MEST1 Section B: Independent case study

Paddington

What is the name of the film, the director and notable stars?

• Paddington
• Director: Paul King
• Starring Hugh Bonneville - Sally Hawkins - Julie Walters - Jim Broadbent - Peter Capaldi - Nicole Kidman - Ben Whishaw

When was it released?
2014

What genre is the film? What are the generic conventions that tell you the film belongs to this genre?

• Paddington is a 2014 British-French (due to StudioCanal distributing the film) family comedy film. 
• It contains aspects of comedy which has an appeal that is associated with a family audience.

What was the critical reception? What is the film rated on IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes?
IMDb - 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes - 98%
Metacritic - 77%

Broadcast

M – Media Language

• 
  

I – Institutions

• The institutions behind Paddington were Heyday Films and StudioCanal.
• The institution benefited massively from this movie as it has gained major profits due to its unique family experience but a sense of entertainment with some elements of humour.
• Paddington is one of the highest-ever grossing non-Hollywood family film after banking $200m at the box office
• This sum reveals the fact that it became the highest-ever grossing non-Hollywood family film
• Movie took £34million in Britain in 2014 having been released in November

G – Genre

• Paddington falls under the family comedy genre with many elements to further augment the notion of the movie's appeal towards the younger audience.
• The use of a teddy bear as the main star is important as teddy bears are associated with children. 
• Younger audiences gain a sense of personal identification with the characters as it resembles their household - main reason why this film is regarded as a family movie.

R – Representation

• The use of a teddy bear as the main star is important as teddy bears are associated with children. 
• Younger audiences gain a sense of personal identification with the characters as it resembles their household - main reason why this film is regarded as a family movie.

A – Audience

• Demographics – age/gender/socio-economics
• Primary: 5 – 15
• Secondary 20 – 75 (older fanbase – 1958 book published). 
• Preferred, Negotiated & Oppositional reading - Preferred: children - Negotiated: parents Oppositional: Teens, people who question stereotypes. 
• Uses and Gratifications - Diversion 
• Young and Rubicam - Mainstreamers 
• Mass/Niche - Mass – global release – 40 languages.  
• Two Step Flow theory - Producer & actors will hype up the film during premiere and chat shows. 
• Hypodermic Needle - Romantic view of immigration & Patriarchal ideologies.
• The use of colour also targets an audience of younger children, the bright colours in the establishing shot of the cars and the bright colours in the scene with the bear in the bathroom all are used to encourage children to want to see it as children are attracted to bright colours.

I – Ideologies and Values

• 
  

N – Narrative

• In the interest of galvanizing the narrative and amping up the peril, the directors have made a cheerfully silly, action-heavy chase plot that has heavy similarities as the movie “101 Dalmatians,” complete with its own Cruella de Vil: bleach-bobbed taxidermist Millicent Clyde (Nicole Kidman), who’s determined to nab one particular Peruvian breed of bear for her collection.

Find examples of television promotion on YouTube (adverts, chat shows, ‘red carpet’ interviews etc.) and post them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.

Does the broadcast promotion use stars to create interest in the film?


Print

Read at least THREE reviews of the film and provide a quote from each one.

Empire - Marmaladen with gloriously silly jokes, pitch-perfect performances and incidental detail, this is a warm, witty and wondrously inventive great big bear-hug of a movie.

Common Sense Media - "Paddington" is a delightful film version of the beloved book by Michael Bond.

The Telegraph - "the new version of Paddington, brought beautifully to life by Ben Whishaw and the digital artists at the visual effects house Framestore, is every bit as sweet and charming as Bond’s original creation."

Find examples of print promotion (e.g. film poster, billboard adverts etc.) on Google images andpost
them to your blog along with an explanation of how these promote the film.

Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience.

How is the film’s brand constructed? What does the brand connote? Does it remind you of any other brands or similar films?



E-media

1) Research the film’s presence on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. How does the film’s social media presence help promote the film?

• In terms of twitter, there is a official, verified account for the Paddington bear. This account is still, to this day, frequently updated. 
• Similarly, we can find the same with Facebook. Instagram on the other hand is also verified and updates frequently but maintains a constant theme to help create a specific brand image to represent Paddington. He has 17k followers. 
• The way the media depicts the bear as a real life figure, helps create the pleasure of recognition and creates synergy.

2) Analyse the official website for the film. How does it use the film’s brand? What examples of synergy can you find with the other platforms?

• The website also, like the brand, uses the same colour scheme. 
• We can see the use of contrasting, primary colours which establishes the target audience - children. 
• The website consists of in-depth information on e film and new, upcoming details associated with paddington. 

3) Did the film run any kind of e-media based campaign to generate interest in the film?

• Visit London created a dedicated section of its website where visitors can download a trail map, share pictures and read more about the stories behind each statue. 
• Visitors are encouraged to share their experiences on social media using the hashtag #PaddingtonTrail. 
• This trail was an immensely clever yet original technique utilised by the film marketers in order to drive hype up around the film. 

Audience

1) Who is the target audience for this film? Demographics and psychographics.

• Firstly, the primary audience that I think would be suitable for Paddington is 5 to 15yrs, with an equal split between both genders. 
• However , a secondary audience could be put in place as it would be 16 – 60 yrs. 
• Due to the fact that the Paddington bear franchise started in 1958, the older audience can find personal identification with the movie; it brings back pleasant memories. 
• Also, the secondary audience is attracted to the film because of their children too. 

2) How does the cross-media promotional campaign target this audience?

• The activity appeals to children because of stimulating, fun experience it provides and the parents of these children (secondary audience) are provided an activity thats gives them the opportunity to see their children happy. 
• Also, they may enjoy seeing London landmarks and reminiscing on their own childhood pleasures.

3) What audience pleasures does the film provide? Think about the BFI lecture on audience pleasures in British film.

• According to Blumler and Kats, there are four key uses and gratifications of any media text. This film to an extent serves its audience all of these. 
• Firstly, diversion, the film provides this, as do most media texts, because it is a narrative based on someone's life. We delve into the story and forget all of our own issues. In other words, the film acts as a form on escapism. 
• Next, personal relationships. This is very strongly shown in the film as we become attached to the bear and endure extreme anxiety/relief watching to see the outcome of his journey. 
• Following this, there is personal identity which viewers may experience. This refers to seeing yourself reflected in the text. Viewers may see this in the mother, father or children characters. Some individuals may even see themselves reflected in the villain or even the bear. For instance, the bear experiences identity issues and feels lost, perhaps viewers can relate to this.

4) What similar films would the target audience enjoy? Justify your suggestions.

• The primary target audience are children and therefore likely to enjoy animated films, like Paddington. 
• Also, they are likely to enjoy films revolving around animals and adventurous occurrences. 
• The secondary audience are more likely to have a lot of variety in what they watch considering their age. 
• However, we could argue that if these people are more likely to have children they may be more likely to watch child friendly films. 
• On the other hand, those watching because they are reminiscing on their childhood pleasure, may also watch other films that serve this e.g fantastic beasts.

Institution

1) Which film studio produced the film? What other films have they produced? Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?

• Two film studios that produced the film were StudioCanal and HeyDay Films. 
• HeyDay films have produced almost all the Harry Potter films such as Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets or Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as well as The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. 
• StudioCanal, the French film production company has produced 71', Macbeth, Shaun the Sheep Movie and many more.

2) Which company distributed the film in the UK? What other films have they distributed?

• They were distributed by the Weinstein Company. 
• They have distributed many well known films such as Scary Movie 4, The Imitation Game, Silver Linings Playbook, The King's Speech and more.

3) Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?

• We could argue that the Silver Linings Playbook is somewhat similar in that the narrative follows the generic code (Todorov's narrative theory.) 
• In terms of target audience, 'The King's Speech' targets an audience who enjoy watching a shamelessly British film, like Paddington.

4) What was the budget for the film?
38.5 million

5) How successful was the film financially? Why do you think this was?

• Paddington was enormously successful in terms of finance.  
• In he uk, it took in £5.1 million/$8million on its opening weekend, and topped the box office for two weeks. 
• It opened at no.1 at the Japan box office in January 2016 with $1.1 million and went on to gross $5.7 million. 
• For the week ending 24 December 2014 it topped the box office in Australia. 
• The film's budget was $55 million and managed to make $76,223,578 million domestic gross.

6) Was this film more successful in the UK or worldwide/USA? Why do you think this is?

• Paddington was number 2 on the 2014 list in the UK for films and was more successful in UK hitting $53.5 dollars, whereas it hit $8.7m in the USA. 
• However, it still reached a very successful ranking in the USA. 
• We could argue this is because of the typical British representations apparent in the film. 
• These tendencies appeal to American audience, explaining the success of the film in America.

7) What certificate was the film given (12A, 18 etc.)? What was the reason for this certificate? Is the certification important for this film in terms of targeting its audience? Why?

• Paddington is given a PG rating which is expecting considering the film's family friendly based narrative.

Representation

1) What representations of people, places or groups can be found in this film?

• This film represents people as typically British. This links to setting - London. 
• The people, group and setting all are congruent with strong British ideals. 
• They are all similar in that they are represented as grand and as dominant representations outside countries such as America hold.

2) What representation of ‘Britishness’ does the film contain?

• Paddington offers a representation of Britishness that is shamelessly British. 
• The film revolves around providing viewers with consistent references to London such as London landmarks despite the journey actually being a lot shorter. 
• It celebrates its rich cultural heritage and constantly fixes on the stereotypical British tendencies Londoners bear.

3) How does the representation of Britain differ to Ill Manors?

• Ill Manors is a unique, urban crime film that revolves around a series of characters, all of which are striving to survive the vicious cycle of violence that inundates them. 
• These characters plots appear separate but eventually intertwine. 
• This film creates a gritty, dark representation of Britain. 
• It portrays the alternative representation - a broken Britain. On the other end of the spectrum, Paddington revolves around one family and a bear. 
• The narrative revolves around a bear trying to find a home in London. 
• With the film, we are shown famous London landmarks and typical British tendencies and stereotypes. 
• These stereotypes are anything but gritty or dark, they are shamelessly British, providing a celebration on London's rich cultural heritage.

4) What values and ideologies can you find in your chosen film? (E.g. The King’s Speech is extremely patriotic, pro-monarchy etc.)

• The main ideology apparent in Paddington is reinforcing a strong sense of English culture and its stereotypes.
• It values typical British tendencies such as politeness, kindness, pity, sympathy,forgiveness and most importantly a strong moral compass or simply humanity.