Case Study Research: Audiences and Institutions

 WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS: A New Zealand Film

- It was released in theatres on February 13th, 2015

- The budget was 1.6 million USD

- The movie made $83,555 on opening weekend

-The gross earnings for the film was 7 million USD

- The directors were Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi

- This film does not have any particularly well known actors, however Taika Waititi has gone to be very successful after this movie so he could be considered an A-lister.

- The story is about two characters who are vampires. This is controversial because the movie was released as the Twilight Saga, and The Vampire Diaries came to a closed. The idea of Vampires was well and truly exhausted by 2015, but this movie brought a fresh twist with some dry, satirical Kiwi humor which commented on the pitfalls of millennials.

Synergy and cross media convergence: 

- 'Vellington' sign

- Trade me props

-Characters on dating apps

- Went to the film as the characters

-Trailer on Youtube

- Production Co: Unison Films, Defender Films
- Distributor: Madman NZ Ltd
-Funded by Kickstarter
- It received many good reviews and several new zealand based awards
- You can watch it on apple TV and Academy on demand
- Marketing: fan-art competitions, Q&As, and they went in costume to watch the movie in the theatres.



CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

• Rating:
  PG-13 (Extended Sequences of Violence|Action and Mayhem)
• Genre:
  Fantasy, Action, Adventure
• Original Language:
  English
• Director:
  Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
• Producer:
  Kevin Feige
• Writer:
  Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely
• Release Date (Theaters):
  May 6, 2016  Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
  Sep 2, 2016
• Box Office (Gross USA):
  $408.1M
• Runtime:
  2h 26m
• Production Co:
  Marvel Studios
• Sound Mix:
  Dolby Atmos, Dolby Digital

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

- A list Actors: Chris Evans, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd.

-Opening weekend sales:  $179 million 

- 90% (Rotten tomatoes critics)

-89% (Audience reaction)

-Distributed through cinemas and can now be seen on Disney+  

- Trailer was posted on Youtube 

Synergy and cross media convergence:

- Arguably the most notable partnership was the slick Audi commercial that featured footage of the chase scene between Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Captain America, directed by the Russo brothers themselves. 

- Likewise, Harley-Davidson created two customized bikes, the Street 750 and Iron 883 that Winter Soldier and Black Widow rode in the movie, respectively

LA LA LAND: An Indie film 1.

• Rating:
  PG-13 (Some Language)
• Genre:
  Musical, Comedy, Romance, Drama
• Original Language:
  English
• Director:
  Damien Chazelle
• Producer:
  Fred Berger, Jordan Horowitz, Marc Platt, Gary Gilbert
• Writer:
  Damien Chazelle
• Release Date (Theaters):
  Dec 25, 2016  Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
  Apr 11, 2017
• Box Office (Gross USA):
  $151.1M
• Runtime:
  2h 8m
• Production Co:
  Summit Entertainment, Marc Platt Productions, Gilbert Films
• Sound Mix:
  DTS, Dolby Digital, Dolby Atmos
  
  

  
  

 A-List Actors: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, John Legend

Opening week sales: They had an exclusive opening across five theatres and made $880,000through just those five.

- 91% (Rotten tomatoes critics)

-81% (Audience reaction)

- Was release in Cinemas, and now can be seen on Amazon prime and Hulu.

Synergy and cross media convergence:

-They made use of You Tube, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to advertise

-They advertise using unique period posters

LADY BIRD : indie film 2.

• Rating:
  R (Language|Brief Graphic Nudity|Sexual Content|Teen Partying)
• Genre:
  Comedy, Drama
• Original Language:
  English
• Director:
  Greta Gerwig
• Producer:
  Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Evelyn O'Neill
• Writer:
  Greta Gerwig
• Release Date (Theaters):
  Nov 22, 2017  Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
  Feb 13, 2018
• Box Office (Gross USA):
  $48.9M
• Runtime:
  1h 34m
• Production Co:
  Scott Rudin Productions, A24
• Sound Mix:
  Dolby Digital
• Aspect Ratio:
  Flat (1.85:1)
  
  

 A-List Actors: Saoirse Ronan and Co-Star Timothee Chalamet were not considered A-listers prior

to this movie, however due to its success they have gone on to be in several very famous movies

and have been nominated for Academy Awards.

Opening weekend sales: $364,437 

- 99% (Rotten tomatoes critics)

-79% (Audience reaction)

It was released in Cinemas and is now available on Netflix and Amazon Prime

Synergy and cross media convergence:

-For Marketing, Posters like the one below that enrapture the style and visual aesthetic could

be seen, which created intrigue.

- A trailer was also posted on YouTube and several social media accounts on various

 platforms were made to attract attention online.

A FILM THAT DID NOT DO WELL: The Interview

• Rating:
  R (Crude and Sexual Humor|Bloody Violence|Nudity|Pervasive Language|Some Drug Use)
• Genre:
  Adventure, Action, Comedy
• Original Language:
  English
• Director:
  Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg
• Producer:
  Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver
• Writer:
  Dan Sterling
• Release Date (Theaters):
  Jan 2, 2015  Wide
• Release Date (Streaming):
  Mar 3, 2015
• Box Office (Gross USA):
  $6.1M
• Runtime:
  1h 51m
• Production Co:
  Point Grey
• Sound Mix:
  Datasat, Dolby Digital
  
  
  
  
  

-This Movie was extremely controversial, because it deeply offended the North Koran Government and they took it as an act of war. It never escalated past cyber attacks but the whole situation had to involve Barack Obama and caused an international scene, making it very damaging for Sony's Brand Image.

 

- Due to threats from the Korean government, there was no traditional 'opening weekend'

- A-list actors: Seth Rogan and James Franco

- 51% (Rotten tomatoes critics)

-48% (Audience reaction)

-It is available to watch on American Netflix, and Hulu and was released in cinemas very briefly

- There was no marketing campaign as The North Korean used Cyber attacks to try and stop America from releasing the movie, and so the took away any advertisements.