Producers and Audiences (case study) - 'Titanic'

Pre-production and production
Story Source - based on the boat (true story) which sank. Some roles also based on historical characters, such as capt. Edward John Smith (played by Bernard Hill).
Simplification of character and narrative - Jack, pinned down as lower-class hero with good looks, Rose - Heroine (or damsel in distress engaged to Cal) happen to be beautiful. Cal, sharp looks, dark hair, making him the 'villain'. Hero and Heroine win each other, but a tragedy occurs in the end. Pitched as 'Romeo and Juliet on the Titanic'. Russian sub operators held model submarines around the wreck as directed by Cameron.
Cost of the rights to the source - 12 dives needed when shooting the real footage of the Titanic, Deep-sea camera developed by Panavision and Cameron's brother Mike, which could withstand the 400 atmospheres of pressure at that depth. 12 minutes of film only in the deep-sea camera and it took many hours. 1/33 scale model of the ship constructed for rehearsals.
Budget Cost - $200,ooo,ooo, Leonardo DiCaprio was paid $2.5million. Kate Winslet paid just under £1million.
Production companies - Twentieth Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and Lightstorm Entertainment.
Length of shooting schedule - Production started September 1st, 1995. Filming lasted for 160 days (originally planned for 138, but cast members becoming ill with cold, flu and kidney infections meant it was extended).
Part of the set where water first comes rushing through a doorway had to be re-built to withstand a higher pressure as Cameron wanted triple the amount water that was originally intended (40,000 gallons).

Genre - Romantic/Disaster
CGI/Effects - Digital water and smoke were added. extras captured on a motion capture stage. The faces of many actors were scanned, including visual effects supervisor Rob Legato and his children, for the digital extras and stuntmen. There was also a 65-foot (20 m) long model of the ship's stern that could break in two repeatedly, the only miniature to be used in water. For scenes set in the ship's engines, footage of the SS Jeremiah O'Brien engines were composited with miniature support frames and actors shot against greenscreen. To save money, the First Class Lounge was a miniature set incorporated into a greenscreen backdrop. For final plunging scene, full-sized tilting set used, with 150 extras and 100 stuntmen. Cameron criticized previous Titanic films for depicting the final plunge of the liner as sliding gracefully underwater. He "wanted to depict it as the terrifyingly chaotic event that it really was". To carry out the sequence, people were needed to fall off the increasingly tilting deck, plunging hundreds of feet and bouncing off railings and propellers on the way down. "A few attempts to film this sequence with stunt people resulted in some minor injuries and Cameron halted the more dangerous stunts." The risks were eventually minimized "by using computer generated people for the dangerous falls".
Financing - 20th Century fox convinced by Cameron to invest in the film after saying that real footage of the wreck would be good for the movie.
Importance of music - 'My Heart Will Go On' by Celine Dion, iconic to film, music video montage accompanied it. This was secretly composed by Dion, James Horner and Will Jennings after Cameron said that he did not want to included any song in the film, even at the closing credits. The song won an Oscar.
Formal excess - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCy5WQ9S4c0 - Some 'over the top' scenes e.g. Jack slamming into the door, Brock Lovetts's phone stare ect.
The phrase 'I'm the King of the World!' was listed as #4 out of 100 in the greatest movie lines in 2007 by Premiere.

Distribution
Distribution company - Paramount Pictures (USA theatrical release)
Marketing - Posters, trailers and a tagline.
Budget - Around $40million
Publicity - Mainly word of mouth and many featurettes.
Number of countries - released in approx. 65 countries.
Merchandise - Calender, Bottle tops, earphones, puzzles, key rings, cigarette lighters ect.


Exhibition
Date of release - 18th November, 1997 (UK) 14th December, 1997 (USA) London and Los Angeles premieres respectively. 19th December 1997 (USA) 23rd January 1998 (UK).
The original release date was meant to be 25th July, 1997. This was changed for two reasons: one being that production (especially CGI) took longer than anticipated, and the other being that Harrison Ford demanded the date to be moved after finding out that 'Air Force One' was scheduled to be released on the same day. Paramount agreed to this, thinking that if they didn't, Ford would never work with them again.
Number of screens used for opening weekend - 2, 674 (USA) 416 (UK)
Box office taking in opening weekend - $28, 638, 131 (USA)
Length of time in cinemas - 21st December 1997 - 20th September 1998 (final cinema gross)
Releases after theatrical period - VHS, laserdisc (September 1st, 1998) DVD (July 31st, 1999) TV showings. Cameron has also confirmed a 3-D release in cinemas for sometime during 2011.

Extra
Matthew McConaughey was considered for the role of Jack, But Cameron demanded DiCaprio.
Jack Davenport was considered for the role of Cal, but was declared too young.
Rob Lowe was considered for the role of Cal.
Even though Cameron only began with a 165-page outline, both DiCaprio and Winslet committed to the film.
Christian Bale auditioned for the role of Jack, but was declined the part because Cameron didn't want two British actors portraying American characters.
Gwyneth Paltrow also auditioned for the role of Rose but lost out.
Madonna auditioned for the role of Rose.

The film won a total of 11 Oscars:
Best art direction/set decoration -Peter Lamont (art director), Michael Ford (set decorator)
Best cinematography - Russell Carpenter
Best costume design - Deborah Lynn Scott
Best Director - James Cameron
Best effects, sound effects editing - Tom Bellfort, Christopher Boyes
Best effects, visual effects - Robert Legato, Mark. A Lasoff, Thomas. L Fisher, Michael Kanfer
Best film editing - Conrad Buff IV, James Cameron, Richard A. Harris
Best music, original dramatic score - James Horner
Best music, original song - James Horner (music) Will Jennings (lyrics) 'My Heart Will Go On' - Celine Dion
Best Picture - James Cameron, Jon Landau
Best Sound - Gary Rydstorm, Tom Johnson, Gary Summers, Mark Ulano

It was also nominated for:
Best actress in a supporting role
Best actress in a lead role
Best Makeup

It also received wins internationally:
Best foreign feature film (James Cameron) - Amanda awards, Norway
Best foreign film - Awards of the Japanese Academy
Anthony Asquith award for film music (James Horner) - BAFTA's
Bogey award in titanium - Bogey Awards, Germany
Best Soundtack - Brit Awards
Box office award - Czech Lions
Best foreign film (James Cameron) - Cesar awards, France
Film - international (Kate Winslet) - Golden camera, Germany