Star Wars: The Force Awakens Questions

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

1. Lucasfilm is owned by Walt Disney Studios and in 2012 was acquired by The Walt Disney Company too.

2. Lucasfilm was formed by George Lucas.

3. It was founded in 1971.
4.

5. Lucasfilm has also worked on the Indiana Jones franchise and the Star Wars franchise.

6. Lucasfilm was sold for $4.05 billion in 2012.

7. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was written by Lawrence Kasdan, J. J. Abrams and Michael Arndt.

8. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was directed by J.J. Abrams.

9. J.J. Abrams is also responsible for directing Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible III and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. He has also written and/or produced Regarding Henry, Forever Young, Armageddon, Cloverfield and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

10. There has been seven Star Wars films. The fist one of the original trilogy is episode IV - A New Hope and episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, episode VI - Return Of The Jedi. In the prequel trilogy, there is episode I - The Phantom Menace, episode II - Attack of The Clones and episode III - Revenge of The Sith. And the latest film is episode VII - The Force Awakens.

11. In total, all the Star Wars films have made $6,479,600,000.

12. The first Star Wars film, A New Hope, was released 25th May 1977.

13. ILM stands for Industrial Light and Magic.

14. ILM is an American motion picture visual effects company. It is part of the film production company, Lucasfilm.  

15. ILM was created by George Lucas in May 1975.

16. ILM was created when Lucas began creating Star Wars. In the 1980s ILM was the leading industry standard production house for computer graphics in film.

17. Casting directors hold auditions for actors and then with other casting staff choose the actor most suited for the role. The casting director is in charge of the other casting staff.

18. The first scenes of Star Wars the force Awakens was filmed in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

19. Star Wars: The Force Awakens was shot on IMAX format.

20. The cameras used to film a sequence in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was 35mm and 65mm
IMAX cameras.

21. Pinewood Studios was used to film most of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

22. Pinewood Studios is in Buckinghamshire, England, UK.

23. A major franchise famously films at Pinewood Studios is James Bond.

24. James Bond is linked to Star wars: The Force Awakens as they are both films which have been around since the mid 1900s. These films have turned into franchises, with a huge world fan base and major attraction. These films are both based on books and comics. Also Daniel Craig, AKA James Bond had a cameo as a Storm Trooper.

25. J.J. Abrams' English teacher, Rose Gilbert is the inspiration for Maz Kanata.

26. The technology used to portray Maz Kanata is mouth motion capture to see how the actresses face moves as she talks, to be realistic. Also motion capture body double was used to copy her body movements. This was used along with CGI.

27. Maz Kanata is portrayed by Lupita Nyong'o, who is also famous for playing Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, which she won 6 awards for.

28. General Snoke is played by Andy Serkis.

29. Andy Serkis is known for creating The Imaginarium Studios, and for directing, acting, doing voice overs and being an author. he has worked on Star Wars, King Kong, Dawn of the planet of the apes, and many more.

30. The final scene of the film was filmed in Ireland, on an island called Skellig Michael.

31. John Williams has composed the scores for all the Star Wars films.

32. John Williams has composed music for all the Star Wars films from 1977 to 2015. This is a total of 7 Star Wars films.

33. John Williams has also created music for famous film such as Jaws, Indiana Jones, Home Alone, Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Harry Potter and many more.

34. John Bodega auditioned 9 times for the film.

35. Casting occurred around August 2013, after alterations to the script it then occurred around January 2014. The official cast was announced on the 29th April 2014.

36. B-B8 was operated by 2 people, Dave Chapman and Brian Herring, they where the puppeteers. B-B8 was also operated like a robot by a controller.

37. The main version of B-B8 was controlled by puppeteers, sometimes using a remote controlled robot.

38. B-B8's operator wore a green suit.

39. They had to wear a green suit so they could blend into the green screens and so they can be edited out.

40. J.J. Abrams usually used effects actually there when filming such as puppets and green screens.

41.

42. Simon Pegg was in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Unkar Plutt.

43. IMAX is an acronym for Image Maximum. It is a motion picture film format and a set of cinema projection standards.

44.

45. The age rating for this film is a 12A.


46. The British government gave Disney £31 million from UK taxman. Which is around $39 million.

47. Harrison Ford was apparently paid between $10 million-20 million to reprise his role as Han Solo. 

48. Daisy Ridley and John Boyega were apparently paid between $100,000 - $300,000.

Stereotypes

Stereotypes

Task 1: Perkins 5 assumptions 

1) Stereotypes are not always negative.

In Hotel Babylon, stereotypes are not always shown as negative. One example of this is a black male cleaner, who is actually qualified as a doctor. He is portrayed as uneducated and less well-off, because of his job and ethnicity. This shows that as an audience, assumptions were made which don't portray him as an educated, clever doctor. This is a positive stereotype as he is actually something better than the audience expects.

2) Not always about minority groups or the less powerful.

This is shown in Hotel Babylon, as there are still stereotypes about white people, even though they are the majority. One example of this is the blonde woman on reception, who owns the hotel. She is an intelligent, educated and powerful woman, but is still portrayed as a 'dumb blonde'. When talking to the police she mentions a code to another employee, which makes the audience believe she has too many things going on in her head and she is unorganised. When actually she is trying to buy time to help hide the immigrants.

3) Can be held about one's own group

White people are seen as the racist, upper class, richer people in Hotel Babylon. The police and immigration officers are portrayed and represented as racist as that is their job, they are meant to be seen as the 'baddies' and the 'ugly' characters. As white people are seen as the majority, they are portrayed to attack the minority, which is black people. They have different stereotypes to black people, but still about their image, ethnicity and class. In Hotel Babylon white people are still stereotyped as the bossy, rich and racist members of society.

4) Not rigid or unchanging
Attitudes have changed towards people of a different ethnicity. For example, stereotypes are no longer as racist, such as the black cleaner in Hotel Babylon, just being an uneducated cleaner, not a doctor. People's attitudes and outlook to people of a different ethnicity has changed and aren't so rigid. Now people are seen as equal, no matter what their skin colour is or their backgrounds. The stereotypes towards white people has also changed, blonde women are no longer seen as 'dumb' or 'just a pretty face'. One example of changing stereotypes in Hotel Babylon is the Asian woman who helps the immigrants. Her stereotype is that she is kind and intelligent, however, when a cleaner faints she is unsure on what to do, and doesn't understand when the man gives her sugar. This is a changing stereotype as now she is seen as 'dumb' and 'incapable'. 

5) Not always false
One example of a stereotype that isn't always false is that the 'baddies' are portrayed as a middle-aged white man. This is often the case for the 'baddies' as they aren't likable and are 'ugly'. This shows that in other TV dramas or films the bad people are offers shown as white men. This is representing them as having more power and being disliked by many people from different likeable ethnicities. There is a conflict between the different ethnicity groups in Hotel Babylon. There is also this type of conflict in real life and other TV dramas and films. It is common as people can seem racist or prejudice towards each other. These stereotypes aren't always false if they are based on a real situation or issue. 

Task 2

Leon Festinger can be used to explain why TV shows such as Hotel Babylon are popular. Cognitive dissonance is when people try to avoid changing their beliefs unless they are faced with a clear and overwhelming amount of evidence against it. This shows that people want confirmation of their beliefs and thoughts. This is related to Hotel Babylon as the audience will watch this TV show and see evidence of discrimination and racism towards the black and Asian ethnicities. This will make the audience change their beliefs about the different ethnicities, as they will see it is wrong to be prejudice, racist and to discriminate. 

TV Drama Representation- Ethnicity

TV Drama Representation - Ethnicity

There are a number of different ethnicities in the shot. These are all the workers of Hotel Babylon, who all have a range of ethnicities including White people, Black people, Asian people and immigrants. A wider shot is used here to show how the immigrants are staying together to stay safe. Also that the drama is diverse and accommodating. All these people are hiding to avoid the immigration police as they will be taken away otherwise. This shows unity how the group is protecting each other. This shot is as tracking shot to show all the characters, this then zooms into the middle character as she faints and falls to the floor. This creates drama and a serious emotion. 

Many of the people in the show are from different ethnic backgrounds, with different interests, personalities and behaviour. For example the woman in the shot is from an Asian background, who is shown on a computer working. Stereotypically this means she is a hard worker and interested in technology. Her attitude is kind and caring as she runs to help hide the immigrants, she reassures the other employees that everything will be OK. Later in the clip she is seen more angry at the police who is taking a worker away. There is another woman who is white with blonde hair and very well dressed. She is the owner or manager as she tells an employee a code word which sets off the chain reaction of hiding the immigrants. She is wealthy looking and someone who doesn't do much labour work. This shot is an establishing shot and high angle to show the female working alone in her office, on a computer and using technology as this is a typical stereotype. It is zoomed out to show her office and to set the scene of what work she is doing and what is around her in her office.

There is character who shows how important his ethnicity is to him by having a picture of his family from home in traditional clothing in his locker. This is the man who is taken away by the police, and the photo is found by the Asian female who helped hide the other immigrants. His ethnicity is important to him as he keeps a picture of his family. He could be sending ,only back home, to try to allow his whole family to have a better life. He tried to run away from the police but was caught, meaning he could be taken back to his home country and face death.  This close up shot shows how his ethnicity means a lot to him whilst working in another country. This draws attention to the photo of his family back home, to express how they will be feeling. This is also a typical stereotype of a black man, firstly his job is cleaning in a hotel, which is low paid, which implies he is poor. Also that he has a photo of his family in traditional dress which is bright, this implies he is from a tribe. 

White people are portrayed as better or richer than the people from other ethnicities. There is a white woman who is a manager or owner of the hotel. She is well dressed and intelligent as when the immigration police arrives she warns other workers to go and protect the immigrants. The police are also all white, which implies they are superior or 'in charge' of people of other ethnicities. The police are also stood in a triangle to show authority and make an impact when they catch the immigrant. This is much different from the immigrants who are black people and white people, who are the workers. These people do the labour work and are risking their lives by working for the white people. This is a mid shot, which shows the white police before they take the immigrant. They are stood in a triangle to create impact and by showing the black worker in the foreground of the shot the audience can see he is unaware that the police are here. This also could imply that the white ethnicity is more intelligent than the black ethnicity as they are one step ahead of him.

The Asian female is portrayed as kind and caring, but also weaker as she didn't understand why one of the immigrants had fainted. A female immigrant passed out when hiding and a cleaner gave her some jam as she was diabetic. The Asian woman didn't understand why he was doing this or that he was also a doctor, or knew first aid. Which shows how the black man was portrayed as someone with little or no skills as he was a cleaner. When in fact he has medical knowledge but can't use this as he is an immigrant and doesn't have the opportunity to have a better job .This is also arrogant of her as she assumes he is just a cleaner. She is then also very submissive, which is another stereotype. This shot shows the Asian woman zoomed in to show it is intense, dangerous and dramatic. 

The white female who owns the hotel or manages it, is in charge of all the staff. When the police arrives she tells another worker, a black man, the code and tell him to go and sort the staff out. She then tells the police he has a 'brain like a sieve' which implies he isn't good at his job, is unreliable or is at a disadvantage. Also, there is a black man who is cleaning when the police arrive, which meant he didn't get a chance to hide. However, no one went to warn him or distract the police, as they didn't want to give away their hiding place or risk being seen. This gives the impression that it was better to let him be caught than to risk any others being arrested. This shot shows the woman in charge telling the clack employee a code to warn the immigrants to hide. It is a close up to shower emotions and that it is a dramatic moment.

The message this clip is trying to portray is that people with different ethnic backgrounds can still work together, have friendships and protect and help each other. These immigrants where working in the hotel illegally, but the hotel allowed them to work as they knew the needed protection. There was a number of different ethnicities in their clip, including white people, black people, Asian people and many immigrants. It is clear that everyone's ethnicity is very important to them as they risk being deported back home. All the employees work together to stay safe together, this is an important message as all the workers are scared of being sent home to possibly death. It is the hotel's job to ensure all workers are safe and well. Within the different backgrounds people have different religious beliefs. One example of this is shown below where two workers who hid from the police are now safe and praying that their colleague is safe and paying their respects to him. This shot is zoomed out and wide, panning over to the main characters of the scene, after showing the background of the scene.

The white-British characters are portrayed as the intelligent owners and managers, whist some other white immigrants are workers doing labour work. A small number of black workers do higher paid jobs, and when they do their boss is a white- British person. There is a difference to the black workers who do mostly labour work, compared to the white- British workers who do the higher paid jobs. The 'baddies' are also white-British, this implies that people have split opinions about helping immigrants, even if it is breaking the law. This shows the higher paid, more respected workers telling another employee about the police. This is a zoomed in shot to show the urgency and importance of the situation. 

Representations

Representations

Mainstream

I think I belong to the group Mainstream, as a Townie. I enjoy high street fashion such as Topshop, Urban Outfitters and Zara, which all have similar clothing which will mean I blend in with everyone else. The clothes are fashionable and up to date, but this means many other people have them as it is a well-known place to shop for teenagers.  I really enjoy listening to music, my favourite songs to listen to are currently in the charts and artists such as Justin Bieber, Bebe Rexha and The Chainsmokers. Most people know and like these artists, however, I also love to listen to The 1975 and Twenty-One Pilots. I also like bands which aren't as popular, for example, Viola Beach. I enjoy spending my Saturday nights watching shows such as The X Factor and I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, but, I also like spending nights out with my friends. I try to keep up to date with fashion trends and media influencers, but I wouldn't say I'm fashion forward. I'm friends with people interested in similar things and different things to me, some are from other tribes too. I don't like to stand out, and prefer to go with the flow of other people. 
I wouldn't say any celebrities are similar to me, however I would consider myself similar to celebrities as i like fashion, makeup and following current trends. However, I wouldn't say I'm similar to a specific celebrity. My favourite make up brands are Benefit and Charlotte Tilbury, so I model myself from their images and use their products. I follow most trends from Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat. These are also my favourite apps. I see pictures on these apps of celebrities I like, and people I don't know to see what is in and how to do hair, make up or styling. I do this to be up-to-date and to fit in with the current style.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens research

Star Wars: The Force Awakens research

Producers:

J.J Abrams
Bryan Burk
Kathleen Kennedy

Production companies:

Lucasfilm Ltd.
Bad Robot Productions

Director:

J.J Abrams

Screenwriter:

J.J Abrams
George Lucas
Lawrence Kasdan

Actors:

John Boyega

Gwendoline Christie
Harrison Ford
Mark Hamill
Dasiy Ridley
Domhnall Gleeson
Adam Driver
Carrie Fisher
Oscar Isaac
Lupita Nyong'o

Budget:

$200 Million

Locations:

England, UK
Ireland
Scotland, UK
United Arab Emirates
United States of America

Greenlight date:

On the 30th of October 2012 a new film was announced in the Star Wars trilogy. This was done after Disney bought Lucasfilm from George Lucas for $4.05 Billion.

Screens shown on:

In the opening weekend Star wars made $247,966,675.

Critical reaction:

Rotten Tomatoes scored it 92%, or 8.2/10.  332 people said it was 'fresh' and 28 said it was 'rotten'.
The audience scored it 89% and the average rating was 4.3/5.
Metacritic scored it 81 based on 52 critics. The user scored it 6.9 based on 6030 ratings.

Box Office figures:

Domestic lifetime gross is $936,662,225.
Foreign lifetime gross is $1,131,561,399. 
The worldwide lifetime gross is $2,068,223,624.
The total gross in China is $124,159,138.

Music:

The music was composed by John Williams, who also was involved in all other six Star Wars films.

Marketing:

In November 2014 Lucasfilm released an 88 second teaser trailer, and in December Abrams and Kennedy released eight mock Topps trading cards, which released seven character's names. In April 2015 another teaser trailer was released, which was 2 minuets long. In October 2015 a third trailer was released, and in November a Japanese trailer was released. There where also posters and art work made to be published.

Tie-in products:

Fans can buy clothing, toys, games, figures, books and more from Disney stores and from other retailers around the world.

Special effects:

J.J Abrams wanted to film as much as he could in-camera. This meant building big sets, big models and using paintings. This was to ensure it didn't stand out from the other Star Wars films in the prequel. CGI was also used in the film when needed. 

Still Image 

High key lighting is used with highlights to show it is daytime. This is also used to show the two characters at the front are more important than the others in the background, who are less visible. Highlights are used to make it look realistic as it is a bright sunny day. The lighting is artificial as the windows in the bus show nothing but light, but in real life we would see the road, other cars and people. 

The décor of the bus is set out to look like a 90s American bus. The interior of the bus is basic and plain, to look realistic and to keep the audience’s attention on the characters. Some props are seen such as posters, which help the audience to see the characters are on a bus. There are no landscapes or buildings seen. 

The colours used in this still image are dull and very brown-based. The male’s clothing is dirty and worn out. Whereas the female’s clothing is clean and smart. The male is wearing a back bulletproof vest, which stands out against his white and grey t-shirt. This grabs the audiences attention as the bold colours are opposite. The quality of the colours dull, as the colours in the image aren't bright or eye catching, but more like everyday clothes. 

Film Production

Film Production:




Key Roles:




Writer- Has a deep understanding of stories, plots and narrative, as well as being able to understand how the audience is affected by the film. They are familiar with current formats for presenting screenplays and are able to demonstrate creative imagination. Screenwriters bring the characters to life. They also provide the blueprint for the creative input of the producer, director, cast and crew, production designer and the composer and editor.





Producer- Has had experience for working in the film industry, a good business sense and a good understanding of finance. The producer must have a good creative vision, who is good at motivating people, negotiating and problem-solving. The producer has most of the control over the whole film, they bring it all together and approve the whole production team. The key responsibility of theirs is to create an environment to show off the cast and crew. They are responsible for the success of the film and take it from beginning to end.
 




Casting Director- Organises the casting of Actors, for all the roles in the film. They arrange and hold interviews/ auditions, negotiate fees and contracts for the Actors who get the role. The casting director must also work with the director and Producer to understand their requirements. The Casting Directors must have a broad knowledge of cinema and Actors, as well as have an interest in the theatre and stage actors. They must also know basic ways to operate a camera, such as focus and framing. They must also be computer literate and good at communicating.





Director- Must be the driving force in a film's production, by visualising and defining the style and structure of the film, and then bring it to life. They do casting, script editing, shot composition and editing. Also, they must remain the key link between the production, technical and creative teams. Directors are responsible for translating the creative side of the film's script into moving images and sounds on screen. They are responsible for the  film's artistic and commercial success or failure.




Financial Controller-Manages all the finances of the company or large production. They prepare budgets, manage cashflows, accounting and taxation and raising finances. They are also the ones who oversee the whole accounting team. This job is challenging and financial controllers usually help producers and Executive producers. Together they prepare budgets and raise finances, remembering Government tax Incentive schemes.




Camera Operator- Prepares and operates the camera, along with all the equipment. They work along side the Director of Photography, so the correct style is achieved. Also, they manage other camera department staff and communicate with actors. Camera operators carry out the director of photography's and the director's instructions for shot composition and the development. Usually, they are the first people to see how the performance, art direction, lighting, composition and the camera movement come together to form the overall film.




Editors- Work very closely to the director to create the finished film, they work in an editing suite, often for a long amount of time. The editor will run a team of assistants and trainees for bigger productions or companies. This role is key in the Head of Department features. The editor will carefully choose and edit shots so the film flows throughout.




Production Designer- Their job is to manage all visual aspects of the film, they work with the director and producer to create a budget and schedule. Production designers also direct the team who is responsible for sets and costume etc. They are part of the main heads of department on film crews, they are also responsible for the entire art department. Their role also includes helping directors, so the look and feel of the film is correct to the director and producer.




Marketing- Their role includes taking care of the planning and marketing campaigns. Their main responsibility is to convince the public that the film is one they want to see. They then target potential audiences whilst the film is being released, this is when the audiences interest will be most high. After it has been released, they increase promotion to gain a larger audience.




Exhibition-Showing films in cinemas is the biggest source of income for a film. Other methods of creating a bigger audience or profit is a premier in the UK or USA. This will draw a wider audience and will increase advertising, meaning more people are likely to hear about the film and want to see it. The film is then given to the cinemas who show the film. The cinemas is given films when it has been decided what is likely to be popular and what people want to see.

5X5

Five favourite songs:

Closer- The Chainsmokers- DJ duo- This song is featuring Halsey and is my current favourite song.

UGH! - The 1975- These are my favourite band and this is my favourite song off their latest album. It was released as a single in late 2015.

Tear in My Heart- Twenty-One Pilots- This song is from their album Blurryface, which was released in May 2015.

Love Yourself- Justin Bieber- This is from Justin’s album Purpose, which was released in November 2015.

Boys That Sing- Viola Beach- This is in my top five as it would have been a really good song to hear live, especially at a festival.

Five favourite albums:

Sounds Good Feels Good- 5 Seconds of Summer- This album has so many good songs to hear live and on vinyl.

Purpose- Justin Bieber- This album has a number of great songs, and a combination of ballads and dance songs.

I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It- The 1975- This is my favourite album currently as it has a combination of ballads and songs to dance to. All the songs on this album sound great live and on vinyl too.

Coming Up for Air- Kodaline- This album is one of my favourites as it is rock and indie, it has a number of songs which sound great live.

1989- Taylor Swift- This album has so many good songs.

 

Five favourite films:

Back to the Future- This film has a really good soundtrack.

Jersey Boys- This film has so many sing-a-long songs which I love, and it’s an interesting story.

Grease- This is a classic family film and the songs are really good too.

21 Jump Street- I love this film as it has a good storyline and the characters are really funny.

Now You See Me-  This film is really clever and fast paced which is why I like it.

Five favourite TV shows:

Friends- This is one of the best TV shows and is my all-time favourite.

Glee- Is a really good TV show as it has lots of covers of songs from all different iconic times.

Death in Paradise- This is a really good TV show as it is about deaths on a Caribbean Island, it has a great cast too.

The Graham Norton Show- I like this as he always has a great line up of celebrities to go on his show, and a good singer to perform.

American Crime Story-The People Vs O.J. Simpson- I loved this show was it told the story of the real O.J. Simpson case. Plus, one of my favourite actors David Schwimmer played Robert Kardashian.

Five favourite Actor/ Actress:

David Schwimmer- Is one of my favourite actors as he is so good at every role he takes on. He is mostly well-Known for playing Ross on Friends, but he was also voiced Melman in Madagascar and played Robert Kardashian in The People Vs O.J. Simpson.

Michael J. Fox- Is in my favourite film, Back to The Future. He has also been in other films and TV shows.

Jennifer Aniston-Is one of my favourite actresses, she has been in a number of films and TV shows, but is mainly known for playing Rachel Green in Friends.

Jennifer Lawrence- Is well-Known for playing Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games Trilogy. She also went on to be in many films.

Will Smith- Is an actor famous for playing Will in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, who also went on to be in many films.