Secret Cinema

Secret Cinema. Tell No One.

Secret cinema is an interactive film experience company - focused on creating 'experiences' based around popular films.

Elements of the storyline of a film are bled into the event itself before the film is actually screened, and attendees are instructed to dress to a specified attire to create an even more interactive happening.

Screening of 'Lawrence of Arabia'

Film screenings include:

• Back To The Future
• The Shawshank Redemption
• Prometheus
• The Red Shoes
• One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest
• Bugsy Malone
• Alien
• Ghost Busters

I can imagine that this appeals to their audience for similar reasons as events like Comic Con - a sense of community between those passionate about the same thing. This therefore brings people together and allows not just an immersive cinema experience, but also offers fruitful social encounters with people of similar taste.

Screening of 'Alien'

The company also adds mystery and intrigue to the whole endeavour by not specifying which film will be shown when tickets are bought, creating even more excitement to an already enthralling event.

RUSH

RUSH - a Working Title film

Set against the sexy, glamorous golden age of Formula 1 racing in the 1970s, the film is based on the true story of a great sporting rivalry between handsome English playboy James Hunt (Hemsworth), and his methodical, brilliant opponent, Austrian driver Niki Lauda (Bruhl). The story follows their distinctly different personal styles on and off the track, their loves and the astonishing 1976 season in which both drivers were willing to risk everything to become world champion in a sport with no margin for error: if you make a mistake, you die.
- Written by P. Morgan (Source)

The Trailer

Production Technique

The advert consists mainly of shots that last only for a second or two, making it seem a lot more fast paced (links to the subject of racing).  Jump cuts are used in the higher tension sequences, such as at ~1:22-1:28, and blackouts and fades often juxtapose these.  A descending sub-bass SFX also gives the viewer a sense of foreboding and doom just before the crash occurs.

The camera also jumps to a shot in line of the crashing car, designed to make those watching jump and become, yet more uncomfortable.  The fades (1:29-1:32) along with a distorted lens (1:34) allow a dreamlike quality to the sequence, as though the viewer themselves also had been involved in the crash, and the 'clanking' SFX at the end of the advert relate to what it may sound like in a malfunctioning car - adding an even more immersive dimension to the experience.
(More on production here, all credit to Ian Failes and FXGuide.)





Marketing and Mainstream Appeal
Rush was packaged to appeal to a large amount of people in a number of ways, including:

• Rush, being about racing, already has a very large, very established fan base.  Knowing that a large % of these people will go see the film, they already had a safety net in the case of the film not doing as well as assumed with a mainstream audience.
• Working Title already had tested the waters with the racing scene, by previously releasing a lower budget film of a similar topic (Senna, 2010 - link to IMDB here), which was successful with a budget far less than $10m, and generating nearly $12m.
• The main actor, Chris Hemsworth, was also extremely relevant after jumping to Hollywood stardom off the back of the Avengers movie.
• James Hunt, the main protagonist is portrayed as an upper class, aristocracy character.  This is generally seen as the British stereotype, which other countries seem to love - by doing this it draws in viewers from other cultures.
• By adding a sub-plot between the characters James and Suzy, fans of romance films and not just racing fans are catered to, allowing for a larger spectrum of potential viewers.

A Brief Introduction to Working Title Films

Working Title Films

(ANALYSIS OF THE RUSH TRAILER HERE)

Working Title is a British film production company based in London and owned by Universal Studios.

Founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983, the company went on to be bought by PolyGram in 1992, then by Universal (a Seagram company) in 1998, and finally Seagram was bought by Vivendi in 2000.
Working Title has produced many successful films, including;

• Notting Hill
• Burn After Reading
• Bridget Jones's Diary
• The Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz & The World's End)

Working Title aim to make films imbued with European ideas and influences for a worldwide audience.

There is no other film company like Working Title, as it is allowed creative freedom but is owned by a conglomerate

They produce 4 - 5 films each year;

• 1 'risk free' film
• 2 mainstream films
• 2 projects they feel passionately about

"They have been listed as the most powerful figures in the British industry and in 2002 Premiere magazine put them at 41st in the world-wide movie power list."

(BBC News (2004)

Introductions

Introduction

Hi there, I'm Sam Glover and this is my AS Media blog - enjoy!