Task 2 --> Research

Task 2 – research

War Horse

War Horse is a major motion picture of 2012, automatically a must-see due to being made by Stephen Spielberg, this automatically meant that people of all ages wanted to see it, due to him being a well known director, so automatically is being promoted is a positive way. The story is about a young boy called Albert has a close relationship with his Horse who his father sells to the war for cavalry, he enlists to serve in World War I to look out for his Horse and to protect it. Albert's hopeful journey takes him out of England and across Europe as the war rages on, where he is reunited with his Horse once more after it being on a struggle of a journey.

 It started off as a book called “War Horse” by a man called Michael Morpurgo, this is how it started. It was for ages 9+ and was first published in 1982, and is known as a classic war story. So it was originally made for the younger target audience, however I have read if before watch the movie and felt it could be for adults too, due to the good storyline and the emotion and information of the war that is brought into the book. It was popular enough that the book has also been made into a play adapted by Nick Stafford. The play also called War Horse and was staged at the Olivier Theatre, National Theatre in London. The production opened on 17 October 2007 and was met with critical acclaim with its use of life-size puppets of horses from the Handspring Puppet Company won an Olivier Award, Evening Standard Theatre Award and London Critics' Circle Theatre Award for design. In February 2010 it was revealed that the play would transfer to Broadway in New York City, New York, United States. This is really what promoted it into being a film, due to it being as popular in book and as a play; it was so carefully thought out as a play that Spielberg decided to make it into a motion picture.

I would definitely say it’s a family film, due to the storyline is more for the family, there isn’t much violence in the film as Spielberg left a lot of it out from the book, so it could be lowered down so children could see it, there is only a bit of violence within the first half an hour of the film, when the war starts, generally after that it is more about showing Albert’s and the Horses journey in the film, the people they meet and where they end up, more than the war itself, which is why the target audience of 12A suits the film. However maybe it should have been a 12 not a 12A due to there is some violence and it may upset children to see dead Horses and people throughout the film and could be seen as disturbing. There is no sex and nudity in the film at all, however there is like I said previously violence and gore, frightening/intense scenes and a bit of alcohol use and profanity, so that is why a child under 12 has to go with a parent, as it is up to the parent if they want their child to see this.

It is also campaigned for Horsey lovers or people who are interest in WW1 and respect the people who were involved, due to showing the viewer what is was like for them people, and to also open up viewers eyes into how in those times, Horses were a big part of man kinds lifestyle, and how without them a lot would have been more difficult and different, such as Horses were used to carry carts with the dead or injured it, so they could be looked after or put to a resting place. They really used having a Horse as a main character to advantage, having posters and backgrounds to download with the Horse in, making sure the trailer and images are filled up with the main Horse is, to make Horse lovers want to come and see the Horse in action

Due to by the time the film was nearly out in cinemas, it was widely known, it had its own Facebook page, which automatically promotes it as Facebook is used all over the world, and this is positive as people get to talk about it on a page, looking at trailers and pictures to get them excited. It has it’s own official website: http://www.warhorsemovie.com/# which is really well created and really gets excited into viewers as again is has screen shots, and all the latest trailers, it also has information about the film, for example a more in detail plot , and you can download screensavers icons profile pictures for things like Facebook etc, so you really get to feel like you are involved and it really promotes the film and makes you want to see it. Alongside with the very touching trailer, saying how good the film is, stating reviews and getting the audience excited over the film, they especially used the fact it was made by  Stephen Spielberg to really  boost potential viewer numbers as he is so well know and has done some credited work such as “Schindler's List” that near enough everyone has heard of, so when his name is mentioned people automatically assume that it will be a must-see film.

 However it could be seen as negative as people get a close insight into everything about the film, and maybe information could be spilled through into the media industries and the public find out quicker, so the film isn’t as anticipated as it should have been, due to a lot of information is already known to the public so they know what to expect.

Recently, Spielberg has taken his attention to the younger audience film, producing thing such as “Reel Steel” “Super 8” and “The Adventures Of Tintin”.

“Super 8” and “The Adventures of Tintin” in particular were widely campaigned; they both had their trailers always played in the cinema, to help promote the film. Tintin in particular was showed on TV and even a game was made to advertise and get more fans for the film, so people with all consoles could play the game and  it would make them want to watch the film, or vice versa. Also to help promote Tintin, they synergized with “McDonalds” and with the children’s meal, “Happy meal” they came with Tintin toys, this really boosted up the fan base, as children would either watch the film and then want to collect the toys or get a toy and want to watch the film after, so both companies would get a profit and it would get more viewers for the film.  

With “Reel Steel”, there was the trailer, that really got you into the idea of the film, but again for children, action figures were sold in shops such as the ultimate toy shop “Toys R us” making a child want to collect all their favourite characters of the film after watching it or vice versa.

And with all of these films mentioned, they had their own Facebook page, and an official website, they were on other social networking sites such as “Twitter” So like War Horse, they were all well promoted and you could easy find information about them, or really get into the film, talking about it on social networking sites, of having desktop backgrounds on your computer of the film.

And again Tintin was a comic book, so Spielberg takes an interested in stories, and bringing them onto the big screen, after doing it with Tintin, people may have wanted to see how he brought the War Horse book to life, so in doing so having done it previously could promote War Horse.