Induction Tasks

Jurassic World

A films success is measured by gross made in the opening weekend, the gross from the worldwide opening, and the total gross worldwide. Jurassic World was a very successful film setting a new record for the highest-grossing worldwide opening of any film in history, making $511.8million. It also became number 3 on the global box office total list with the worldwide gross total being $1.522billion, overtaking The Avengers.

Being made a part of a much loved franchise, many fans of the Jurassic Park trilogy were expected to go and see the next film in the Jurassic series so success was already expected for the film. Many people were already excited about seeing Jurassic World so it was expected to be a hit, being a part of a much loved franchise, but the Jurassic team gave the film an extra push by allowing 3D and IMAX showings of the film to encourage even more people to see it therefore adding to the film’s success. However some people believe that showing the film in 3D didn’t really add to its success as some people said that the 3D effects were not brilliant which put other people off of watching it in 3D.

Another major factor believed to be a part of the film’s success was main actor Chris Pratt, who *already had two previous successful leading roles in Guardians of the Galaxy and the Lego Movie. His part in the film encouraged people to watch Jurassic World who were fans of his acting roles in the other two previous films. However, other people may suggest that having only a couple previous leading roles meant that he was not actually that well known so his part in the leading role was not really a factor in the films huge success compared to if they had used a more well-known actor for the leading part.

Also believed to have added to the film’s success was the animation and special effects in the film. Since the Jurassic Park films technology has come a long way, as has computer animation and special effects. Many people believe the animation and special effects in Jurassic World were brilliant and that the dinosaurs and the setting were very realistic which meant that the film was a huge success. However some people believe that the animation is not really considered a factor in the film’s success compared to the storyline because a film should not be considered a success unless it has a decent storyline, which is very important considering some people believed that the film was lacking a solid storyline but made up for this greatly with the animation and effects so without the great animation the film would not have been as big a success.

Media-hype is also considered one of the main factor towards the film’s success as technology now allows for advertising to be accessed everywhere, on social media and news and internet adverts which means that more people are reached to advertise the film to and also if one person writes about the film it has a domino effect so all of their friends see it on social media and then their friends can and so on. With a big budget of $150million they had the money to advertise the film everywhere and arrange interviews to get more people hyped up about going to see it which they managed to do with their full media coverage. The media-hype played a major role in the film’s success compared to the Jurassic Park film where things such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube didn’t exist so advertising in the media was to a minimum compared to now. 

Southpaw

My favourite film this summer was Southpaw. Southpaw is about a famous undefeated boxer named Billy Hope who turns to trainer Tick Willis to help him get his life back on track after losing his wife in a tragic accident and his daughter to child protection services.

At the start of the film he has everything. The film begins with him preparing for a championship fight, the fight started with him not doing very well but you soon realise that he enjoys the pain and he uses it to make himself stronger when he wins the final round and yet again becomes champion. As he is doing an interview about the fight when another rival boxer who he has yet to fight challenges him and riles Hope up by saying rude comments about him and his wife. A few days later Hope and his wife go to a charity convention where Billy Hope gives a speech about his childhood living in the child protection services system. As they are leaving the come across the rival boxer again who insults Hope and his wife. Hopes crew and the rival’s crew begin fighting. Then one of the rival’s crew pulls out a gun and shoots which hits Hopes wife who then dies.

He becomes very depressed, is drunk nearly 24/7, and takes drugs to deal with his pain. At the same time neglecting his daughter’s presence who is looked after by her nanny the majority of this time. We watch a distressing scene where hope is shown crying to a picture of his wife and holding a gun. He then leaves the house on the hunt for revenge on the man who killed his wife but doesn’t find him. He drives home drunk and high on drugs and crashes his car into a tree, then whilst injured makes his way into his house and passes out where his daughter finds him and cries for help. After he is treated in hospital he has to go to a court hearing about his daughter, his daughter is taken away from him and put under child protection services and he is told he has to have no alcohol or drugs and get a suitable living place and income and there will be another hearing in 30 days.

He finds a small, cheap apartment and gets a job as a cleaner at a training centre. Eventually Tick Wills, the owner of the gym, agrees to train Billy Hope again so that he can get back into the routine of fighting. His ex-manager approaches him and tells him about a fighting deal with the rival boxer. Billy Hope agrees and he continues to train for the big fight whilst slowly repairing his relationship with his daughter. In the end he becomes victorious and wins the fight against his rival and becomes the champion once more. The film ends with his daughter holding his hand saying lets go home.

I enjoyed this film because there were lots of fighting scenes which I particularly enjoy watching. They were also very realistic which makes it more believable and better to watch. I also enjoyed it because I felt a connection with the main character Billy Hope. The film is about how he loses everything and has to fight to get through it to be strong again. There were many scenes I found quite upsetting, as I could relate to certain things which made me enjoy the film more.