Compare ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘HONEYTRAP, in terms of PDME (the film chain)

Compare ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ and ‘HONEYTRAP, in terms of PDME (the film chain)

Jessica Taylor

‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is a film, produced by Marvel studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is based on the Marvel comics of the same name, about a group of ‘space criminals’ who gang together to defeat the evil Ronan the Accuser. By converting an already famous comic strip series into a film, Guardians of the Galaxy already has an audience, of avid fans of the series and others that may be curious as to how they have converted the art into real life. Marvel’s target audience is often teen to young adults, and mostly males. Although the female interest in comic books has increased rapidly over the past decade. This is due to a steady stream of other comic books that have been converted to films (e.g. Captain America and the Spiderman trilogy) and television shows such a Gotham and Arrow.

The cast also bring in an even wider audience. Zoe Saldana, who plays Gamora, and eventually the lead’s romantic interest, has appeared in many high budget sci-fi films such as Star Trek and Avatar. Because of this, audiences already know of her talents. She and her other female cast-mate Karen Gillan are conventionally attractive, which may be another reason that people may be attracted to the film. Chris Pratt, before Guardians of the Galaxy, was well known for his comedic role on ‘Parks and Recreation’. As this role revolved around jokes about his weight and ‘laziness’, people became intrigued as to how he would play the lead, Peter Quill. Quill is a very confident man, and also knows how to fight. Other famous people included in the cast are Bradley Cooper, Vin Diesel and Lee Pace. By having such a famous cast, people are almost already convinced that the film will be of a high standard.

The production budget of this film was $170 million. This came from the production companies, who are among some of the richest in the world. After massive success, the domestic total as of November 2^nd 2014 was $329, 390. 224. Added with other countries it was shown in, altogether the worldwide box office total was $765, 090, 224. It was shown in over 4,000 cinemas for over 15 weeks.

To promote the film, the cast went on a ‘worldwide press tour’. This involved appearing on as many chat shows as possible, in as many countries as they could. This would allow the cast to generate fans as well as the film. They could answer any questions about the film, which ranged from how Chris Pratt lost weight for the role to how Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel found voice acting. All of the interviews were very light-hearted, which fit the film’s target audience – pre-teens towards young adults. The film was rated as a PG-13, as it contained swearing and violence.

‘HONEYTRAP’ is based on a young girl, who has recently moved to London, who is stuck in a love triangle. Caught up in a fantasy world of popularity and fame, she makes a tragic decision that changes hers and everyone else’s life drastically.  It was produced by Sarah Sulick (well known for her work on ‘The Waiting Room’). It was also written and directed by Rebecca Johnson, who has directed many popular short films, such as ‘Top Girl’ and ‘Electric’.

The director of HONEYTRAP is well known for her use of young, local people in her work. This is because of her extensive work in many youth charities, hoping to get the best out of today’s youth, and keeping them out of trouble. The cast of HONEYTRAP aren’t known globally, unlike the Guardians of the Galaxy cast, and are home-grown. The main character, Layla, is played by Jessica Sula, mostly known for her role of Violet in Skins – a gritty teenage drama. Because of this and her young age of 20, teenagers can relate to her. She is also half Trinidadian, which adds authenticity to her character, who has just arrived from Trinidad to England. Another major cast member is Lucien Laviscount. He is best known for his role in Waterloo Road – another gritty teenage drama. Because of this, he is recognised by fans, who will be encouraged to watch the film. However, the majority of the cast are new to filming and acting. This is one of Johnson’s priorities, as she believes that they can build from the chances they get from her.

Are you aged 17-25 and living in Lambeth and interested in being trainees on HONEYTRAP? Fierce Productions are recruiting 15 trainees for the film shoot this summer. To be clear: these are not paid roles. This is an opportunity for you to learn and be trained and mentored by film industry professionals'

- Advertising for Honeytrap crew - June 2013 (found on http://markgordonpalmer.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/honeytrap-2014-london-film-festival.html )

The British Film Institute donated Johnson money to write the script, and gain a wider outlook into the life of young people, living in South London. The ‘Walcot Foundation’ also donated money. They are an ‘independent grant-making foundation’ and their goal is to ‘break cycles of financial deprivation for people living in Lambeth.’ This allowed Johnson’s choice to give 30 young people a chance to be involved in something that could change their lives around. Money was also crowd funded – donated by avid fans. This allowed the film to be able to be shown in cinemas, and is due to be released in early 2015. This can be compared to ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’, as, in regards to finance, they are so different.

The director did most promotion around the London area. She promoted the film over local radio stations, allowing the film to only be advertised to people in London. Also, at the BFI London Film Festival, one of the screenings was in Brixton, where the film was based and filmed in. However, the film was also shown in locations internationally such as film festivals in Rotterdam and Los Angeles, which shows an attempt to gain viewers worldwide, which is what Guardians of the Galaxy set out to do.