Photoshopping Women—Selling a Fantasy, One Ad at a Time
Photoshopping Women—Selling a Fantasy, One Ad at a Time
If there’s a magazine near you, open it up and find an advertisement featuring a woman. Chances are she’s thin, has flawless skin, perfect teeth, and long gorgeous flowing hair; she is the definition of “beauty.” The only problem is, that woman doesn’t exist. We are being told that she represents a “real” woman, but in fact, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
That woman is beautiful because a team of make-up artists, fashion designers, special lighting tricks—and most of all Photoshop—has made her so. Adobe’s Photoshop software is used to edit and enhance the women in nearly all of the advertisements that we see on a daily basis.
So what’s the big deal? Who cares if advertisers edit photos? Everyone knows they’re just pictures, right? The truth is, advertisers have set the norm for what is beautiful. They tell us that buying their product will make us beautiful, attractive, and most of all happy. They’re not just selling a product, they’re selling a lifestyle. So, in turn, for us to be happy, we must look like the women pictured in their advertisements.
The problem with these women being “Photoshopped,” is that this idea of beauty is unattainable. Photoshop has women desperately seeking a sense of perfection, but this perfection can never be achieved, because it is literally unreal. But this doesn’t stop women from trying. Women are taught from a very young age to strive for this impossible beauty, and advertisers propel this idea of perfection.
This unattainable sense of beauty has become a problem that permeates our society. For instance, eating disorders are on the rise, especially in adolescent children. According to a study by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders, “more than 60% of elementary and middle school teachers reported that eating disorders are a problem in their schools (2011).”
Jean Kilbourne, the well-known creator of the Killing Us Softly series, discusses how advertising “traffics in distorted and destructive ideals of femininity,” critically discussing the relationship between advertising and health issues.
So what’s being done about these issues? Well for one, Kilbourne says that there needs to be a change in the environment. Advertisers need to take a look at our society and take some responsibility for not only how women are viewed, but also how women are seeing themselves.
Dove – Real Beauty
Dove is one company that has shed light on this issue with their Campaign for Real Beauty. There is no question that media is a large part of our society, so there should be some sort of media education program in our schools informing children and our society about often distorted ideals portrayed in the media.
Cities in Canada, and some cities in the U.S., took part in a “Media Literacy Week” in November of 2011. More and more schools and cities are planning to partake in educational events like this in order to stress the importance of media literacy, and to promote a more positive self-image among adolescents and their body image. As a society, we need to expect and encourage more positive and healthy images of women in our media.
-Brittani Wynn
Titanic: Romance and Tragedy in 3D
Titanic: Romance and Tragedy in 3D
The epic romance and disaster film Titanic, directed by James Cameron and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, was first released in theaters on December 19, 1997. At the time, Titanic was the most expensive feature film, with a production budget of $200 million. The film grossed $600 million domestically and over $1.8 billion worldwide. It also swept awards including Best Film and Best Director of the 70th Academy Awards and the 55th Golden Globe Awards in 1998. To memorialize the 100th anniversary of the real ship’s tragedy, Titanicwill come back to theater in 2D, 3D and IMAX versions on April 4th.
1997 
2012 
In October of last year, Titanic’s domestic distributor, Paramount Pictures, showed eighteen minutes of 3D film footage in special screenings in Hollywood. Paramount also held free Valentine’s Day screenings in 44 selected cities. Recently, it even moved up its release date from April 6th to April 4th in order to launch ahead than its competitors.
Are people excited about the re-release in 3D? Perhaps less so, since they are converting the film from 2D to 3D, as with the Lion King, Beauty and The Beast, and Star Wars. What do converted 3D films really sell to the audience?
Director James Cameron had claimed in the past that he didn’t like the idea of 3D conversion, and that if the technology had been developed earlier he would have definitely shot Titanic in 3D. In order to have the best outcome, therefore he and 300 artists spent 60 weeks and $18 million on the converting process, without editing a single frame of the original cut. Viewers of the special 18 minutes footage made complimentary comments about the 3D conversion process. Even so, Cameron still maintains that the re-release of Titanic is in 2.99D instead of real 3D.
In a short featurette, available on the official Titanic re-release website, James Cameron discusses the conversion process and the profound meaning of Titanic. Cameron notes that the conversion not only changed the film into 3D, but that “3D definitely enhances small human interactions,” intensifying the intimate moments, making them more compelling to audience. “Titanic always has something for you, not matter what’s your age,” says Cameron. For those who saw Titanic before, there will be an element of nostalgia, but in 3D. For those who have never seen the film, it will be a moving and powerful new experience.
-Sheng Zhang
I Want It Now! Targeting Kids with Internet Ads
I Want It Now! Targeting Kids with Internet Ads
Veruca Salt’s catch phrase “I want it now…” from the 1971 film “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” has been uttered countless times by children, and this is the very phrase that advertising companies want to hear. The buying power of children is greater than ever before and companies marketing to kids are reaping the benefits.
Television advertisements geared toward children have been criticized for years but the industry boasts $15 billion in annual profits. With that type of cash coming in, advertising executives have expanded the industry to the Internet.
Sites such as cartoonnetwork.com and neopets.com are designed to be kid-friendly but companies are customizing their advertisements to be a fully integrated part of these websites using a tactic known as immersive advertising. Immersive advertising integrates the ad into content rather than it being placed alongside the page.
Cartoonnetwork.com 
When you log onto cartoonnetwork.com, you first notice the flashy graphics, and loud sound effects. Looking more closely, you can start to see the emergence of advertising at its sneakiest. The background of the website had been changed to advertise Universal Pictures new film The Lorax. In addition to the background, there were also banner ads promoting the release of the movie. As you began to explore the website, you start to notice how advertising companies had utilized the concept of immersive advertising. There is a newsfeed in the gaming tab that was sponsored by McDonald’s Happy Meals. There are banner ads for Lego, as well as Cartoon Network shows that are sponsored by the toy company. It is plain to see that cartoonnetwork.com relies heavily on advertising dollars to ensure their continued success.
Neopets.com utilizes the same tactic of immersive advertising. When you arrive at the website, a toolbar pops up that provides advertising for Nickelodeon. The Lorax film is again incorporated into a “showcase game” to promote the release of the film. It is clear that this form of advertising is effective and companies today are utilizing it to their full advantage.
The monetary benefit from this specific type of advertising is unlimited, but is it worth the possible damage to our children’s physical and mental well being? Children today are statistically more overweight, teen violence and teen pregnancy continue to rise, and studies seem to indicate that advertising geared toward children has impacted these statistics. It would be conducive to our youth if companies would be more responsible with how they utilize the Internet and the messages that they are conveying. Social responsibility should be considered more in today’s industry because its impact will be felt for years to come.
- Katie Foley
The Simpsons’ 500th Episode—More to Come?
The Simpsons’ 500th Episode—More to Come?
Fox’s favorite animated family, The Simpsons, has been making audiences laugh for more than twenty years. Over the last two decades, The Simpsons has taken us through an unbelievable number of story arcs—and a South Park episode makes fun of this very fact, in an episode titled “Simpsons Already Did It.” Homer has bowled a perfect game, toured with the Smashing Pumpkins, prevented two nuclear meltdowns, won a Grammy, won a Pulitzer prize, owned the Denver Broncos, solved an ancient Egyptianpuzzle, and been to outer space (TV Guide News).
We have seen hundreds of celebrity voice appearances on the show, including Larry King, Ringo Starr, and Buzz Aldrin. The Simpsons franchise has spread from TV into video games, board games, albums, clothing, memorabilia, and a full-length film. The Simpsons is now the longest running American scripted television series, and just hit the milestone of five hundred episodes on February 19, in the middle of it’s twenty-third season.
The 500th episode began, as all Simpsons do, with the typical intro followed by the “couch gag.” For the special occasion though, viewers were treated with a conglomeration of every “couch gag” used in the shows run. The plot follows the Simpson family as they are banished from Springfield because the town is going broke trying to pay for the damage from Homer’s drunken antics and Bart’s boyish pranks.
Although the episode does have jokes for its long time viewers, it is a prime example of the current state of the show. Any fan can tell you that The Simpsons is past its prime. Its highest rated episode, “Bart Gets an F,” ran in 1990. Although the ratings have dropped over the past two decades, the loyalty of fans has stayed strong. The Simpsons became a part of American culture in the 1990s, and paved the way for animated series like South Park. Fans continue to watch in the millions, but some now view the show with a bittersweet taste. The creators of The Simpsons are aware of this current attitude, and decided to end this special episode with a message to their fans that read, “Thanks for 500 shows. All we ask is that you go out and get some fresh air before logging on the Internet and saying how much this sucked.”
So, what does the future hold for The Simpsons? There will be seven more episodes in the twenty-third season, but beyond that, the future is shrouded in mystery. Although the 500th episode garnered a 30 per cent increase in viewers of the 18-24 demographic, this may be the final season for the series. Negotiations between executives of 20th Century Fox TV and the voice actors are not going well after the studio asked the voice actors to take a 45 per cent pay cut. The absolutely irreplaceable voice actors responded with a proposal for a 30 per cent pay cut if they received a percentage of the massive memorabilia revenue. Negotiations are still under way, but 20th Century Fox TV released a statement saying, “… We believe this brilliant series can and should continue, but we cannot produce future seasons under its current financial model” (Inside TV).
Personally, I can’t see this being the end of The Simpsons. However, the people at Fox are notorious for canceling good programs, and I have a gut wrenching feeling that some of our favorite Simpsons characters may sound less familiar next season.
-Nathan Mitchell
The Oscars and Movie Box Office
The Oscars and Movie Box Office
What is the most exciting time in Hollywood?
If you guessed January and February, you are correct! After the first of the year, a series of awards are giving to recognize the best movies and performances of the previous year. Some of these awards are the Golden Globes, Producers Guild, Writers Guild, The Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), and the Academy Awards, also known as The Oscars.
Being nominated for any of these awards is prestigious, and winning is even better. For movie studios, however, the award season can be less about winning and more about maximizing their profit margins. There is a buzz created by all of the nominations, and studios can use that buzz to help promote a film and appeal to more moviegoers. Winning an Academy Award, of course, represent the height of success for any movie.
The Oscar nominations are announced the month before the ceremony and many studios go into full campaign mode to maximize the excitement surrounding the awards. There are new commercials launched that focus on how many and what kind of Oscar nominations a movie has received. This is an attempt to entice viewers to see the movie because it is being recognized as one of the best films of the year for one reason or another. After nominations are announced studios will also try to get interviews and photo shoots set up with the actors in the film as a way to get some free publicity.
Does all of the award buzz really pay off for the studios? Box office results indicate that, yes, there really is something to the excitement. According to BoxOfficeMojo.com, The Artist had a small four-theater release around Thanksgiving and was slowly gaining momentum, but after being nominated for an Oscar it jumped up to over six hundred screens.
The publicity around the awards can be important for independent films that are nominated. Many of them have small advertising budgets and being nominated puts a film on the map. The Descendants, from Fox Searchlight, was another movie that had a small opening and was able to pick up momentum through the award season.
The Oscars had an interesting effect on the movie The Hurt Locker. Originally released in June of 2009, The Hurt Locker opened for twenty-one weeks on 535 screens and grossed only $12.5 million. After winning the Oscar for best picture in 2010, the movie was re-released for two weeks on 350 screens and grossed another $4 million, about 30% more!
The Artist, The Descendants, and The Hurt Locker are all examples of films that have received a boost from award nominations and wins. The Academy Award is the most important award given during the season because of the number of filmmakers, tradespeople and actors voting for the winners. According to the chart on BoxOfficeQuant.com, there is a significant jump in movie revenue at the start of the award season, and it continues through the Oscars Award ceremony. All of the award excitement can pay off for some movies in a big way, with box office boost and the long-term claim to fame.
-Brittney Edwards
A Poor Excuse for a Tribute—The 2012 Grammy Awards
A Poor Excuse for a Tribute—The 2012 Grammy Awards
Music fans from around the country and around the world were looking forward to the 54th annual Grammy music awards. The sudden death of legendary star Whitney Houston, one day before the airing of the Grammys, offered the show’s producers the chance to commemorate an iconic artist and performer.
Unfortunately, the Grammys forgot to pay due respect to several musical icons, and they served up a weak tribute to Whitney Houston.
The Grammys aired on Sunday February 12, 2012 on CBS. The show opened with a prayer and speech by rapper LL Cool J dedicated to Whitney Houston. So far, so good.
Later in the program Singer Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt performed a tribute to the late great Etta James. But then the producers failed to include Etta James in the slide show tribute!
The crowning moment in any awards show is always the moving slide show tribute, and the Grammy producers choreographed a series of pictures to celebrate those the music community had lost in the past year. Not only did the Grammy producers forgot to include Etta James, they also forgot to honor two other musical legends: singer Vesta Williams and music pioneer Don Cornelius.
Vesta Williams passed away on September 22, 2011. Williams was a top recording artist, recording songs like “Once Bitten, Twice Shy” which hit number nine on R&B charts, and “Congratulations” which hit number five.
Don Cornelius passed away on February 1, 2012. Cornelius was creator of the show “Soul Train,” which arguably changed the way the entire world viewed African American musical artists and dancers. Soul Train is the longest-running nationally syndicated show in history. The Grammys paid tribute to Steve Jobs, who also changed the way people listened to and viewed music, but they somehow forgot to show respect to another vital musical pioneer, Don Cornelius
And what about Whitney? You would think that a singer who has sold eight million copies of one single (I Will Always Love You), and an artist who has been nominated for twenty-six Grammys—winning six times—would be someone who deserves more than a three minute tribute. Even though the beautiful Jennifer Hudson did a splendid job—it was only three minutes out of two hours.
The 2012 Grammy awards show did not offer a proper tribute to great music pioneers this year. Musical legends Vesta Williams, Don Cornelius, Etta James, and Whitney Houston deserve better. The Grammy producers need help researching and properly honoring artists who have passed and who have contributed to the music community.
- Ukiya Henson
Commercials for Super Bowl 2012
Commercials for Super Bowl 2012
Sports fans love the Superbowl game, and everyone watching loves the new wave of clever and entertaining commercials. With all the hype that the Superbowl commercials get in the media nowadays, it is virtually impossible for the advertisements to live up to all the excitement. This did not stop me or the other 111.3 million viewers of Superbowl XLVI from scrutinizing the showcase of advertisements, however. Company’s put their best foot forward to have their product or brand remembered for years to come.
Automotive commercials had a very strong showing this year at the Superbowl. Some of the more notable ones was the vampire-themed Audi promotion, a sexually charged commercial for the Fiat 500 Abarth, and a humorous take on life and death with the Hyundai Genesis Coupe. Cars.com gave us a catchy tune with their ad featuring Christopher B. Duncan, and Chrysler gave America it’s own halftime speech with the help of Clint Eastwood. A personal favorite mine was the ad for the Chevy Silverado, with their portrayal of the truck’s toughness surviving the 2012 Mayan apocalypse, and their genius use of the Barry Manilow song “Looks like we Made It.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxFYYP8040A
Promos for television programs for NBC were also out in force, including a reveal of the new drama “Awake,” promises of double crossing in the name of charity on the new season of “Celebrity Apprentice,” the announcement of Howard Stern as a host for “America’s Got Talent,” and a flashy, kung-fu style commercial featuring the judges of “The Voice,” which premiered directly after the game ended. The Superbowl also featured its fair share of motion picture promotion, premiering spots for blockbuster films like “The Avengers,” “John Carter,” and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation.”
Of course the Superbowl commercial veterans came out to play and continue their legacy. The E*Trade baby returned with more smart advice, and the M&M’s introduced a new color to their gang. Coke gave us new ads featuring their famous polar bears, which I enjoyed seeing again. I feel GoDaddy.com could have tried something new as they aired more of the same risque commercials featuring Danica Patrick. Budweiser found a way to keep their signature Clydesdales in their ads and have a fresh idea by doing a flashback to show an exaggerated end to prohibition.
The fight for the Vince Lombardi trophy featured some great football, half time show controversy, and entertaining commercials.
-Kazi Smith
The Oscar Race Has Begun!
The Oscar Race Has Begun!
May 16th 1929 is a date that not many people are familiar with, but it was the start of one of Hollywood’s most glamorous traditions…the Academy Awards. Each Spring, Hollywood’s red carpet royalty come out en masse to recognize the year’s best cinematic performances.
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) held the first ceremony at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with 270 people attending. There were twelve award categories and the winners had already been announced earlier in the year. After many additions and shifting around of the categories, there are currently twenty-four Oscars awarded and the winners are kept secret until the night of the ceremony.
How are the nominees and winners decided? The AMPAS is made up of almost 6,000 voting members from various areas of the movie business including actors, producers, and directors. Prospective members are nominated for significant performances or contributions to the industry and after a vigorous screening process some are invited to join AMPAS.
To select the award nominees for the year there is a round of voting and the most popular nominations are voted on again to determine the winner in each category. Because peers in the industry decide the winners, there is considerable prestige that comes with being nominated and especially with winning an Oscar.
The nominations were released earlier this week with few surprises. One big snub this year is that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II was not nominated for best picture. A minor surprise was The Adventures of Tintin, directed by Steven Spielberg, not receiving a nomination for Best Animated Film. Martin Scorcese’s Hugo received the most attention, with eleven nominations, including one for best picture.
Two of the favorite movies going into the Oscars are The Artist and The Decendants. The Descendants took home a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture earlier this month. There have been a handful of movies that have won both awards, but that doesn’t mean other nominees don’t have a chance. There are a variety of films nominated this year but all of them have the common thread of being creative and emotionally compelling.
These nominees are not your common Blockbusters. They have risen to the top because each movie provides a snapshot of life… its frustration, its pain, its joy.
The 84th Academy Awards ceremony will take place February 26th in downtown Los Angeles at the Kodak Theatre and will be broadcast live on ABC. Who do you think will be winning this year? You can fill out a personal Oscar ballot here and see how your opinion compares to Hollywood’s! Check back here for Academy Award results and analysis!
- Brittney Edwards
Soap Operas in Turkey and Africa
Soap Operas in Turkey and Africa
Soap operas are a mainstay on daytime television in the United States. Their name derives from the type of advertisements, which were featured during commercial breaks—soap and household cleaning supplies used to be the majority of ads for soap operas.
Throughout popular culture soap operas have been the brunt of many jokes. When an actor is second rate at best they are suggested to try out for the soaps. Amnesia and long-lost evil twins seem to make their way into soap opera plotlines. In short, U.S. audiences view soap operas with derision.
Other countries, however, use soap operas in an entirely different manner. In other nations, the most popular soap operas are used as platforms for discussion.
The Turkish soap opera “Noor,” serves as an outlet and a forum for many people. Within the plotline of this soap opera, writers have found a creative outlet to talk about many controversial issues such as drinking alcohol, premarital sex, and abortion. Mohannad, the main character, faces tribulations involving love and faith, which has a large appeal in many Middle Eastern cultures, and the show attracts millions of viewers.
A similar situation exists in Africa with the show Isidingo. Isidingo follows the life and struggles of one of the shows most popular characters, a young woman named Nandipha. Nandipha is raped during her travels on the savannah and must struggle with contracting the AIDS virus.
Producers of the Isidingo created a plotline that breaks the silence on an issue that affects many Africans. Part of the problem is that certain governments in Africa have taken an aggressive stance against the distribution of anti-retroviral AIDS drugs. There are also educational and cultural barriers that hinder the use of condoms. With many people affected by AIDS in Africa and millions tuning in to watch Isidingo, it is undeniable that television can be used as a great platform for change.
The question becomes, “Why isn’t America doing the same?” I think that we could learn a thing or two from countries using television as a platform for discussion. Change could be on the horizon. Americans could be discussing hot button issues rather than following the lives of several well-to-do housewives. Wouldn’t a show focused on the trials of being impoverished in America be a better topic? How about soap operas with characters that are struggling with unemployment?
~David Goold
Violence in Media: How Comic Books Faced the Fire First!
Violence in Media: How Comic Books Faced the Fire First!
Recently, video games have faced an onslaught of critics denouncing the industry’s development of violent video games like the Grand Theft Auto or Gears of War franchises. In a recent Supreme Court Decision, Brown vs. EMA (Entertainment Merchants Association), the court upheld that California’s law to prohibit the sale of violent games to children under 18 was unconstitutional.
The majority opinion written by Justice Scalia compares the current video game argument to that of comics fifty years earlier. Justice Scalia writes:
The crusade against comic books was led by a psychiatrist, Frederic Wertham, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee that ‘as long as the crime comic books industry exists in its present forms there are no secure homes.’ Wertham’s objections extended even to Superman comics, which he described as “particularly injurious to the ethical development of children. But efforts to convince Congress to restrict comic books failed.
Here is the historical context of Scalia’s statement. In 1954 Dr Frederic Wertham published the book, Seduction of the Innocent, which correlated reading violent depictions in comics with juvenile delinquency. Seduction was the capstone to Wertham’s attack on comics, and in 1955 a US Senate hearing was held to argue the validity of Wertham’s findings.
The Senate concluded that the comics industry should create a regulating body that identified violent content. To avoid government censorship, the industry reacted by creating the Comics Authority Code.
After the adoption of the code, the debate fizzled with the last comic book burning. That’s right folks! Here. In the United States. American Citizens were burning books. But I digress…
The code was implemented, like those of the MPAA or the ESRB, by affixing a stamp of approval on the comic, deeming the book appropriate for all readers. The difference between the Comics Authority Code and other media regulating bodies was that if a publisher, writer, or illustrator did not follow the guidelines, the comic in question was doomed to fail.
By the mid-1980’s, creators began combating the code by completely ignoring the guidelines and as a result redefined the industry. The Code has since died out completely, and publishers have created other rating systems.
As the debate over violence in media continues keep in mind that it is not a new phenomenon. The comics industry took its licks way before video games, and I would wager that the video game industry will thrive similarly to its comic book forefather.
- Jason Allen
Video Gaming Industry Battles Piracy
Video Gaming Industry Battles Piracy
Global piracy plagues every area of the entertainment industry. Video games are no exception to that rule. In fact, 73% of global video game revenues are lost to piracy. Between 2004 and 2009 the industry lost $41.5 billion dollars to illegal downloading.
The majority of the lost revenue comes from overseas, although piracy within the United States is an issue too. Piracy is most popular in Japan where losses were estimated around $10.7 billion in 2010.
Why is piracy so prolific and how is it possible? The reason is the same around the world: the high cost of games and hardware and the spread of broadband Internet.
The cost of games and hardware varies from country to country. In the United States game consoles are $200 – $350 and new games cost around $60. With the high price of initial investment, gamers cannot always afford to buy all newest games they might want.
This predicament has lead to the creation of numerous videos and websites dedicated to helping consumers learn how to burn games and modify consoles to read those games. These website are allowed to exist because they have a disclaimer about “voiding the warranty of consoles” and instructions that these practices are only to be used to back up “personal game libraries.”
However, when a game’s copyright protection is overridden, the game can be copied and the files uploaded to peer-to-peer file sharing sites. Anyone can then download, burn, and play the game on their modified console. In the United States, “self-moding” consoles so they will read burned disks is the most popular form of piracy.
In other countries the cost of games and hardware is even more expensive than in the United States. Most big title games are imported by other countries and have taxes and tariffs on them that drive prices up.
An article from 2010 in The Velvet Light Trap explains that when you take into account the currency exchange rates, gamers in the United Kingdom will pay $30-$70 more than gamers in the United States. These extra costs can almost double the price of games. All countries buying games from the United States have this problem, not just the United Kingdom.
Given that games start out expensive, and are only more expensive outside the United States, is it any wonder piracy is so prevalent? The above article points out that “consumers are not choosing to purchase pirated or smuggled products over legal ones—they are often choosing to purchase a gray or black market product or nothing at all.”
Again, the Internet and its spread has been the key in facilitating piracy. With its spread through Europe and Asia, downloading and burning games has become the easiest way to illegally obtain games. Peer-to-peer file sharing makes it is hard for governments to accurately track and block illegal activity.
How are gaming distributors supposed to respond to these issues? It will take innovative copyright protection software or an entirely different strategy. One approach would be a firmer crackdown on peer-to-peer file sharing and the websites that distribute information on how to burn and mod games. Another approach would be to embrace digital downloading and lower the of cost of producing games.
The major problem with any crackdown on gaming piracy is the fact that this is a global issue. U.S. companies have chosen to avoid distributing or have limited distribution in some countries because of rampant piracy. The funny thing is, gamers still want the latest games and they will find a way to own them whether it is through legal methods or not. Perhaps combining lower prices and wider distribution is the key to limiting piracy losses.
- Brittney Edwards
Summer Blockbuster Report –> Bigger Budgets = Smaller Box Office?!
Summer Blockbuster Report –> Bigger Budgets = Smaller Box Office?!
Hollywood is rethinking their love of big budget summer blockbusters, and is downsizing their multi-million dollar budgets to adjust to the recessionary economic times.
Ryan Nakashima discusses how Hollywood has put two big budget films on hold, the film version of Stephen Kings “The Dark Tower” series as well as Disney’s “The Lone Ranger” which reported had a budget skyrocketing past $250 mil.
These changes are happening in response to this past summer, which produced some less than stellar box office numbers, including Universal’s “Cowboys and Aliens” which grossed $129 mil in worldwide tickets sales, but was produced for more than $163 mil. There was also Warner Brothers’ “Green Lantern” which was produced for $200 mil according to the website boxofficemojo.com, however it made little revenue in the U.S., only grossing $120 mil.
Studios need to start realizing that just because a film has an astronomical budget, does not guarantee packed theaters across the country.
A surprise summer hit was the character driven film, “The Help” starting Emma Stone and based on a best selling novel of the same name. “The Help” was made for only $25 mil and has grossed more than $160 mil to date in the United States. A more action driven summer blockbuster was J.J. Abrams, “Super 8” by Paramount. Made for a reasonable $50 mil the film grossed more than $130 mil at the box-office in the states, matching that tally in other countries.
What do these movies have that the others do not? Well for one thing they both have positive reviews, with 75% positive and 82% positive reviews on the website rottentomatoes.com. More importantly they have characters that audiences care about. When you put big money in a strong character film along with dazzling visuals and a fantastic story, you may be lucky enough to strike box-office gold.
Does this combination sound familiar? Well one director in Hollywood has this combination down to a science, his name: James Cameron. He has directed two of the biggest films in history. “Titanic” was produced for about $200 mil and it grossed $600 mil domestically, and 2009’s “Avatar,” made for $250 mil, went on to gross $2.7 billion, yes that’s BILLION in the box-office worldwide.
So what have we learned? You need more than just special effects and explosions to get people into the theaters, however that still has not stopped producers from making “Transformers 3.” Audiences are starting to demand a little substance in their Hollywood blockbuster. And in this day in age where “Netflix” and online streaming is becoming the norm, Hollywood better start adjusting fast, or else there maybe more poorly performing “Green Lanterns” in their future.
-Steven Colonero
