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 2nd
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.
