Slumdog Millionaire: Task Two

Task 2: Marketing

The Poster

Interactivity:

· Who Wants to be a Millionaire, it is a format that we all recognize, makes us think of times that we have watched it.

· Money, Luck, Smarts, and Destiny: these are all things that we think about, that links with Who Wants To Be a Millionaire. You need to be smart to be able to answer the questions, yet you also need a bit of luck and if it’s destiny you will win the Money.

• The vibrant colours grab our attention.
  

Genre: Romance and Drama
Narrative: The boy on the poster has lost his love (the girl on the poster) and needs to find a way to find her; in order to do that, he must know the answer to the question “What does it take to find a lost love?”
Themes: Money and love
Target Audience: Rated 15, young adults and adults as the themes affect both sets of the target audience.
Intertextual references: The Use of Who Wants to be a Millionaire format, which is recognised and well known Worldwide.

Selling the Film: It clearly states that it is a film by Danny Boyle; who is known for his reputation of making good movies. The contrast in the title; which makes people curious about how a Slumdog could be a Millionaire in the same time. It also mentions words from its reviews such as “winner”, and a “movie to celebrate” which represents the movie as a success.

Title: Even that the Genre seems to be about romance, the title ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ doesn’t seem romantic at all. Even the font, it’s not script, it’s actually bold. The title also makes the audience curious of how a Slumdog is a Millionaire in the same time.
The poster uses the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire format that we recognise, which then gives the audience a hint about what happens in the film linking it with the title, a Slumdog who became a millionaire after being on the Who Wants To Be a Millionaire show.

Information: The film is about love and money. It is directed by Danny Boyle and would probably have a high budget as Fox is financing it.

Succesful at selling: The poster is successful at selling the film, as it shows that it pulls you into the film, without giving you the plot, to make you see it. With Danny Boyle as a well known director. Leaving you wonder about the film, and want to know more.

The Trailer

Interactivity: The trailer is more interactive with the audience; the non-diegetic narrator asks the audience a question which involves the audience straight away. The realistic settings and recognizable music it engages the viewer into the trailer.
Genre: The genre of the movie established in the trailer is romance and action as well as crime- the option that Jamal cheated.
Themes: Love, Money, Poverty
Target Audience: young adults and adults, the themes affect the target audience
Intertextual Reference: Who Wants to be a Millionaire
Selling the Film: Critics reviews, we trust critics perceptions of films.
It’s a film by Danny Boyle, and he has a good reputation about making good films.
Music we recognise from Who Wants To Be a Millionaire mixed with music we are unfamiliar with.

Information about the film: It's by Danny Boyle, Produced by: FilmFour, Celador Films, Fox Searchlight and Warner Bros which means it’s a high budget film. It's about love, money, poverty, coming of age and crime.

Success: The trailer was successful in persuading people to see it. By it’s selling point, such as that it was directed by Danny Boyle, and the use of the well known Who wants to be a Millionaire quiz show.


The Website

The website is interactive. The vister is able to explore the site and click on what they want. The genre of the film is romance and adventurous; Jamal is shown with his love to Latika which is presented throughout the website. The website gives off the entire synopsis, including the ending which many people would think that going to see it is unnecessary because they know what's going to happen..

The promotional features of the website is in the initial introductory slideshow which gives the successful reviews and states that the film has the best actors, best director, best producers etc, which gives an image in our minds that this is a good movie. The website gives the information that the viewer woul want to know such as: the actors, the synopsis, pictures, videos.

The website ain't as good in presuading the audience to watch the film. As it tells all the synposis and some people would fin it unnesassery to watch it afterwards.

Slumdog Millionaire

Task 1: The Film

Synopsis

The film is a story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's 'Kaun Banega Crorepati?' (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes.

The director: The film was directed by Danny Boyle he is also best known for his work in films such as Sahallow Grace, Trainspotting, 28 Days later.

The budget: The film was on a budget of $15.1 million.Production: It was produced by Celador Films and Film4 Production which are British production companies.

The Filming: It was filmed in different parts in India, Mainly in Mumbai, Maharashtra but some parts were also filmed in Agra, Uttar Pradesh. And others were filmed in ND Studios in Karjats.

The main actors are:

· Dev Patel- British Indian actor also a main character in the TV drama Skins.

· Freida Pinto- Indian actress and professional model

· Anil Kapoor- Indian actor and producer best known for his role in Mr. India 1987

· Madhur Mittal- Indian actor.

Distribution: It was distributed by Pathe Pictures International, Celador Films, Film4, Fox Searchlight Pictures and Warner Bros.

The Film was distributed in: North America, Europe, India and Asia-Pacific.

The film is both British and Indian. It is not a typical Bollywood movie, yet it is a realistic portray of many children and that live in India. The actors are Indians, the filming was all done in India, the plot is in India, yet, the producer and the director are English. But I’d rather think of it, as Indian film, as it portrays India and not Britain with a whole cast from India and it is set in India.

Festivals: Premiered in Telluride Film Festival, it was also featured in the Torronto International Film Festivals as well as London Film Festival.

Awards: It was nominated for 10 Oscars but won 8, it also won 7 BAFTA's, as well as 5 Critics Choice awards and 4 Golden Globes. All together Slumdog won 19 awards and received 39 nominations.

Task 3: You

The main message of the film is as simple: Don’t do drugs. In this film, we see how Renton and his friends life turn out due to drugs, which makes the target audience (young adults) think about where they want to end up. Renton also gives this message very directly when he says: “Drugs are good at first…but it’s not worth it because the side effects will screw you up forever”.

As a British film, it represents a realistic portray to the minority of people in our society even though it is a negative representation of young adults in our society. But the film also has a positive portray of Renton’s parents, showing them as caring parents. So the film shows both good and bad side in the society.

The film was a success, it gives a clear message which you wouldn’t expect that from the poster or trailer as they don’t show any specific message, they only pull you into the film and make you want to see it, afterwards it makes audience have a 2^nd thought about their lives.

The film was also from the same makers as Shallow Grave which was a successful film, which is a selling point to some audiences who liked it.

Task 2: Marketing

The Poster

Genre: The poster doesn’t say much, but from looking at the characters, it seems that it is a comedy film

Narrative: From the poster you can see that they are the main characters, yet you can’t really tell there are friends, with as Begie is swearing shows that he actually doesn’t care. Begbie, Diane and Sickboy look as if they are speeding out of the poster like if they were at the end of a train with Renton at the other end with no speed editing added to him; this is because he is the main character.

Target Audience: The film is 18 certificates aimed at young adults in specific, as the characters in the poster seem immature which is a realistic portray of ‘some’ of the young adults aged 18 to 20.

Selling points: The film is from the makers of Shallow Grave, which won 14 awards. So for the people who liked shallow Grave, this would attract them and it would be a selling point.

Information about the film: The poster shows the 5 main characters, with number 1 being the oldest and 5 being the main character, ambiguous title, and it also tells us that it is from the makers of Shallow Grave.

The Success in selling the film: The poster does indeed have an important role to the film success, as it was a way of advertising selling the movie and persuading the target audience to see it.

The Trailer

Genre: Comedy, from Renton’s narration and Spuds job interview it seems that it includes Crime and Drama, as the characters are running away from the police.

Narrative: About a group of friends who seem to have a good time, and live an impulsive life, one of the characters meets a girl who is Diane the girl in the poster.

Themes: Includes crime, drugs, sex, work, friendships, relationships and violence.

Target Audience: Young adults 18+ as it consists of crime, drugs, swearing, sex.

Selling points: "Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?”. The narration that Ranton says at the trailer, is really catchy, giving us the hint, that they haven't chosen this ordianry life as anyone else. The trailer also tells us more about what the characters are like. e.g. Begbie is a psycho, Sickboy is a Sean Connery wannabe.

Iggy Pop's 'Lust for Life' is the song for the trailer, the song was a smah hit in 1977, it would be well knwown to the target audince at the time.

Information about the film: From the makers of Shallow Grave
Renton is the main character as he is now number one and narrates the trailer, from his narration we see what type of charcter he really is, which is a person who likes to have fun and he doesn't have a career and he is happy the way he is.

The Success in selling the film: The trailer have a huge role in the sucess of the film, as it was the main advert that pulled the audinece to it. It showed the audiecne the characters and told us a bit about their lives.

Music: The non-digetic music is Iggy Pop's Lust for Life which is in line with renton's narration.

The soundtrack consists of acts that adults in the 90's would've heard of growing up and artists that were famous at the time. The Rock/Electronic music used markets the film as modern, youthful and fast paced like the characters themselves as they were running.

Task 1: The Film

Synopsis:

“Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a starter home. Choose dental insurance, leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose your future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?”.

Trainspotting is a film about Drugs, sex and the relationship bewteen the characters. Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor) who is a heroin addict. Renton’s friends are: dimbulb Spud (Ewen Bremner), Sean Connery wannabe Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller) and psycho Begbie (Robert Carlyle) also junkies. The film is a wild, freeform, Rabelaisian trip through the darkest recesses of Edinburgh low-life, focusing on Mark Renton and his attempt to give up his heroin habit, and how the latter affects his relationship with family and friends. Clean-cut athelete Tommy (Kevin McKidd) Tommy, who's never touched drugs but can't help being curious about them. When Renton decides to give up his addiction habit and moves to London but not so long until his junkie friends come show up.

The director: Film was directed by Danny Boyle who also worked with the same production company in other films such as: Shallow Grave in1994, A Life Less Ordinary in 1997, 28 Days Later in 2002, Sunshine in 2007 and Slumdog Millionaire in .

The budget: film was done on a budget of £3,500,000.

Production: The film was produced by Andrew MacDonald Production Company and FilmFour which secured the finance.

The Filming: Despite being set in Edinburgh, almost all of the film was filmed in Glasgow, apart from the opening scenes of the film which were filmed in Edinburgh, and the final scenes which were filmed in London.

The main actors are:

· Ewan McGregor: Star Wars, Angels and Demons, Moulin Rouge, Robots (voice), starred in ER. Became famous on an international scale after Trainspotting

· Johnny Lee Miller: He was mostly in drama's like Mansfield Park, Emma, he also became famous on an international scale but for marrying Angelina Jolie.

· Ewen Bremmer: Hallam Foe, Fools Gold, Alien vs. Predator, Pearl Harbour, Snatch, My Name is Earl

· Robert Carlyle: 28 Weeks Later, Eragon, The Beach, Angela's Ashes, The Full Monty (British Films or films by British directors)

· Kelly Macdonald: No Country For Old Men, Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy, Finding Neverland.

Distribution: It was distributed by Miramax Films in the US and PolyGram Filmes Entertainment worldwide.

The film was distributed in: UK, US, France, AUS, Canada, New Zealand, Brazil, Hong Kong and South-Africa; however some parts such as the narration at the beginning had to be redubbed for other countries due to the heavy Scottish accent which Americans and Australians would find it hard to understand.

A British film: The screenplay is written by John Hodge who is Scottish, it is based on Trainspotting novel by a Scottish author, the leading actors are all Scottish, the producer (Andrew Macdonald) is Scottish, and it is set in Scotland. The film is also English as the director (Danny Boyle) and FilmFour the Production Company is English.

Awards: Trainspotting was nominated for three British Academy Film Awards in 1995, including John Hodge for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film and Best British Film. Hodge also won Best Screenplay from the Evening Standard Britsh Film Awards. Ewan McGregor was named Best Actor from the London Film Critics Circle, BAFTA Scotland Awards, and Empire magazine. Hodge was also nominated for an Academy Award for writing Adapted Screenplay but failed to win.

Controversy: The controversy that surrounded Trainspotting was not only it gave a bad representation to the Scottish culture, but there was also a controversy in some countries, including the United Kingdom and United States, as to whether it promoted drug use. U.S. Senator Bob Dole decried its moral depravity and glorification of drug use during the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign; ironically he admitted that he had not actually seen the film.