Universal Studios is a huge American motion picture company and is a subsidiary of NBC Universal. It is the world’s second oldest running studio in America (Paramount being older by a month). Its distribution and corporate offices are based in New York City, but its production studios are based in Universal City, California. Universal Studios was founded by a German Jewish immigrant; Carl Laemmle in 1912. In June 1909, Carl Laemmle along with his partners Abe and Julius Stern started the Yankee Film Company. This quickly became the Independent Moving Picture Company (IMP). On the 8th of June 1912, Laemmle merged IMP with eight smaller companies to form the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. This was the first time the word ‘universal’ appeared in an organisation’s name. In 1925, this company became Universal Pictures Company Inc. Universal Studios then faced a lot of problems, and after a long period of complete shutdown, in 1958 Universal agreed to sell its360-acre (1.5 km²) studio lot to MCA for $11 million. Universal Studios was then renamed Revue Studios. 80% of the company is owned by General Electric, and the other 20% is owned by Vivendi. Films produced by Universal Pictures include; The Skeleton Key, 2 Fast 2 Furious, Hannibal and Slither. Similar to Warner Bros., Universal Pictures produce a range of genres of film. These include horrors such as Slither and The Skeleton Key, but also comedies such as Meet The Fockers and Bruce Almighty.
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company and is owned by Viacom. It was founded in 1912 by Hungarian-born Adolph Zukor and is the oldest running movie studio In Hollywood. Its rivals are Time Warner’s Warner Bros. It comes before Universal Studios also founded in 1912 and Warner Bros. founded in 1918. In December 2005, Paramount announced that it had purchased DreamWorks SKG (which was co-founded by former Paramount executive Jeffrey Katzenberg) in a deal worth $1.6 billion. In 1914, aspiring producer Jesse L. Lasky and Zukor’s Famous Players released their films through a start-up company Paramount Pictures Corporation organized early that year by a Utah theatre owner, W.W.Hodkinson. Until this time, films were sold on a state-wide or regional basis. Paramount was the first successful nation-wide distributor. In 1976 Paramount Home Entertainment (PHE) was founded. It is the division of Paramount Pictures dealing with home video. PHE distributes films by Paramount (under its own label) and DreamWorks (under the DreamWorks Pictures Home Entertainment label), and also shows from MTV Networks. In 2005, the company’s revenue had increased to $3.0 billion, and the operating income had decreased to $62.1 million.
Artisan Entertainment was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was bought by Lionsgate & Universal Studios in 2003. Artisan Entertainment has thousands of films developed through original production and production and distribution agreements. These include Killing Zoe, National Lampoon’s Van Wilder, and The Blair Witch Project. The company owned the home video rights to Republic Pictures, Carolco Pictures and Vestron. They also owned Family Home Entertainment (FHE), and FHE Pictures. Family Home Entertainment was founded by Noel C. Bloom in 1981. Artisan Entertainment began in 1982 as USA Home Video, which included films such as Supergirl and Silent Night. In 1986, the company became known as International Video Entertainment (IVE) and in 1987 IVE began to distribute films by Carolco Pictures on video. Artisan Entertainment are made to seem as a independent, low budget company, but are in fact the subsidiary of a multi-national company; Lionsgate & Universal Studios. Some of their films however, have a much lower production values than others. For example, The Blair Witch Project was filmed by cast members who shot and captured all the footage and audio in 16mm or Hi-8 over the course of eight days.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. is one of the world's largest producers of film and television entertainment and is a broad-based entertainment company. It was founded in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA in 1918 by four Polish Jewish brothers who immigrated to Ontario, Canada, and is a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, licensing and marketing of all forms of creative content. It is involved in every aspect of the entertainment industry. These include feature film, TV and home entertainment production, worldwide distribution, DVD, digital distribution, animation, comic books, licensing, international cinemas and broadcasting. The four founding brothers are; Joe Altshule (1881-1958), originally Hirsz Eichelbaum, Albert Warner (1884-1967), originally Aaron Eichelbaum, Sam Warner (1887-1927), originally Szmul Eichelbaum and Jack L. Warner (1892-1978), originally Itzhak Eichelbaum. Warner Bros. is a subsidiary of Time Warner and has several subsidiary companies, including Warner Bros. Studios, Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros. Games, Warner Bros. Television, Warner Bros. Animation, Warner Home Video, DC Comics and New Line Cinema. Warner owns half of The CW Television Network. It has headquarters in Burbank, California and New York City. Warner Bros. do not have a specific genre of film which it chooses to produce, and is very versatile. These genres range from family films, children films, sci-fi and horror. For example, Warner Bros. have produced family films such as Harry Potter and Get Smart. They have also produced children films such as Looney Tunes: Back in Action. As well as all of these genres, Warner Bros. have produced a number of big horror films. These include Exorcist: The Beginning, Jeepers Creepers, and House of Wax. As many people know, Warner Bros. is a mainstream production company, and since my film is going to be mainstream, I decided to have a look at this well-known company. In 2007 the company’s revenue had increases to $11.7 billion and the Operating income had increased to $845 million.
This trailer begins with the licence which allows all audiences to view this trailer. Most people expect to see these licences at the beginning of film trailers. This then cuts to the production company, to establish whether it is mainstream or independent. Since this film only has one production company it suggests that this is an independent trailer. A very loud animal-like growling sound is heard which unsettles and shocks the audience, which is followed by a very loud continuous buzzing sound which is continuous throughout the whole trailer. Plain white text then appears on a black background giving us a history of the story. This clip is also shown right at the beginning of the movie, and being included in the trailer, at the start, suggests that this is the most important aspect of the film. This then cuts to a hand-held shot of the woods and a quotation from a review by ‘Newsday’ is shown on top of the shot. Whilst this is being shown, we can hear a lady screaming and crying in the background making the audience wonder about what is going on. There is some sort of eerie chant in the background which is also continuous throughout the whole trailer. When this shot cuts to another hand held shot of the woods with another review quotation from ‘Entertainment Weekly’, a very loud, unsettling lightning sound is heard during the transition. This sound unsettles the audience as they are unaware that they are going to hear something like this, and it is much unexpected, surprising the audience. The shot is not very clear and this confuses the audience as they do not know what is going on. However, the quotations may persuade the audience to go and watch the film because if it is getting good reviews, the audience may feel that the film is worth going to watch. This quotation form ‘Entertainment Weekly’ then cuts to another hand held shot of someone running through the woods. The man is screaming someone’s name very loudly and is very out of breathe suggesting he is very scared and is trying to run away from something, at the same time, trying to find his friend. The lightning sound is again heard as this transition takes place, again unsettling the audience. When this shot cuts to the title of the film, which is on a plain black background, the lightning/screaming sound is heard and is very loud and is very long in duration. This shocks the audience. Another plain background shot is shown with ‘This Summer’ written on it in a plain, white font. At this point, we can hear a woman screaming and crying but we don’t see who it is, intriguing the audience as they want to find who she is and why she is crying. After this shot, the film’s website is shown, and here we can hear people screaming, crying and out of breathe, suggesting that they are, or have been, running. The audience may feel that they are not told much as they have not been able to see much in this trailer. The lighting is very dark and the whole trailer is in black and white, making the audience wonder what actually happens. Because the audience are kept in isolation, and do not actually get to see the people in the film, it may want them to go and watch the film to find out what actually happens. All of these techniques are conventions of horror film trailers. (The duration of this trailer is 40 seconds).
The trailer starts with the logos of the different production companies involved. This establishes whether this film is going to be mainstream or independent. Since there are several production companies, it suggests that this is a mainstream movie. There is then a shot of the moon which cuts to a high angle shot of two cars on an empty road. The darkness and moon implies that something bad is going to happen. The music from the beginning of the trailer is sort of techno, dance music, but this then cuts to eerie, empty sounds when the shot fades out and into the text. This causes the mood to change and surprise the audience. The text which appears has a fire like background, and the colours used are orange and red. These colours are usually associated with danger. The text which continuously appears on the screen after the movie shot fades out. The text is only a sentence long, and tells aspects of the narrative of the film at different times. This technique is used to try and persuade the audience to watch the film because they may feel as if they now want to find out what happens at the end, being told what happens at the beginning. Scanning and tracking shots are used to establish the isolated setting. The six friends are shown from different angles implying they are being watched from everywhere. This is then shown when it cuts to a point of view shot of someone looking at them through a window. We only see their hand which creates suspense and makes the audience wonder who is watching them and why. There is a worm’s eye view of two friends walking up the stairs which suggests that by entering this building, they will be placed in danger. The music consists of drumbeats which get faster and louder as the two friends decide to have a look at the building. When inside, there are very short duration shots of the different things inside, and of the friends themselves. These shots are broken up by fades which creates mystery for the audience as they are not getting to see the full picture properly. This then cuts to a very unclear, dark image and only a creaking sound is heard. This suggests to the audience that something unexpected is going to happen. This immediately cuts to a very fast paced montage of close ups of the friends screaming and breathing very heavily. The close ups allow the audience to see the fear in their eyes. These shots are very unclear and are in the dark which unsettles the audience as they do not know what is going on. The action begins after this shot, and the music becomes very fast paced and is still quite eerie. The music increases in pace and volume until it reaches a crescendo. It then goes back to the drumbeat which mirrors the audience’s heartbeat. The texts which appear now are explained by the shots used. Such as ‘There is a reason they look so real’ is shown between one of the friends who is stuck in a chair and is having hot wax poured over him. This cuts to the title of the film, melting, as it is made with wax. The music becomes very eerie at this moment, unsettling the audience. This then fades out with the voice of one of the friends saying ‘what’s going on?’ but we don’t see her face. There is a close up of a hand coming through the wax wall, and then it cuts to the website of the film and ‘Coming Soon’. The audience think that the trailer is over, but there is another very short duration shot right after which surprises and scares the audience as they were not expecting something else to appear. All of these techniques are conventions of horror film trailers.(The duration of this trailer is 1 minute and 55 seconds).
The colours used in this poster are very dark. The background is black and there is an image of the woods at the top of the poster. This image is in shadow creating a mysterious feel. The logo for the film is placed in the centre of the poster with the text explaining the history of the film. This text is shown at the beginning of the trailer, and also at the beginning of the actual film; and now that it is placed in the centre of the film poster suggests its importance. Underneath this text is a close up of one of the men in the film. The bottom half of his face has been cut off by the camera suggesting that he took the picture himself. This reflects the actual film as the whole movie has been done by the men themselves using a hand-held camera, and this image allows the audience to get a sense of this type of movie. The name of the title is directly below the image of the student and it is in a plain white font. It is a bigger size to the rest of the text, but is still quite small and may confuse the audience. Underneath the title are all the names of the companies involved in this movie, and the logos of their companies are also shown. This font is also in white keeping the whole poster consistent with just two colours; black and white. This reflects the trailer as the trailer is in black and white as well and allows the audience to expect a similar thing in the film.
The poster for this film has very dark, consistent colours. These are black, dark blue and a dark green/aqua colour. These reflect the genre of the film as horror film posters usually use dark colours. The names of the actors are the top of the poster to allow the audience to firstly see who is in the film as there are no images of who is actually in the film. The font’s used are plain, and very bold (san serif).The main image is of a wax figure lying down, and melting. This gives the audience an idea of what the film is actually about. The image is the largest aspect of the poster, as it draws attention to the poster. It is placed quite high in the poster, and the bottom half of its face is in shadow giving the impression of the unknown. Underneath the image is the tag line of the film; ‘PREY SLAY DISPLAY’. This tagline is in the same font as the actors’ names’ keeping the poster simple and consistent. Each word of the tagline is on a different line creating emphasis on each word. Underneath the tagline is the title of the film. The title is in a larger font to the rest of the text to show the audience that this is the name, and so they don’t get confused. Again, the font is bold and san serif implying the harshness of the film. The colours reflect the image of the wax woman, highlighting the consistency. The consistent dark colours attract the audiences’ attention as they can see how the image and title all link together. Since the colour of the tagline and actors’ names’ are the same, it suggest that the tagline is applying to them. Below the title are all the names of the production companies and those involved in the making of the film allowing the audience to see whether it is a mainstream or independent movie. The colour of these names is again the same as the image and title. The production company logos are also shown. Directly below these names is the release date. The size of this font is bigger than the production company names and the colour is also different so that the audience will be able to clearly see which section is together. The background of the poster is black, giving the poster an overall dull, dark, mystery feel, attracting the audience as they might want to know what the poster looks like, or what the film is about.
The front DVD cover for this film again has the same image as the film poster. This is so that the audience can identify with that image and relate it to the film. The image is in black and white, reflecting the film and poster, so the audience can make references. One of the differences between the poster and DVD cover is that the DVD cover does not have the text about the history of the film on it. The title of the film is also placed in the centre of the cover, above the image, whereas on the poster, it was below the image of the student. On the right hand side of the title, there is an age certificate logo (15) showing the audience that only those 15 or above are allowed to buy and watch the film. On the bottom right hand corner of the DVD cover is the DVD logo, the same as it is on the House of Wax DVD cover. This shows the audience what format this version of the film is.
The DVD cover for this film uses the same image as the film poster, keeping everything consistent so that the audience are able to relate to that particular image, or specific colours, back to the film itself. The layout of the DVD front cover is a little bit different to the poster. There is a strip at the top of the cover which has ‘Widescreen edition’ written on it. The names of the actors are underneath this strip, in the same font and colour as on the poster. Below their names is the title of the film. Again, in the same font and colour as on the film poster. This shows the audience what the title of the film is. The image of the melting wax girl is placed in the centre of the cover. It is quite a big image which attracts the audiences’ attention as it is quite unusual and it is the first thing they see. Below the main image is a quotation from a review by ‘Long Island Press’. The size of the quotation is quite large and it is in capital letters so that the audience can read the quote and see what other people also thought of the film. In the bottom right hand corner, there is the logo saying ‘DVD’ showing us that this is a DVD of the film. Right on the bottom of the front cover is the copyright details stating that all rights are reserved by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. This shows the audience that this film is a mainstream film as it is produced by a mainstream production company.
The back cover for this DVD is very packed and shows the audience a lot. The background colour is again kept consistent as it is the same aqua type colour as the melting wax girl on the film poster and front of the DVD cover. This allows the audience to identify this colour and relate it to the film. There is a table at the top which informs the audience of the main and special features of the DVD. On the right of the table is the barcode for purchasing the DVD. Below the barcode and table, there are several images of clips in the film lined up next to each other. Different people are shown in each image which allows the audience to recognise who is in the film, and if anyone they like is in the film. Directly below these images is a very small summary of the movie’s narrative. It gives the opening of the film so that the rest of the narrative is left to the audiences’ imagination. Also, knowing just the beginning of the film intrigues the audience in buying and watching the DVD as they will want to know what will happen in the rest of the film. Underneath the summary, there is a black strip with a close up image of a girl on the left. On the right, there is a list of all of the special features included in the DVD. These include bloopers and a theatrical trailer. These special features may appeal to the target audience and persuade them to buy the DVD as they cannot view all of these special features in the cinema. Underneath this black strip, are the names of all of the production companies and companies involved in the making of the film. This, again, allows the audience to see whether the film is a mainstream or independent film. The logos of the companies are also shown so that the audience can recognise them. Below these names is all the copyright and restriction information, informing the audience of piracy etc. The DVD logo is again on the bottom right hand corner, along with a HD logo telling the audience of the format of the DVD.
