Lego Movie

 Wednesday 14th September 2022

Batman

Unikitty

Chewbacka

Superman

Wonderwoman

Dumbledore

Gandalf

Bruce Wayne

Middle Zealand

Green Lantern

Old West

Cloud Coo Coo Land

Middle Zealand

Benny

Han Solo

Linkon

Robin Hood

Ninja Turtles

Shakespeare

Wednesday 21st September 2022

What happens in "The Lego Movie" is - Emmet is an average construction builder, but no one respects him, he does everything he can but he gets ignored and gets told he's boring and average. But some master builders walk into his life and it changes his it all...he finds out he is the special and he saves the day. People finally respect him, and their lives are great. The message is that everyone is special and unique in their own ways. You can do anything you put your mind to.

Some of the cast...

The Lego Movie: Industry Research

LO: To research the process, companies and regulators behind the film industry.

1. In the film industry, what is meant by production, distribution and exhibition?

Production: A studio is in charge of production of a film while a distributor is responsible for releasing films to the public either theatrically or for home viewing. Distribution: refers to the process of distributing a movie to the public, typically to theaters. This is the part of the filmmaking process where the movie can work towards generating revenue. Exhibition: refers to the process of showing movies in theaters to the public.

2. What is a media conglomerate?

The media conglomerate that owns the most media companies is National Amusements. Within its organization are Viacom, CBS, Nickelodeon, and other outlets. Closely following are Disney and Comcast, which also own many media outlets.

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 in the UK?

U Rating

5. Who regulates video games in the UK?

Video game ratings are mandatory under UK law. The Games Rating Authority (GRA) – which is part of the Video Standards Council – rates games using the PEGI system.

6. What rating did they give The Lego Movie video game?

PEGI 7

7. Which two main companies produced The Lego Movie (2014)

Warner Bros. loved Miller and Lord's take on this and they both wrote and directed this, their third film. Following this, they were then asked to also write the script for the upcoming The Flash film. Lin Pictures were the primary production company on The Lego Movie and Warner Bros.

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 Brothers

11. Who regulates advertising content in the UK?

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA)

Wednesday 28th September 2022

Regulation:

1. Classify products (normally by age rating)

2. Ensures content of products meets acceptable standards

Violence

There are lots of fight sequences in which the good characters take on various baddies, including Lego robots and Lego skeletons. The Lego figures kick and punch at each other, while leaping around in fantastical style. Very few of the blows are clearly seen to land and all the action involves toy figures rather than humans. Occasionally the heads of the Lego figures pop off during fights, and one character's head is knocked off by a flying coin but continues to talk to his friends. Other sequences have science fiction space ships and robots shooting laser beams at others, causing explosions and crashes. No one is seen to get hurt and the fact that all the fighting involves animated toy figures means that the fantasy nature of the violence is very clear.

Language

There is some very mild bad language, with uses of 'butt', 'bum', 'darn' and 'heck'.

Advice for consumers

This gets rated a U. It is fantasy violence but not too bad, the video game is PEGI 7.

Regulation Questions:

1. Why is it important for film regulation to exist?

So that people know how bad it is. To protect young and vulnerable people.

2. Can you think of any reasons that people might be against film regulation?

Because they think anyone should be able to watch anything.

Vertical Integration

- Who owns TT Fusion?

Warner Bros

- What does this mean in terms of profits?

Vertical integration, form of business organization in which all stages of production of a good, from the acquisition of raw materials to the retailing of the final product, are controlled by one company.

It increases profits because all the companies work together but most the money goes to Warner Brothers because they did the most of it and they are the biggest company and richest, so they get the most because they're more well known. Where as the others are not as big and rich, so they get less...

Wednesday 5th October 2022

The Lego Movie - Narrative Theory

LO: To explore the narrative & apply narrative theory to The Lego Movie

Postmodernism

- Challenges genre conventions: might be a mixture of many genres; challenge typical character roles etc...

- Pastiche: imitates other texts, humorous take on social/culture

- Hyper-reality: makes the audience aware they are watching a movie

We know that The Lego Movie is a postmodernist film because Epitomizing that have-it-both ways postmodernism: the movie's theme song, “Everything Is Awesome,” an impossibly sunny number sung by Tegan and Sara and Lonely Island that is embraced by Emmet--and which manages to satisfy animation audiences' need for infectious synth-pop and simultaneously

1. Equilibrium: everything in the film world is normal (not necessarily good, but it is normal)

2. Disruption: something happens (usually caused by the film's main antagonist) to disrupt normal life

  

Narrative Stage:

1. Emmet's life is normal and he has no idea that Lord Business is bad, he seems to be living his normal life for example; Emmet is getting ready for work

2. The disruption is when Lord Business tries to make Taco Tuesday a distraction to super glue everyone and everything so it's perfect

The Hero: Emmet and Wyldstyle because they are the main 2 throughout the whole movie. They work together and from the beginning, they met each other and stay together

The Villain: Lord Business because he wants everything to be perfect and he won't let people be themselves, he wants everything to be just right

The Donor: Vitruvius

The Helper: Wyldstyle/Batman

The Princess: Wyldstyle

The Princess' Father: Vitrivius

The Dispatcher: Vitrivius

Wednesday 12th October 2022

Lego Movie: Target Audience

LO: To identify the target audience using demographics & psychographics

How it appeals to the audience:

- Young kids who play with Lego would like this movie because it is made out of Lego, they would love to see it come to life.

- Parents that liked Lego when they were younger would like this movie because it could seem nostalgic and would maybe like to go back to their childhood.

- Young adult cinema goers would like this movie because they would see the voice actors and want to see it. They also might like the characters that they know from other movies, for example; Batman, Ninja Turtles, Harry Potter etc...They might also like the fact that it's a comedy.

- This will appeal to all genders because of characters, actors, genres etc...

Guardian

What are the building blocks of success? - It is not only just for kids, it's also made for adults.

What did Lego do right? - They brought in creators that were good with teenager movies as well as kids movies so it pleases both ages ranges.

How has it laid the foundations for future success? - As the children grow up, they may feel nostalgic feelings for it & bring it up to their children.

Zesty

How has it got heart? - It needs to analyse; and if it’s a film, it needs to make people feel. And to this end, with an emotive storyline that explores the meaning of love, partnership and humanity, The Lego Movie does what it needs to do.

How is it all about 'you'? - The result is a resonance that drills the brand into a deep level of our psyche that’s rarely visited by commercial content.

How does it show that it knows it's audience? - A healthy dose of slapstick for the kids, cultural savvy for the teens, and scathing yet hilarious social commentary for the grown-ups.

On August 8, 2022, Dan Lin revealed that a third film of the series titled The Lego Movie 3 is in development. Lin promises that the creative team has "reinvented" the LEGO world for the third film, but it does not yet have a release date.

Wednesday 2nd November 2022

Warner Bros made their logo made out of Lego because it had more of an effect on the movie and made it all Lego

Equilibrium: Watching tv, following instructions, getting ready and going to work

Disruption: Put to sleep if you don't work - Kragle

Recognition of disruption: Emmet realises what Lord Business says

Attempt to solve disruption: All the fighting sequences

The equilibrium and disruption need to be solved quickly so that they have more time to show action scenes - to excite people

Camerawork: It shows different places so it shows the different scenes they go to

Sound: The dialogue helps the audience understand what is going on in the scene - tells us the story. Shows excitement

Editing: Cuts get quicker and slower to make it more exciting

Mise-en-scene: Bright colour pallet - happy and attracts younger children

Wednesday 9th November 2022

TASK: Explain how The Lego Movie trailer uses TWO elements of media language to target different audiences

One element used in The Lego Movie trailer is sound. This is shown by the music, dialogue and much more. When the music changes to loud and sometimes intense, you can tell that the scene is going to be intense itself. If it was slow, sad or romantic music, it could be a romantic scene or a sad scene where you would really have to observe and reflect.

Another element is camerawork. They use close up shots to once again, sometimes show intensity. If it's a mid-shot, it could tell us that the characters could be saying something, whereas if it was long shot or medium long shot, the character could be doing something, maybe even talking as well.

Video Game

LO: To explain vertical integration benefits companies; to analyse using uses & gratification theory

- The game developers of The Lego Movie game are TT Games, TT Fusion and Traveller's Tales

- The people that published the game was Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

- It was released on the 7th February 2014

- The game genre is action adventure

- The platforms it was released on is: Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation®3, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®Vita, Wii U™, 3DS™ and PC

- The game modes it has are: Architecture, Batman™,  BOOST, BrickHeadz, Brick Sketches™, City, Classic, Creator 3-in-1

       The First Movie

     The First Game

- Profit maximised - increases potential audiences

- Familiarity - brand, plot & characters known

- Extends pleasure of film

- Cross promotion

Uses & Gratifications

The trailer gives entertainment because there are small clips of the film so people will become interested in it, then they will go see the movie. For social interaction at the end of the trailer they show kids enjoying the video game so teenagers would want to go see it with their friends.

Wednesday 16th November 2022

LO: To explain the effectiveness of the campaign; to analyse the representations on the poster campaign

Poster Campaign

The denotations of this movie poster are:

- Batman

- A blue background of the stormy sky

- Planes

- Tall buildings

- Buildings on fire

- Fog and mist

The connotations of this movie poster are:

- They give the fact that it's dark - possibly night time

- Batman is standing at the front which shows it's a movie about him

- The lighting could be linked to the movie 'The Dark Knight'

- The fog shows it is dark and gloomy - this could also suggest that it is scary or action

The context that an audience could bring is:

- The word "knight" proves he's the good guy

"The Lego Movie Video game" is constructed and made to attract younger children, since it's made from lego, the age range would most likely be 7 - 14 years. It was made to be a sort of game that would make people want to play because it is made from lego. It was released a week before the movie so that more people would wanna watch the movie after playing the video game.

It shows the different characters in the background from all sorts of different movies so that it pulls more people in to play the game and watch the movie. For example if they look closely, it shows Batman. It also shows Lord Business which is an original character, but since he looks mad & in the sky, this could show that he is the villain. Whereas Emmet is in the front and smiling as if he's the good guy. This shows even though Emmet is a normal construction man, even the most average characters can be hero's too!

Wyldstyle in the back could show that she is also good, since they both have smile's on their faces and they're together. Bad cop is in the back, this could mean he could be good or bad...which later on, you find out he's bad then good. Vitruvius is also a little bit behind Emmet, once again this could prove he's good, you can also tell this because Lord Business' colours are red symbolising evil, whereas Vitruvius' clothes are white which would usually symbolise goodness. Emmet is holding a wrench, apart from the fact he's a construction worker, it could also show that he could possibly be a master builder. Could also mean you build things - considering you build with lego. Emmet symbolises building/lego because he's a normal builder and a master builder.

Wednesday 23rd November 2022

Genre

In The Lego Movie poster, there is an image of Lord Business' robots and machines. This is counted as sci-fi because they are technical characters. They are made by Lord Business and seem brand new unlike Benny which was apart of the Lego sets in the 80s which creates a nostalgia for the adults.

But characters like the heroes; Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman etc...They are old characters and can create a nostalgic feeling for the adults as they would most likely recognise them straight away.

The sort of fantasy characters like UniKitty is also fairly new so it would not create a nostalgia. But still finding new characters like this can be amusing and mesmerising to adults and younger children. The poster would appeal to all sorts of ages, as it is available for all. Young children would like it because of the fantasy - UniKitty. There would also be some adults because once again, the whole idea of Lego could create a nostalgic view.

The poster could also appeal to teenagers because it could be something some people used to (or still do) own. They also might like the whole idea of the Lego and mix of super heroes & all the other interesting characters they might find. The different use of voice actors could also bring people in. The whole nostalgic and fun idea of The LM is a great idea and can attract all ages because there is something for everyone.

Wednesday 30th November 2022

Dirt Tasks

1.) Use accurate spelling, punctuation & grammar.

2.) Explain WHY certain elements of Media Language appeal to the TA.

3.) Use the PEEL chain to structure your analysis.

4.) Use CONNOTATIONS to explain the appeal.

In The Lego Movie, one connotation to describe why younger children would want to watch it is the colour pallet. The colour pallet is fun & colourful - which could be why it is so amusing for the children. It seems to be very interesting for the kids. It is once again appealing to the children for the characters - the characters are from different movies (mainly kids/teens movies) for example; Batman, Ninja Turtles etc... There might be some of their favourite characters could be in the movie so they want to see it.

Representation

LO: To analyse the representations throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign

WyldStyle is stereotypical because of the way she looks, dresses, her hair and make-up. She is also not stereotypical because she is not scared, she's wearing black and she is quite like a tomboy. But she is also presented as a side kick. When she gets first presented, she's driving a bike that she made and fighting. There is soft, feminine focus around her - stereotypical.

Wednesday 7th December 2022

Representation

LO: To analyse the representations throughout The Lego Movie promotional campaign

Roadman

Name: Josh Adams

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Skin tone: White

Sexuality: Straight

Chav

Name: Ebony Estes

Gender: Female

Age: 15

Skin tone: Tan

Sexuality: Straight

"Weird" Nerd

Name: Nathanial Roth

Gender: Male

Age: 15

Skin tone: Mixed

Sexuality: Bisexual

Disability: Autistic

Emo

Name: Carley Lawson

Gender: Female

Age: 14

Skin tone: Pale white

Sexuality: Lesbian

Disability: Dyslexic

An "average" person

Name: Mark Douglas

Gender: Male

Age: 14

Skin tone: Black

Sexuality: Straight

Wylde is stereotypical and not at the same time - she has pink and blue in her hair but she wears black so she is not seem as really girly, she can when its a close up of her, the focus goes soft and the music turns delicate. She is a master builder and she wants to be the special/chosen one. She seems to be into the hero - Batman to Emmet. She is seen as young - she has no wrinkles. But she has makeup on which is stereotypical as a woman.

Wednesday 4th January 2023

Film: UK Regulator: BBFC

TV & Radio: Ofcom

Advertising: ASA

Magazines & Newspapers: IPSO & Impress

Videogames: GRA

Wednesday 18th January 2023

Dirt

LO: To review and reflect on the unit assessment and set personal targets.

For Q6 I need to find and revise on who produced and distributed The Lego Movie in more detail.

For Q7 I need to understand more of what vertical integration is and what it does to help.

For Q8 I need to try and get higher marks by explaining more.

For Q9 I need to once again, try and get more marks by understanding and explaining more.

Vertical integration is the business arrangement in which a company controls different stages along the supply chain. Instead of relying on external suppliers, the company strives to bring processes in-house to have better control over the production process. If the electronics company decides to purchase the supplier to reduce manufacturing costs and streamline its operations, the acquisition would be an example of vertical integration. Forward vertical integration occurs when a business takes control of another that operates at a later stage in the supply chain. Diversification occurs when businesses in unrelated markets join through a takeover or merger. This enables businesses to spread their risk over a wider range of products and services.

The Lego Movie was made to be fun and enjoyable for all ages and when they made the adverts and posters, they knew what would attract what ages. They made the posters quite stereotypical because they made the characters mostly male. The female character was a hero but also kind of like a side kick but she was also quite a tomboy but sometimes she was feminine. Emmet is a construction worker which is stereotypically a males job. But also in Lego Movies, builders are stereotypically a background character. Lord Business is seen on the poster as a powerful, angry man. As usually the villains are angry, it's not often you see a happy villain. Vitruvius is a wise male character, which could also be stereotypical by the males being the smart ones.

Monday 4th December 2023

Film - BBFC

TV and Radio - Ofcom

Advertising - ASA

Magazines and Newspapers - IPSO

Video games - Video standard council

Target audience - family

Young kids who play with lego

Parents who used to play with lego

Teens or young cinema goers (15 - 25)

Uses and gratifications - audience

P - personal identity - who they are (if they relate too a character)

I - information - the things we understand and get from the info in the movie (things it's about)

E - entertainment - enjoyment of escaping 'the real world' and enjoying the movie

S - social interaction - talk about it, play the game, etc...

Intertextuality - Batman

Stereotypes - Emmet is a construction worker and Wyldstyle has pink and blue and wears make-up

Video game

P - choosing a character (over 90 characters)

I - more info about characters and the movie

E - looks fun and lots is going on

S - you can play with friends and have a good time - mixed genders game

Ad break - British heart Foundation, Confused.com, BT Broadband, Premiere Inn, actual Lego movie trailer, characters between each break

Q7

- Tt Fusion

- Build up 

- Profit

- Awards

- Merchandise

- Money

- Promotes movie