Advantages and Disadvantages in Film Making - Essay Example

Film Making Name Institution Date 1. What advantages and disadvantages are there in making films which combine local Asian themes and Hollywood-style production values? Compare films from TWO countries in your answer. Films that are produced with the combination of local Asian themes and Hollywood style production values have been on the rise in the global film industry. Such a combination involves the inclusion of values from the West when making a film. Rosen (2010, p.2) argue that, Hollywood has affectionately established a huge audience from all races, creeds as well as cultures all over the world. This fulfils its goal of creativity, storytelling, skills and decision making by to executives in the film industry. Making films which combine local Asian themes and Hollywood-style production values come with many advantages. Local film stars become instant pop icons in the local as well as the international film market. These films encourage a wide market both locally and internationally (Jin 2014, p.47). For example, Bollywood in India has been experiencing increases in generation of revenues from their hybrid made films every year. The revenue generation is still expected to rise in the following years. The main advantage in sales revenues that India is enjoying over the United States is that, the prices of ticket is lower in India when compared to U.S. Hollywood generates much more income in India of $51 than in the U.S. It is easy to make profits in the local market where the costs of production are low. For example, in India, a Bollywood film on average costs $ 1.5 million when compared to Hollywood in the U.S that goes for about $ 47.7 million. The cost of marketing these films is also low in the local market. Local actors and actresses work together with pop starts from the west in the making of the film. Therefore, high quality films are produced from diverse knowledge, skills and competencies in the film industry. Making films which combine local Asian themes and Hollywood-style production values shares cultural values in the market. The sharing of cultural values encourages more population all over the world to view these films because of their diversity (Jin 2013, p.1). Comparing India and U.S, Bollywood in India has a wider market all over the world than Hollywood in the United States. Majority of the fans in Pakistan, Nepal, Australia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and countries with large Indo-Pakistani communities, such as United Kingdom, Canada, some parts of East and Southern Africa and also the U.S love Bollywood than Hollywood. The films made using a combination of local Asian themes and Hollywood-style production values is usually more popular in nations that do not have Asian presence. However, there are also advantages that come with making these types of films. Local starts in the film market who are popular may not receive the expected acceptance from the local people. This may hinder their added strength in participating in the film making. For example, this incidence has been experienced in India where the Bollywood starts in the film industry do not receive enough appreciation by the local people. The reason is that, majority of the Indian population do not watch local films. This adds to the disadvantage of meeting the sales target for such movies. The films that are made with the combination of Asian themes as well as Hollywood style production are usually targeted to a high number of viewers by the film makers. These targets may not be met locally when the local population does not view those films. They end up receiving very little income from high quality films. It becomes even very difficult for film makes to cover the gap that exists between the targeted market and the market that is currently using these films. Another contributing factor to the local reception of the films is that, the local people do not go to the movies and have less access to the films. There might be no many cinemas to enable people to go and watch the films. This is evident in India whereby the cinemas are few with only 13,000 compared to the U.S with 40,000. Another problem that is created by making films which combine local Asian themes and Hollywood-style production values is that, a salary discrepancy that is very huge arises between the actors and actresses. Male top stars in the film industry are seen to demand high wages for the making of a single film, while actresses may not make much in the production of one movie. This brings a challenge in incorporating participants in the making of the film, some of whom may feel exploited due to low wages. Most of the times, it becomes very difficult to incorporate the different cultures among actors from different races. It requires high effort of marketing and distribution of the films to the different locations of the world. The cultures may not be compatible and the produced films may not incorporate all of the foreign cultures. Adopting such cultures may demonstrate ambiguity in the local market that may end up being dominated by Hollywood values. The film audiences are also different, for example in India; the film market is determined by young women who are office ladies while in the U.S, most of the movie goers are aged between the ages of eighteen to thirty four years. It is important to make a prediction for the film in cross cultural success and this should not be taken for granted even for markets that are familiar (Rosen 2010, p.6). 2. Hollywood adapts and remakes Asian films as part of its insatiable search for new stories, or for new ways of telling half-familiar stories. But adaptation is also driven by perceptions of the otherness of Asian cultures from Western perspectives and a presumed preference of audiences for localised remakes rather than originals. In an analysis of a pair of films – a source and its remake – demonstrate what constitutes the core cultural differences between the two. Miura (2008, p.1) describe that, the rate of adaptation and remaking of Asian films by Hollywood is alarming. They adapt such films to tell their stories from other cultures. Comparing two films, the original film from Japan known as the Shall We Dansu? 1996 and the remake of it in America known as the Shall We Dance? 2004, there are cultural disparities that can be recognised in the film making process. These two films differ a lot in their values, ideologies as well as social conditions of their cultures respectively. The mail element that distinguishes the original film is the study of a dance in the ballroom. Dancing is considered as a taboo in Japan. It is a shameful activity in Japan. This scenario is given a different approach the remake whereby in America, dancing is a way of expression and should not be taken as a shameful activity. Dancing at the ballroom is not considered a taboo in America and it is a way of expressing romantic emotions (p.2). There is a difference in which the groups influence individual behaviour and gender. In the original film, group solidarity exists differently from the one of America. The reason is that, the political climate in Japan does accommodate philosophies and ideologies that are different and diametrically opposed. In the remake, individualism is valued highly in America to some degree and as a conceptual quality. Groupism in Japan is cyclical whereby children are taught different expectations of behaviour in different stages of life that must be respected and adhered to as they grow up (p.2). Men in Japan are defined by the groups they belong that influences their behaviour to see their value internally that is achieved through the group he is in. Women are brought up to be good wives as well as mothers. Many of the women in Japan are not in the job market as compared to America where many women are working. Marriage is a priority in the Japanese culture but is not a priority in America. In fact, Americans do not bring up their girls to be wives and mothers. Cyclical group trends in America are different from those of Japan. Men are not defined by their groups but by their profession. They are more preoccupied with the ideal that is ever changing norm of masculinity. In America, men are afraid of being failures. It is not a must for women in America to marry. They are no longer tied by social constraints. Women are allowed to have their careers, self sufficient, have many sexual partners and have children out of marriage. The two films demonstrate cultural differences in marriage whereby Americans and Japanese are seen as having huge differences within their emotional out groupings. Americans are usually direct and open enough to express their feelings while Japanese people are seen as indirect and reserved in expressing their feelings. In Japan, their communication is that of a restrained attitude. Cultural norms with regard to marriage are shaped by the attitudes of these two cultures. The remake of the original movies presents marriage in America as the result of romance. The relationship of a wife and a husband in the America is based on romantic love which is mutual which is the primary and central element in a marriage. This film clearly defines the use of rituals by Americans such as giving gifts and kind words for the purpose of strengthening and reconfirming their commitments. This is done especially in the time of holidays and anniversaries. In Japan, the original film presents marriage as non romantic and does not require emotional proposals. Marriage is strictly an institution made for the purpose of bearing children. After getting children, the Japanese culture requires the husband and wife to operate more like parents that a couple. This is a clear indication that, there is no closeness among Japanese couples. Love or talking about love is not an essential element to maintain or sustain a marriage in Japan. The film presents Japanese couple differently from American couples. Japanese couples do not make use of gift and kind words to each other. Affection, love and romance is expressed inwardly by Japanese couples. This is highly influenced by Confucianism and Buddhism. Buddhism requires couples not to seek perfection in a world which is changing; rather, it is important to present perfect love. This kind of reasoning enables Japanese couple to strive in attaining a spiritual bond which is unspoken. Another identifying item of culture between the two films is the norms of marriage. The two films present Americans and Japanese people as sharing characteristics that are similar and are shaped by the family unit connection. Both cultures desire a cohesive unit of a nuclear family consisting of a father, mother and one or two children. To achieve a level of consistency, the two cultures recognise the husband as the sole provider of the family while the wife is in charge of the children and house chores. Both cultures are seen to be driven by the economic stability, comfort and status desires of the family. These desires dictate how the family members spend much time together. In both cultures, husbands are seen to spend most of their time at work. Wives can work part time or full time as they bring up children and take care of house chores. Family members end up spending less time together which encourages divorce in the two cultures. 3. Circulation of popular culture takes another form in film as International co- production, where the production companies involved are from two (or more) different countries. International co-productions are an effective means of expanding the overseas market, but what other advantages do they have? In an examination of two films, explore the cultural implications of co-production, with particular attention to disparate cultural ideologies. A co-production of a film has been experienced in Korea and Japan that help in expressing culture that gives rise to cultural nationalism level. In the two films “The Angels on the Streets and hereafter Angels”, are a good example of well demonstrated desperate cultural ideologies. Korea and Japan has been referred to as one body when it comes to film making due to co-production. Co-production of films has increased the chances of different film industry in different nations start thinking the same (Yecies & Howson 2014, p.1). The dominating nation manifests cultural hegemony over the other. This is evident in the Japanese films that were co-produced by Korean filmmakers. It showed a sense of unity within the two nations and reaffirmed loyalty in the Empire of Japan from Koreans. The two films, Angels on the Streets and hereafter Angels, there is cultural assimilation of Koreans who were drawn close to the Japanese social and cultural practices. The co-production infiltrated the national consciousness which is popular to the Korean people. There innate commonsense was bolstered and replaced with the Japanese good sense. Gender roles were transitioned in the process of assimilating good sense (p.2). Women are marginalised and given the roles of being whores and mothers in the films. The co-production demonstrates a key social as well as cultural mechanism that is aimed at underscoring men interests in the society. The co-production identifies masculinity as the only ideal way that men could think about themselves. Men are also required to defend their own gender and continue the subordination of women. The communities, families as well as individuals were controlled by the mechanism of hegemony. This increased unity among the filmmakers from the two nations (p.2). 4. Cultural similarity and distance are favourably but differently perceived by audiences in East Asia in their consumption of media texts from neighbouring countries. A further step – particularly evident in TV Drama series – is to produce a local remake of such media texts. A remake can be a simple transposition from one setting to another, or it can become an original creative work. Explore the possibility for creative adaptation in selected scenes from a drama series that originated in one country and has been remade in another (or in some cases two or three others). The possibility of creative adaptation in selected scenes from a drama series that originated from one country and has been remade in another is evident in the Hana Yori Dango Manga film. According to Yasumoto (2011, p.5), the Hana Yori Dango Manga film is a comedy which is romantic and formed a basis with which other formats of media started remakes. It is a TV series that appeals both the local and international viewers. It was originally produced in Japan and translated to Japanese soft power and is found to elevate the Japanese status in the receptor regions. Originally, it was a Japanese manga of Hana Yori Dango, it was later adapted to a Japanese TV Drama series, it was remade to a Korean drama series, and later a remake in Taiwanese drama series. The main essence of the story is foregrounding which is the driver for the development. Analysing this TV drama, it portrays a lot of dynamism in the message, the content of the text and the reception of the audience. Soft power of the comedy has been fulfilled in other remakes regionally and internationally (p.6). The Hana Yori Dango has remakes in Japan, Korea as well as Taiwan whereby its original manga text has been transferred to the contents of the TV drama remakes. The specific characteristics of the original manga of Hana Yori Dango are seen in its remakes. This has accounted for the popularity of this comedy in Japan as well as pan-Asia. The original elements of the manga comedy have been retained in the versions that were remade. Salient features of the original production of the manga of Hana Yori Dango have been adapted in its remakes. The adaptations have been modifie culturally for suitability of the audience and allow more accessibility of the adaptation. There is consistency in the texts that are used in the original comedy and its remakes (p.6). The following salient and distinctive features of the original Hana Yori Dango comedy are evident in the remakes. The element of romantisation of the Japanese script is evident in its remakes. The idiomatic expressions used in the original scripts are also evident in its remakes in Japan, Taiwan and Korea. Courage, friendship and stand up elements have been retained in the remakes. Romance is retained in the Taiwan TV drama series while in the Korean TV drama, romance is retained and emphasised. The original comedy demonstrates that everybody has their struggles and lives their lives. This aspect is retained in the remakes of the comedy both in Taiwan and Korea. The TV dramas emphasize on the importance of overcoming adversity in life. To admire their weed like vitality is a concept used in the original comedy to describe string vitality and positive aspiration. This element has been retained partially in the TV drama remake in Taiwan and fully retained in the Korean TV drama. The text “I trampled on Domyoji’s feelings, I must apologize” is a text used to portray cruelty countered by compassion in the original script of the comedy. This has been partially retained in the remake of the TV drama series in Korea and Taiwan. “Not wanting to hurt someone’s feelings” is an idiomatic expression that demonstrates kindness and being considerate of other people’s feelings in the original manga comedy (p.6). This element is retained partially in the Taiwan TV drama and fully in the Koren TV drama. The expression of love is moderately demonstrated in the Japan TV drama and retained assertively in the Taiwan and Korean TV drama series. The demonstration that people are weak in the original comedy in Japan is an element which has been adopted by the remakes of this comedy. The Japan TV drama adopted this element and described people as inherently vulnerable. The remakes in Taiwan and Korea have retained this element partially superficially strong. Supportive friendship is well demonstrated in the original manga comedy which says that, unless someone is behind them, people will break down when something happens. This aspect of people is retained in the remakes of this comedy. A woman is viewed as an ideal person who lives with a positive attitude even if she does not have backing relationships (p.7). This description is evident in the Japan TV drama that describes a woman as a girl with positive aspiration from humble beginning. This element has been retained in the Taiwan and Korean TV drama remakes. These thematic elements of the original Hana Yori Dango are evident in its versions of remakes which can be summarised as including; romance, friendship, overcoming adversity, kindness, vitality, aspiration and courage. The many shared elements in the different adaptations of TV drama presentations is a reflection of cultural proximity. The reason is that, the thematic elements have ot been subjected to modifications of culture in the adapted versions (p.7). References Jin, D, 2013, Hybridity is the New Norm: Korean Cinema in a Global Age, Asia Pacific Memo. pp.1-2. Jin, D, 2014, Blockbuster-ization vs. Copywood：The Nation-State and Cultural Identity in Korean Cinema, University of Illinois at Chicago, pp.47-49. Miura, 2008, A comparative analysis of a Japanese film and its American remake, San Jose State University, pp.1-48. Rosen, S, 2010, Hollywood, Globalization and Film Markets in Asia: Lessons For China? University of Southern California. pp.1-14. Yasumoto, S, 2011, Impact on Soft Power of Cultural Mobility: Japan to East Asia, Media Space, pp. 1-13. Yecies, B. & Howson, R. 2014, The Korean “Cinema of Assimilation” and the Construction of Cultural Hegemony in the Final Years of Japanese Rule, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol.11, Iss.25, pp.1-11. Read More