Lego Movie

Wednesday 14th September

LO - to understand the narrative and character in the Lego movie

characters:

-Batman

-Wonderwomen

-Gandalf

-Dumbledore

-Green goblin 

-Superman

-robin hood

lego worlds:

-cloud cuckoo land

-middle 

-the old west

Emmet is a completely ordinary lego construction worker, who is labelled as 'the special' and the key to saving the lego universe by the president who is trying to destroy everyone.

The message of Lego movie is that one singular person cannot impact, but the work of many people can. 

 

Wednesday 21st September           industry research

Lo - to research the process, companies and regulators behind the film industry

1) In the film industry, production is the actual filming of the video, distribution is making the movie available to the public and exhibition is the public screening of a film

2) Media conglomerate, or a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises 

3) the film industry in the UK is regulated by the British board of film classification (BBFC)

4) they age rated the lego movie to pg

5) in the UK, the Video Standards Council (VSC) regulates video games

6) they age rated the lego move video game pegi 7

7) the two main companies that produced the lego move (2014) are lin pictures and warner bros

8) Phil Lord and Chris miller directed the lego movie 

9) The company TT Fusion produced the lego movie video game (2014)

10) warner bros distributed the lego movie

11) The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates the advertising content in the UK

Wednesday 28th September

regulation:

regulators are usually industry bodies that do one of two things:

-classify products (normally by age rating)

-ensure the content of products meet acceptable standards

1) I think it is important for film regulation to exist because someone underage won't watch a 15 or an 18 

5) I think Warner Bros would have been very keen for the film to receive a U certificate because it widens the audience meaning that more people would watch it and they would earn more money

vertical integration

A benefit of vertical integration is that it can make the production more efficient it can do this by working with companies that produce different product and services. Although that it increases the efficiency it would decrease the profit as you have to share it out .

Wednesday 5th October       Narrative theory

LO - to explore the narrative and apply narrative theory to The Lego Movie

Postmodernism

-challenges genre conventions: might be a mixture of many genres: challenge typical character roles etc.

pastiche: imitates other texts, humorous take on society/culture

hyper-reality; makes the audience aware that they are watching a movie

The lego movie is a postmodernist film because there is a wide variety of genres including fantasy,  comedy, action / adventure and also sci-fi. The movie also challenge typical character roles, for example, Emmet shown as a ordinary construction worker turns out to be a hero. The lego movie also uses pastiche, using small scenes of the film to create a humorous take on society/culture

Todorov - The Lego Movie

equilibrium - the city is 'perfect', everyone knows each over and they are very friendly. Their life is very repetitive living under the 

same rules everyday.

disruption - Emmet (protagonist) accidentally finds the piece of resistance, which is needed to destroy the world 

recognition of disruption - emmet realises that this piece is needed to destroy the world and continuously tries to run away from lord business / bad cop and his companions 

attempt to solve - Emmet knows he needs risk his life to save the city, he and the heroes save the master builders

new equilibrium -  team work is used by the city and all is forgiven by president business 

The hero - Emmet 

The villain - President Business

The donor - Vitruvius

The helper - Wyldstyle 

The princess - Wyldstyle

The dispatcher - Vitruvius

The princess' father - Vitruvius

The false hero - Batman

Wednesday 12th October

LO - to identify the target audience using demographics and psychographics

Target audience

the movie targets a FAMILY AUDIENCE

that could be split into the following three groups:

-young kids who play with lego

-parents who played with it when they were young too

-young adult cinema-goers

the movie could appeal to young kids because it contains children's characters such as uni-kitty, and the pirate. It could also appeal to young kids because of the song choices and/or the cartoon aspect of the film.

the movie could appeal to parents because the movie has some links to the American society, it also has a good influence on their children. The movie also is based on the same storyline as The Matrix which is popular to adults.

the movie could appeal to young adults because in 2014 the emo style was popular and the character Wyldstyle reflects that. 

GUARDIAN

1. What are the building blocks of success? A brand will create entertaining content for consumers that will eventually pay for the company's services / products. The Lego marketing team's challenge was to make their movie appealing to children, but also adding in some humour for adults.

2. What did Lego do right? They partnered up with Phil Lord and Christopher Miller to create a funny movie. They made it important that adults enjoyed the movie just as much as the children.

3. How has it laid the foundations for future success? Finding their audience in the cinema at first will get the eager audience to but a DVD that can be viewed several times, but as they grow up they would feel nostalgic about the films they watched, watching it again in their adult-hood, maybe even showing it to a younger relative, and the cycle repeats.

ZESTY:

1. How has it got a heart? It has an emotive storyline that explores the meaning of love, partnership and humanity 

2. How is it all about you? The lego movie forces us to ask questions not just about the characters or the storyline, but also ourselves. This is because as humans we constantly question which of the categories we fit into.

3. How does it show that it knows its audience? They divide the film based on their objective and their audience this gives the ability to offer 'something for everyone.' They do this by giving the kids a slapstick the teens a cultural savvy and a hilarious social commentary for the grown ups.

tent pole production is when a film supports financial performance of a film studio

The lego movie is a tent pole production incase it didn't profit

since the first lego movie was released, lego movie 2 was released on the 7th February 2014. Lego movie 3 is to be released on February 9th 2024.

Wednesday 19th October

LO - to explore marketing and promotion of The Lego Movie; to link the methods used to the target audience

ways to market and promote a film:

-adverts

-posters

-trailers

-social media

-verbal

-teasers

-billboards

-magazines

-publicity tours

-movie premier 

-websites

Synergy:

-17 different lego world sets

-16 collectable mini figure

-The Lego Movie Video Game

-Range of school supplies

-Sticker & activity books

Other than the merchandise, what other methods were uses to promote the movie?

1) Each week in January 2014, a new character poster was released

2) Lego Stores scheduled linked events

3) Free accessory packs were available in stores after building creative models in-store

4) Video game released on February 4th

5) On 7th February, McDonalds released collectibles 3D cups with Happy Meals 

6) A website enables fans to make versions of themselves

LEGOtainment

In dancing on Ice at 7:27pm on Sunday 9th February 2014 - five days before the movie launched - 

ITV broadcast a world first, an ad break made entirely out of LEGO

British heart foundation, confused.com, BT and premier Inn all paid for the production costs of their adverts themselves. 

Each advert is made by lego bricks, building an entire Lego 'world'

Each advert is followed by a different character 'sting'

The adverts all have a warm, friendly and humorous tone

Nearly 6m people saw the LEGO movie break live TV, with an additional 1.1m seeking it out on YouTube within a week (all of these views were achieved organically with NO paid-for digital optimisation)

By making it  a piece of branded entertainment in its own right, over 1 million people actively sought out a 3min 20sec AD BREAK and watched it in its entirety

The lego movie marketing campaign was very successful because many companies paid LEGO to create ADS for them. Soon after, LEGO became viral on many social media platforms, engaging LEGO movie's target audience to watch their film. Lego movie chose to exhibit their movie on ITV on a Sunday evening ( same time they added it to YouTube) because there will be more audience watching meaning they will earn more money. Turning popular ADS into lego can intrigue people from any age group.

Wednesday 2nd November

LO - to evaluate the methods use to market The Lego Movie; to link the methods to the target audience

Why did Warner Bros choose to have their logo made from Lego? The whole movie is made out of Lego 

Why would they want their logos to be shown BEFORE the trailer is played? It entices people who like warner bros

equilibrium - live a repetitive life following instructions watching tv

disruption - President Business is planning to 'put everyone asleep' or release something dangerous

recognition of disruption - Emmet found this out on the news when President Business made his announcement

attempt to solve disruption - all the action scenes from the second half 

new equilibrium - ?

1) So they have more time to show the action scenes rather than the unnecessary parts

2) they have a shorter attention span, so it shows the main parts quicker

camerawork 

1) showing who the main characters are

2) shows where the film takes place

3) to show some sort of victory

sound

1) the dialogue tells us the story of the lego movie

2) shows that the movie genre is action

3) the sound is suspenseful and mystery perhaps making the audience more intrigued

editing

1) the pace of the trailer increases backing up the idea of the film being an action movie

2) could appeal to the older audience 

3) could make you pay attention to the details, emphasise the drama / action

mise-en-scene

1) the city is used, which can show some chaos (action genre)

2) the colours used in the trailer are very bright, could appeal to the younger audience

3) shows their roles or jobs 

Wednesday 9th November

Explain how the lego movie trailer uses TWO elements of media language to target different audiences.

One element used in The Lego Movie trailer could be Mise-en-scene. The colour palette of the trailer shows very bright and vivid colours, which could connote to happiness and entertainment. This could appeal more to the younger audience because it could highlight the passion or creativity for younger minds. Sound is also used as an element in the trailer because of the use of diegetic sounds. These sounds include gunshots and explosion, which can appeal more to the older audience such as adults because despite the animation designed for kids, it has an element of violence, which can engage the adults.

The Lego Movie: Video Game

LO - to explain how vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using Uses & Gratification theory

1) The game developer of The Lego Movie Video game is TT Fusion

2) The game publisher of The Lego Movie Video game is Warner Bros

3) The Lego Movie Video game was release on 7th February 2014

4) The genre of the The Lego Movie Video game is Action / adventure

5) The Lego Movie Video game was released on the platforms Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®Vita, Wii U™, 3DS™ and PC

6) The Lego Movie video game game modes were single player and multiplayer

-Ghostbusters

-Spider man

-Sonic

-Uncharted

-Iron man

benefit of simultaneous releases

-profit maximised - increases potential audience

-familiarity - brand, plot & characters known

extends pleasure of 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 other

Uses and gratifications

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

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

3) ENTERTAINMENT: offers distraction from the world

4)SOCIAL INTERACTION: we find things we can share and discuss with others

information because you get to know information about the film

entertainment because you are being distracted via a game 

social interaction because you can play / talk to your friends about it

personal identity because you can become different characters 

Explain what TWO uses and gratifications might get from the videogame according to the trailer

One gratification audiences might get from the w might be entertainment. This is because the video game will distract you, so you can keep going back to play it. Another gratification audiences might get is social interaction because if you play with your friends on multiplayer, you will be able to talk about it the next day.

Wednesday 16th November            Poster Campaign

LO - to explain the effectiveness if the campaign; to analyse the representations on the poster campaign

denotations: batman, smoke, fire-shaped bat, building, broken pieces, dark colour palette

connotations: the fire could show destruction and pain, potentially foreshadowing many deaths in the film. The shape of the bat could link to batman  

smoke could represent blindness and lack of vision, could portray a loss in the future

dark colour palette could connote to death or a mystery 

low angle could show is power and victory

the light that highlights him could show that he is the main character

the connotations of the word knight could suggest that he is the hero, but also saying 'dark night' could show a sense of mystery.

There are many ways the lego movie video game is constructed to appeal to the target audience, one being the colour palette. The movie portrays bright, vivid colour, which could appeal more to the younger audience than the older audience. The colours used could show that the video game is an action movie, because of the wide use of warm colours. The tool in Emmets hand could connote to creativity and imagination, which could hint to the audience what the video game is about. 

The contrast effect of some colours could illustrate a rivalry between some characters, which could also hint to what you have to do in the video game. The camera angles of some of the character could also back up the point of having a rivalry, as the character behind looking down on the other characters. His angry facial expression could perhaps show that he is a villain.

Wednesday 23rd November

The lego movie poster uses visual elements to appeal to the target audience. An example could be the colour palette. The poster portrays vivid colours, which could highlight the genre fantasy, therefore engaging more of the younger audience. The bright colours could also show enthusiasm and optimism, which could also be used to draw the attention of the younger audience.

The poster also uses visual elements by including key characters such as Batman and Superman, this is significant because it reaches the target audience of adults, as it creates a nostalgic feeling, by adding characters that have been created ever since the early 19s.

Other characters in the poster could also appeal to the target audience. For example, Wyldstyle depicts the image of a style that was popular in 2014, which could reach the target audience of teenagers as they might feel more connected to the character more than adults or children. 

Wednesday 30th November               DIRT

1) accurate spelling punctuation and grammar

2) explain why certain elements of media language appeal to the target audience

3) use the peel chain to structure your analysis

4) use connotation to explain the appeal

The Lego Movie: representation

LO - to analyse the representation throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign

Wyldstyle representation

stereotypical representation of females - makeup, eyelashes, hairstyle, hair dye, eyebrows, represented as a sidekick

anti-stereotypical representation of females - determined facial expression, one of the main character, her dark clothing choice, not scared of what is happening behind in

trailer and video game trailer (Wyldstyle)

stereotypes - shown later in the trailer, shown as a prise 

anti-stereotypical - fighting, driving, building 

Wednesday 7th December       representation

LO - to analyse the representations throughout the lego movie promotional campaign

Character one: 

-jacob -male -nerd -weak -gets bullied -glasses -greasy hair

Character two:

-sam -male -strong -jock -captain

Character three:

-madelyn  -cheerleader -rich -popular

Character four:

-maisey -quiet -smart -gets bullied -african american

age is presented in the poster campaign by using President Business, his wrinkles show that he is older, along with Vitruvius, his white hair and wrinkles also shows that he is old. The younger characters are shown young because of their facial expressions and the fact that they do not have wrinkles. President Business wears business clothes, which can show his older age.

Wednesday 4th January           The Lego Movie: Put it all together

LO - to explore exam style questions and how to answer them effectively

film - BBFC

tv and radio - Ofcom

advertising - ASA

magazines and newspapers - PSO

video games - VSC

Wednesday 18th January

vertical integration is where a single company controls both the production and distribution of a product.

horizontal integrations is where there is multiple different companies that control the production and distribution of a product

vertical integration 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 

for Q6 i need to revise more factual topics on media 

for Q7 i need to explain both reasons for vertical integration 

for Q8 i need to add more points and explain them / link to target audience

for Q9 i need to give more specific examples of gender representations

Analyse the representations of gender in The Lego Movie poster campaign

Using the characters portrayed on the poster, the character Wyldstyle is used to portray a stereotypical female. They do this by adding makeup to Wyldstyle, which shows her femininity. However, her clothing choice is black, which could defeat the stereotype of women as black is seen more masculine than feminine.

Another way The Lego Movie poster campaign shows representations of gender is the dominancy of males. In the posters, the main antagonist is male, this can show the power that males usually have over women, especially in a patriarchal society where women were highly overlooked. The protagonist is also male, which could show that men are stereotypically the hero and generally stronger. To back this idea, Wyldstyle is shown as a sidekick in the poster, which could show how women follow behind men.

The character Emmet could be used to portray the masculine representation of the poster. His construction clothing could show his masculinity because it is often seen men work as a builder more than a female. Despite the fact he is the protagonist supposedly showing his power and dominance, his facial expressions are usually scared and nervous, which defeats the stereotype of males, as they are stereotypically brave.

Monday 4th December

target audience family:

1. young kids who play with lego

2. parents of those kids who used to play with lego

3. young cinema goers (15-25)

uses and gratification                                                                      

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

Social interaction -  we find things we can share and discuss with others

intertextuality = batman

wyldstyle supports and opposes the stereotype for women. she has lashes, freckles and makeup, which suggest that she is focused on her looks and beauty, this show that she supports the stereotype for women as they use makeup a lot. wyldstyle opposes it by wearing black clothing, where women do not really wear because it is seen to be more masculine

video games:

Personal identity - you can chose a character you like most 

Information - informed about new characters 

Entertainment - a video game providing entertainment

Social interaction - you can talk to people about it and play with each other 

ad break - british heart foundation 

               - confused.com

               - BT broadband

               - premier inn 

in between each advert there are different characters featuring in to attract the different age group 

was featured during dancing on ice - family show, gaining attention 

- the hero

- the villain

- the donor

- the helper

- the princess

- the princess' father

- the dispatcher

- the false hero 

theory T

Todorov's narratology

equilibrium - the normality

disruption - even occurs

recognition of disruption - character realises something has gone wrong

attempt to repair - character try to solve the problem 

NOV 23 PPE

question 7:

profit - cinemas make more money in the box office

awards - only nominated if in cinema first for release

question 9:

-learn more about the character

-release the video games first (different audiences interested and know the several character)

-video game extends the life-longer to play

question 10:

convention - trailer

-2-3 minutes

-promotes the movie

-intro to characters

-voice over

-inter-titles (release dates)

convention - action

-explosions

synergy - the interaction or cooperation of two or more organisations, substance to produce a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects

horizontal or vertical integration - horizontal integration happens when a company acquires or merges with a similar company. Vertical integration is when a business acquires or merges with a supplier or distributor