A British Independent Film and Television Production Company

Case Study (#2)

Ealing Studios

Ealing Studios located in Ealing Green, West London is a television and film production company which was originally occupied by Will Barker Studios courtesy of Will Barker who was operating on the site in 1902. It is the oldest film studio in the world as the home to the great Ealing comedies which is still in production producing films since the 1930's. The company is the only independent British studio to develop, finance and produce feature films for international distribution. In 1929 it was acquired by theatre producer Basil Dean's Associated Talking Pictures where he started building stages there which opened up in 1931 making films under the name of ATP (Associated Talking Pictures) from 1933. The "Golden Era" of Ealing Studios had begun in 1938 when Michael Balcon joined Dean in his position as Head of Production, however by the end of 1938 Dean had left and Michael Balcon had taken on the full role of Head of Production within the company, by then about 60 films had been made by the studios. Balcon discontinued the ATP name and began issuing films under the Ealing Studios name once again.

The studios produced on average around five or six feature films a year, but also made short films and documentaries and by the time the war broke out in 1939 Ealing Studios was already known for producing films which had a "cosy Britishness" aspect to them. In 1944 the company was taken over by the Rank Organisation which was a British entertainment company. Balcon stayed at Ealing Studios throughout the war years and into the post-war period receiving a knighthood for his services in 1948; however in 1957 he had left after the BBC bought the Studios in 1955. They spent the next 2 years creating television productions from Ealing Studios such as Fortunes of War, Colditz and The Singing Detective. However in 1957 Ealing Studios had closed down because it had struggled for a couple of years from about 1954, this was due to it producing mediocre films and then good films, this was a result of television taking it's toll on the whole industry; because of the new techniques and European styles it made the Ealing products look old-fashioned.

Up until the closure of the company Ealing Studios had produced a variety of films which were based on the war or comedy, some of these included:-

The Ghost of St. Michael's (1941)             The Lavender Hill Mob (1951)

                                  

Secret People (1952)                                         The Ladykillers (1955)

                             

With a lot of the films being made during the Second World War many of the characters created during this period were not created to necessarily reflect real individuals during this time but rather those who could be seen as being role models of this period. It was important to not only show those in the armed forces and government agencies as heroic in carrying out their duty to Britain but to also show those on the home front; for example, miners, factory workers, firemen and postmistresses as an equal act of heroism who held the society together and retained everything good about Britain until the troops came home.

In 1995 Ealing Studios were reopened and the BBC sold them to the National Film and Television School, throughout this time the Studios were used as a training facility by the school, they were then bought for £10 million by Barnaby Thompson, Uri Fruchtmann, Harry Handelsman and John Kao who shared the view of reviving the fortunes of the studios. In June 2001, permission was granted to develop the Ealing Studios site into a next generation studio for television, digital and traditional filmmaking companies. Together they aimed to rebuild the Studios with the vision of bringing films, technology and property expertise together in order to revive and continue the great quality of past productions made by Ealing Studios.

Under new direction Ealing Studios has started producing some of the country's greatest films; The Importance of Being Earnest released in 2002 was the first production to be made under the Ealing Studios banner since 1959. In 2005, Ealing Studios secured £1.2 million of development funding from the UK Film Council for it's own films. Other films which have been made under the Ealing Studios name include Shaun of The Dead, Alien Autopsy, Imagine Me & You, Easy Virtue, I Want Candy, St Trinian's and Valiant which was released in 2005 which went on to be the year's highest grossing independent film in the UK.

 

Shaun of the Dead (2004)                         Imagine Me & You (2005)   

                              

Valiant (2005)                                                     St Trinian's (2007)

                          

Internet Sources:

http://www.wickedlady.com/films/ealing/ealing.html

http://www.ealingstudios.co.uk/history_home.html

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/studios/ealing/biography/biog00.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ealing_Studios

http://www.britishmovieclassics.com/ealingstudios.php

Peer Assessment of Trailer Analyses

...Bilawal...

The lighting in the trailer is dark, which connotes how the film is a thriller. It shows the film's dark and mature theme and in the appropriate times it becomes dark. The costumes vary. In the daytime the main person's wearing casual clothes however at night he wears hoodies and darker clothes which connote he's about to do something bad. The main prop is a gun. This obviously shows the action and thriller side to the film as throughout the second half of the trailer they keep on aiming guns at each other.

http://bilawalatwal.blogspot.com/2008/11/saving-faith.html

Within some parts of the trailer the lighting used is very low key which connotes a thriller genre; it shows the film has a dark aspect to it as at times the lighting is very dim and murky. Throughout the trailer the costumes vary; in some of the clips shown when it is daytime the main character (Ward) is wearing casual clothes such as jeans and a jumper but at night time his clothing seems to be more darker with him wearing hooded jumpers, baggy jeans and trainers which suggest that he is about to do something bad which may end up with him running away most of the time. The props used within this trailer also set a certain significance into what the genre of the film is, the main props used within the trailer were guns which set a certain action code as it lets us as the audience know what type of action may be featured within the film.

...Meena...

Each characters clothing is fitted to their role in the production. The 'friend' of the 3 way relationship often wears standard clothing in which i mean she doesnt try so hard with the way she looks and doesnt try to look her best ( 0.28 of the production is a good example of this ). She often wears casual,boyish and loose clothes to show the audience she is just the friend of the relationship by resembling it through the style of her clothes and the other female character is made obvious to be the first love interest due to the fashionable, girlish type of clothing she wears ( shown in 0.50 of the production ). The male character in the production is always wearing smart-casual clothing to show a sense of obvious attraction due to the way he always potrays himself to the female characters (part 1.30 of the production shows this). He is always dressed in darker colours compared to the female characters and this somehow shows the audience that he is in the middle of the relationship since the female charcters stand out much more.

http://meenawaheed.blogspot.com/2008/11/kuch-to-hua-hai-analysis.html

Each characters' clothing seen within the trailer mainly suits the role in which they are playing; one of the girls who plays a main role within the trailer is shown to be more of a friend towards the boy at the beginning as she dresses very casually, a good example of this is at 0:28 as viewers get to see as a whole how she dresses. With one of the female actors playing the part of more of a friend towards the male actor, it shows the other female actor playing more of a love interest towards him as she seems to be wearing a lot of fashionable clothes which seem to be girly than the other female's clothes. The male character within the trailer always seems to be dressed casually-smart which connotes him as being the type of character who portrays himself as being some sort of attraction towards the females of the trailer as he comes across as being very mature. The way in which he dresses sets a certain ambience within the trailer as the audience by now have probably figured out that he is trapped between two girls and he doesn't know which one to choose, with the females wearing clothing that is of brighter colours and the male wearing clothing that is of darker colours it really connotes that he is in fact stuck between two loves and he has a very hard decision to make.

...Yasmin...

Moreover the title of the trailer makes it successful as well.
“A Rappers Ambition” is eye catching to the audience as the target audience are mostly young boys who want to also be successful in the rapping business.
The use of the word “Ambition” shows that rappers want to be judged positively instead of being challenged with a typical stereotype of Rap.

http://yassiemedia.blogspot.com/2008/11/trailer.html

With the title of the trailer being "A Rapper's Ambition" it enables the trailer to become successful as the title basically portrays the narrative behind the film. The use of the word "Ambition" within the title is very eye catching and will not only appeal to it's target audience of teenage boys but also to those who wish to accomplish their goals in the future as it tells the story of how one man will do anything he can in order to reach his dream and become something he has always wanted to be.

Trailer Analysis #3 - Saving Faith

Saving Faith

“Saving Faith” focuses on the life of Jowls Ward whose world is quickly turned upside down when his girlfriend is murdered; quickly reacting upon this he sets out to seek revenge upon those who ruined his life while coming across a number of violent situations.

Within the trailer we see that a variety of shots have been used which allows us as the audience to see the actors’ facial expressions and to give us an insight into what some of the shots used may symbolise. Near the end of the trailer there is a close up of Ward sitting by a fire which may symbolise danger in some sort of way letting us know how angry and at this point how dangerous he is. Other close up’s are seen at 0:53 when Ward puts on his hood and walks away from the setting which in some way shows that he is now ready to get his revenge on those who ruined his life. The low angle shot seen at about 0:43 shows the actor is superior to us and that we should probably be scared of him.

Viewers are told the name of the film near the end of the trailer because as an audience we are able to obtain a brief outline of what the film is about previous to know what it is called, we see the name of the film because up until this point the audience are left in suspense as to what the title of the film actually is which may be hard to figure out based on the action alone.

The sound within the trailer of which can be tied in with the speed of it was carefully chosen. There is use of diegetic sound which has been given in the form of story sound; for example, in between some clips dialogue has been added to give viewers more detail into what the film is about and how the actors’ actions will lead to the climax of the film. The dialogue used basically tells us the narrative of the film, for example “his world turned upside down”, “his love gone” and “nothing will stop him now” on the whole in within this aspect this tells us that he wants to get revenge on those who ruined and that he cannot be stopped, use of the term “nothing will stop him now” essentially makes the audience feel as if the actor thinks he is invulnerable. Use of non-diegetic sound has been used in the form of a sound-track, the music played at the beginning of the trailer starts off with a very nice melodic aspect to it which in some way connotes the main character being very much in love with his girlfriend and happy that he is spending time with her, but when it shows him standing at his girlfriend's grave and the actual story of the film coming into light the music becomes some what haunting setting the mood at which this point in the film the character may be feeling and giving a sense on how the death of his girlfriend has affected him. The music becomes very upbeat at about 1:05 as the speed of the what we see in the trailer becomes fast based on the clips shown, the directors of “Saving Faith” probably intended to do this to show viewers how fast paced the film is. On the whole the music used within the trailer tells us that the film has a hard-hitting, gritty genre aspect to it.

The editing as a whole provides a real sense into how the trailer was able to be made and how it was able to have the effect of realism to it, the use of diegetic sound .i.e. the dialogue can be linked to cutting as each bit of dialogue leads us onto what Ward does next in each part of the trailer; for example, we see that he is with his girlfriend and then when it shows a piece of dialogue saying “his love gone” we see that he is standing at her grave.

The mise-en-scene aspects of the trailer are what is being shown as a whole, the clothing worn by the actors shows that it suits the genre of the film with it being a type of gangster film as we see one specific character wearing a suit; this character is shown to be the leader of who organised the murder of Wards' girlfriend therefore showing him to play the type of role which can be associated with the mafia, we also see a lot of hooded jumpers and tracksuits worn which gives more emphasis into what we can expect in the film. The lighting sets a certain feel on what the film is about, although by watching the trailer viewers may think that there is only natural light and no light at all that has been used because of it being daytime and night time, the lighting used is actually very distinctive as it sets a certain ambience within the trailer; the dark lighting used within this trailer connotes danger in a huge way as in most of the scenes where there are guns or violence involved the lighting is very low key, this low key lighting gives an aspect of action/thriller towards the film as the darkness of it seems to make things look more dangerous and treacherous.

Ward's facial expressions and body language show him to be very happy and comforting at the beginning of the trailer but soon after his girlfriend is murdered he begins to look very angry and very extremely hell-bent on getting revenge on those who ruined his life regardless of the consequences and it looks as though he almost wants to keep himself to himself. There is also some sense of interrogation when one the actor's throws his hat on the floor which lets us know that he is probably being asked questions by the police and because of this is getting incredibly angry. There is not much use of make-up which in my opinion sets a certain quality on the film as the director's were probably going for a very realistic approach to the film. The props used within the trailer were mostly weapons set a certain action code as they let us know what type of action will be portrayed within the film; there is use of guns, baseball bats and shovels which shows viewers an obvious aspect of violence within the film, there is a sense of practicality within the trailer as we have general knowledge of what type of violence seems to take place in today's society, based on the props this film would probably be able to appeal to those who have been affected by gun crime or by some sort of violence which has maybe lead to the death of someone who is close to them.

There are many scenes within this trailer that have been filmed in different settings; these include a cemetery, the outside of a police station, the outside of local houses and alleyways, this shows viewers how diverse the film is allowing them to see the different areas where violence is more known to take place.

Cross Media

Sci-Fi

The three texts we have chosen to analyse are Mutant X, X Men and The Twilight Zone Radio Series, the genre that links them all together is science fiction as they all involve speculations based on current or future science and technology.

Mutant X

(TV Series)

When a secret government project to create genetic mutants goes wrong resulting in them being released into the general population one of the scientists responsible, Adam has sworn to try and help those who have been affected by it, while his co-partner, Mason Eckhart plans on using the project for his own ends. Adam assembles four mutants and forms the group “Mutant X” to help mutants everywhere, and oppose Eckhart.

Following up the a comic book, Mutant X went on to become a very well known show with all 3 series being released on DVD.

Mutant X was television series that first aired on 6th October 2001 to the 17th May 2004, it followed the adventures of a team of human mutants possessing extraordinary powers as a result of genetic engineering. Like hundreds of other unsuspecting subjects, these new mutants were altered in secret experiments conducted in a covert government project. Realising that events have spun out of control, the organisation that created them is now hunting them down in an urgent "product recall". Mutant X's mission is to seek out their fellow mutants to help them come to terms with their new amazing abilities and protect them from their creators.

Even though Mutant X is no longer being shown it was originally created by Avi Arad who is the chief creative officer of Marvel Entertainment, a Marvel director, and chairman, CEO (chief executive officer) and founder of Marvel Studios.

The show was originally distributed by Tribute Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment which was the producer and International distributor of Mutant X.

X Men

(Film)

X Men is a 2000 superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comic characters of the same name. It was directed by Bryan Singer, the film stars Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Bruce Davidson, James Marsden, Halle Barry and Tyler Mane.

The time is the near future. There is a rift between normal humans and mutants. These mutants have gifts; these gifts can give them supernatural powers. X Men focuses on the ongoing conflict between Professor Xavier's X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, led by Magneto. Magneto intends to mutate world leaders at a United Nations summit with a machine he has built to bring about acceptance of mutantkind, but Xavier realizes this forced mutation will only result in their deaths.

X Men started off as a comic book series which later developed into a trilogy of films based on the original comic books. The film is distributed by 20th Century Fox.

 

The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas

(Radio Series)

With a mixture of horror, fantasy and drama The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas feature a full cast, music and sound effects and today’s biggest celebrities in modern radio dramatizations by Dennis Etchison of creator Rod Serling’s classic scripts. Hosted by Stacy Keach, The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas will keep you glued to the edge of your seat whether listening in your home or while driving in your car.

The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas is a nationally syndicated radio adaptation of the classic television series The Twilight Zone, launched in October 2002. Many of the stories are based on Rod Serling's scripts from the original Twilight Zone series and are slightly expanded and updated to reflect contemporary technology and trends; for example, the mention of “cell phones” and “CD-ROMs” which of course weren't around when the television show aired in the 1960s. Taking Serling's role as narrator is Stacy Keach.

Sirius satellite radio channel 118, “Radio Classics” and on XM satellite radio channel 163, Sonic Theater. It was originally distributed by Dick Brescia Associates but later distributed by Syndication Networks; beginning in August of 2007 the series became distributed through Westwood One which is a major American radio network.

 http://www.twilightzoneradio.com/contact.html

...Promotion...

The target audiences for these texts are probably those who enjoy things based on science fiction and those who like a bit of action.

With Mutant X being distributed by Tribute Entertainment and Fireworks Entertainment which was the International distributor of it, it was able to be promoted world wide as many people from different countries were able to view it.

As X Men is distributed by 20th Century Fox, the trailer was shown within cinemas before other films made by 20th Century Fox were shown, the film was rated 15 which allowed a wider range of audience to view it as it would have grabbed their attention if they were interested in this aspect of science fiction.

In addition to this, pop ups while browsing the Internet also had a means of advertising the film while posters did aswell as it allowed a number of people to see it therefore expanding the number of those who watch it.

Those who enjoyed watching the original series of The Twilight Zone would have listened to it on the radio while driving and at work. The Twilight Zone Radio Series was able to be promoted through the use of it's website which enabled listeners to listen to different stories and to find out who would be starring in them.

...Similarities and Differences...

The main similarity between these three texts is that they are all sci-fi based broadcast fiction texts as they have supernatural elements within them, for example, they all focus on things of which you wouldn't necessarily think would actually happen.

- The Twilight Zone Radio Series' story line is not primarily based on mutants as it produces a different story each week letting viewers listen to different aspects of the supernatural world.

- Mutant X and X Men both focus on seeking out and helping those who are like them themselves, trying to protect them from the people who wish to hurt them.

- The Twilight Zone Radio Series and X Men were based on the ideas of those who created the original versions of each.