MEST 1 SECTION B : INDEPENDENT CASE STUDY
Case study research tasks
The basics
The film that I will be studying as my independent case study will be 'The Kings Speech'. The King's Speech was written by David Seilder however it was directed by Tom Hooper. There were 3 stars who played there roles in this film astoundingly. The first being Colin Firth, who stared in many successful films such as, 'A Single Man' and 'Shakespeare In Love'. The second being Geoffrey Rush, who also starred in many successful films such as, 'Shine' and 'Elizabeth'. The third notable star is Sir Michael Gambon, who starred in Harry Potter: The prisoner of Azkaban.
The King's Speech was first released at the Telluride Film Festival on the 6th of September 2010. However, it was released for viewing in the United Kingdom by the public on the 7th January 2011.
The genre of The King's Speech is a hybrid genre of; Biography, Drama and History.
The King's Speech was rated 8.0/10 on IMDB. Whereas, The King's Speech was rated 95% on the TOMATOMETER and the 92% on the audience Score
Broadcast
The cinematography used in The King's Speech trailer is effective as it helped give the audience a clear view into when exactly the film is and of what is expected of a film in that time. This is effective as the audiences expectations of a film like The King's Speech have been met as it relates to the power a King in those times would have. In particular the shot of London during the war enhances the power that the King has and how a whole nation is relying on him. On the other hand the shot of the King standing next to his aid sort of suggests that the King is just a figure face and that it is Geoffery Rush who is calling the shots. This is then enhanced in the way at first whenever Geoffery Rush is talking to the King it is a low angle shot however when he sits in St Edwards chair it goes to a medium shot which suggests that the King and Geoffery Rush have equal strength.
It also shows the trailer at the start of the clip to show the audience what the film they are talking about is actually like.
The King's Speech is promoted in this clip through the use of having two of the main distinguishable characters talk about The King's Speech. The two main actors Collin Firth and Geoffrey Rush constantly talk about the film and how long it took to produce such a high budget production.
The King's Speech is promoted in this film through the use of having the director ,Tom Hooper, and the writer, David Seidler, talk about the production and how proud they are of the accomplishment and it goes on to talk about how they put there blood sweat and tears into this movie and they hope the audience like it. This promotes the film as it gets the audience to feel sympathy for them thus resulting in them going to watch it.
The King's Speech uses stars to promote and maintain the public's interest in the movie. Some of the main stars that were used are Collin Firth, Geoferrey Rush and Hellena Bonham Carter. These were a few of the stars that were used because they are very notable due to there successes in films such as Harry Potter, The Kingsman Secret Service and Shine.
"It's an uplifting audience pleaser that also showcases film-making arts and crafts at an exalted level"
"A fascinating period drama that will mostly please everyone (and find few detractors), with a very fine dialogue and exquisite "
"This is a powerful, hilarious and deeply moving story, told against the backdrop of a critical juncture in modern history, of the emergence of a deep friendship out of a professional relationship between two men who would otherwise never have socially interacted"
This print advert promotes the film as it shows the three most notable stars. This is effective because each of these stars already have an established fan base(audience), so the advert is targeting those particular groups.
This promotes The King's Speech as the title of the production is in another language, this suggests that the film is an internationally recognised film. This promotes the film as it targets more than one type of audience
This promotes The King's Speech through the way it uses the three most notable stars in the film as its central image for the front cover. This is effective as each of the three stars already have a substantial fan base which will be willing to explore and watch The King's Speech as it is something new for them to go and watch.
3) Choose ONE print advert and write a textual analysis of what it communicates to the audience.
The use of mise-en-scene in this advert is effective as the use of a dark gritty background behind the second character foreshadows the impending doom that is to come over Britain during the film and how it is the job of the King to help change Britain so that does not happen, this further heightens how important the King's role is in a war and strengthens the narrative.
4) 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
The King's Speech unlike any other art house has hardly any presence on social media platforms. The films presence only seemed to be on one social media platform which is Facebook. This could suggest to the audience that the core target audience for The King's Speech is the older generation. On the other hand The King's Speech presence was shown here and there on other social networking platforms such as Twitter as some 'Opinion Leaders' chose to talk about The King's Speech in either a positive way or a negative.
The King's Speech website shows synergy with The King's Speech DVD. It promotes the film as it gets the audience to feed in comments regarding the movie and then it talks about the questions which have come up more than once. For example, one of the questions that came up were "What is a Speech Disorder?"
The King's Speech did not run some kind of E-media based campaign.
The characters in the The King's Speech are the only ones to have promoted The King's Speech on social media. The particular characters that promoted The King's Speech are Collin Firth, Geoffery Rush and Hellena Bonham Carter.
Audience
I believe the target audience for this film are 55% Male and 45% Female between the ages of 25 - 55. Firstly I would say that this is a fairly accurate target audience for The King's Speech as it uses Facebook as one of its promotional methods. This is because Facebook is not the go to social media website for the younger generation as more and more older people started using it. The psychographic group that are targeted in The King's Speech is Explorers, Succeeders and Aspirers. This is because Explorers are willing to try anything. I had picked Succeeders and Aspirers because the film is about a person who has overcome his stuggles to forge a way forward.
The audience pleasures that are given are personal identification escapism and personal relationships. This is because the audience may be feeling upset over something they have just come across and they do not know how to get past it which is why they can relate to the character King George. Furthermore, I have picked escapism because the audience likes to get away from everything in life if nothing is going there way through another persons struggles.
A similar film to The King's Speech that the target audience may like is Suffragettes.
Suffragettes: The target audience would enjoy this movie because it also talks about a persons struggle and how they overcame that struggle. Which in like The King's Speech is also about how a person, the king, over came his struggle which was his stammer.
Institution
The two main film studios that produced The King's Speech were:
See-Saw Films
Weinstein Company
See-Saw Films have a track record of producing films that are associated with the past. A few examples of this are; Macbeth, Shame, Tracks, Mr Holmes and Life.
Weinstein Company have a track record of producing films of different time frames. A few examples of this are; Macbeth, Woman In Gold, Shanghai and Southpaw.
The only company that distributed The King's Speech in the UK were Momentum Pictures. Momentum Pictures have distributed films such as; Bling, Area 51, The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death and Forbidden Grounds.3) Do they have a track record with this kind of film and this target audience?
Momentum Pictures does not have a track record with this type of film and target audience as they distribute films from different genres. An example being; Insidious: Chapter and Arthur and Mike.
The film The King's Speech had a budget of fifteen million US dollars.
The film The King's Speech was said to be very profitable as it made a substantial amount of seventy five million dollars profit. I believe that this happened because the film was effectively produced in a way that would fit the audiences perception on Britain. I also think that it made a substantial profit due to the acting of the main characters and there original fan bases. There have been many reviews suggesting that Collin Firths acting as the King with a stammer made them genuinly believe he had a stammer.
The film was more successful abroad in the US as it fits the audience perception of Britain. This is reinforced by how only the 'High End' areas of Britain were shown.
The film certification that was given to The King's Speech was a 12A. I believe this is because during the speech in therapy context is very strong. Furthermore, I believe that it would not affect the target audience of the film because it just opens the film up even to a younger audience getting them into the genre biography. Which would increase the more people that would watch the film.
Representation
The representation of people that are found in this film are of the upper class and of white males and females. However the lack of any coloured people could also be a form of representation of them.
The King's Speech shows 'Britishness' through the dialogue and the actors movements and costume. It also reinforces the 'Britishness' through the use of having iconic British landmarks. This represented Britishness in a positive way as it reinforced how regal and powerful the King is. However, the fact that the King shows weakness also subverts the ideology they use to have back then of Kings being like Gods.
The representation of Britain differs to Ill Manors because unlike Ill Manors The King's Speech shows the 'High End' sides of London. This differs to Ill Manors because it shows what is expected by people that do not live in London, this meets there expectations of the film which would get them to watch the film just by seeing the advert. Ill Manors, however, shows and portrays Britain as being broken and corrupt. This representation is not seen often in movies as it could cause a moral panic and 'scare' off tourists or people wanting to go and visit London.
The King’s Speech is extremely patriotic, pro-monarchy, anti-war, passive and it believes in equality.
Case study comparison
1) What similarities and differences can you find between Ill Manors, A Field In England and your chosen case study film? List all that apply.
A Field In England, unlike The King's Speech and Ill Manors, distributed their film on every platform at the same time which resulted in a maximum amount of viewers on its first day of release.
Ill Manors and The King's Speech may have distributed their productions the same way however the ideologies and values that were portrayed in each countered each other as one was reinforcing the British 'myth' of being regal elite and fair. Whereas, Ill Manors challenges the very ideas of The King's Speech as it gets them to wonder about what is not being shown in Britain.
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