Lego movie

 Wednesday 14th September 2022

L/O: to understand the narrative and characters in the lego movie.

1. The LEGO Movie is an animated film which follows lead character, Emmet a completely ordinary LEGO mini-figure who is identified as the most "extraordinary person" and the key to saving the Lego universe. Emmet and his friends go on an epic journey to stop the evil tyrant, Lord Business. 

2. The main themes and messages in the film is mindless conformity is unhealthy and individual creativity is a value that should be encouraged. Some themes are capitalism, copyright laws, and the power of government and social media. 

3. Chris Pratt - Emmet.   Elizabeth Banks - Lucy.  Will Arnett - Batman.   Will Ferrell - President Business.   Morgan Freeman - Vitruvius.    Alison Brie - Unikitty.   Charlie Day - Benny.   Jonah Hill - Green Lantern.   Liam Neeson - Bad cop good cop.   Channing Tatum - Superman.   Jadon Sand - Finn 

Wednesday 21st September 2022

L/O: to research the process, companies and regulators behind the film industry.

Industry Research

1. In the film industry, what is meant by production, distribution and exhibition? Distribution is the process of making a movie available for viewing by an audience. Exhibition is the public screening of a film and involves the ownership, management, and running of movie theaters. Production is the when shooting begins.

2. What is media conglomerate? A media conglomerate, media group, or media institution is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as music, television, radio, publishing, motion pictures, theme parks, or the Internet. 

3. Who regulates films in the UK? The film industry in the UK is regulated by the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). The BBFC is responsible for classifying films that have a cinema and DVD release. 

4. What age rating did they give The LEGO Movie? U

5. Who regulates video games in the UK? Video Standards Council (VSC)

6. What rating did they give The LEGO Movie video game? Pegi 7

7. Which two main companies produced The LEGO Movie (2014)? Lin Pictures were the primary production company on The Lego Movie and Warner Bros. acted as the distributors.

8. Who directed The LEGO Movie (2014)? Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

9. Which company produced The LEGO Movie video game (2014)? TT Fusion

10. Who distributed The LEGO Movie (2014)? Warner Bros

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

Wednesday 28th September 2022

Regulation

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

- Classify products (normally by age rating) 

- Ensures content of products meets acceptable standards 

1. The fact they gave it a U means that is can attract anyone, of any age. This is good because it can get more views / more money. 

Regulation Questions

5. I think Warner Bros would have been would have been very keen for the film to receive a U certificate because they would get more viewers, more money. 

Vertical integration is the process whereby a single company controls both the production and distribution stages of a product. This means all profits go back to the parent company rather than being shared out. 

Having vertical integration increases profits because you don't have to pay other companies to have film, games and merch so if you  

Wednesday 12th October 2022

L/O: to identify the target audience using demographics & psychographics.

Target Audience

The movie appeals to young kids, teenagers, adults and both genders because it has characters who would attract young kids as well as music and colour, old characters and things from years ago that adults would remember and actors who play characters such as Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Arnett and Will Ferrell for the teens. The movie attracts both genders because they both have a powerful role / the two main characters are both genders. 

Guardian

1. The building blocks of success - The Lego marketing team's main challenge is to make their products appealing to children; however, it is the parents, aunties, uncles, grandparents and godparents who hold the purse strings. This is where the joy – and the genius – comes in: The Lego Movie is a ripping adventure for kids, but is also great fun for adults. 

2.  Something Lego did right is that the company brought in Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (of 21 Jump Street and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs fame) to create a genuinely funny and clever movie. 

3. It has laid the foundations for future success by as the child grows up, they will inevitably feel nostalgic about the films they watched as a mite and watch them again in adulthood, perhaps even showing it to a young relative and beginning the cycle again. 

Zesty

1. It has heart by having an emotive storyline that explores the meaning of love, partnership and humanity, The Lego Movie does what it needs to do.

2. It was all about 'you' because The Lego Movie forces us to ask questions not only of the characters and storyline, but of ourselves. 

3. It shows it knows it's audience because they put something in the movie for everybody.  

Challenge

* A tent - pole production is a program or film that supports the financial performance of a film studio or television network. 

* The Lego Movie was one because it made a massive profit because it had a wide audience. 

1. The Lego batman movie (2017)

2. The lego Ninjago movie (2017)

3. The Lego Movie 2 (2019) 

Wednesday 19th October 2022

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

Marketing

- Posters

- Adverts 

- Social media

- Billboard 

- Magazines 

- Trailers 

- Movie Premier 

Synergy - the promotion of linked products across different areas of the media.

Lego Movie Synergy

- Lego Movie video game 

- 17 lego world sets

- 16 collectable mini figures

- Sticker and activity books

- Range of school supplies 

What methods were used to promote the movie?

1. It was recently revealed that the next McDonald's Happy Meal campaign in the US would be focused around The Lego Movie 2. 

2. Each week in January 2014,  a new character poster was released. 

3.  Lego stores scheduled linked events.

4. Free accessory packs were available in stores after building creative models in - store.

5. Video game released on 4th February. 

6. On 7th February mcdonalds released collectable 3D cups with happy meals. 

7. A website enabled fans to make versions of themselves. 

- In Dancing on Ice at 7:27pm on Sunday 9th February 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. 

The lego movie marketing campaign broke boundaries with the TV ad and linked social media campaign by choosing adverts to remake at that time so the people who haven't watched Lego Movie...

Wednesday 2nd November 2022

The Lego Movie trailer

L/O: to evaluate the methods used to market the lego movie; to link the methods to the target.

Warner Bros wanted their logos made from lego because of the Lego Movie and it would help represent it. They wanted their logos shown before the trailer is played so people recognise their logo and want to watch it. 

Equilibrium - Emmet at home watching tv, president business, following instructions.  

Disruption - Threat to be put to sleep if you don't follow instructions.

Recognition of disruption - Emmet realises they might be put to sleep. 

Attempt to solve disruption - All the action / fighting / second half of the trailer. 

1. To make it more appealing to people 

2. To make kids want to watch it more

Camerawork

1. To show their face expressions clearly, introduce you to the main characters. 

2. To show all the different locations. 

3. To show that the good guys are at the top and the bad guys are at the bottom.

Sound

1. Used to let us know what's happening / tells us the story / gives us the story line. 

2. It will make everyone excited and shows it's an action movie. 

3. Makes it more intense to the audience / builds tension. 

Editing

1. Builds tension.

2. Aimed a younger kids and parents. 

3. Emphasises action / shows all of the lego / details. 

Mise - en - scene

1. The locations show all different types of action. 

2. Would help attract kids because of all the different colours. 

3. They are from different films and characters they may already know. 

Wednesday 9th November 2022

Explain how The Lego Movie trailer uses two elements of media language to target different audiences?

- One element of media language used in The Lego Movie trailer is camerawork. For example, in the trailer it shows low angle shots of two of the main characters (Wyldstyle and Vetruvious). This would appeal more to teenagers because of Wyldstyle being younger and looking more like a teenager and it shows that the good characters are above the bad guys / characters. 

- Another element of media language used in The Lego Movie trailer is sound. For example, in the trailer it shows diegetic sounds such as explosions and gunshots. This would appeal more to young kids because it builds tension, gets them excited about what is going to happen next, and it shows it's an action movie.  

Video Game

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

1. TT Fusion 

2. Warner Bros

3. 7 February 2014

4. Action, adventure

5. Xbox 360, Xbox 1, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U, 3DS and PC

6. Single player and multiplayer 

 Simultaneous Releases

Profit maximised - increases potential audiences

Familiarity - brand, plot & 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 other

Uses and Gratifications (U & G)

The video game offers personal identity because it helps you realise what you prefer to play as or what you want to be.

The video game offers information because it could show new things about the characters that the film doesn't show. 

The video game offers entertainment because if your bored you could play it, keeps you doing something than being bored. 

The video game offers social interaction because you can play it with you friends. 

- One example the audiences might get from the video game according to the trailer is social interaction. For example in the trailer there are 3 kids sat on the sofa playing it together. 

- Another example the audiences might get from the video game according to the trailer is entertainment. For example, the kids are distracted from what is going on around them and they are not bored. 

Wednesday 16th November 2022

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

Poster Campaign

Denotations - Batman, building on fire, dark suit, dark clouds, fire shaped like a bat.

Connotations - We know Batman is in it because of the suit, building is being destroyed because of the fire in the poster, camera angle shows he is big and strong and powerful, the darkness of the colour in the poster suggests that he might be a bad character in the film or something bad is happening. Fire shaped like a bat linking it to bat man. Light around him shows he is the main character. The Dark Knight, the word knight suggests he might be a good guy. 

- The Lego Movie video game appeals to the target audience (7 + age rating) by the colour palette being all different and very bright this will attract the younger children because it will catch there attention,  the colours orange, red blue and white suggests action, teens and kids would be able to see the lego sign on the poster and know that it is all about lego and might make them want to play it and watch the film even more. 

- Having both genders on the video game cover would attract even more people. In the cover it shows that there is a lot of action going on, this would attract teens as well as younger children. Having people play this will attract more people to the film release also having batman in the top right of the poster would help promote it because most people know who batman is. 

- The cover represents Emit and Wyldstyle as good characters because they are at the front with the most light shining on them and they are both smiling unlike everyone else. It shows the bad guys up high and in a darker colour, also with an angry face, just like Lord Business also known as President Business. 

Wednesday 23rd November 2022

In the Lego Movie poster, you can see an image of Batman holding his batarang in the foreground of the poster. This character would appeal to the older part of the target audience (parents / adults). This is because the character first appeared in 1939, they would recognise him and it would create a feeling of nostalgia for them. 

In the Lego Movie poster, you can see an image of Vitruvius in the foreground of the poster. This character would appeal to the teenagers. This is because he looks and could remind them of characters Dumbledore and Gandalf from the films 'Harry Potter' and 'The Lord Of The Rings'. These films are very popular to teenagers because they reopened peoples eyes to the fantasy genre. 

In the Lego Movie poster, you can see an image of Unikitty in the foreground of the poster. This character would appeal to the younger children. This is because the character is a unicorn and a cat, more of a fantasy character. The colour of the character is saturated meaning it will make the children interested, excited and easily catch there attention. 

Wednesday 30th November 2022 

Dirt

1. Use 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 connotations to explain the appeal. 

Point - Identify the media language used.

Evidence - Describe the element in detail.

Explain - Explain why it is used / the effect or the message given. (connotations)

Link - Link this to the appeal for the target audience. 

The Lego Movie: Representation

L/O: to analyse the representations throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign. 

1. Wyldstyle - has long hair with colourful highlights, makeup, more feminine clothes. 

2. Wyldstyle is determined.

Wednesday 7th December 2022

Representations

Five characters:

- Oakleigh, is a girl, straight, mixed, popular, cheerleader captain, mean, dating Lucas.

- Lucas, is a boy, straight, black, popular, captain of football team, mean, dating Oakleigh.

- Everleigh, is a girl, straight, asian, popular, cheerleader, nice, Oakleigh's best friend, dating Noah.

- Noah, is a boy, straight, white, popular, footballer, nice, Lucas's best friend, dating Everleigh.

- Astrid, lesbian, gets bullied, white, nerd, wears glasses, is nice. 

How is age represented in the poster campaign?

- In the poster it shows that Vitruvius is the oldest because he was originally a roman architect and engineer, it also shows his long grey beard and hair, this supports stereotypes because old people have grey hair and he is also known as wise which shows that he isn't as young as the rest. 

- In the poster it shows Lord Business is older than Emmet, Wyldstyle and Benny because he has bushy eyebrows and a lot of wrinkles unlike the rest of the characters shown. 

- In the poster Benny is shown as the youngest because he has a baby face and simple features unlike the rest, this supports stereotypes because if you are young you don't have wrinkles. 

- In the poster it shows Wyldstyle and Emmet as teenagers because stereotypically Wyldstyle represents teenagers because of the dyed hair, makeup and clothes, Emmet supports the age because of how he acts and how he doesn't know what he wants to do in life or where he stands yet. 

Wednesday 4th January 2023

L/O: to explore exam style questions and how to answer them effectively 

Put it all together

Type of media, UK Regulator

Film - British Board of Film Classification (BBFC)

Tv & Radio - OFCOM

Advertising - The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

Magazines & Newspapers - IPSO 

Video Games - Video Standards Council (VSC)

Wednesday 18th January 2023

L/O: to review and reflect on the unit assessment and set personal targets. 

DIRT

For question 6 i need to revise: terminology, definitions and information. 

For question 7 i need to revise: what vertical integration is, the benefits of vertical integration, fully explain the reasons and horizontal integration. 

For question 8 i need to revise: the promotional campaign, trailer, video game, posters, different parts of the target audiences, how they are appealed to and media terminology. 

For question 9 i need to revise: stereotypes, accuracy, representations, two to three detailed points. 

DIRT for question 9:

Wyldstyle represents a teenage girl in The Lego Movie because she had dyed highlights in her hair, she wears makeup and a chocker around her neck. She is also dating Batman but has feelings towards Emmet by the end of the movie. Vitruvius represents an old man in The Lego Movie because he has white hair and a long white beard, lots of wrinkles and is represented as wise. Stereotypically, old men are shown to be a lot more wise than young people. I think Lord Business is represented as a middle aged man because, he has some wrinkles (not as much as Vitruvius), a unibrow and is all about work, he also isn't very nice in The Lego Movie. I think Benny the space boy is represented as a young boy because, he has more of a baby face shown than anybody else, isn't very wise and he also doesn't have a very good attention span. In the movie Emmet is represented as a boy because he plays a construction worker which is stereotypically more for men and he also has feelings towards Wyldstyle by the end of the movie. 

Monday 4th December 2023

L/O: recap on the key content areas and explore how to answer exam style questions on lego movie. 

Target Audience - family.

- young kids who play with lego.

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

- young cinema goers (15 to 25).

Uses and gratifications - audience.

P - personal identity = some audiences may identify with certain figures in the media, seeing them as role models and aspiring to be like them. E.g. we may identify with Emmet, the underdog hero / normal member of society who can make an impact on the world. 

I - information = we often watch movies and play games to gain information and an understanding of the world around us. Children can see that individuals can make a difference to the world through their actions. 

E - entertainment = enjoyment of escaping the real world for a while and going into the fictional world of a film or game of the film. 

S - social interaction = the video game can be played across different platforms, single and multi player and people discuss the game in online forms. Families can watch it all together. 

Intertextuality - batman. 

Stereotype - widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing. 

Wyldstyle - subverting gender stereotypes / supports and changes female stereotypes. 

Videogame trailer:

P - over 90 different characters to chose from, so you will find someone you want to be. 

I - new information about characters, film and game. 

E - everything looks good, makes people want the entertainment. 

S - shows you can play with multiple people / family / friends e.g. 

Ad Break:

- British heart foundation. 

- Confused.com

- BT broadband. 

- Premier Inn.

- Actual trailer. 

- In-between each trailer it introduces characters from the film. 

November PPE

Monday 22nd January 2024

Question 7:

Or TT Fusion.

Question 8:

Build up, promotion marketing. 

Profit. 

Awards. 

+ Because of the prestige attached to a cinema release which means the film will be seen as of higher quality. So the film counts as a film for awards purposes as many awards do not accept streaming, only films. To ensure that the film reaches as wide an audience as possible, for example through saturated global release. 

Question 9:

Learn more about the characters, more to play. 

Released video game and first different audiences interested and know the characters. 

Video game extends the life of the film. 

Profit, money. 

+ Merchandise such as the lego movie video game brings in a bigger profit for warner bros as they produced both the film and own the company who created the video game. Helps to extend the life of the film by cross promotion and helps to develop the franchise. The increase in synergy and promotion between the film and game helps ensure greater profit for both releasing a game such as lego movie video game, cross platform targets the same audiences as the film. 

Question 10: 

Genre convention is the type, what is expected.

Convention of a trailer, 2 - 3 minutes, promotes the movie, introduces the characters, voice over, inter titles, release dates.

Convention of action, explosions.