Romantic Melodrama Based on a Womans Life - Movie Review Example

?Film Project: A romantic Melodrama Based on a Woman’s Life “Now Voyager” is an American movie, made in 1942, based on Olive Higgin’s novel of the same name (2013:1). Summary: The story deals with an unattractive woman whose life is controlled by her abusing mother, who abuses her to such an extent that she starts to lose her emotional stability. To stop to this, her sister in law introduces her to a psychiatrist who transforms her into an attractive and smart lady with self-confidence to fight against her mother. Set in the modern society, the story focuses on a woman’s struggle for existence in a dominating family. The cast of this film includes Bette Davis, Paul Heneried, Claude Rains, Gladdys Cooper, Iika Chase, Mary wickes, John Loader, James Rennie, Bonita Garnville and Lee Patrick. The film was produced by Hal B Wallis and directed by Irving Rapper, based on a screenplay by Olive Higgins and Casey Robinson, and adapted on a novel by the former. The film has become a classic apart from being a box office hit. It has a very touching story and theme that attracts UK audience. Now Voyager focuses on the efforts of a depressed child to get freedom from her repressive mother. The movie highlights on her love affair with a Euro American married man, and how she takes care of the depressed teenage daughter of this man. Bettie Davis plays Charlotte Vale, the protagonist, an unattractive, plump unmarried lady, living with her mother, who regularly abuses her. Charlotte’s sister-in-law, Lisa, takes her to Dr. Jaquith, who suggests she spends time in a sanatorium. She recovers quickly and transforms into an attractive woman. Lisa suggests she go on a cruise and take a vacation. On the ship she meets Jeremiah Duvaux Durrance, played by Paul Henreid, a wealthy married man. He is travelling with his two friends and they tell her about his devotion towards his daughter Christine. She also gets to know that his daughter is the only reason why he does not want to get a divorce. Jeremiah’s wife is a hard hearted, self-centred, greedy woman who wants her husband to work hard so that he can earn more. The protagonist and Jeremiah become close friend. The story takes a turn when they are stranded in Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro and the couple falls in love. Charlotte finally returns to her home, her family is stunned by her transformation. Although her mother tries to control her, Charlotte’s self confidence and Jerry’s love give her strength. She then gets engaged to a wealthy widower named Elliot Livingston. However, she breaks off her engagement when she meets Jerry again. As a result, her mother gets angry and eventually dies of heart attack. Her mother’s death makes her feel guilty and she returns to the sanatorium. She is then diverted from her problems when she meets Christene (Tina). She gets interested in Tina and when she recovers, and takes her to her home. Jerry feels happy to see the change in his daughter. Understanding the relationship between Jerry and Charlotte, Dr. Jaquith allows her to keep Tina. Charlotte considers this to be a gift and speaks the famous dialogue ‘Oh, Jerry don’t let’s ask for moon, we have the stars,’ which is a top movie quote. Now Voyager has won three Academy Awards for Best Background Score, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. The main idea behind this movie is to connect with the audience emotionally. The most important thing to work on a remake is the cast as it has to be strong as in the original movie. The story can be enhanced in a way that the basic theme remains same, but the elements of romance and drama are increased, thus making the film more suitable for the current audience. Changing the location and settings is important if the target audience is from UK. It will be a big budget movie considering the cast, crew and location, thus the best screen play writers as well as a good production team is required. There are some well known Hollywood distributors who can get good marketing strategy for the film. In order to reach the goal, distributors need to plan the campaign early based on the reports for other films. In this case, title promotion is not required as it is not a sequel movie, but is a remake. In order to spread awareness early, there should be a one minute trailer for the film, which essentially focuses on the core of the movie. Another option is to get some good images from the movie and release it on all social websites. The promotion must be done six or nine months before the release. For this film, the distributors must select the best theatres of UK for free screening, which can bring in more audience. From the point of view of distributors, it is important that the movie is marketed through sources like- online ads, large billboards, subway ads and theatrical ads. The distributers have to generate awareness about the movie among the audience and organise campaigns like audience segmentation to popularise the movie. Gaining industry attention as well as generating good audience attention must be done with concrete planning. Now Voyager will be suitable for both teenagers and adults. Optimist productions have always been known for their quality work and are one of the main contributors to the entertainment industry in UK. It is important for them to have an appropriate marketing plan. The plan should be to approach the audience with mind blowing trailers in order to evoke anticipation in their minds. To compete with other production houses the company needs to put in some extra efforts and do something different. In order to reach the main goal, it is important to attract investors for the project. The shareholders have already been requested for an extra investment of ?100,000 in order for the company’s development. This will include cost of copyright, salaries for the staff and funding screenplay writers. They have planned to develop the scripts in-house and all the funding will also be done within the company. After the completion of the film, it is estimated that the production budget will be between ?3-4 million. In the coming years, the company has planned to develop more film projects. New Voyager will be an entirely different project, as it has to be remade based on the present scenario. As the company does not have any permanent actors, it requires hiring an apt cast for the proposed project. The company might also require investing more on marketing, as these days the marketing cost is higher than the cost of film making. The requirement might vary from film to film. Potential funding sources are important for the production, thus, they should look for appropriate funding sources like profits from other business, loans, selling products, sponsorship or doing some fund raising program. Rather than going behind some movie studios for the purpose of funding, it is better to rely on loans and personal funding. Exchange deals are recommendable, which work with the give and take policy, like relying on a funding source for the production and paying back the affordable amount of profit. Screenplay of the movie is another significant factor to get reliable funding for the film. The elements in the screenplay are the deciding factors to generate interest among the funding sources or sponsors. As an emerging company, the main goal is to reach the target audience in an effective way. For this, it is best to have a head start with a good film, which will pave the way for further film production. That is why this film needs to be a box office hit. In order for the film to be a success and beat the competitors, there is a need for good promotion. The film highlights the mental trauma of a child, thus this dramatic element can be increased, and more suspense as well as romance can be added to the film. However, it should be noted that the film does not lose its essence, but with the additions should become more appealing to the modern audience. If this turns out be a blockbuster then the company will try to produce two films within the next year. The modern audience expects something new from the film industry. Thus, the main cast members must advertise for the promotion of the movie prior to its release. The company has some tie ups with some of the popular Hollywood film distributors and most of them are the driving force behind major films. This being the company’s first venture they want best result out of it. Marketing and promotion will also be done accordingly. As planned the company is ready to spend a considerable amount for international sales. The strategies involve reaching out to the masses using various sources of advertisement and promotion like social media, online sites, print media and television ads. The proposed investment by the company will cover the cost of storyboards, lighting, music, sound, videos, trailers as well as the presentation. In the coming six months the company will set up a new film production department for new projects with new staffs and producers. Now Voyager was a huge hit back when it was first released, thus, once the movie is fully developed it will surely gain more attention of the movie goers in UK. As online social sites are quite popular among the present generation, providing movie trailers through online sites will help to expand the target audience. The company has already gathered the data of audience in response for a movie in the past ten years. According to a researched data it is found that British audience like American themed movies more than their own cinema. UK movies are believed to be a disaster in box-office (Phillips 12). Online video trailers are quite popular and a huge investment is made to achieve its success. The company does not expect much from the American audience, but it better if the movie receives response from them too. Video on demand, trailers, film billboards, advertisement etc will surely be great sources of income for the company. Therefore, they must welcome shareholders to invest for better returns. Social media has changed the meaning of film promotion and is easy and affordable. Advertising a movie will not be possible without knowing the vibes of the targeted audience. As the UK audience desperately waits for something fresh and new, the remake will give the people a good movie experience. Therefore, they must upload the movie trailer on all leading social sites. This will also gain international audience and will be helpful for marketing. An effective campaign for the movie will be gained only through effective online presence. Income is a key factor for any movie production. These days production houses spend millions on developing a movie. It is believed that one third of the amount spend on film making is also spent on its marketing. (2012:1). Understanding and analyzing the views of the audience is important. The movie need to be unique, different and should have an x-factor to make people talk about that. As mentioned earlier if this movie is being the key attraction should be the stars. As the above mentioned movie talks more about relationship and emotions, it must be find a best substitute for Betty Davis, who played the protagonist. When film industry in UK is busy making films on science and technology, this fictional drama will definitely attract movie-goers. The date of release is important for the investors as well as for the movie. If the trailer and promotional campaign are successful, it will attract massive presence of audience on the first day of its release. If the marketing campaign goes well it will definitely sell the movie on the opening weekend. Advertising campaign will bring the movie into the public eyes. The campaign must have concrete elements to motivate the audience to watch the film. Film marketing is usually done through advertisements, social media, billboards and television. (2013:1). If the movie is a box office hit on the opening weekend the credit goes to campaign and marketing. Most of the people generally turn to watch movie in the second week. Movie lovers usually check for movie reviews. Movies do not run for more than five weeks. The production must have to get the best income within this period. Television is one of the popular and easy medium to reach the audience. These days, trailers are distributed freely on popular movie websites. Images of the movie on books, bags, T-shirts and accessories is a popular way to attract the audience Often distributors suggests for change in film scenes to make it a success, this usually based on previews from the trailer. In these circumstances there might have conflict of ideas between the production team and distributor. However, a company can opt for promotional tours showing clippings from the movie in business or social events. Usually movie stars, producers and directors go for promotional tours. Giving interviews, music release, CD release, etc contribute to the success of the movie. The study of audience is also quite important to know the strength of the movie to run in UK theatres. However, response varies from movie to movie. If the response is convincing, there is no risk for the movie to fail in box office. Optimistic Productions has a decade experience in various entertainment areas. Now when the company has decided to venture in film production, it has to bring forward the strategies in larger aspect. It is good to go with a remake for the first production. Now Voyager is a vintage movie and if the story is remade in the present scenario, the audience will surely have an idea about their forthcoming productions. The story indeed has a strong baseline which can touch the audience heart. The characters in the movie are strong enough to bring out the real feel. As no movie has been made recently with such a strong theme, this movie will attract audience. We have already conveyed the message to our investors about our strategy and expect positive result. If this movie clicks we will bring exciting and entertaining feature films for the UK audience. Although new staffs need to be recruited for campaigning and advertisement, we initially have existing staffs who are working on the pre development of our venture. We plan to bring huge amount for the movie production and marketing to transform the movie into a complete entertainment. Our company has always respected UK audience and believed that the industry lacks some good films. With the announcing of new film production department we will bring the best movies for the people of UK. We are also looking forward to our global audience for their response. Pre production plans are already going on and with good investment in advertising we plan to reach every single audience of UK. The above mentioned movie has a very convincing story and it will be an awful experience if we remake some vintage movies for our present generation. The movie will be remade without loosing its essence so that the audience. We welcome all those who are keen to be a part of this development. As we have already announced for extra investment from our shareholders. We expect to get good profit to enhance our future plans. Reference List 2013. Now, Voyager (1942). USA: Leonard Maltin Classic Movie Guide, pp.1. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from 2013. Now, Voyager (1942). Movieclips,Inc., pp.1. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from < http://movieclips.com/Y4rAV-now-voyager-movie-videos/ > Phillips, P. Film and Audience. U.K.: Film Education, pp-1-33. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from < http://www.medienabc.org/page32/files/page32_6.pdf.> 2012.Earning Potential of movie Marketing and Distribution. Movie Marketing Madness, pp.1. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from 2013. The Science behind Advertising Techniques and Movie Marketing. Movie Markrting Madness, pp.1. Retrieved October 25, 2013, from < http://www.moviemarketingmadness.com/2013/06/02/the-science-behind-advertising-techniques-of-movie-marketing/> Read More