Four Quadrant Picture Notes
A Four Quadrant Picture is a marketing term used to describe a film targeted to all audience quadrants: men over 25, men under 25, women over 25, women under 25. 

In the movie business producers look to get as bigger audience for their picture. A four-quadrant picture attracts parents and kids, men and women, and usually retains a large amount of revenue compared to other films. The quadrants refer to gender and age. 

One of the most well know four quadrant film is Star Wars. Lowering a film rating from PG-13 to PG can produce millions more in revenue, this is because parents feel more comfortable bringing young children to a film rated PG like Evan Almighty.

Below the line advertising

Above the line and below the line advertising notes

Above the line and below the line, are different ways companies try and sell their products.Above-the-line is any work done involving media where a commission is taken by an advertising agency. Below-the-line is work done for a client where a standard charge replaces commission. For example TV advertising is above-the-line. This is because an agency would book commercial time for there client. Placing an advert in a series of local newspapers is below-the-line, because newspapers apply their own costing approach where no commission is taken by the agency.

For example Austin Martin will have paid to have there car star within the James Bond films:

TV Drama Representation of Disability 

Eva Mendes Calvin Klein advert

Eva Mendes Calvin Klein advert

A lingerie-clad Eva Mendes poses for the Calvin Klein ads that will appear in

glossy magazines such as Vanity Fair and GQ.

Calvin Klein represents women as being 'in charge' and powerful. Her pose with the use of her hands on her hips and the way see turns slightly away from the camera portrays this to the audience weather it is male or female. Calvin Klein does this in the adverts to make the underwear look 'sexy' and therefore influence the audience to buy it.

From a male gaze perspective the advert is seductive and sexual. We see this because her skin is wet and sweaty, the use of lighting enhances this. Also she is wearing stockings which adds to the idea of her being sexual. Her facial expression again make Eva look powerful and striking.This type of facial expression is called sexual or romantic, this is because we only see part off her face which is exhausted 'after sex'. In both poses she has her legs open which show an inviting and also careless "come and get me" attitude.

Again in both ads a long camera angle is used to give the model Eva Mendes power over the audience and also that she is in control. Another way to make Eva look powerful is the use of heels to make her taller. Lighting has been use to give Eva a shadow of her body behind her, this is to show of the curves of her body.

A women’s perspective will differ from a man’s perspective on the ads. For women she will want envy Eva in these photos and maybe buy the product because she wants to look and feel like her, however for a man the ad is sexual and they may also want their wife/girlfriend to look like Eva in these photo therefore buy the product. 

Joe Cornish on aliens, hoodies and Attack The Block

Joe Cornish on aliens, hoodies and Attack The Block

A few years ago, Joe Cornish was mugged near his home in Stockwell, south London. It was, he says, a traumatic experience. "I love where I live and I constantly find myself defending it, and suddenly this very difficult thing happens. My first impetus was to try and get beyond the stereotype. And also, somewhere in my head, to escape into the places I used to as a child, when I'd project Hollywood fantasies onto my everyday life."

Cornish did both. He investigated the kind of kids who robbed him, talking to children on the street and in youth clubs. And he injected a shot of film fantasy into a world generally treated with some disdain by directors; a vision that would trump most pre-teen dreams. "It kind of what Mr Spielberg was doing with ET. Those dinner scenes are kind of like a Ken Loach film, and then this little alien pops up. Yet it's still realism."
Fast forward to Saturday night, and Cornish premieres Attack the Block, in which a gang of hoodies fend off extraterrestrial attack from their council estate, at South by Southwest. It's groundbreaking, and not just for its use of effects. This is the first time in UK film that the hoodie gang, practised in petty crime, rather than snazzy gangsterism or striking violence, has been treated like big canvas outlaw antiheroes.
"There are lots of brilliantly crafted movies which I couldn't have made this movie without," says Cornish, "but which, for me, are a little bit morally unsettling. That do demonise these kids. These are children we're talking about, and children make mistakes; they test the boundaries of the world. They can come from a shitty place with a limited amount of choices."
Admirable agenda aside, what clearly endeared it to the SXSW crowd was its geek-friendly, reference-happy combo of comedy and horror. It's an aesthetic sibling of those other films at the festival made by Cornish's friends - Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Paul; Ben Wheatley's Kill List - that also successfully tap a US fanboy sensibility. Why are this year's Brits managing such a good fit?
Cornish puts it down to the democracy of the genre movie. "They give you a set of universal rules which you can obey or contradict or subvert; a sort of template that allows access for any person from anywhere. All you have to do is love film and understand the conventions of the genre and you have a way in." SXSW, he says, is a festival at which the passion of the film-makers is matched by that of the audience. "You get that from the blogosphere. They take their role of championing films very seriously, and they're led by the heart. If they dislike something, they won't write about it, unless they really feel it violates one of their principles. But in Britain you get a lot of ho-humming and boiled sweet sucking and here you get commitment and passion, which I think is really cool."
His love for London comes through in the film, but right now (about 16 hours after the premiere), he's as enamoured of Austin as it seems to be of him. He raves about the ratio of cinemas to residents, its geek heritage - he's a big reader of Ain't It Cool News - and the liberation that being a relative unknown allows him. "People don't come with any preconceptions. You can tell why some British film-makers who started in television enjoy working in America because people are a bit more accepting of you trying something different. This audience are able just to take this film as a film and not to have preconceptions of what Joe of Adam and Joe might do, not weighed down by any of that baggage. And they really dig it, you know. It's kind of really nice to talk to them as if I'm a film-maker. People here are really excited to have stuff in their town. In London, we're quite haughty. We feel we deserve them to come to us." Cornish grins, happy to turn tables.

Attack The Block-Ain't It Cool News review

Attack The Block-Ain't It Cool News review

 

Nordling here.

Cynics leave.  Right now.  I'm waiting.  Yeah, you.  Get the fuck out.

Okay, who's left?  You the kind of film lover that's willing to try anything?  To risk sitting through a bad movie in the hopes of seeing something amazing and life-affirming?  To see a filmmaker's first attempt at a movie and who knocks it out of the park?  Do you remember when you first saw JAWS?  Or SEVEN?  SHAUN OF THE DEAD?  Or THE EVIL DEAD?  You knew you were in the presence of greatness, right?  You knew that as a film geek, you would never quite be the same.  It's a drug, isn't it?  When you see something that utterly completely knocks you on your ass?  We film geeks chase that feeling every time we sit down in our darkened church.  It's the closest I feel to God.  When a story is clicking, the acting is clicking, and you are transported.  I don't know much in this shitty world, but I know this: the best films are those that take you places that you had no idea you wanted to go.  And when it takes you there, you never want to leave.

ATTACK THE BLOCK is the best film this year so far.  And I've seen some good ones, in my humble opinion, including one by a legitimate master of film, Terrence Malick.  But Joe Cornish's urban tale of a group of kids who find out what it truly means to be a part of something bigger than themselves is THE 400 BLOWS of alien invasion films.  Yeah, I said it.  Instead of some fantastical view of childhood, which even Spielberg has been guilty of, ATTACK THE BLOCK deals with real kids who are suddenly thrust into a situation that they are ill-equipped to handle.  How they deal with that situation, and learn from it, is what makes ATTACK THE BLOCK more than your simple genre film.

I've written about this film at length; Harry's written about it, Beaks has written about it; Capone, Quint - we've all written about it.  We are all uniformly in love with this material, and maybe you can think all this coverage is overkill.  But we here at AICN all believe in this one simple truth - it's not about the big summer release, or the Oscar-bait film.  We are advocates for the new.  When a singular voice arrives on the scene, and gives us something wonderful as Joe Cornish has done with ATTACK THE BLOCK, there's a real danger that that voice will be lost in the noise and the rumble of all these major studio releases, and we feel that it's our duty to protect that voice and bring it to the attention of as many people as possible.  I've screened the film here in Houston, and Harry's screened it in Austin, and Beaks in Los Angeles, and Capone in Chicago.  Every single time audiences have come out jazzed and excited for the film, and I haven't come across anyone who didn't just fall in love with it.

Put it this way.  If this film had been released in the 1980s with THE GOONIES, MONSTER SQUAD, E.T., CRITTERS, GREMLINS... we'd be talking about it to this day.  We might even be talking about it over some of those movies.  It's a movie that will stand the test of time and even more, it's honest.  It never cheats, never talks down to the audience.  Every scare, laugh, and every emotion in ATTACK THE BLOCK is earned.  And when this film builds the following that it most certainly will have, this might be a film that you'll regret not seeing in the theater.  It's not open wide yet, but if you're in the vicinity of it, you really need to make the effort and see it.  You won't regret it.  Pound for pound, ATTACK THE BLOCK delivers as much thrills as the biggest summer blockbuster, and at the end, you will feel like you've seen something truly new and unique, and a new voice entering the film scene.  Those films don't come along very often.  Maybe once a year, if that.

Has ATTACK THE BLOCK been overhyped?  No.  You can't overhype genuine greatness.  ATTACK THE BLOCK goes on that list of films that we here at AICN have advocated and fought for since the beginning - like PAN'S LABYRINTH, or SHAUN OF THE DEAD, or OLDBOY, or THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE WEIRD, and the day we stop fighting for movies like ATTACK THE BLOCK, we might as well shut the site down and get day jobs.

Okay, cynics and haters, you can come back now.  Feel free to talk about whatever inane bullshit you want.  As for the rest of us?  We're at the movies.  Believe.

Nordling, out.

Tubechopped video, representation of old people

I chose 'Nan' from the Catherine Tate Show because she has been dressed and is acting in the was that old people are portrayed in the media. In this tubechopped clip she is shown as being forgetful and also caring. Her outfit consists of bright colour in clothes such as cardigan and a patterned apron.  Her appearance is grey matted hair and a wrinkled face.


Stereotypical characteristics of an old people; grumpy, out-dated, slow, weak, whining, unable to use technology, unhealthy, miserly, hard-of-hearing, ugly, never go anywhere

Spike Jonze Presentation

Film production

Development - This is simply the process of 'finding' a story. Ideas for films come from a variety of sources, they can range from novels, real life events to computer game adaptations. Once you've got an idea you'll need someone to write a pitch for you which you take to a film producer in an attempt to get some funding to make your film. Even at this very early stage you need a very clear idea of who you're aiming you film at so you can include elements that will appeal to them.
Pre-production - Once you've got funding you establish your budget and can begin to get a film crew together, you can storyboard the script. You also need break the script down into individual scenes and identify all the locations, props, cast members, costumes, special effects and visual effects needed.
Production - This is simply the process of 'making' the film. Provided you've done your job properly in the pre-production stage making the film should be straight forward. 'Film' is very expensive and difficult to store so an increasing number of film makers are using digital cameras to save money.
Post-production - During this stage you take all the 'film' you've shot and give it to a film editor. They will then begin putting it together. Special effects will be added, a soundtrack will be added, any missing dialogue will be re-recorded and added resulting in a 'rough cut'. This will be shown to the director and a test audience who will offer feedback. Often this causes scenes to be filmed and added or removed.