So this is gonna be first the post in which i scrutinize the making/production of a hollywood movie... theres nothing really "big" or recent what i really enjoyed so i've been stuck on what to do it on - but i've chosen "Sex and the city" the movie.
Lead 4 Roles:
Sarah Jessica Parker - Carrie Bradshaw
Cynthia Nixon - Miranda Hobbs
Kristin Davis - Charlotte York Goldenblatt
Kim Catrall - Samantha Jones
"And we were dressed from head to toe in love... the only label that never goes out of style."
Websites used:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_and_the_City_(film)
http://www.hollywood.com/movie/Sex_and_the_City/4230151
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1000774/
http://www.google.com
www.moviemarketingmadness.com
So let's start with the basics:
Theatrical Release: 30/5/2008
Director: Michael Patrick King
Studio: New Line Cinema
Production companies: HBO productions + Darren Star Productions
Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance/Adaptation
Length: 145 minutes
Rating in UK : 15
Reported Budget: $65 million
Writers :
Candace Bushnell - Source material
Michael Patrick King - Screenplay
Darren Star - Characters as source material
Primary filming location:
Mainly in Manhattan, but some beach shots were filmed in California aswell as some hotel shots.
Sountrack production:
Released on May 27 2008 by New Line Records, it debuted at #2 in Americas Billboard top 200, the highest debut for a multi-artist theatrical film soundtrack since 2005's Get Rich or Die Tryin', and debuting at #6 on the UK Albums Chart, selling to date more than 55,000 copies.
Box Office Performance:
"The film has experienced commercial success. Opening in 3,285 theaters, the film made $26.93 million in the US and Canada on its first day. The three-day opening weekend total was $57,038,404, aggregating $17,363 per theater. The film recorded the biggest opening ever for an R-rated comedy and for a romantic comedy, and also for a film starring a woman. As of October, 2008, the film has grossed $152,619,616 at the US and Canadian box office, and $256,274,667 in other markets, bringing the worldwide total gross revenue to $408,921,925." (probably alot higher now!)
Advertisement:
Overall i couldn't find much online which spoke of the amount of money or effort put into the marketing of this movie. I believe that this is because after the series of Sex and the city, fans were left somewhat wanting more from the four characters that they've spent the past 6 series watching. After initian plans to make a follow up movie straight away were scrapped, there was nothing but speculation as to whether a sex and the city movie would ever be made. But now, four years after the end of the series it was made. The amount of people who had been waiting for years for this moment couldn't believe it was actually here, leading to people going to see the movie because they were fans of the series, just to see whether it reached their expectations, and alot of male audience members were probably dragged along by their partners or female friends. Also the introduction of a black person filling a dominant role in the movie gave the wider and certainly different demographic of a black audience, a chance to identify solely to a main character in which; was a pre-dominant white casted show during the series.
Later on I found an article online which tells of New Line Cinemas partnerships with other companis which led to certain products being used and promoted in the movie; all ultimately which would appeal to a female demographic. Heres the article:
http://www.christonium.com/fashion/ItemID=12057909163163
(RANDOM FACTS)
Based on the autobiographical newspaper columns written by Candace Bushnell, the TV series Sex and the City debuted on HBO on June 6, 1998. The series’ six season run ended with the final episode airing in 2004. The film picks up four years after the end of the series.
Costume Designer Patricia Field had to come up with 80 costumes for Sarah Jessica Parker for Sex and the City: The Movie, and more than 300 changes overall amongst the four main characters. Commenting on Field’s work, Sarah Jessica Parker said, “Pat Field is indispensable. We could not continue to tell the story without her, period. Her ideas, the breaking of the rules, is infectious.
Candice Bergen(the miserable old 50+ woman from the series) who reprises her role as a Vogue editor in the feature film, first met writer/director Michael Patrick King when they worked together on Bergen’s series, Murphy Brown.
According to a report in Entertainment Weekly, neither the series nor the movie ever accepted money for product placement.
Filming on the streets of New York was a bit of a logistical nightmare for the cast and crew as hundreds of fans would show up to watch the action. Assistant director Bettiann Fishman was given the job of keeping the crowds entertained and out of the way of the production.
African Americans felt that they weren't represented enough in the series, which led to Jennifer Hudson being casted as Carrie's assistant.
LOL - the director originally wanted a padel which just had "69" on it, which anyone who had watched the series would know that it would've gone well with Samanthas chracter. But as it wasnt available they had to settle with 969.
I also found this small article explaining that the majority of people that would be going to see this movie would be women: (bit obvious though)
http://gawker.com/tag/lady-business/?i=393348&t=shocking-statistics--mostly-women-plan-to-see-sex-and-the-city#cshocking-statistics--mostly-women-plan-to-see-sex-and-the-city
Posters
Trailers/Advertisements
On youtube i found a three part "Making of Sex And The City Movie"
Here it is!
Part One:
Part Two:
Part Three:
Public Criticism/Reviews
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/film/article3919749.ece
(Two stars out of five!)
It's good to take note that the person reviewing the movie was male(Will Pavia). Will thought that the movie was "stretched", and even compares it to a luxury meal that just gets too much to handle once youve had enough. The things that he felt felt were a downside of the movie; didn't seem to bother the rest of the audience (who were pre-dominantly female) whilst watching the film.
He acknowledges the fact that the way he feels is probably because he's male, which also links in with alot of people mosconceptions about the main audience for this movie. Because primarily, Sex and the city is about and targeted at WOMEN. Womens issues and lives are explored, and whilst the protagonists partners play a big part in shaping the narrative, the focus is constantly on the women. (and incidentally what they're wearing, or who they're fucking, or who they're not fucking)
Which does kind of put forth that alot of typical male reviewers who would rather a strong acting piece of film which confronts issues to a "classy trash" piece like Sex and the city. Whereas alot of women baske in the notion of being able to escape from reality and long for the $1000 shoes that Carrie's wearing or the sexy underwear model that samantha's having sex with. A female audience is more than likely to identify with the characters even though the women on screen aren't that "real". All women would love to be able to throw money at they're problems and live a glamourous easy-going life in the city. But the reality of it is, most women who go to the cinema don't have lives like that. But all in all it comes down to your preferences; if you're interested in fashion in the slightest, or the promiscuity and harships of womens lives then you'd probably love Sex and the city!
Mark Kermode confronts the issue of "Boys not liking" the SATC movie, and even describes it as "having a handbag where its heart is". This short frank review of it puts across his reasons for describing it as "crap"
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2008/06/sex_lies_and_merchandise.html
Marketing continued
The marketing for this film was pre-dominantly towards women, almost to the fact that the over-glamorousness and focus upon fashion almost turns men away from wanting to see the film. The marketing campaign was about selling a lifestyle to the audience(communicated via the teaser and theatrical posters and their glamourous setting) , albeit it was an aspiraional lifestyle for the majority of audiences.
The online marketing was done mainly by the official website:
http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/
Which now focuses upon the movies DVD release and encourages you to buy the dvd with a slogan saying "Get Carried Away, BUY NOW"
Playing on Carries' name.
The soundtrack button allows you to listen to only one song, which is Fergies "Labels Or Love". This was probably an incentive for buyers to actually go and buy the rest of the soundtrack to be able to access all of the songs.
Also it now features a "Win a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes" competition. Yay, you can waste your time and potentially phone bill whilst ringing up and trying to become a normal middle-classed woman so you can walk around in your valour tracksuit and "my shoes are fit" designer shoes. Oh what a glorious age we live in.
The film was also given a myspace page prior to its release, which showed trailers, teaser photos and information about the upcoming movie. But it's been deleted now as the films been out for so long so i cant provide a link.
Cross Promotion
Sex and the city's focus upon fashion and materialism all make this film a prime advocat for big budget companies who wish to advertise their merchandise and products.
One of the cross promotional deals was with car giant "Mercedes". In the film two of their cars were shown the GLK-class SUV and its S-class sedan. Also the fashion week which takes place in the movie is shown to be sponsered by Mercedes-benz.
This video shows an american commercial which links in SEx and the city with a Mercedes car:
I also found out on www.moviemarketingmadness.com that Swarovski provided the decor for the New-york premier, which covered the carpet and decor for the after party in swarovski crystals.
Three drinks companies also jumped on the sex and the city bandwagon, these were:
- Skyy vodka
- Vitamin water
- Bacardi
Vitamin water created a micro site which advertised the movie in favour for some references in the movie. Skyy vodka launched an advertising campaign for the movie, doing online ads, print based ads and created various recipes for its drinks based upon the characters of the movie. And bacardi used the movies launch to help highlight the relase of their silver mango mojito drink, which linked in themes of the movie in with its advertisements.
The movie highlighted the american company "Bag borrow or steal" which works as a somewhat kind of "blockbuster" or rent-outlet for fashion acessories such as handbags and purses. Carries assistant (Jennifer Hudson) says in the movie that she used the company to gain temporary access to a Louis Vuitton bag. Once the company had realised that they were mentioned in the movie, they decided to re-vamp their online layout which featured fashions from the movie for people to potentially lend. All-in-all, sex and the city led "Bag borrow or steal" to gain much publicity!
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