In this essay I am going to be writing about a film director. I will be discussing the director’s early life, I will also be referring to their social and professional background to give you an insight into his current life. I will then go onto talk about how these issues have influenced his films. I will then address the characteristics within the director’s films. I will then report on three of the director’s films, I will talk about both the producer and productions companies role in the marketing and advertising process. I will then talk about the films successes in comparison with each other and discuss why one film has favoured the other. I will then go onto talk about the films critical acclaim, talking about how critics have perceived the films. The director I have chosen focus on is John Singleton.
John Singleton is an African American director who has also wrote the majority of his films. His most recent work has been producing other Directors films such as Franc Reyes’s ‘Illegal Tender’ and Craig Brewer’s ‘Black Snake Moan’. Singleton grew up in a destitute area of Los Angeles and was raised in two different households with his unmarried parents. As a child Singleton avoided the trap of the ghetto, Singleton thanks his parents for this (Imbd.com, 2011).His childhood friends got involved in drugs and other illegal activity and told Singleton he would never make it as a film director because he was black (Wiki/John_singleton.com).Singleton is heterosexual and has had a daughter with actress Akosua Busia who starred in ‘The Colour Purple’(Imbd.com, 2011). When Singleton left high school he got accepted into the University of Southern California, there he attended the Cinema Televisions Film Writing Program. Whilst studying at University Singleton felt like an outsider as he was the only black person on the course, many of his fellow classmates regularly used to tell Singleton that he wasn’t going to make it because of his ethnicity (Wiki/John_singleton.com). It was in one of his screenwriting lessons were he wrote the script for the infamous ‘Boyz N The Hood’ (Wiki/John_singleton.com). ‘Boyz N The Hood’ was to become one of the most influential films for black America, Singleton opened doors for hip hop artists such as Ice Cube and Tupac Shakur. He also created gateways in the industry for other aspiring black directors. Ninety percent of the cast of ‘Boyz N The Hood’ were African American (Wiki/John_singleton.com), This shows the ascendancy he had over the black community at the time. After the huge success of ‘Boyz N The Hood’ Singleton went on to write and direct ‘Poetic Justice’ and ‘Higher Learning’, both of these films I will discuss later in detail. Both of these films have strong and meaningful ideologies behind them as do the large number of Singletons productions. In the 90s, Singleton worked closely with Columbia Pictures as they were involved in his first three films, it could be argued that they departed from Singleton as soon as he slightly drifted from the ‘hood’ concept in ‘Four Brothers’. Singleton was responsible for creating the new wave of ‘hood’ movies, he abolished the stereotypical view that gangster films only involved Italian American characters dressed in suits. Singleton introduced the ghetto to Hollywood and brought the reality of 1990s black America from under the carpet. 
I am now going to write a report on three of Singletons productions. The films I am going to report are ‘Poetic Justice’, ‘Higher Learning’ and Singletons latest edition ‘Four Brothers’. I have chosen to write about these particular films as they differentiate in terms of concept. All of these films were made following Singletons award winning ‘Boyz N The Hood’. Four Brothers (Action/Crime/Drama)
It all starts when friendly old aged lady Evelyn is shot dead in convenience store by an armed gang. Four foster brothers Bobby, Angel, Jeremiah and Jack emerge from the suburbs move into their old foster home. There Bobby makes a proposal to catch whoever killed the mother, everyone is all for it except Jerry as he has a family and believes his mother wouldn’t agree with it. What Bobby, Angel and Jeremiah don’t know is that ‘entrepreneur’ Jerry is in a steep debt with several gangsters over a failed business venture. Meanwhile detectives Green and Fowler are following their own line of enquiry into the deaths. The brothers wreak havoc within the urban neighbourhood their mother was murdered in, they track down anyone that could have been linked to the crime and interrogate them hoping to get to the main man.
I have identified ‘Four Brothers’ as a mainstream film for the following reasons. It follows the traditional five step structure which you would rarely see in an independent film. It is mass budgeted, this means a mainstream company would have invested in it. It involves well known actors such as Tyrese Gibson, Independent films normally use unknown aspiring actors. Special effects such as explosions are used in the shoot out scenes, again you wouldn’t see this in a low budget indie film.
‘Four Brothers’ was distributed by Paramount Pictures in 2005. In the months before and after ‘Four Brothers’ was distributed, Paramount distributed ‘Bad News Bears’ and ‘Elizabeth Town’. Both of which differentiate from ‘Four Brothers’ excessively as they are comedy films. This shows that ‘Four Brothers’ was a unique film for Paramount in that period. After looking through Paramount’s filmography I discovered that ‘Four Brothers’ is dissimilar to any films that Paramount have ever distributed. I came across one slightly similar film as it is set in an inner city area. This was ‘Coach Carter’ which was distributed by Paramount in 2005. ‘Coach Carter’ focuses on gang warfare but the main issue it focuses on is sport. After contriving this information I did more research and unearthed an interesting fact. If an urban film is made this century by mainstream company in the US, which involves a black cast, it is more than likely going to involve sport. This can be perceived in ‘Gridiron Gang’, ‘Save The Last Dance’ and ‘Honey’. I believe it is the gritty realism and single strand narratives that make singletons films so successful at the box office.
The estimated budget for ‘Four Brothers’ was $45,000,000, twenty one million pounds of that money was made back within the opening weekend (imbd.com, 2009). Both The producers and Paramount Pictures would have been the main influence for this rapid return. They would have been at the forefront of the marketing and advertising process.
Paramount would have been in charge of the advertising process. This would have been there main focus as they will want to make a return on their investment. ‘Four Brothers’ would have been advertised predominately in America and Europe, I say this because the subtitles are English and European (Four Brothers film case). As ‘Four Brothers’ involves weapons and violence there would have been little room for it in the merchandising market. The only merchandise I came across was a ‘Four Brothers’ poster (moviegoods.com). Most of the Paramount’s advertising funds would have gone into promoting ‘Four Brothers’ through the media. I state this after finding various reviews and adverts for ‘Four Brothers online. After doing research I noticed ‘Four Brothers’ was advertised on Total Film a lot (totalfilm.com/trailers). After looking at the front of the film case, I noticed they use the actors acclaim to promote the film. They do this by stating their names on the cover in bright white bold letters. They also use the recognition from media sources on their film cover.
The producer Lorenzo Bonaventura, would have made sure ‘Four Brothers’ had all the amenities within it to appeal to its target audience. Considering the films content is essential when in the marketing process. If a film doesn’t appeal to its target audience the chances of it making profits are minimal. ‘Four Brothers’ is aimed at males between 18 and 25. This can be certified by looking the narrative, props, characters and ideology.
The narrative within ‘Four Brothers’ heavily appeals to its target audience. On various occasions in my teenage years, I have been encountered with the question what would you do if someone harmed your mum? Having an issue such as this in a film which is aimed at this particular audience, will make men identify themselves with the characters on screen. I believe Singleton set out to accomplish this and the producers would have also been involved in this. I also believe Singleton and the producers would have worked side by side when constructing the characters personalities. I mention this as all of the main characters hold different values and personalities. Bobby is the leader of the brothers, he calls the shots, he is very patronising but at the same time has love for the brothers. Jeremiah is a family man, as an outcast from the brothers he wants to avoid the violence. Angel on the other hand is a hot headed womanizer who is determined to catch who killed his mother. College kid Jack is a wannabe who has who has picked up his guitar more time than picking up a gun. Singleton and the producer have made the characters personalities differ so the diverse audience have a better chance of relating to them. The audience can also relate to the props in ‘Four Brothers’. The cars the men are driving are very current and contemporary, these models will appeal to this targeted age group. Whilst watching ‘Four Brothers’ I perceived a strong ideology within it. The hidden message is family is forever. The fact that the brothers reunited themselves after so many years shows this. The camaraderie they show, and the hurdles they have to jump to catch who murdered their mother also justifies this Ideology. This ideology appeals to the target audience for the following reason. ‘Four Brothers’ is aimed at an 18 to 25 male audience. I believe that the majority of these individuals may have distanced themselves from their family members, this is because they are at a responsible age.
After reading the critics perceptions on ‘Four Brothers’, I noticed the majority of them were positive. One critic said the films simple storyline made it special (imdb.com). My opinion is that it was the characters and outlines that made it distinctive. Too elaborate on my opinion, one critic’s perception was that the actor’s performances cemented the feeling (Reelfilm.com). One negative review stated that the scenes were over violent and exaggerated, I totally disagree with this.
Higher Learning (Drama/Thriller)
Higher Learning focuses on the University life’s of three individuals, Malik, Christen and Remy. All three of these students are from different walks of life. Malik is an African American student who feels he is being treated like an outcast at University. Christen is from a well off background and is drifting from heterosexuality and homosexuality. Remy is a geeky engineer who is in a desperate search of an identity. Malik finds University life challenging to begin with but then warms to it when he meets Deja. When Christen is raped on the campus it sparks a fued between the black and whites on campus. Christen joins up with a female protection union whilst Remy joins with a skinhead gang. A race war erupts on campus when Remy pulls a gun on Malik.
Higher Learning can only be identified as a mainstream film. The fact that the film is set entirely on a University campus validates this point. I presume a large sum of the films budget would have been spent on this location. The majority of Independent filmmakers will use locations where they don’t need to pay a fee or have permission. Three storylines take place in ‘Higher Learning’, this shows it is a mainstream film for the following reason. Independent films will normally have one storyline within the narrative, if they approached more than one it will cost more money and will make the budget increase. The mass amount of active characters as in ‘Higher Learning’ would also not be implemented in a Independent film.
‘Higher Learning’ was distributed by Columbia Pictures in 1995. Previous to this Columbia distributed two of Singletons films, ‘Poetic Justice’ and his infamous ‘Boyz N The Hood’. I believe this is the main reason Columbia chose to assist Singleton with ‘Higher Learning’. Whilst looking at Colombia Pictures filmography I noticed Singletons films differ greatly to any other films they have distributed. It could be argued that this is the reason why Singletons films have been so successful when he’s been involved with Colombia.
The success of ‘Higher Learning’ earned it a gross profit of $38,290,723(imbd.com). Singleton also played a role in producing ‘Higher Learning’ as well as writing and directing it. This means he himself would have been involved with the marketing process. Columbia Pictures on the other hand would have been heavily involved with the advertising process.
The first advertising tactic I came across was Columbia used Singletons acclaim remarkably. On the majority of ‘Higher Learning’ trailers and posters
Singleton being the producer, would have considered the context of ‘Higher Learning’. I assume the target audience for ‘Higher Learning’ is 18 to 27 year olds, this is because it is set entirely on a University campus and focuses on student life. You may agree with this statement by looking at the mise en scene and ideologies.
The films overall concept will be the main relation to the audience. I say this as it is set on a University campus, this will immediately draw students in. It also involves issues such as racism, this was a big issue in the US in the 90s, and therefore people will be able to relate to the subject. Props such as alcoholic drinks also appear in the film, this again relates to this specific audience. The students wear casual clothes in ‘Higher Learning’, this shows the audience will identify themselves with the clothes the characters are wearing. The ideologies in ‘Higher Learning’ differ to the ones that are behind Singletons other films. The ideologies in his films such as ‘Four Brothers’ appeal to the target audience in a positive way. In ‘Higher Learning’ the ideologies are very negative and discriminative. Singleton gives the audience the impression that white people are the enemy and that they are the main instigators. Another ideology within it is that black males are better off sticking to sport as they are wont excel in an educational institute. None of the ideologies relate to the target audience, I feel this why the film was so controversial and was badly reviewed by critics.
After reading variant reviews I noticed the critics disliked the fact that the characters were one dimensional.(www.reelviews.net).I can see why they are saying this. The skinhead gang come across as born racists with no emotion or care in the world. Another statement I complied with is that Singleton crams too much into two hours(www.reelviews.net).I agree with this as the end of the film seems very predictable and rushed. Saying this I think Singleton did a brilliant job of bringing the stories together at the conclusion stage.
Poetic Justice (Romance/Drama)
Justice is a young lady who works in a hair salon within an urban area of Los Angeles. She hasn’t had a male figure in her life since her boyfriend was shot dead in front of her. Justice seems lost and hopes to get back on her feet and find herself again. She writes poems to escape from the troubles in her life. Justice’s best friend Simone and her boss are peer pressuring her to find a man. Simone invites Justice to go on a road trip with her boyfriend and his friend. Justice arrives to find it is mailman Lucky who she has had an altercation with previous to this. Justice and Lucky become enemy’s whilst on the trip, but then start to admire each other when complications flair in Simone’s relationship.
‘Poetic Justice’ is a mainstream film. This can be quickly recognized by looking at the actors. Janet Jackson and Tupac Shakur play the lead roles, both of these actors have been very successful in their music careers. An Independent film budget wouldn’t stretch far enough for them to recruit such actors. ‘Poetic Justice’ could have easily been made Independently, I say this as the locations are basic and there are four main characters. Singleton would have chosen to make this film mainstream to give it mass advertisement and popularity, and most importantly a high return.Parallel to Singletons ‘Boyz N The Hood’, ‘Poetic Justice’ made in 1993 was also distributed by Columbia Pictures. The gargantuan success of ‘Boyz N The Hood’ would have contributed greatly to Columbia reuniting with Singleton. The fact that this film involves romance within an urban area is key to its success. Colombia would have immediately identified this concept as unique, this is because most films that are urban focus on gangs and crime. Columbia would have also acknowledged the fact that this film will appeal to a unisex audience. The overall success of ‘Poetic Justice’ would have been triggered by the romance concept and the consummation of ‘Boyz N The Hood’.
The estimated budget for ‘Poetic Justice’ was $14,000,000, this was considerably higher than ‘Boyz N The Hood’ which was budgeted at $6,000,000(Imbd.com). I presume the increased financial backing would have also been also down to the success of ‘Boyz N The Hood’. Columbia pictures would have been enthusiastically promoting ‘Poetic Justice’ anticipating a similar outcome
.
Similar to the advertising process for ‘Higher Learning’, there wouldn’t have been an opportunity for Columbia to promote online as it was the mid 90s. Consequent to this, most of the advertising budget would have been allocated into the media. I can only assume that ‘Poetic Justice’ would have been advertised in on television, in newspapers, magazines and on billboards in the US. After watching the official film trailer I noticed they use a lot of close up shots of Janet Jacksons face, this is to make the audience aware of the reputable actors involved. They also use both the acclaim of ‘Boyz N the Hood’ and Singleton to promote the film. A soundtrack for ‘Poetic Justice’ was released six days after the film’s release (amazon.com/poetic-justice). This was a wise promotion tactic as the track included artists such as Ice cube, Tupac and TLC, All of whom were highly popular in the 90s. I generated an interesting point when doing research on how both ‘Poetic Justice’ and ‘Higher Learning’ were advertised. I have noticed that advertising in the 20th century was more tactical. It seems Mainstream companies were more focused on luring the audience in. Now in the 21st century it seems film advertising is all about flooding the market and spending high volumes of money.
‘Poetic Justice’ is aimed at a unisex audience, for this reason the content within it will vary. The producers Singleton and Nicoladies would have made sure the audience could relate to the content, they would have done this in the pre production stages.
The mixture of the male and female main characters shows this. The producer s have done this so there was a balance of sexes, therefore a single sex won’t be dominant. An urban audience will relate to Justice’s social situation as they would have been in similar circumstances. The ninety’s fashion and hairstyles would have also appealed to the target audience, this is because this style would have been very current and extant. The romance aspect would have been the main attraction for the female audience. I think its clever how Singleton was able to implement the romance genre into a hood movie.
Film critics also have similar opinions. Whilst reading a review on ‘Poetic Justice’ one critic stated that “Poetic Justice offers a slice of the urban story we generally don’t get to see”(rottentomatoes.com). Another film critic claims “ its a quite, personal stroy that needed to be louder, bolder” (rottentomatoes.com). Whilst reading this review I understood where the critic was coming from. Justice definitely needed to show more emotion, I originally thought the film was going to focus mainly on her poems, it rarely did. I believe this is the reason why ‘Poetic Justice’ wasn’t as triumphant as Singletons other films.
I am more than confident in stating that John Singleton is one of films most inspirational directors. The way in which he has used his social background to influence his films is remarkable. The fact that he has always added a hint of street culture into his films shows his dedication. For Singleton to grow up in a poor state of America and overlook the ambiguity around him is overwhelming. John Singleton will undoubtedly leave a lasting legacy on the film industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment