Film Production Companies Research

The following film production companies I will research fully in the post:

• DreamWorks SKG
• DreamWorks Animation
• 20th Century Fox
• 20th Century Fox Animation
• Universal Studios
• Paramount Pictures
• Columbia Pictures
• Warner Bros. Pictures
• Walt Disney Pictures
• Pixar Animation Studios
• Marvel Studios 
• Hollywood Pictures
• LionsGate Entertainment 
• Summit Entertainment

 DreamWorks SKG

It was founded October 12th 1994 by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen.
Its headquarters are in Universal City, California.
Steven Spielberg is its Principal Partner, and Stacy Snider is the Co-Chairman/CEO.
It produces motion pictures and television programmes, and employees 80 people.


It has produced films such as:

• Cowboys and Aliens
• I Am Number 4
• The Lovely Bones
• Transformers
• Meet The Fockers

Dreamworks Animation

It was founded the same date as DreamWorks SKG and founded by the same people.
Its headquarters are in Glendale, California.
Jeffrey Katzenberg is the company's CEO, Mellody Hobson is the chairman, and Lewis Coleman is the President.
It produced theatrical animated feature films, and television animated series.

It has produced films such as:

• Shrek
• Madagascar
• Kung Fu Panda
• Wallace and Gromit: The Movie
• Flushed Away

20th Century Fox

It was founded May 31st 1935 by a merge of Fox Films and 20th Century Pictures. It is founded by Joseph M. Schenck and Darryl F. Zanuck. Its headquarters are in California and Rupert Murdoch is the Chairman.
It produces motion pictures and television films.
 It has produced films such as:

• Avatar
• Dr Doolittle
• Titanic
• X-Men
• Wolverine

20th Century Fox Animation

It was founded in 1997 by 20th Century Fox.
Vanessa Morrison is the President.
It produces CGI animated films and animated sitcoms.

It has produced films such as:

• The Flinstones
• Family Guy
• The Simpsons
• Ice Age
• Anastasia
  
  

  Universal Studios

It was founded April 30th in 1992 by Carl Laemmle, Pat Powers, Mark Dintenfass, William Swanson, David Horsley, Charles Baumann, Adam Kessel, and Jules Brulatour.
Its headquarters are Universal City, California, and its President is Ronald Meyer.

It has produced films such as:

• Jurassic Park
• Jaws
• E.T.
• Fast and Furious
• Despicable Me

Paramount Pictures

It was founded in 1912 as Famous Players Film Company, and then in 1914 as Paramount Pictures. Its headquarters are in Hollywood and it produces motion pictures.
Brad Grey is the Chairman, Rob Moore is the Vice Chairman, Frederick D. Huntsberry is the COO, Mark Badagliacca is the CFO, and Adam Goodman is the President. 

It has produced films such as:

• Star Trek
• Thor
• Iron Man
• Paranormal Activity
• Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

 Columbia Pictures

It was founded by Harry and Jack Cohn along with Joe Brandt in LA in 1918 as CBC Film Sales, but then renamed as Columbia Pictures in 1924.
Its headquarters are in California  and Doug Belgrad is the President of the company. It produces Motion pictures.

It has produced films such as:

• Spider Man
• Skyfall
• Men In Black
• 21 Jump Street
• Casino Royale

Warner Bros. Pictures

It was founded April 4th 1923 by Albert, Harry, Sam, and Jack Warner. Barry Meyer is the Chairman, and Kevin Tsujhara is the CEO.
Its headquarters are in California, and it produces motion pictures, television programmes, and video games.

It has produced films such as:

• Man Of Steel
• The Dark Knight
• The Hangover
• The Wizard Of Oz
• The Matrix

Walt Disney Pictures

It was founded in 1950 by Walt Disney. Its headquarters are in California and it produces motion pictures.

It has produced films such as:

• Monsters Inc.
• Finding Nemo
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
• Dumbo
• Bambi

Pixar Animation Studios

It was founded 3rd February 1986 by Ed Catmull, Alvy Ray Smith, and Steve Jobs. Its headquarters are in California, and is run by Ed Catmull (President), John Lasseter (CCO), and Jim Morris (General Manager).

It has produced films such as:

• Up
• Toy Story
• A Bug's Life
• The Incredibles
• Cars

Marvel Studios

It was founded in 1993 by Avi Arad, ToyBiz, and Marvel Entertainment Group. Its headquarters are in California, and is run by Kevin Feige (President) and Louis D'Esposito.

It has produced films such as:

• Spider-Man
• The Avengers
• Iron Man
• The Wolverine
• Captain America

Hollywood Pictures

It was founded February 1st 1989 as a product of Walt Disney Studios. It produced motion pictures, however it was dissolved in 2007.






It produced films such as:

• The Santa Claus
• Super Mario Bros.
• Breakfast of Champions
• G.I. Jane
• Spy Hard

LionsGate Entertainment

It was founded July 3rd 1997 by Frank Giustra and its headquarters are in California. Mark Rachesky is the Chairman, Jon Feltheimer is the CEO, and Michael Burns is the Vice Chairman. It produces motion pictures, television programmes, home videos, family entertainment, music, and music publishing.

It has produced films such as:

• The Hunger Games
• Saw
• Twilight
• Dirty Dancing
• Kick-Ass

Summit Entertainment

It was founded in 1991 by Bernd Eichinger, Arnon Milchan, and Andrew G. Vajna. Its headquarters are in California and London. It produces motion pictures and Rob Friedman and Patrick Wachsberger are the main directors of the company.

It has produced films such as:

• Twilight
• Step Up
• American Pie
• Now You See Me
• The Perks Of Being A Wallflower

Research

As my main research, I asked people to fill out a questionnaire which would help me to find out what people like and don't like in the opening sequence of a film.

 

This tells me that more people like the use of 'flash-forward' than dislike it, which makes me more lenient to include it in my opening sequence.

This shows me that more people like action more than any other genre, which is a good thing for me as this is my chosen genre for my final project.

The results show me that, if I was to advertise my new film to the public, the more effective way to do this would be to advertise it via a TV or cinema trailer, rather than in a magazine.

I can conclude that people find music in the opening sequence important, as opposed to not important at all, which allows me to follow my original plan of including music.

This shows me that people prefer more simple opening titles as opposed to more complex or 'busy' ones.

These results tell me that people are interested in films based on the storyline, then the trailer and genre of the film, which means I need to focus on the storyline in the opening sequence.

Questionnaire

As part of my research, I am handing out 20 questionnaires to people of different ages to get an idea into what people like and dislike about films. I thought this would help me as I can apply this to my opening scenes.

Below are screenshots of my questionnaires, and I will post the results soon.

The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan - Opening Scenes Analysis

The film starts with the logos of the companies which produced the film; Warner Brothers, Legendary Pictures, and DC Comics. As these are high profile and well trusted companies, people expect the film to live up to these expectations, and it definitely doesn't disappoint!
The film starts with an establishing shot of the opening scene, which consists of a very large black building in the middle of a busy city landscape; this sets the scene for the next few shots. We see two men in clown masks smashing the glass of the building and shooting a metal wire as an 'escape route' onto the roof of the opposite building. The fact that the men are on the inside of this building. immediately makes us think that this is an 'inside job'. There is no music playing throughout this scene, which adds to the suspense.
The men are all wearing clown masks which hides their faces; this could be to make sure the security cameras don't see their faces, but it could also be them hiding behind mask, and almost hiding their identity as they want to isolate the crime from their normal life. The masks create a sense of mystery, but is also quite ironic; clowns are associated with comedy and children's parties, yet the criminals are using them out of fear and to make people believe that clowns etc. are almost bad and not to be laughed at or taken lightly. This could be a metaphor for the criminals themselves; they want people to take the seriously which is why they are robbing such a high profile bank and not committing 'petty' crimes. The criminals have a lot of equipment and they know exactly where they are going at what time, which shows that have planned this for a long time, and they are 'professionals'.
The music increases in tempo as the action in the scene increases, which builds suspense.
There are a lot of close-ups on the faces of the criminals, which is ironic as we can't see their faces because of the masks, but this could be Nolan's intention.

Taken by Pierre Morel opening sequence analysis

The very first thing we see in the opening sequence is the Twentieth Century Fox logo; this gives the impression to the audience that the film has been funded by a large, trusted company, so the film is expected to be of a high standard.
The titles are in a simple font, with a black screen turning into home videos of the family together. This shows that the videos are personal to the character, and the titles are in the corner of the shots, which makes the videos the focal point of each shot. The videos are flashbacks that the main character is having, which shows that he still holds onto that memory.
The music has a sharp tone to the soft sounds, which almost foreshadows the tragedy later in the film. The fact that the family is laughing over the sharp sounds in the music, implies an almost naivety about them, and shows how oblivious they are to what is about to happen.
The titles fade away, which could connote how the main character is trying to forget that he lost his family to another man. Also, the title of the film 'Taken' is almost 'whipped' off the screen by a passing car, which is also what happens to the daughter later in the film, so it is setting the scene of the film and showing the harsh realties of what are about to happen.
The first scene of the film shows the main character of the film sitting alone in a dark room, with 2 empty Chinese takeaway boxes on the table. As he lives by himself, it shows that he is incapable to look after himself fully and that he misses his family too much. He is immediately portrayed to the audience as being lonely and in regret of letting his wife and child walk out of his life.

The Start of the Final Project

So, for the final project, me and David have decided to go for a crime/thriller genre as we were had more ideas for this genre.

Currently, I'm handing out questionnaires to get people's opinions on opening titles, and I'm researching into the film companies which produce the kind of films which are similar to the one I am doing for my final project.

I will post the results of the questionnaires on monday in my next media lesson, which will also be accompanied by evaluations of opening titles as part of my genre-specific research.