PR2: Same Film, Different Time and Place

Rec and Quarantine Research Task

Quarantine Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZUw2zNR5Dzc

Task 1

Find out the following information:

Rec QuarantineDirector Jaume Balauero and Paco

Plaza.John Erick Dowdle

Year of Production 2007 2008Distributor Film Ax Screen GemsBudget £2 Million $12 MillionBox office takings $32,492,948 $41,319,906Sequels 2,3 and 4 is to be released 2

Read the interviews with John Erick Dowdle and Jaume Balaguero and answer the following questions

http://totalscifionline.com/interviews/2761-john-erick-dowdle-quarantined

http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/865/865683p1.html

Task 2:

1. Explain Jaume Balagoro’s reasons for making REC in a handheld, documentary style

2. Is it a coincidence that Cloverfield and Diary of Dead were released at the same time, or does it relate to audience demand for horror filmed in this style?

3. Why do you think Screen Gems, the distributors of Quarantine wanted to get the remake out so quickly?

For your article, you need to consider why film production companies produce remakes and the factors that influence those remakes.

Factors which influenced the remake of REC

Financial factors

Trends

Genre and popularity

Synergy (related products such as DVD’s/books/TShirts)

Vertical integration (where a film company deals with the production, distribution and consumption of a film)

In your magazine article you will need to comment upon all of the above

Task 3:

In the box below, write your introduction to your article. Use your findings from Task 1 and 2 to help you

Jaume Balagoro filmed REC in a handheld documentary style to make it more realistic and so the viewer feels more involved in the film, this style of film has already proven popular.

This is not a coincidence, they brought them both out at the same time due to this type of film being popular at the time so the film companys would make more money from doing this aswell

Because they would gain more money whilst REC was still fresh in peoples minds, they would have seen the Spanish version , and a lot of people don’t want to read subtitles so they made a English version.

P2 describe the relationship between films and their production contexts with some appropriate use of subject terminology [IE]

M2 explain the relationshipbetween films and theirproduction contexts withreference to detailedillustrative examples andgenerally correct use ofsubject terminology

D2 comprehensively explain therelationship between films and their production contexts with elucidated examples and consistently using subject terminology correctly

Article intro:

P1. Introduce your article by giving the titles of the films covered and production factors which influence remakes

P2. REC.

Relate factual information about REC ; director, release date, distributor, budget and box office takings. Describe the production values and context (handheld documentary style/plot synopsis)

P3. Quarantine

Relate factual information about Quarantine; director, release date, distributor, budget and box office takings. Describe the production values and context (handheld documentary style/plot synopsis. Explain similarities and differences with the original.

P4. Production Contexts

Explain why Quarantine was produced so soon after REC. Give examples concerning trends, genre and financial factors.

Quarantine is an English version of the Spanish movie Rec which was a low budget film made in 2007. Remakes of films normally occur when the original film is dated. This will bring in more money for the film company’s because it will extend their fan base.

The directors of REC are two Spanish men, Jaume Balauero and Paco Plaza. The film was released by FilmAx in August 2007, the film was popular in Spain because it was in that language but not so popular in England because subtitles were needed, never the less they still

made $32,492,948, which is really good seeing as their budget was only $2 Million. The style of this film is a hand held documentary, which was filmed by the film crew that was in the movie as they were doing their own news report.

The director of Quarantine is an American called John Erick Dowdle, the film was released by screen gems in 2008. Quarantine made $41,319,906 at the box office, when the budget for the film was only $12 million. Like rec the original, this film is also filmed in a hand held documentary style.

P5.

Explain synergy and vertical integration and how Screen Gems are an example of a vertically integrated company. Explain how Screen Gems have contributed to the overall success of REC due to this.

Quarantine was released so soon after REC because Rec was such a big box office hit in Spain that they wanted to bring the film to America/England, but a lot of people did not want to read subtitles. So to fix this problem Screen Gems which is a big film company that specialise in remaking horror films, as they made a remake of Carrie made an English remake to meet the high demand. Furthermore as Cloverfeild came out at more or less the same time which is another hand held style of movie, this sort of film was a trend with people at the time which also made REC and Quarantine so popular

Synergy is when a company expands on the fact that they have brought a film out, for example when a film is released afterwards  DVDs, posters, sound tracks, calenders and books are released to maximize profit for this one film. Vertical integration is when a company has control over both the production, distribution and exhibition because of this, they receive all of the profits. Sony is a vertically integrated company, it owns the production and distribution rights to Screen Gems which made Quarantine, maximizing the profits when this movie was released. Also Screen Gems have contributed to the overall success of REC by making a English version of the film, people who went to see Quarantine knew it was a remake, so they would also want to see the original, so would buy it on DVD, thus adding to Filmax profit