P2 Lego Movie

Monday 5th October

L/O: To explore the intertextuality of The Lego Movie.

Monday 12th October

L/O: To apply narrative theory to The Lego Movie.

A film's narrative is the story of a film and is broken down into 5 key stages by theorist Tzvetan Todorov:

-Equilibrium: Normal

-Disruption: Something happens to disrupt normal life.

-Recognition of disruption: Recognition of the disruption.

-Attempt to solve: They try to solve it.

-New equilibrium: Solve it making new normal.

The Lego Movie has a linear narrative.

EQUILIBRIUM: Everything is awesome! People (Emmet) live their lives following the instructions. (The boy isn't allowed to touch his dad's Lego).

DISRUPTION: President Business plans to 'fix' everything in place and Emmet discovers the 'Piece of Resistance'. (The boy creates Emmet's story).

RECOGNITION OF DISRUPTION: Emmet meets Wyldstyle and Vitruvius, learns about the 'Special one' and they discover President Business' plans. (The dad threatens to glue it all).

ATTEMPT TO SOLVE DISRUPTION: Emmet and the hero team attempt to solve President Business. (The boy explains the story to his dad and shows him what he created).

NEW EQUILIBRIUM: Creativity and team work is encouraged, President Business is forgiven. (The boy is allowed to play with his dad's Lego).

Monday 19th October

-The hero generally leads the narrative; has a quest or has to solve something; wants to succeed; can be ant gender.

-The villain struggles against the hero; seen as morally bad; attempts to stop hero from achieving goals.

-The donor gives the hero something special (power/weapon/wisdom etc.); enables hero to complete quest. 

-The helper supports the hero (sidekick); appears at critical moments; their limitations help define the hero.

-The princess can take two forms: the object sought by the hero or the reward.

-The dispatcher sends the hero on missions (can be combined with another role).

-The princess' father gives task(s) to the hero; authority figure; protective over princess (doesn't have to be her biological father). 

-The false hero appears to act heroically and often mistaken for the real hero; gets credit for the work; gains respect from the father.

-The hero: Emmet. Why? He found the piece of resistance and is the chosen one who becomes a master builder and saves everyone.

-The villain: Lord Business. Why? Tries to keep all the master builders captive and use their knowledge to make new instructions on taco Tuesday.

-The donor: Finn. Why? He puts Emmet back into the town and gives him another mission to save his friends and be the hero.

-The helper: Wyldstyle. Why? She takes Emmet through the planets and helps him put the piece of resistance on the kraggle.

-The princess: Wyldstyle. Why? She is the only girl in the film and dates the hero

-The princess' father:Vitruvius. Why? She is the only father figure for Wyldstyle in the film.

-The dispatcher: Vitruvius. Why? He tells Emmet about "the chosen one" story and shows him new places and new people to help save the world and put the piece of resistance on the kraggle.

-The fake hero: Batman. Why? He takes all the credit for what Emmet's said/does and does nothing good.

Intertextuality

L/O: To explore the similarities between The Matrix and The Lego Movie.

Monday 2nd November

Lego Movie: Target Audience

L/O: To identify the target audience using demographics and psychographics.

-The Lego Movie wasn't just aimed at children but families as well. The reason they did this is so they they can make more money because instead of 1 person going to the cinema, the whole family will go. 

 -Young kids who play with Lego would be drawn to the film because it's like the Lego they have at home and has characters such as batman and superman who they look up to and see in films.

 -Parents who played with it when they were younger too may also watch this because it bring back memories and the film also puts an adult in the film so the adult viewers can relate to someone 

 

-Explain HOW the movie appeals to each part of the target audience:

The Lego Movie is a film made for audiences. Firstly, it aims at younger children because it's like the Lego they have at home and enjoy playing with. It also has characters such as batman, superman, green lantern and many more. Furthermore, it has a lots of action, fighting, guns, comedy and explosions which is a key thing that will drag a child to watch a film made from Lego.

Secondly, the movie would be good for adults who have children because they will watch it because they too use to play with Lego when they were their children's age. Also, they have a character in the film (Will Ferrell who is the dad as well) who they can relate to in terms of their liking towards Lego and can feel the way the dad feels towards his creations. 

In conclusion, this film would make a very good day out for families with younger children because the film will be an enjoyment for the whole family and will be a good laugh.

Voice of Emmet: Chris Pratt

Voice of Wyldstyle: Elizabeth Banks

Voice of Vitruvius: Morgan Freeman

Voice of Lord Business/The Man Upstairs: Will Ferrell

Target Audience

Male/Female

5+-11

13-20

30-40

Monday 9th November

The Lego Movie: Marketing

L/O: To explore marketing and promotion of The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience. 

-What is a 'tent-pole' production?

 A major motion picture which is expensive to produce but expected to generate significant revenue for its studio and investors.

-Why was The Lego Movie one?

  It was a tent-pole production because it made the most money in the year of it's release date (2014).

Different ways of marketing and promoting a film

-Toys (Lego sets)

-Adverts

-Interviews

-Teaser trailers

-Trailers

-Video games

-Magazines

-

Synergy- The interaction and cooperation of two or more organisations, substances, or other agents to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects.

Lego released some tie-in merchandise to go alongside the movie.

1. 17 Lego world sets

2. 16 collectable mini figures

3. The Lego Movie Video Game

4. Range of school equipment 

5. Sticker and activity books3

+

Monday 16th November

Promotion-Examples

What are the advantages of vertical Integration?

-Reduce transportation costs if common ownership results in closer geographic proximity.

-Improve supply chain coordination.

-Provide more opportunities to differentiate by means of increased control over inputs

What are the advantages of horizontal integration?

-Economies of scale

-Increased differentiation 

-Increased market power

1. What's the name of a company that owns lots of smaller companies?

    Conglomerate

2. What's the benefit of being one of these?

    Diversification, an expanded customer base and an increased efficiency.

3. Why is synergy a good thing?

    Each company promotes each other which gets more success for every company 

4. What is it called when a single company controls both the production and distribution stage of a              media product?

    Vertical Integration 

5. 

Monday 23rd November

The Lego Movie: TV Advertising

L/O: To evaluate the methods used to market The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience. 

1. Music, merchandise, 

2. Merchandise can't move (non-animated), adverts are shorter

3. Earlier in the day, after school, before tea

4. Cartoons

The Lego Movie adverts that were on TV were viewed by nearly 6 million people live on TV with another 1.1 million who went to YouTube to watch it within a week. The targeted audience for these adverts were mainly for children because it was Lego and it took over a whole advert break which were normal adverts but changed the real people into Lego characters (the sponsors of all the adverts were the people who paid for the production cost which was a big thing because that never happened before). This attracted the target audience because it's normal adverts but with Lego characters instead of real people which may have caught people's attention because that's a weird and odd thing to do. The adverts were breaking boundaries because the sponsors/brands that were in the adverts paid for the production company to turn their adverts into Lego people which made a large profit. The way the advert marketed The Lego Movie was the 2 second clip of the characters that was at the start of all the adverts, this may have caught people's attention and made them think' "who's that" or "they look cool I want to know more about them".

Monday 7th December

The Lego Movie: Trailer

L/O: To evaluate the methods used to market The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience.

EQUILIBRIUM: The 'normality'. Characters in their day-to-day lives. When Emmet is at home and sees president Business on the TV

DISRUPTION: An event occurs to break the normality. The kraggle is discovered

RECOGNITION OF DISRUPTION: Characters realise something has gone wrong. When the characters find out Lord Business is a bad guy.

ATTEMPT TO SOLVE DISRUPTION: Characters attempt to fix the problem. Emmet tries to put the lid on the kraggle.

NEW EQUILIBRIUM: End of the movie. 

Several close-up shots of key characters have been used. Why?

To show emotion in close-up

How is non-diegetic sound such as background music used to create atmosphere?

It can create an atmosphere because if there is a tense scene the non-diegetic sounds help make it more effective.

Slow motion is used at various points. Why? What effect does this create?

To create tension 

What can we tell about the various characters from their costumes?

You can tell what they are like such as Emmet is easily seen as a construction worker. 

Monday 14th December

The Lego Movie: Video game

L/O: To explain how vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using Uses and Gratification theory.

1. TT Games

2. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment 

3. 7th February 2014

4. Action-adventure game

5.Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, PS4, Wii U, Xbox One, PSV and PC

5 Video Games that came out recently

-Call of Duty: Cold War

-Spider-Man: Miles Morales

-Zelda: Hyrule Warriors

-Mario 3D All-stars

-DOOM: Eternal 

-Profit maximised: Increases potential audiences 

-Familiarity: brand, plot and characters known

-Extends pleasure of the film: chance to be a part of the film world; can have extended narratives

-Cross-promotion: efficient use of marketing of both products to promote the others.

-Blumler and Katz researched how and why people select certain media products over others.

 Pies

-PERSONAL IDENTITY: helps us consider who we are; what ideas and values we identify with

-INFORMATION: new information we want to know or take pleasure in knowing 

-ENTERTAINMENT: offers distraction from the world and allows you to have fun and enjoy

-SOCIAL INTERACTION: Talk to your friends about it 

Explain what TWO uses gratification audiences might get from the video game according to the trailer.

The first uses and gratification that audiences would get form the video game is the opportunity to play The Lego Movie Video game with your friends on the Multiplayer option. Another choice is when none of your friends are free to play, you can play the campaign (single player) which is a story mode which is similar to the story line of the film and has a lot of action and possibilities. 

Monday 11th January

Exam work

6. Which company produced and distributed The Lego Movie?

Warner Bros.

7. What is vertical intregation?

Where a single company controls both the production and distribution of a product

-Vertical intregation can help to increase profits through not having to share revenue with outside companies.

-It can make the production process more efficient as nothing is outsourced at different stages and teams can collaborate easily

-It can help to increase the exposure of one brand or franchise as it will be promoted at each stage of production and distribution and exhibition.

-It can help conglomerates to increase power in an industry as profits can go straight back to producing better quality films.

8. Explain how The Lego Movie promotional campaign targeted a range of audiences.

The Lego Movie was targeted at different audiences. The way that was so well executed was because lots of people have played with Lego like teenagers when they were young, adults when they were young, grandparents when they were young, etc.

9. Analyse representations of gender in The Lego Movie campaign.

The Lego Movie added some really cool characters that were male such as Emmet, Batman and Vitruvius but unlike many other films or TV series they added a few cool female characters such as Unikitty and Wyldstyle

 

Monday 18th January

DIRT

What is Emmet holding? What does this connote?

Emmet is holding a large blue spanner which could mean and show intentially that he is a master builder and the spanner could trying to tell us that.

Explain how The Lego Movie game cover is constructed (put together) to appeal to the target audience (7+ age rating):

-Emmet image

 He looks cool and looks like a fun character to use

-Lord Business image

 He looks like a boss fight at the end of the game which will b3e fun for the target audience

-Wyldstyle image

 She also looks a cool character and is a woman character which younger girls might prefer over a boy character.

-Vetruvius image

 He looks a bit like a wizard and a character who could cast spells which is interesting 

-Batman image

 Most children will know who Batman is before The Lego Movie was made and most kids love Batman so that will instantly hook them in to buying the game

-Other characters- who does it show?

 It shows bad cop who is a character that can change personalities and works for Lord Business meaning he is normally bad

-Logo/title and colours

 The colours are bright and get you to look at the name and when any kid sees Lego they instantly want it

-Representations of the different characters

 They have made the characters really cool with them looking at the camera and the dramatic background with Lord Business and Bad Cop etc

-Representations of different worlds

 They put Batman on the front cover which is from a different world because no one from this film is in Batman except himself

-

 Monday 25th January

The Lego Movie: Poster Campaign

L/O: To explain the effectiveness of the campaign; to analyse the representations on the poster campaign.

Denotations of The Dark Knight poster:

-He is a man

-He is wearing a black suit

-He looks like a bat

-He is wearing a cape

Connotations of The Dark Knight poster:

-He looks like he blew up the building 

-He looks cool

Denotations of The Lego Movie poster:

-Emmet has a big, blue hammer in his hand 

-Emmet has a big smile across his face

Connotations of The Lego Movie poster:

-Emmet looks happy

-Wyldstyle and Emmet look cool

Monday 1st February

What stereotypical representations are supported (reinforced) in Moana and Frozen?

-They don't have male interests.

How does this portray the male gender?

This makes the male gender look good and amazing.

Can you think of any other subvert things Emmet said?

-He follows instructions unlike the other heroes/master builders.

Monday 8th February

Film regulator: bbfc 

TV and radio regulator: Ofcom

Advertisement regulator: ASA

Magazines and Newspaper regulator: IPSO

Video game regulator: Pegi 

6. Identify the organisation that 'age rates' video games in the UK.

    Pegi

Monday 23rd May

Exam prep/Revision

-You are likely to be asked 4 questions in this section of the exam: two short answer and two longer answer questions

-The first 2 are likely to be general questions based on Promotion techniques 

-The longer questions will ask you to discuss the Lego Movie as an example

-A good rule is a mark a minute for timings 

Q3: 10 mark question

Blumer and Katz's theory of U&G can be applied to the Lego Movie Video Game, they stated that an audience establishes a personal identity through characters. This can be seen in the Lego movie through Emmet because...

Q4: 10 mark question

This is a second short essay question and you will be expected to analyse the Lego Movie trailer in relation to media language. You might also be asked to discuss their contexts. 

e.g Analyse how the media language in the Lego movie trailer appeals to the audience.

-Sound 

-Mise-en-scene 

-Humour 

-Intertextuality 

-Upbeat