Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens - Questions

Who owns Lucasfilm?

Disney, the worlds second largest media conglomerate.

Who formed Lucasfilm?

Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney.

What year was Lucasfilm formed?

1971

Who is the president of Lucasfilm?

Kathleen Kennedy

What other major films have they worked on?

The 6 previous Star Wars films and the Indiana Jones franchise.

How much was Lucasfilm sold for?

$4.06 billion

Who wrote Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

J. J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and Michael Arndt.

Who directed Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

J. J. Abrams

What other major films is the director responsible for?

Regarding Henry (1991)

Forever Young (1992)

Armageddon (1998)

Cloverfield (2008)

How many Star Wars films have there been so far (list them)?

Episode I - The Phantom Menace

Episode II - Attack of the Clones

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith

Episode IV - A New Hope

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi

Episode VII - The Force Awakens

How much money have they all made at the global box office?

Episode I - The Phantom Menace - $1,027,044,677

Episode II - Attack of the Clones - $656,695,615

Episode III - Revenge of the Sith - $848,998,877

Episode IV - A New Hope - $786,598,007

Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back - $534,171,960

Episode VI - Return of the Jedi - $572,705,079

Episode VII - The Force Awakens - $2,058,662,225

When was the first Star Wars film released?

May 25 1977

What does ILM stand for?

Industrial Light and Magic

What do ILM do?

Computer graphics and visual effects in film.

Who created ILM?

George Lucas

Why did they create ILM?

Lucas wanted his 1977 film Star Wars to include visual effects that had never been seen on film before. After discovering that the in-house effects department at 20th Century Fox was no longer operational, Lucas approached Douglas Trumbull, famous for the effects on 2001: A Space Odyssey. Trumbull declined as he was already committed to working on Steven Spielberg's film Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but suggested his assistant John Dykstra to Lucas. Dykstra brought together a small team of college students, artists, and engineers, and set them up in a warehouse in Van Nuys, California. Lucas named the group Industrial Light and Magic, which became the Special Visual Effects department on Star Wars.

What do casting directors do?

Casting directors organize the casting of actors for all the roles in a film.

Where were the first scenes for Star Wars: The Force Awakens filmed?

Abu Dhabi

What format was Star Wars: The Force Awakens shot on?

65mm IMAX format

What types of camera were used to film Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

IMAX cameras

What studio was used to film a large portion of the film?

Pinewood Studios

Where is the studio?

Buckinghamshire, England

What major franchise is famously filmed at this studio?

James Bond

How does the said franchise link to Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

Daniel Craig (James Bond) plays a storm trooper in The Force Awakens. 

Who was the inspiration for the character Maz Kanata?

J. J. Abrams' old English teacher Rose Gilbert

What technology was used to create Maz Kanata?

Motion capture and CGI (Computer Generated Imagery)

Who played Maz Kanata & what other roles is she famous for?

Lupita Nyong'o, she is also famous for her roles in 12 years a slave, non-stop and the jungle book.

Who played General Snoke?

Andy Serkis

What is he renowned for in the movie business?

He is renowned for his performance capture roles comprising motion capture acting, animation and voice work for computer-generated characters such as Gollum in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, King Kong in the 2005 film, Caesar in Rise and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Captain Haddock in The Adventures of Tintin and Supreme Leader Snoke in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Where was the final scene filmed?

Skellig Michael, Country Kerry, Ireland.

Who composed the film score?

John Williams

How many Star wars films has he composed the music for?

7

What other famous films has he created the music for?

Jaws

Superman 

Dracula

E.T

Home Alone

Jurassic Park

Schindler's list

Harry Potter

Indiana Jones

War Horse

The Adventures of Tin Tin

How many times did John Boyega audition for the film (according to JJ Abrams)?

9 times

Over what period of time did these auditions occur?

7 months

How many people operated B-B8?

3 People

What type of technology was the main version of B-B8?

The remote control robotic ball uses a gyroscope to determine which way is down and two wheels to move the sphere from inside. The base plate (batteries included) serves as a counterweight to keep the wheels acting against the lower half of the sphere. There's also a vertical bearing that helps to keep the wheels in contact with the walls. This is Sphero's technology.  According to the latest updates from Lucasfilm, Sphero's technology wasn't useful to achieve the expressiveness that the character demanded. Therefore the Creature FX engineers had to develop their own mechanism to make BB-8 behave the way Abrams wanted.

What colour suit did the B-B8 operator wear?

Green

Why did he have to wear such a suit?

So he could be edited out of the shot using green screen chroma key techmology.

What type of special effects (SFX) were employed on Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

CGI

Green screen technology

Motion capture

How many people were behind the monitor watching the scene when Han and Chewie returned to the Millenium Falcon?

Around 200 people.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens research

Star Wars: The Force Awakens research

Producers/production companies

Director

J. J. Abrams

Screen writer

Lawrence Kasdan 
J. J. Abrams
Michael Arndt

Actors

Harrison Ford as Han Solo

Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker

Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa

Adam Driver as Kylo Ren

Daisy Ridley as Rey

John Boyega as Finn

Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron

Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata

Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke

Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux

Anthony Daniels as C-3PO

Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca

Max von Sydow as Lor San Tekka

Budget 

The Budget was $306 million gross and $245 million (net).

Locations

Pinewood studios, Buckinghamshire.
Abu Dhabi
Skellig Michael, an island off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland.

Green light date

May 2013

Screens shown on (opening weekend)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered in Los Angeles at the TCL Chinese Theatre, El Capitan Theatre and Dolby Theatre on December 14, 2015.
The film was released in 12 countries including European nations (such as Italy and France, releasing it on a Wednesday), the Philippines and Thailand on December 16; 32 countries including the United Kingdom (releasing on a Thursday), Mexico and additional European, Asian, African, South American and Oceania countries on December 17; and in North America, Japan, Spain, and Venezuela on December 18, in 3D and IMAX 3D. It was released in India on December 25 and in China on January 9, 2016.

Critical reaction 

Star Wars: The Force Awakens received overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, it has a 92% approval rating based on 360 reviews, with a rating average of 8.2/10. The website's critical consensus reads "Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series' former glory while injecting it with renewed energy." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 81 out of 100 based on 52 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale; women, under-25s and under-18s gave it an "A+", while 98% of audiences gave it either an "A" or a "B".

Box office figures: worldwide, US, China

US = $936,662,225

Worldwide = $2,068,223,624

China = $124,159,138

Music (composer of soundtrack)

The composer of the soundtrack was John Williams.

Marketing (teaser trailers, trailers, posters, TV spots, websites)

On November 28, 2014, Lucasfilm released an 88-second teaser trailer to promote The Force Awakens.
On December 11, 2014, Abrams and Kennedy released a series of eight mock Topps trading cards revealing the names of several characters.
Vanity Fair was the first magazine to release an exclusive cover issue devoted to The Force Awakens. The magazine, released on May 7, 2015, featured exclusive interviews and photos of the cast photographed by Annie Leibovitz.
Walt Disney Studios and Lucasfilm presented a look at The Force Awakens at Disney's D23 Expo in August 2015. Drew Struzan—who designed the poster artwork for the previous Star Wars films—produced a commemorative poster given to the event's attendees.

Tie-in products

Disney Publishing Worldwide and Lucasfilm announced a series of "at least" 20 books and comics, titled "Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens", with releases from multiple publishers starting in late 2015, prior to the film's premiere.


Disney Consumer Products and Lucasfilm announced that September 4, 2015 would be deemed "Force Friday" and would be the official launch of all the merchandise for The Force Awakens. 

SFX (special effects, technology used)

CGI
Green screen 

Any issues

Harrison Ford broke his leg, production had to be postponed for two weeks.

Security on set was an issue for some.

Stereotypes on Hotel Babylon

Stereotypes on Hotel Babylon

Task 1

Stereotypes are not always negative

This is the case in Hotel Babylon as there are some positive stereotypes. One being the blonde white woman at reception, she is portrayed to be powerful and authoritative over the rest of the ethnicities in the hotel. The Asian woman is portrayed to be clever which is a typical positive Asian stereotype. She is portrayed to be clever through her ability to hide the immigrants successfully. However many of the stereotypes in the clip are negative. The Asian woman is shown to be submissive, the immigrants are shown to have very low payed medial jobs and the black man at the start is portrayed to be stupid. These are all negative stereotypes.

They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful

The white immigration officer is not part of a minority group but is portrayed to be evil, corrupt and racist, these are negative stereotypes. However most of the negative stereotypes in the clip are aimed at the minority groups and less powerful. 

They can be held about one's own group

Being a white person myself I didn't see any stereotypes that were accurate about white people in the clip. In modern times it doesn't matter what ethnicity you are you do not have the right to be authoratitive over other people purely because of the ethnicity they are. 

They are not rigid or unchanging

If you contrast Hotel Babylon with British TV from the past such as the programme Tin Tin it becomes clear that stereotypes are not always rigid or unchanging. The program Tin Tin had a very racist portrayal of Black people as it showed them to be monkeys and lazy. The more modern programme Hotel Babylon has a much less racist portrayal of Black people although it still does give a subtle image to the reader of black people being inferior to white people. Another example of stereotypes changing is the placement of a woman in charge of the hotel in Hotel Babylon. If this was shown on British TV 40 years ago it would of been seen as a disgrace as views on women back then were very mysoginistic and sexist.

They are not always false

Hotel Babylon contains a lot of stereotypes, many of which are untrue, however some could be seen as slightly realistic. There have been racially motivated crimes committed by police officers and government officials in the past which has given them a racist image amongst much of the public. This evil, racist image is portrayed in Hotel Babylon through the character of the main immigration officer.

Task 2

Explain how Festinger an be used to explain the popularity of programmes like Hotel Babylon or other similar TV dramas 

As a young person who has been brought up in a modern world with very little stereotyping in it compared to past times. I find the stereotypes in Hotel Babylon ridiculous and find myself resisting to agree with them due to my beliefs and attitudes. This is an example of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance as i am resisting adjusting my attitudes when watching Hotel Babylon due to a lack of overwhelming evidence. The popularity of programmes such as Hotel Babylon, which convey a range of stereotypes, will mostly come from older generations who are seeking confirmation of their stereotypical beliefs. They have different attitudes to ethnicities than young people like me as they were brought up in a more racist and misogynistic world. This is why they enjoy Programmes such as Hotel Babylon more than me as it confirms their beliefs and attitudes. This is an example of Festingers theory of cognitive dissonance and how it explains the popularity of Programmes such as Hotel Babylon.

 

Ethnicity on TV

Ethnicity on TV

Can I identify what ethnicities people are?

Close up

            I can identify that the woman on the right is of African ethnicity due to the colour of her skin. I can identify that the man on the left may be Italian as he has a typically Italian moustache (big) and has a typically Italian job (chef). The woman in the middle I believe could be an immigrant from a European country such as Hungary. 

Are people from different ethnic backgrounds shown as having different interests?

High angle shot followed by a pan shot

The woman above is shown to have typical Asian stereotypes, interests and traits. She is interested in technology as she is on a computer. She is submissive as she is working in a backroom secluded from others. She is also shown as being intelligent as she gathers up all the immigrants and hides all but one successfully. It seems she has been put in charge of hiding them which emphasises her intelligence.

Is there ethnicity represented as being important in their life?

Over the shoulder close up shot

The man shown above is shown to be a black immigrant cleaner and nothing more. This is until it becomes apparent he has medical knowledge and helps a woman suffering from a diabetes attack. Maybe if this man had a different ethnic background he would have more opportunity in life with the knowledge he possesses. He then says “I wasn’t always a cleaner” which implies he previously had a better life situation and job. If his ethnicity was the reason for this then it plays a very important role in his life as it is the cause of a change in career and a life on the run from immigration control.  

Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being better and more powerful than others?

Close up shot

The white woman at reception is shown to have power over every other ethnicity that works at the hotel as she gives them orders. The three immigration officers are all white which emphasises that the white people in the programme have more power over the other ethnicities.

Are people from particular ethnicities portrayed as being weaker and more pathetic than others?

Long shot

The black man above is shown to be more pathetic than the white immigration officers as he attempts to run from them but falls over leading the white men to capture him quickly and with ease. This also shows that the black man is portrayed as weaker than the white men as he puts up a poor fight against them and they over power him easily.

How do other characters in the clip treat the characters from different ethnic backgrounds?

Point of view shot

The white receptionist has authority over the other ethnicities as she gives them orders and treats one of the black men with disrespect in one scene as she says he has a “brain like a siv”. This is shown in the scene above.

What is the message the clip is trying to portray about ethnicity?

Long shot

One of the messages shown in the clip could be that immigrants are a drain on society and steal English people’s jobs as they make up most of the hotel’s staff. It could also be showing that all immigrants are criminals and illegal as they are avoiding the law in the clip.

Analysis of white characters?

Over the shoulder close up shot

The two main white characters in the clip are the ones with the most authority. The main immigration officer is white and could be seen as a racist villain. He also has the most authority over anyone and any person of different ethnicity in the clip. The other white character is the blonde woman at reception, she has authority over the workers of the hotel and is portrayed as strong and the good character in the clip. The roles of these two white characters are typical as white characters are often portrayed as heroes on TV or other times as racist.

JACK ASTILL