Sequels Blog 5

Block buster films have changed the way films are marketed, produced and received. Marketing has changed because film makers realized that they could make more money off of block buster films by selling toys related to the film and creating sequels. I think block buster films have taken originality out of films; most of the movies we see now are sequels. They didn’t just create one sequel and stop they kept making sequels because if the previous film was good then people wanted to see the sequel hoping that it would be just as good. To me, some movies would have been better if sequels were not made of them; some movies are great but the sequel of them brings down the reputation of the original.
Movies like Ironman attract large audiences because of the fact that he is a superhero, the movie is based on a comic book and the special effects and technology in the film are amazing. Children want all the toys that come out so more and more are made. When the sales of toys and the interest start to fade a sequel is released with new characters introduced so new toys can be made. When there is a chance for additional sales and more money then usually the chance is taken and with movie sequels and toys there has been a lot of money made.
Of course after seeing how well American film sequels are doing foreign film makers begin to think that it is a good idea and start making sequels of their own. Sequels for the most part are easy they can stick with pretty much the same storyline and characters and just add some new stuff and make it interesting. Since audiences have already seen and liked the first film it wouldn’t be too difficult to get them to watch the sequel. The downside with sequels is that movies tend to make too many sequels.
After making so many sequels the audiences start to get bored of the movies. Saw ended up having six sequels and after the first one the others didn’t seem very good. The acting isn’t as good and the storyline becomes predictable; I think the only reason it was still getting audiences to watch was because of the gore in the film. Another movie that, to me, got ruined by sequels was The Matrix. The first Matrix was good, there was a lot of action and a good storyline but the sequels ruined it.
I think Hollywood needs to stay away from sequels, maybe one or two sequels is okay but when there starts to be six sequels the movie just gets ruined and people start to lose interest. I personally like to see new movies and new techniques like film makers used to do with films not sequel after sequel. Sequels are making Hollywood repetitive and movies are losing originality. Movies are starting to get boring and predictable and audiences want to go see a movie that they love that’s something new not the same thing that came out last year with better effects.

Post Classical Blog 4

Post classical film, according to Wikipedia, refers to a time period between the mid 1960’s and early 1980’s when a generation of young filmmakers came to America. The arrival of the young filmmakers influenced the types of films that were produced, the way they were marketed and the way studios approached filmmaking. Post classical film, or new Hollywood was also referred to as the Hollywood renaissance because of the fact that it was the filmmaking movement where several new ideas and styles changed the film industry.
After the war people started having a lot of babies, they were known as the baby boomers. The baby boomers started reaching movie going age in the 1960’s and 1970’s. This turned out to be a problem for Hollywood because the new age people were not interested in American films; they were more interested in Europe and Japan’s art films. Hollywood needed to get the attention of this age group so they hired young filmmakers and basically let them make the films they wanted to make with as little studio control as possible. It seems like American cinema was beginning to face a financial downfall because it’s youth were not interested in the films being made so this was their attempt to save themselves.
According to www.mvla.net this new generation of filmmakers were film school educated and young which meant that they knew what America’s youth was interested in and could get back the audience that Hollywood was losing. The new generation brought more art to the films and spiced them up with realism, rock music and sexuality. One of the most popular films of this time was Bonnie and Clyde because it was a hit with America’s youth due to the fact that it was funny, and it had violence and sex. Sex seemed to catch the interest of young people, the film Midnight Cowboy which was rated X received an academy award for best picture.
The “new age” however came to an end with the release of Steven Spielberg’s Jaws and George Lucas’s Star Wars. When these movies were released they both were extremely successful and Hollywood realized that by selling toys, soundtracks and making sequels they could make much more money off of these types of films rather than by the films by the new era filmmakers.
I think that the new age film developed styles of films for young people and those types of films, although they are more graphic and sexual than ever, still attract the majority of young people and still are successful. Maybe the release of big blockbusters like Jaws and Star Wars were more successful but I think that the new age brought about new styles of film that are more common and viewed by young people today as much as ever. Not every film that is released can be a blockbuster but the sexual comedy still attracts the teenager or young adult looking for a laugh.