Computer-Generated Imagery

The Future of Cinema: Computers on the Big Screen

In recent years, we have seen that Hollywood productions are becoming increasingly epic with respect to the special effects it employs in its products. How is possible that you can create epic scenes of Los Angeles being devastated by intense earthquakes, or have the Hulk fight the Demi-God Thor in The Avengers? The answer is simple: computer graphics.

The use of CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) allows the movie industry to create scenarios that would not be possible to create due to financial, technical or physical restrictions. As with everything else, the movie industry is evolving. Back in the day, filmmakers used matte paintings, miniature models and trick photography to achieve impossible looking cinematic effects. Those days are now more or less over. Computer technology seems to have taken over the responsibility of creating amazing visual art on-screen. It has developed into being able to recreate actors even after they have passed, as was the case when Paul Walker died before finishing Furious 7 (2015). The people behind the franchise hired one of the best visual effects companies in the business in order to create a credible ending without having to redo the entire movie. Essentially they found old photographs of Walker because they needed as complete an image of him as possible in order to create a respectful version of him. This is a testament to the awesome power of computer technology.

Considering the fact that Hollywood is making more and more franchises, they will likely have to deal with scenarios where the actor dies. In The Hunger Games they had to deal with a similar issue as the one the crew behind Furious 7 had to deal with. Philip Seymour Hoffman, who joined the franchise for the second film, Catching Fire, portrays the game maker who turned revolutionary Plutarch Heavensbee. Although most his scenes were finished, there were still scenes that needed to be shot that carried significant meaning. In the end they incorporated CGI that would allow them to finish Hoffman’s appearance in the movie.

In the future we are most likely going to be seeing more of this type of cinematographic magic. Big-budget movies will most likely adapt this model of making epic cinematography using CGI. One might even wonder if perhaps one day it will be possible to produce entire movies using only computers and images of actors.

 

If you want to see some before and after photos of CGI movie magic, I highly recommend checking out Buzzfeed’s article on it:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/matthewtucker/impressive-before-and-after-photos-of-cgi-magic?utm_term=.yeV9zDjY1y

 

Sources:

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/nov/17/philip-seymour-hoffman-hunger-games-mockingjay-2-paul-walker

http://english.alarabiya.net/en/life-style/entertainment/2015/04/14/Here-s-how-Furious-7-completed-unfinished-Paul-Walker-scenes-with-CGI.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Complex Ripoff

Back in the days of yore, when The Hunger Games was a series of books that had not yet escaped from its native media, there was only one thing I ever head about it, be it among friends or on the internet: ‘It just rips off Battle Royale’. But when the first movie of the franchise came out, and I eventually got around to seeing it, I found that this criticism was a bit off: While the concept and a lot of trappings have obviously been lifted from the Japanese film, the amount of thematic transfiguration going on in The Hunger Games merits a rather different concept than a “simple” rip-off, and I will make some observations here on how it can be considered a “complex” rip-off of Battle Royale, focusing on the first Hunger Games film for ease of comparison.

Examining what the films have in common is the central theme of the exploitation of a disenfranchised class for the sake of entertainment. The ones chosen for the games are in both cases teenagers, who have to fight to the death until only one remains standing. Yet already here it turns out that The Hunger Games diverge on a thematic level beyond the superficial. Where Battle Royale ends with two students, Shuya and Noriko, escaping the games and living as fugitives, which implies that breaking the rules of the game leads to the exclusion from society, at the end of the first Hunger Games film Katniss and Peeta are spared by the aristocratic upper class spectators due to them attempting suicide. The struggle against these oppressors, who keep the districts of this world in perpetual poverty, is what forms the overall plot of the franchise.

This aristocracy also forms the main thematic divide between the two films. The setting of Battle Royale is practically inseparable from contemporary Japan; the subtext of the entire film is that Japanese society force teenagers into such degrees of competition that in a class of young people there is only one winner, and the rest are losers, unless you are able to escape from the ‘game’, and become a fugitive. To give context in the form of another film, in Ozu’s Tokyo Story from, this is the same society in which an aging father can be disappointed in his son because he is merely a ‘regular’ doctor. In fact the antagonist of Battle Royale is basically a regular middle-aged man in a jogging suit. The youths of the game are being oppressed not by an upper-class based on wealth or status, but by a man who has authority simply due to his age, and the regular people who watch the game and buy the blu-ray. This is in sharp contrast to the aristocracy living in the Capitol of The Hunger Games, who dress in a mix of modern fashion and rococo-style clothing, living in opulence and having people live in virtual slavery. The focus has been shifted from a dichotomy between old and young, to a dichotomy between rich and poor. Since the main target audience of The Hunger Games do not live in a society with as strict an educational system as the Japanese, nor one where the privileges of age are as pronounced, it is obvious why the world of Panem has more thematic resonance with the youths of the western world, particularly in America, since the abolition of slavery is much more recent in America than in Japan (where slavery was abolished in the late 16^th century), and the civil rights movement and its successors are still making its mark in today’s society

It is interesting to see how two films, despite one being widely considered derivative of the other, have taken the same basic concept and molded it to each comment on the culture in which it is placed. As a final note, I hope that this has somewhat vindicated the series from the charges of being ‘just’ a rip-off, in that it is a rip-off in a rather complex way.

The Olive-Skinned Katniss Everdeen

By Linda

People who have seen at least one of the four The Hunger Games films, or have at least come across part of the intensive promotion of the franchise, is familiar with the fair-skinned Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss Everdeen.

Katniss, however, is described as having “straight black hair, olive skin [and] grey eyes” in the books.

Casting for film adaptations does not always comply with the description of the characters of the book they are based on, but when it comes to changing characters’ race, especially when it comes to whitewashing, changing the character from a person of colour to a white person, it becomes problematic.

Before March 2011, when Jennifer Lawrence was cast as Katniss Everdeen, fans only had the books and their imagination to refer to when talking about the books, writing fan fiction, or creating fan art. Many fans had noted the short description of the story’s heroine, which came to show in the fans’ many creative outlets.

When looking at fan art from before Lawrence was cast, many artists depicted Katniss as having slightly darker skin than, for instance, her co-tribute Peeta Mellark.

By ratgirlstudios at deviantart.com

By ratgirlstudios at deviantart.com

By ratgirlstudios at deviantart.com

By cpatten at deviantart.com

By elontirien at deviantart.com

By sacha11410 at deviantart.com

Fan art after the casting Lawrence still sporadically shows Katniss as a woman of colour, though many of the artworks are clearly inspired by Lawrence.

By kristele at deviantart.com

By the-troglodyte at deviantart.com

By enade at deviantart.com

By david6lx at deviantart.com

By apfelgriebs at deviantart.com

By jordiebo at tumblr.com

While some fans have favoured Lawrence as their Mockingjay over the image presented in the books, woman-of-colour Katniss Everdeen has not been forgotten.

Many times whitewashing in the media is excused with variations of the sentence “the right person/most talented person got the part,” however, the casting call for Katniss Everdeen only called for caucasian actresses, which never gave actresses with olive skin, or actresses of any other race, a chance to audition. For further information on this debate, see this Medium article.

The creative fans producing fanart can be affected by casting, as seen above, though many hardcore fans will always refer to the description in the books as “their Katniss,” since these fans will often see the books as the source material for the story about “the Mockingjay”.

It can also be argued that the number of people seeing the films is bigger than the number of people reading the books, which gives the artist a larger audience if depicting film-Katniss over book-Katniss.

 

Sources:
Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. London: Scholastic, 2009. Page 8. Print.

Gabi. “From Panem to Ferguson: How Oppression Narratives Lost Their Meaning in the 21st Century.” Medium. 29 Dec 2015. Web.
<https://medium.com/@pugoverlord/from-panem-to-ferguson-how-oppression-narratives-lost-their-meaning-in-the-21st-century-657088644153#.mk69e3ggf>

Warner, Kara. “Exclusive: Jennifer Lawrence Officially Cast in “Hunger Games.” MTV. 17 Mar 2011. Web.
<http://www.mtv.com/news/1660152/jennifer-lawrence-hunger-games/>

Photos:
https://www.facebook.com/lionsgate/

Artists for individual fanart cited in the captions.

To 3D or not to 3D?

By Emma

Whether you like it or not, it seems like 3D is here to stay. And it makes sense, especially from a transmedia perspective. We’ve already briefly mentioned the definition of transmedia on this blog, but let’s do some revision: Transmedia can be understood as a shift in how media gets produced and consumed – not simply through one single format, but dispersed across many media platforms, such as films, videogames or websites. Transmedia theorist Henry Jenkins has created a list of 7 core principles of transmedia storytelling, and among these we find the concept of immersion. Modern audiences seek to immerse themselves into the story worlds of their favourite franchises, and the opportunity to do so is being offered more and more freely by media producers, e.g. through videogames, merchandise or conventions. As media theorist Lev Manovich writes: ”The new media image is something the user actively goes into” (2001, 183). Another example of this kind of immersion is, of course, 3D.

Katniss in 3D

There’s always a case to be made in favour of 3D, in that it creates a new level of realism – “It’s like you’re there”! The excitement with this kind of audience immersion is evident in the following quote from Frances Lawrence, the director of all expect the first film of the Hunger Games franchise:

“Fans will now have the chance to see the film in any format they want, which is exciting; we recently saw the 3-D version of Mockingjay – Part 1 before its release in China, and the new level of immersion was really fantastic.” Frances Lawrence, via io9

However, before Frances Lawrence was brought on to direct the second instalment The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (as well as the two subsequent films), director Gary Ross was given the job of bringing Suzanne Collins’ first Hunger Games novel to the big screen. In fact, when he worked on the first film, Ross expressed strong views against the use of 3D in the franchise:

“No, absolutely not, never. I don’t think it’s appropriate for this film. I think that if we shoot this movie in 3D, we become the Capitol. We start making spectacle out of something that I don’t think is really appropriate here. There needs to be an aesthetic distance here because of the nature of the material, the premise, what they’re doing. I think that cinematic techniques designed to intensify the experience if you feel them that way, aren’t really appropriate. I mean I love 3D, I really do and I think it’s a wonderful tool, I just don’t think it’s the right tool for this” – Gary Ross, via Variety

And he has a point. In The Hunger Games, modern media is being examined and criticised for how it exploits and sustains the oppression of the people of Panem, by turning the murder of innocent children into an entertaining spectacle. It is exactly this word, “spectacle”, that is so often used to describe 3D, and by using this technology, you might argue that the focus is shifted away from the social injustices depicted in the story to the entertainment of violence on screen.

Arguably, in creating these immersive 3D experiences, The Hunger Games runs the risk of becoming entertainment to its audience in a way that is hauntingly similar to how the Capitol watches the Games. Futhermore, many popular franchises branch out into videogames, and the same might soon be happening for the Hunger Games franchise (Haas). However, when it comes to The Hunger Games, there is a fine line between immersion which enriches the experience, and immersion that creates a problematic spectacle, and the makers of the game will have to be careful not to become too much like the game makers of Panem. In other words, the producers will have to tread cautiously, or else they run the risk making an immersive spectacle out of killing children (be that in the Games or in war). Alternatively, you could also chose to see the immersion into this particular fictional world as an opportunity to deliver the message of the books even more effectively, by allowing audiences to become part the story world. To that, I say:

Sources:

Jenkins, Henry. 2010. “Transmedia education: the 7 Principles Revisited”: http://henryjenkins.org/2010/06/transmedia_education_the_7_pri.html

Manovich, Lev. 2001. The Language of New Media.

Wilkins, Alasdair. 2012. ”Gary Ross explains why the Hunger Games movies will never, ever be in 3D”.http://io9.com/5893825/gary-ross-explains-why-the-hunger-games-movies-will-never-ever-be-in-3d-plus-more-hints-for-game-of-thrones

Haas, Pete. ”The Hunger Games Might Get The Video Game It Deserves Soon” http://www.cinemablend.com/games/Hunger-Games-Might-Get-Video-Game-It-Deserves-Soon-70247.html

McNary, Dace. 2015. ”’The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part2’ Set for Imax 3D Release”. http://variety.com/2015/film/news/the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-set-for-imax-3d-release-1201426099/

The Hunger Games -What you might not know

By Christian AKA Cole

Ey guys,

so; as you probably know by now, this site concerns itself with how transmedia theories work, and how they may apply to different franchises such as Batman, Watchmen and last but not least!!  The Hunger Games. In order not to bombard you guys with advanced theories and how they may relate to THG from the start, I thought I would do something that I personally like when people do which is to supply you with some facts about the film-trilogy that you might not have heard of before. IMO fun facts have the wonderful ability to make you more familiar with the people who portray your favorite fictional characters, and by doing so they are able to pull you further into the universe they have created for us viewers. So, without further ado, here are some fun facts about The Hunger Games. Enjoy!

1. The entire franchise had a combined production of just south of $500,000,000! But so far it has brought in $2,9 billion which averages out to about $725,000,000 per movie.
2. The name of the fictional nation, Panem, is derived from “Panem et Circenses,” or “Bread and Circuses,” which refers to the later days of the Roman Empire when the government kept the people satisfied by providing violent entertainment instead of carrying out public services.
3. The name ‘Katniss’ comes from the name of an edible plant species, genus “Sagittaria,” commonly known as “arrowhead.”
4. Liam Hemsworth and Jennifer Lawrence, both natural blondes, dyed their hair brown for the film, while naturally dark-haired Josh Hutcherson dyed his hair blonde.
5. Alexander Ludwig, Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson all had to work out for four hours a day with a US Navy Seal to get into shape for their roles.
6. While on set, Jennifer Lawrence tried to kick over Josh Hutcherson’s head and accidentally kicked him in the head, knocking him out and giving him a concussion.
7. Lawrence auditioned for the role of Bella in the Twilight Saga.
8. “The Hunger Games” has been translated into 26 different languages.

 

So, those were a few quick fun-facts about the Hunger Games. If you like this sort of thing I would be happy to find more interesting facts for you guys! I may even add some later if I find more interesting trivia! Stay tuned for more cool stuff on The Hunger Games 🙂

 

 

 

Fan contribution and The Hanging Tree

Here is a video detailing one transmedial aspect of the Hunger Games franchise: “The Hanging Tree” song.

The text for the song was written by Suzanne Collins in Mockingjay, the third and final book in the series, and, before the film came out several fans wrote music for and recorded their own version of the song.

Fan music:
tyrannosauruslexxx: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At3XDMUCZ-8
Sam Cushion and Rachel Macwhirter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N96ZLalhvmI
Adriana Figueroa: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKrCE1aYz7o

About

As a part of the 2016 MA-course Old, New and Trans-media Fictions of Disaster at Aarhus University a group of six English degree students examine the way in which The Hunger Games franchise functions as trans-media storytelling.

Transmedia storytelling represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience.
–Henry Jenkins