yellow like all the other characters to imply that he is an ordinary character and there is nothing special about him even though, he is placed centrally in the main poster to highlight some sort of significance. Chris pratt also voice narrates this character which will target the older audience as he is a funny well known actor.
-Wyldstyle: she contains post-feminist context due to being seen as a feisty and brave character by the way she dominates the poster as well as being a bit cheeky by the way she is smiling in the poster. Elizabeth bank voice narrates this character which will target an older audience as she is well known, but the character wyldstyle herself with target the younger audience due to her style and ambition.
-Virtruivuis: has connotations of being wise like gandalf by his looks, the voice narrator is also Morgan freeman -who is a famous black actor- to reflect the movie to have anti-racist context
intertextuality-
Lego movie- independence day
virtuvius- gandalf
lord business- the matrix
Excellent notes Natasha - you clearly understand the target audience, its appeal & the industry elements.
ReplyDeleteTHEORY & AUDIENCE: good notes
ReplyDeleteMARKETING CAMPAIGN: clearly understood
VIDEO GAME Q: good solid answer
GAME COVER ANALYSIS:
WWW: you identified three different elements and explained their appeal
EBI: you used the terms CONNOTES/CONNOTATIONS
POSTER ANALYSIS [10]: excellent!
WWW:you've correctly explained three elements and their appeal
EBI: in the first paragraph, explain WHO this would appeal to specifically