Taken Presentation

Taken on Prezi

Slide 1- Introduction
Taken is a 2008 French-produced thriller film produced by Luc Besson, starring Irish actor Liam Neeson,
American actress Maggie Grace and Dutch actress Famke Janssen.
Neeson plays a former CIA agent who sets about tracking down his daughter after she is kidnapped by human traffickers while traveling in France.

Slide 2- Cast

Liam Neeson- Bryan Mills, Maggie Grace- Kim Mills (daughter), Famke Janssen- Lenore Mills (mum & ex),Olivier Rabourdin- Jean-Claude, Australian singer Holly Valance- Sheerah (singer), Katie Cassidy- amanda (Kim’s Friend)

Slide 3- The Idea

Co-writer and producer Luc Besson came up with the idea for TAKEN.
Luc had met with a Paris police officer who told him about the underworld of kidnappers who take young women and force them into prostitution through drugs and then the girls would then be auctioned off just outside of Paris.
Besson and Kamen turned this idea into a compelling story.
Besson hired Pierre Morel to direct Taken as they had previously worked together when he’d been the cinematographer, who had shot "Unleashed," which was also written and produced by Besson, but also because he loved the internationally acclaimed action film "District B13," Morel had previously directed with a vast amount of choreographed martial art fighting styles which Besson wanted to incorporate into Taken.
Taken was finally rated as an age 15 movie due after the surrounding controversy due to its explicit violence & drug use

Slide 4- Developing Finance
The main production company for Taken was EuropaCorp which is co-owned by the film’s co-writer and producer Luc Besson, europacorp takes on a range of production activities like film distribution in France, DVD distribution, sales of French TV rights, and producing advertisements.
From this europacorp also had many other French television channels that it worked alongside to produce the film such as M6, TPS star and Canal+.
It also had the help of American production company Wintergreen Productions.
EuropaCorp working alongside all these minor French production companies and Wintergreens productions is called a synergy and doing this means that expertise and costs can be spread and also to ensure a larger effect than if they were to act independently.
Because of Taken’s French origin it was working with EuropaCorp and other minor TV production companies but also one of the big six film studios which was 20^th Century Fox to produce the film, even though the film had a small budget of only $25million and lacked in any special effects and collection of big Hollywood stars, the synergy between the companies helped the huge success of the film in its production.

Slide 5- Script Development
Taken was an original script by French film-maker Luc Besson and American screenwriter Robert Kamen.

Slide 6- Production
As said before the film was produced by Luc Besson's production company EuropaCorp.
Taken was mostly filmed in Los Angeles, California but also in Paris, France at the Studios Eclair which is the main filming studio in France that works closely with EuropaCorp.
There are three different versions of taken altogether, The first is the International Cut, released as an "Extended Cut" which is unrated on dvd in the US and also as an "Extended Harder Cut" (with an "18" classification) on dvd in the UK. The second is the UK Cut, which is nearly identical to the International Cut, with the only exception being the torture scene where the clamps are attached to the chair in the UK Cut, but in the International Cut, they're attached to spikes which are stabbed into the man's legs. Obviously this is much more graphic and concludes why this version is unrated in the US and was cut in the UK to secure a "15" classification rating, however this cut was shown at cinemas in the UK. And finally, the third version is the US Cut, edited by 2-3 minutes to receive a PG-13 rating in the US, this cut was forced by the US distributor 20^th century fox, and was eventually shown in cinemas in the US.
The main distributors for Taken were Europacorp and 20^th Century Fox, who distributed the cinema & home media versions of the film in France the US and the UK and also many other countries worldwide.

Slide 7- sales
There were three different trailers for Taken; an official trailer, an international trailer and a teaser trailer. There were also two different TV spots released in the US for the film.

Slide 8- Marketing
Taken had the usual marketing techniques of posters on buses, in magazines on billboards etc, TV, cinema and DVD trailers. But because of the release of the film in so many different countries all this advertising and promotion work was done in four different languages (English, French, Albanian and Arabic). Altogether Taken released three trailers and two tv spots, however some controversy was created as it was revealed Neeson’s character killed 35 people altogether throughout the 90-odd minute film.

Slide 9- Exhibition
Taken was released in French cinemas on the 27^th February 2008 and on the 28^th September 2008 in the UK. In its opening day in America the film grossed $9.4 million, and scored the best opening day ever for Super Bowl Weekend, and in the overall weekend it made over $24,000,000 worldwide and was shown on approximately 3,183 screens all over the world. The film has grossed a worldwide total of over $226,000,000.
Taken was released on DVD in the UK in May 2009 and as of march 2011 over 4 million copies of the film had been sold worldwide generating over $68,000,000 in sales. Taken was released on a blu-ray version of the extended and original cut and a DVD version of the extended cut and the original film.

Slide 10- Other Windows
Family Guy released an episode called ‘Leggo My Meg-O’ in May 2012 which is based on the film taken.
Taken was nominated for three awards in total and won one of the three.
It was rated 7.9/10 on imdb and it was rated on Rotten Tomatoes at 83%. In November 2010, 20^th century fox announced the production of Taken 2 would begin in October 2011 and it was released earlier this month on the 3^rd October 2012, the budget for the sequel was triple the first film’s budget at $80 million dollars and its box office opening weekend made over $49,000,000.

Kick-ass Filmmaking

 

The idea:

The idea behind the film Kick-ass was taken from the comic book Kick-Ass which is a creator-owned comic book series written by Mark Millar. The film was produced by Matthew Vaughn and co-produced by Brad Pitt, Vaughn also directed Kick-ass. The comic book was orginally written by Mark Millar, but the film was co-wrote with Jane Goldman and Vaughn himself. At first Millar had the idea to bring comic book to the big screen and thats where he met jane Goldman who then introduced him to Matthew Vaughn (with whom she co-wrote the film Stardust with beforehand). Millar then pitched the idea to Vaughn who loved it and they plotted the whole film together in one afternoon.

Development Finance:

At first Kick-ass struggled to get a production company that would accept the script for what it was without any tweaks (such as decreasing levels in violence and swearing) in total seven production companys turned down the script before Vaughn released it through his own production company.  The big studios also doubted the success of the adaptation as a violent superhero, which forced the film to be independently financed by Vaughn however this gave him the freedom to make the film the way he imagined, without having to worry about any sensoring. However, Vaughn also had the help of Brad Pitt, which then meant because Pitt owns a film production company (Plan B Entertainment) that holds a release deal with Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox, Kick-ass now had a studio to film in.The film's budget was $30 million and its total income was approximately $96,188,903.

Script Development:

After meeting Vaughn, Millar then wrote a synopsis and then in parallel Millar wrote the comic and Vaughn wrote the script. This meant from the start Kick-ass was different from most other comic book movies, this was due to the fact the movie was in development at the same time as the comic book. Then, Vaughn wrote a first draft focusing on structure and story before Goldman added the dialogue and characterization, Goldman described her work with Vaughn as her job being the "construction work" and the "interior designing" while Vaughn acts as the "architect."

Packaging:

With the film deep in pre-production, Vaughn faced the scenario where he struggled to find an actor to fit the bill of 'Kickass' himself. In the struggle to find an actor to fit the character of Dave (Kickass) Vaughn almost had to pull the movie back six months, even though he had cast all the other roles. Then, Sarah Finn and Lucinda Syson (Vaughn's casting directors), encouraged him to take a look at a tape from a young actor called Aaron Johnson, which Vaughn had already previously turned down without viewing. Then after hearing Johnson read for the first time, Vaughn knew immediately Aaron would fit the role of Dave perfectly.

Production:

As pointed out before Kickass was an independantly financed film due to the big studios doubt in the film's success. Christopher Mintz-Plasse, (Red Mist), said that the creators of the film were wondering whether a distributor would pick up the movie. On the set Vaughn jokingly referred to Kick-Ass as something that was going to be "the most expensive home movie I ever made."
The filming locations for Kickass include Hamilton, Ontario, Canada; Dip 'N' Sip Donuts on Kingston Road in Toronto, Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, and "many Toronto landmarks that play cameos"; and various locations in the UK: Elstree Studios,

Whiteleys Shopping Centre in Bayswater London and Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire. The opening sequence with Nicolas Cage was filmed in a sewage plant in East London.
On the other hand, the 2D/3D animated comic book sequence in the film took almost two years to finish. Romita created the pencils, Tom Palmer did the inks, and Dean White did the colours.
Kick-ass recieved a 15 rating from the BBFC and received an R rating by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) for "strong brutal violence throughout, pervasive language, sexual content, nudity and drug use (some involving children). In an interview with Total Film, Aaron Johnson confirmed that the film stays true to the adult nature of the comic series by featuring a large amount of profanity and graphic violence.
The production companies involved in the making of Kickass were Marv Films and Plan B Entertainment (owned by Brad Pitt) and the  main distributors were Universal Pictures (UK) and Lionsgate Films (US) a full list of distributors and companies involved in the production of Kick-ass can be found on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1250777/companycredits 

 

Sales:

Four different trailers altogether were released before Kick-ass premiered. They include the teaser trailer, the extended trailer and the international trailer. At first the teaser trailer caused some controversy due to the explicit language used by Chloe Moretz (Hit-Girl) but they still went on to released a red band trailer which displayed violence and use of the line "Okay you cunts, let's see what you can do now," delivered by Chloë Grace Moretz, who was only eleven years old at the time of filming, this caused and upheaval by family advocacy groups for the use of violence and swearing. Along with this four TV spots were also released prior to the film being released,some fans said that too much footage was being seen too close to the release, however it still went on to be a huge hit in the box office and an even bigger hit in DVD and Blu-ray sales.

Teaser Trailer:

Extended Trailer:

International Trailer:

Red-Band Trailer:

Kick-Ass TV Spot - Story:

Kick-Ass TV Spot - Ordinary Heroes:

Kick-Ass TV Spot - Corridor:

Kick-Ass TV Spot: Big Four:

Marketing:

Kick-ass was initially marketed through it original comic-books (published by Marvel Comics under the company's Icon imprint), which a few issues were already in shops to buy and read before the film was released. It also had the usual marketing techniques of posters on buses, in magazines on billboards etc, TV, cinema and DVD trailers. But Kickass was marketed really heavily in its poster and trailer campaigns because it was expected to be a huge success even though it was being surrounded by huge controversy in the early stages of production and development. Kick-ass released four trailers altogether and four TV spots, which some would say is too much coverage and gave too much of the film away. Nevertheless, it still went on to be a huge hit. Some of the main actors also did promotional tours which is where film actors, directors, and producers appear for television, radio, and print media interviews, sometimes showing a clip from the film or an outtake and talking about the film and their role in it. Empire and Total Film magazine covered the film and it's journey from page to screen and film reviews are available on their websites too.The film was also pitched at San Diego Comic-con and the Empire magazine Movie-Con. Kick-ass also took to viral marketing on fan's blogs and websites which showed free distribution of trailers and also gave reviews. Kick-ass also had a test screening in London at the BAFTA which was hosted by the UK distributor Universal, the people that attended this were Universal staff and other European distributors and then a smaller minority being the general public.

Exhibition:

A premier for Kick-ass was held in Leicester Square, London for the film, cast, directors, producers and screenwriters plus other special guests (including Brad Pitt). Kick-Ass made £3,881,704 (UK) on the opening weekend (4th April 2010)  and it was shown on 402 cinema screens across the country and on 5778 screens across the world on the opening weekend alone.
The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray on 3 August 2010 in North America, selling 1.4 million copies within its first week, one-third of these in Blu-ray format. Kick-Ass debuted at number one on the DVD sales chart and the discs were released in the United Kingdom on 6 September 2010.

Other Windows:

A video game produced by WHA Entertainment and Frozen Codebase was released through the App Store on 15 April 2010, then another game was released on PlayStation Network on 29 April 2010. Kickass was nominated for twenty-five awards altogether, eventually going on to win seven of them. It won Best British Film at the Empire Awards and Best Comic-Book Adaptation and Best Blu-ray at the IGN Awards. Young actress Chloe Moretz scooped the other four awards for her perfomance: one as Best Newcomer at the Empire Awards, one at the IGN awards for Best Actress and two at the MTV Movie awards for Best Breakout Star and Biggest Badass Star.

Kick-ass has been reported by Universal (the distributors) for a sequeal Kickass 2
"The costumed high-school hero Kick-Ass joins with a group of normal citizens who have been inspired to fight crime in costume. Meanwhile, the Red Mist plots an act of revenge that will affect everyone Kick-Ass knows." -Synopsis. The same cast are due to return, plus a few new faces. Matthew Vaughn has chosen Jeff Wadlow, who also co-wrote the script along with Vaughn, to direct the sequel with filming planned to begin in September 2012.

Sources:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/42700167/Kick-Ass-Production-Notes

www.fordasmedia.blogspot.co.uk

http://www.skillset.org/film/business/index.html 

Wikipedia

IMDb

 

 

Understanding Filmmaking

Scene One- The Idea

Source one: Sources Of Inspiration

• Remakes:Charlie and the Chocolate factory was remade in 2005 from the original version produced in 1971 different characters and development in technology all contribute to the success of the new version.
• Real Life Events:Calender Girls was made from a real life story in 2003.
• Original Ideas:The film Ted was made in 2012 from an original idea, these are the most valuable commodity in the film industry.
• Adaptations: The Twilight Saga was adapted first from the author Stephenie Meyer's series of books. The first one being 'Twilight' these books inspired major success and can generate publicity.
• The Producer:Producers are akways looking for great ideas for new films and its them that decides to make this 'great idea' into a reality. E.g Wlt Disney
• The Director:A director can visualise a script and make it into a reality, they know how to take a story and put it onto the screen. E.g Steven Spielberg.
• The Writer:the writer defines and clarifies the whole idea, the plot and the main characters and turns it into something tangible. E.g J K Rowling
• Treatment:The writer will then write a treatment, a one page description of the plot and the main characters. E.g J K Rowling writes a treatment for The Philosophers Stone.
• Pitch:A pitch contains all the information the producer needs in order to sell the idea to financiers to commission a script.

Scene Two- Development Finance

Pitching the Project:

• The producer uses the treatment and pitch, plus their powers of persuasion, to get money to develop a script. 

Production Companies:

• The produces approaches the film production companies and persuades them that the film is going to make profits, they may offer development money, to develop a script

Sales, Distribution and Broadcast:

• The producer can offer the future sales and broadcast rights for the film in return for money to develop the script.

Public Investment:

• The producer can alse apply to a public funding body such as the UK film council for a development grant.

Private Finance:

• The producer can even pitch the film to private investors, in the hope they will support the project.

Tying down the Writer:

• The producer can now use the development money to tie the writer down to develop the project.

Scene Three- Script Development

• Synopsis- The producer and the writer agree/disagree on the key scenes/events in the film
• Step outline-The step outl;ine contains short written descriptions of all the scenes that will eventually make up the script (detailing action and scene breaks).
• Drafts- Film script drafts whether first or final drafts dont contain just diaglogue, but also the action and events on screen and even transitions between scenes.
• Revisions-Once the writer and producer are happy with the draft, it is sent to the financiers who will all have their own ideas
• Final draft-Once everyone is happy with the script (the director, producer and the writer), it is locked off and becomes a final draft. Now the writer gets paid
• Sales treatment- The finak stage is the creation of a sales treatment (a synopsis designed to sell the film to potential financiers, in other words an advert for the script).

Scene Four- Packaging

• What is packaging?- This is where the producer and director must now 'package' the script into a full commerical proposition, which is then ready for financing.
• The cast- Well known stars are commercial assets and are crucial in attracting funding to a film, some stars are known as Green Light Names (people which are well known in the industry or at the box office to secure financing for a film e.g Tom cruise)
• The heads of department- Commerciallu successful heads of department carry considerable power in the industry with knowledgeable financiers. These include: The production designer, the editor, the director of photography and 'the package' (the producer's assistant).
• Detailed budget and production schedule- To turn the film into a proper business propostion, the producer must know how much it will actually cost to make. The producer gets help from a line producer to supervise the budget, hire the crew, approve purchase orders and make sure all departments are doing their jobs properly and within the budget. E.g jane Frazer, Line Producer for Pride and Prejudice.
• Finance plan and recoupment schedule- Potential investors want to know how the producer plans to raise the money, and how she plans to pay them back. this includes The Recoupment Schedule & The Finance Plan.
• The 'complete' package- Now the producer has 'packaged' the film into a viable commercial proposition. Now the producer must present this package to a number of potential funders to get money to go on and make the film.

Scene Five- Financing

• The Market- The producer now has to complete the hardest part of filmmaking, attracting the investment to make the film. The director may also be able to help out at this stage, especially is he is well known in the industry
• Investment- The main potential sources of invesment are: Private Finance (private individuals willing to invest in film projects), Co-productions (production companies across the globe are reluctant to act as sole investors many are too small or dont want the risk. So they will enter into a partnership with the other production company sharing the costs, the risks and the profits).
• Pre-sales-The producer can also raise the money from 'Pre-sales' which is selling the rights to the film before it has even been made.
• Banks and Cap Funding- Some departments of banks specialise in film finance. They invest in commercial projects and also offer loans. E.g HSBC film services.
• Completion Bonds- Most financiers insist that a completion bond is in place before they agree to invest. This is insurance for the production.
• 'Green Light'- Once all the essential finding and insurance is secured, the film gets the 'Green Light' i.e. the go ahead.

Scene Six- Pre-production

• The kick-off meeting-  Once all the heads of department are hired (The casting director, the editor, the head of sound, the director of photography, the production designer, the 1st assisant director and the line producer). The shooting script can then be circulated and pre-production begins in earnest.
• Casting- The casting director, with the director and producer, begins the long process of identifying and casting the actors. An average film will have over 30 cast members.
• Storyboard- Storyboards are like blueprints for a film. where every shot is planned in advance by the director and the director of photography with the help of a storyboard artist.
• Production Design- The production designer plans every aspect of how the film will look, and hires people to design and build each part. this is done with the help of an art director, location manager, construction manager and costume designer. A set model is then made.
• Special effects planning- Effects shots are planned in much more detail than normal shots and can take months to design and build. The person responsible for all of this is the visual effects supervisor who uses computer technology (CGI) and special physical effects.
• The production Unit- The 1st assistant director, the line producer and the production manager make up the key logistic triangle  of the production, all having individuals roles to help make the production happen.

Scene Seven-The shoot

• First day of the principal photography: This is the key moment in the film production, shooting begins, and funding is released.
• Camera: The camera department is responsible for getting all the footage that the director and editor need in order to tell the story.
• Lighting and sound: Once the lighting and sound have set up and hair and makeup have been checked the shot can now begin.
• Acting: The actors as the only members of the film personnel that will be seen by the public, have a lot of responsibility, to make the film a huge success. Actors need to create a plausiable world and pretend that they are not surrounded by the crew of camera men and producers.
• Special physical effect: Every special effect is carefully constructed and must be filmed with a minimum risk of injury to cast and crew.
• Chain of command: Film productions are run with milatary precision.If they fall behind schedule, the financiers and insurers may step in.

Scene Eight-Post production

• Rough Cut: As the processed footage comes in, the editor assembles it into scenes and creates a narrative sequence for the film.
• Post production sound: Once the picture is locked, the sound department works on the audio track laying, creating and editing every sound.
• Digital effects and titles: Digital effects are added by specialist effects compositors and titles and credits are added in a compositing suite.  
• Grade and colour: The final stage of the picture edit is to adjust the colour and establish the fine aesthetic of the film.
• Final mix: After picture lock, the rough sound mix goes to a dubbing theatre where the sound mixer sets the final levels.
• Final cut: After the final cut the film reaches full lock, it is now finished and ready for duplication. 

Scene Nine- Sales

• Selling the product: To help sell the film to distributors the producer secures the services of a sales agent. A specialist in film sales. 
• The trailer: To help sell the film a trailer is made in order to show busy film buyers the most marketable aspects of the film.
• Sales Toolkit: The producer and the sales agent collect everything they will need to sell the film to distributors.
• Taking the film to the market: The market is saturated with films so the producer must go to great lengths to attract attention to the film.
• Screenings: A high profile screening at one of the top film festivals can be great for generating heat around a film. 
• Deals: The producer now has a hot product and can negotiate good deals with the distributors around the world. 

 Scene 10- Marketing

• The marketing team- To help sell the film to distibutors, the producer secures the services of a sales agent, a specialist in film sales. They then process through different marketing methods which is divided into two types ('above-the-line' and 'below-the-line'). 'Above-the-line' includes trailers, TV spots and poster campaigns and 'Below-the-line' marketing is more subtle, involving indirect forms of publicity such as press coverage, product tie-ins and merchandising.
• The audience- Knowing your audience is essential, and the marketing team runs test screenings to see how the film is recieved.
• Advertising- The potential audience for the film is targeted with posters, cinema trailers, TV spots and other marketing materials. E.g. The Batman Returns poster campaign on the side of a public bus.
• Press and media coverage- Television, radio, newspapers and magazines can all help create positive word-of-mouth about a film. Film journalists can help sell a film with good criticism and reviews.
• The intranet and new marketing models- The birth of digital media and the internet has flooded the world with information, but also made niche marketing possible by being able to aim their project at relevant audiences who are most likely to be interesting in what they are trying to sell rather than wasting money on nationwide advertising for people to just ignore it. E.g. Sci-fi fantasy films being advertised on gaming websites aimed at people who are interested in that genre.
• Selling the film to exhibitors-  In order to get the film to audiences, the distributors must negotiate a deal with the cinemas to screen it, a cinema programmer will watch all the films available and plan their exhibition schedule, they are the key decision makers in the exhibition world.

Scene 11- Marketing

• The premier- A high-profile, star-studded premiere is used to launch the film to the public with an explosion of media coverage. This is how fame really helps to sell films, stars have loyal fan bases following their careers already, this is why casting the right actors/actresses is so important. An example of a recent high-profile premiere is 'The Perks Of Being A Wallflower' starring Emma Watson.
• UK cinemas- The UK has over 3,500 cinema screens, although not all are British-owned, or show British films. Cinemas are the most important market for any film, as success at the box office can guarantee increased revenues in subsequent 'windows' (DVD sales and rentals, hospitality, broadcast, product licensing).
• Prints and logistics- Distributors supply the exhibitors with prints of the film, the more screens the film is shown on, the more prints are needed.
• Box office performance- Data about film attendance is collected continuously, and used by the cinemas to decide which films to cancel and which to prolong. if a film is underperformin, cinemas simply cannot afford to risk losing valuable income waiting for a film to become more popular.
• Revenues- The exhibitors take their share of the box office receipts, after which the distributors recoup their marketing costs. The box office gross is just the starting measure for what everyone involved will make from the film.
• Recoupment- Once the distributors have been paid, the financiers can recover their investments, as laid out in the recoupment schedule. Even if the film is a hit in the box office , the costs of marketing and exhibiting means that the producer is unlikely to see large profits once the exhibitor and distributor have been paid. So, the profits are most likely to come from DVD sales and broadcast.

Scene 12- Other windows

• Hospitality- Hospitality sales for hotel channels and in-flight entertainment can bring in millions in additional revenue.
• DVD and video- UK audiences spend more on DVDs than on cinema tickets, so success on DVD can compensate for box office failure.
• Broadcast- Television is the final source of revenue. Rights are sold separately for pay-tv showings and terrestrial broadcast.
• The game of the film- Rights for computer games and other product licenses can be extremely lucrative sources of additional revenue. The is a huge growing popularity in video games and is even seen as a threat to the future of film industry.
• Profit?- Once the film has made a profit, the producer and key creative people can reap their rewards. But sometimes even if the film has been a big hit, if the deals at the financing stage were not favourable they might not get much back at all.
• The end?- The final income from a film is never know, distribution continues for years and years and it may even be re-released in the future as an anniversary special  for example.