We're the Millers is a 2013 American comedy film about a drug dealer who is robbed, leaving him in debt. To clear his debt, he recruits neighbors and a runaway teen to pose as his family so he can smuggle marijuana from Mexico to the U.S. undetected. The film had a budget of $37 million and was a box office success, grossing $270 million worldwide. It was produced using modern camera and audio technology to enhance visual and sound quality.

1. Film Studies
Films and Production Contexts
We’re the Millers (2013)
We’re the Millers is an American comedy
film directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Based on a story created by Bob Fisher and
Steve Faber, the film was released on
August 7th
2013 in the United States. The
film revolves around a drug dealer
(portrayed by actor Jason Sudeikis) who is
robbed by a street gang whilst attempting to
help two local teens, thus leaving him
heavily in debt to his boss,a wealthy drug
lord supplier. In order to clear his debt, the
protagonist journeys to Mexico and back
whilst smuggling an enormous amount of
marijuana through customs.In the process,
the main character enlists two of his neighbours (Jennifer Aniston and
Will Poulter) and a runaway teen (Emma Roberts)who pose as his
family in orderto enable him to make it through the customs undetected.
Production
The production processfor‘We’re the Millers’ took place within the
mainstream. This means that the ideas that went into the film will have
been understood as conventional; therefore the producers of the film
based specific aspects of ‘We’re the Millers’ (particularly the actors, lines
and camerawork) on the characteristics of comedyfilms today. As a
result, the film conforms to what is generally done or believed in regard
to the genre of comedywithin mainstream films. This can be considered
beneficialfor the film itself because it will bear many similarities to other
mainstream comedyfilms;however it can also have a negative effecton

2. the audience who might demand to see something differentwithin
comedyfilms.
‘We’re the Millers’ was written by Bob Fisher and Steve Faber, two
American screenwriters who worked collaboratively on a story that would
later be adapted by both screenwriters into a screenplayin the year
2002.The film was announced four years later in 2006 and production
took place in North Carolina and New
Mexico in the year 2012.It was
directed by Thurber. The production
of ‘We’re the Millers’ was influenced
by a wide range of factors,most
notably the subjectmatter
(smuggling marijuana illegally) and
freedom from damaging publicity. In spite of the subjectmatter, none of
the characters within ‘We’re the Millers’ (particularly Sudeikis) were
required to consume marijuana during filming in orderto further
communicate their character’s attitudes. This decisioncan be
considered beneficialbecause it protects the actors/actresses from
attracting publicity i.e. the celebrities could have received negative
attention from viewers, family members,friends etc. if they were
depicted consuming drugs on-screen.
During production, the producers will have also been required to
considerthe fact that the actors/actresses could have attracted publicity
that has the potential to be extremely damaging to their reputation.
When it came to capturing scenes of nudity within the film, bodydoubles
and prosthetics were employed with the clear purpose of protecting the
celebrities from getting damaging publicity. This would significantly
benefitthe actor/actress, especiallyif they are not contracted to perform
scenes of nudity. Another factor the producers might have beenrequired
to considerin regard to the production of ‘We’re the Millers’ could be
continuity. A good example is the time and date that is depictedwithin
the film. ‘We’re the Millers’ supposedlytakes place on a 4th
July
weekend, however on the protagonist’s mobile phone, the date is
Monday the 1st
of July. This indicates a continuity error during
production.

3. One of the most important factors to considerin regard to the production
of mainstream films is the amount of flexibility the filmmakers will have in
regard to making the film. The amount of flexibility is generally
determined by the amount of money that is available during production;
this is defined as financial determinants. ‘We’re the Millers’ had a budget
of $37 million, and five production
companies were involved with the
making of the film: New Line Cinema,
Newman/Tooley Films, Slap Happy
Productions,Heyday Films and
Benderspink.Warner Bros.Pictures were
involved primarily with the distribution of
‘We’re the Millers’. In order to ensure that
more profitwas made i.e. the film grosses more money, the producers of
‘We’re the Millers’ will have attempted to spend the smallestpossible
amount of money, however the overall amount would still be large.
Because a huge amount of money was available ($37 million), the
filmmakers will have had a great deal of flexibility which may have
provided them with a greater chance of easily modifying aspects of the
film e.g. by enhancing the visual quality of the scenes to make them
appear more visually attractive or by choosing an alternate location to
film at without using up too many resources during production.
Because ‘We’re the Millers’ is a mainstream comedyfilm, it had a high
budget,as well as high production values and major distribution
networks that will have enabled the producers to distribute the film
globally and thus ensure that the film reaches a wide range of people.
The financing for ‘We’re the Millers’ will have beenobtained from a film
studio, entertainment company or a private investor. The budget is
initially prepared by the filmmaker, producerand/or the unit production
manager. Prior to the productionof the film, financing will have been
secured for pre-productioncosts (such as obtaining locations and
equipment), productioncosts (filming) and post-productioncosts (editing
and visual effects),thus showing that the productioncompany actively
prepares all stages of the productionprocess forfilms. ‘We’re the Millers’
was produced by Chris Bender, Vincent Newman, Tucker Tooleyand
Happy Walters. Tooleycan be considered influential in regard to the

4. productionof the film because he is the CEO of TooleyProductions LLC
which acted as one of the productioncompanies for ‘We’re the Millers’.
The film was released in theatres on August 7th
, 2013.Following its
distribution, the revenue from ‘We’re the Millers’ will have been shared
amongst the actors/actresses,the director and other companies who
assisted with the production of the film. New Line Cinema will have
received 50% or less of the domestic box office gross.10% of the fee
will have been paid to Warner Bros. Pictures, who distributed the film,
whereas the movie theatres will have received a cut also. The
actors/actresseswho starred in the film, particularly Sudeikis and
Aniston who are highly popular celebrities,will have received a
significant amount of the overall box office gross,primarily because of
their services during production. Overall, the film was a box-office
success as it grossed $270million worldwide. Every actor/actress who
starred in ‘We’re the Millers’ was paid $72 during each eight-hour long
shooting day.
Thurber will have also received a significant portion of the overall
domestic boxoffice gross due to his role during the productionof the
film. Due to being a well-known celebritywho stars in mainstream
movies, Aniston receives $5 million for each film she stars in, including
‘We’re the Millers’ as she possessesa high net worth ($130 million) due
to her successfulcareerwithin the industry as an actress. Will Poulter
has a net worth of $5 million due to his role as an actor within the
industry. This shows that well-known and successfulactors are very
expensive to employwithin a film production and that they are paid a
significant amount of the overall box office gross of the film(s) they star
in.
A significant amount of production for ‘We’re the Millers’ took place
within the U.S. state New Mexico, mainly due to its similarities to the
landscape of Mexico where part of the film is set. New Mexico issued a
major tax incentive programme,meaning that there was a significant
reduction in regard to taxes within the state. As a result, film production
companies will have been encouraged to film there in order to help the
economyof the state. This tax incentive programme brought a significant
amount of film production companies into the region, thus making New
Mexico highly popular with the film industry. Films which have been shot

5. within this state include Sicario (2015),
Let Me In (2010),Thor (2011)and
Maze Runner: Scorch Trials (2015),
the majority of which was filmed just
outside of Albuquerque, the largest city
in New Mexico. ‘We’re the Millers’ was
filmed in New Mexico in 2012.This tax
incentive programme can be
considered beneficialfor film productioncompanies because it provides
them with a wide range of options in regard to where they can film.
‘We’re the Millers’ has an overall running time of 110 minutes (1hr
50mins), whereas the extended edition runs for118 minutes (1hr 58
mins). As of recent times, technologicalinnovation has significantly
enhanced the visual quality of films and
opened up a vast array of opportunities
in regard to filmmaking. The presence of
audio compressiontechnologies such as
Dolby Digital (which was developed by
Dolby Laboratories in the 1990s decade)
can be considered highly beneficialfor
the production of films because it
enables digital cameras to capture
diegetic sound (audio within the film world) in high-definition. This will
have beenhighly advantageous for the productionstage of ‘We’re the
Millers’ as the crew will have been able to record sounds such as guns
firing, fireworks exploding,dogs barking etc. The presence of sound
effects in the final film would potentially increase the level of enjoyment
for the audience, as well as ensure that the film reflects aspectsof the
real world and thus enables the viewers to relate to what is unfolding on-
screen.
Other technologies that were presentduring the productionof ‘We’re the
Millers included high-resolution scans, editing, Video Duplication and
Standards Conversion and encoding, all of which are services that are
presentwithin a motion picture lab referred to as ‘Fotokem’.Based in
California and founded in the year 1963,Fotokem is considered the
largest independentpost-productionfacility on the WestCoast of the

6. United States. The producers of ‘We’re the Millers’ utilized the Fotokem
Laboratory with the purpose of
ensuring the successful
completionof the film; the
facility expanded its services
throughout the years in order to
meet the demands of the film
industry. The editing for ‘We’re
the Millers’ took place at the
Fotokem Laboratory, along with
the creation of the DVD for the
film and the closing credits,
which are employed with the
purpose of listing the cast and
crew of a motion picture, as well
as highlighting which companies were involved with the film, including
distribution companies and sponsors of production. The presence of
facilities such as these is highly beneficialfor film companies because
the visual quality of films can be significantly enhanced.
A digital motion picture camera system referred to as the ‘Arri Alexa’ was
employed during the filming of ‘We’re the Millers’, along with the Cooke
S4 prime lens and the Angenieux Optimo
lens. The Arri Alexa camera system enables
the cameramen to capture high resolution
images whilst being able to support
uncompressed video.This device was
clearly beneficialfor the production stage of
the film (as well as other films in general)
because it is very technologically advanced
and quite simple to use, therefore it will have
had the potential to enhance the overall
visual quality of the film and ensure that it
pleases the audience whilst mirroring
professionalstandards. Some
cinematographers have even considered the
Arri Alexa to have ‘brought us to a point
where digital is simply better’. The camera

7. serves as Arri’s first major transition into digital cinematography. The
2012 James Bond film ‘Skyfall’ was also filmed using the Arri Alexa due
to its high image quality.
Distribution/Exhibition
Following the post-productionstage of ‘We’re the Millers’, the film was
distributed by Warner Bros.Pictures, a major American film studio and
entertainment company. Headquartered in California, the company was
founded in the year 1918 by the ‘Warner Brothers’ (Harry, Albert, Sam
and Jack). Because it is a major film
distributer, Warner Bros. Pictures
would have beenvery effective in
regard to ensuring that ‘We’re the
Millers’ reached a huge amount of
people;because the film is a
mainstream comedy,it should have
universal appeal i.e. something in it for
everyone. In order to ensure the film
reached its target audience (which is
likely to be teenagers and young adults), a major distribution company
will have been required.In the process,the product will have
successfullygot to the audience. A wide range of other methods will
have beenemployed to ensure that the film gains a wide range of
audience attention, including the creation of trailers and adverts that
appear between television programmes,on YouTube and on social
networking sites such as Facebookand Twitter.
The officialreveal trailer for ‘We’re the Millers’ was released in May
2013,only a few months prior to its release in August. The trailer does
well to introduce the
narrative of the film to the
audience, as well as its
characters and setting,
whilst also providing some
insight regarding the
humour of the film. The
presence of a trailer on

8. YouTube is effective because it ensures that a wide range of people will
notice the film and becomeintrigued by it, especiallywhen the viewers
notice well-known celebrities suchas Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston
and Will Poulter.
Following the distribution of the film, the
audience has to interact with the
product. This can be considered a
highly important factor in regard to the
film because it determines how people
will react to the film and its content, as
well as how the film will be rated by
review aggregators e.g. Rotten
Tomatoes following the screening of the
film. ‘We’re the Millers’ was screened at
theatres across the United States, as
well as within multiple countries such as
the United Kingdom,France and Spain.
It grossedmore than seven times its
budgetof $37 million, earning a
worldwide total of $270 million, thus
indicating a positive response from the audience. However, ‘We’re the
Millers’ received mixed reviews from film critics who stated that the film
was ‘uneven and lazily assembled’,showing that the downside to the
film was its narrative which will have been unoriginal and often
incoherent at times. Audience polls were also conducted,and the film
was provided with an average grade of A- in this case.
Trends
‘We’re the Millers’ is a mainstream comedy,therefore its main emphasis
is on humour. The film consists of a wide range of elements which do
well to evoke amusement within the audience, most notably the
presence of exaggerated characteristics, illicit love affairs and a scandal
i.e. an action regarded as morally wrong or illegal. Elements of the
action genre are also presente.g. daring stunts and fight scenes.A good
example is the scene in which the Millers escape a repair shop in their
RV after being held hostage by the antagonist Pablo Chacon (Tomer
Sisley) and his henchman (Matthew Willig). Prior to their escape,the

9. protagonist David (portrayed by Sudeikis) strikes Chacon’s henchman in
the face with a wrench. However, the blow does not appear to injure the
henchman in any way and a fistfight almost ensues between the two. It
is made obvious that the filmmakers intentionally exaggerated the
physical strength of the antagonist in order to evoke humour within the
audience. During their escape,the characters destroythe antagonist’s
vehicle and crash through
the barrier of a motorway
after driving on the wrong
side of it. This scene can
be considered quite
adrenaline evoking and
does well to create tension
and suspense.
It is implied that the
filmmakers attempted to mimic ‘hybridization’ in regard to genre, which
refers to the fact that directors combine elements from multiple genres to
create an intriguing film that differs significantlyfrom other comedyfilms.
For many years, Hollywood films have apparently being influenced by
the trend towards genre hybridization and it is likely that the producers of
‘We’re the Millers’ intended to follow this trend with the purpose of
enhancing the quality of the film and its narrative which revolves
primarily around illegal drug smuggling.
‘We’re the Millers’ could be considered highly
similar to ‘Horrible Bosses’(2011),primarily
due to the presence of shared themes, actors
and settings. Both films feature Sudeikis and
Aniston in roles that are quite similar to the
nature of their characters in ‘We’re the Millers’,
with the formerportraying a character who
possessesa love interest in a female
character and the latter playing a character
who is describedas being ‘sexually
aggressive with everybody’. Both films also
share the theme of crime.
Because Sudeikis and Aniston portray

10. characters that are similar in regard to personality, viewers are very
likely to associate ‘We’re the Millers’ and ‘Horrible Bosses’with each
other. Both celebrities appearto star in films that fit into the genre of
comedy;as a direct result, it would be consideredfairly unusual for the
celebrities to be featured within an action/thriller film as major characters
because audiences would automatically associate the celebrities with
the comedygenre based on the films they have starred in.
‘We’re the Millers’ could potentially have a negative impact on societyas
a whole, primarily because of its core themes such as drug-dealing,
robbery etc. People who watch this film may be likely to assume that
things like these are okay, when in actuality they are serious crimes.
Therefore,the film could mislead audiences. Due to the representation
of U.S. Army Forces at the
customs situated at the
borderbetween the United
States and Mexico within
the film, people might
falsely assume that the
military of the United
States is careless and
unwilling to take certain
matters seriously. The
reason for this is because
there is a scene involving the Millers getting pulled over at the customs
after attracting suspicionfrom the patrolling soldiers,only for a group of
Mexican individuals to crawl out from underneath the vehicle and run
into the desert, having illegally escaped into the U.S. Following this, the
Millers are allowed to leave with the soldiers remaining oblivious to the
huge amount of marijuana stored throughout the Millers’ vehicle and
instead turning their attention to the fleeing suspects.
Although this scene is meant to evoke humour, it could potentially be
seen as offensive towards the military of the United States, as well as
the government. People who watch this scene might falsely assume that
incidents like these happen regularly in real-life and that skilled soldiers
are unable to stop things like illegal immigrants, drug smuggling etc. thus

11. a great deal of carelessness is implied in regard to the soldiers and this
is not a good impression.
Regulatory Issues
‘We’re the Millers’ was rated ‘15’ by the British Board of Film
Classificationdue to crude sexual content,
profanity, drug material and instances of
graphic nudity. The primary role of the BBFC is
to monitor and classifycinema films, ensuring
that the films do not consistof content that is
likely to harm or offend the viewers e.g. strong
violence, gore or scenes of graphic nudity.
‘We’re the Millers’ features several scenes
which had to be cut, mainly due to being too
graphic. A good example is the scene involving Aniston’s character who
performs stage dancing in a repair shop in order to distract the
antagonists and enable her to escape with the rest of the Millers. The
BBFC were likely required to take action and shorten the scene in order
to ensure that it didn’t offend the viewer(s) in any way. The original
scene featured instances of nudity that will have been considered too
graphic for a 15-rated film.
Synergy
‘We’re the Millers’ appears to mirror films which are
considered similarin regard to characters, style
and themes. The film’s posterappears to share
similar elements with those of ‘Horrible Bosses’
and ‘The Inbetweeners’(U.S. version). All three
products appear to mirror each other via content. First of all,
they feature an actor/actress who has starred in each film. For
example, Jason Sudeikis and Jennifer Aniston have both starred
in ‘We’re the Millers’ and ‘Horrible Bosses’which share the
same genre of comedy.The celebrities are depicted on the
posters forboth films a similar manner; on the ‘Horrible Bosses’
poster,Sudeikis is depicted as an employee in distress with a
caption above him referring to the character (as well as his

12. employer)as a ‘Tool’. The usage of coloured lines at the side of both
pictures (each depicting Sudeikis and his boss)which are stacked on top
of each other helps to establish the fact that both characters are being
referred to as ‘tools’. On the ‘We’re the Millers’ poster,Sudeikis’
character is shown to be in a somewhat relaxed state as opposedto
being in distress,thus juxtaposing the characters of both films. On the
latter poster,a caption is also present; it refers to Sudeikis’ character as
a ‘drug dealer’. This shows that both posters seem to describe the
occupation/personality of the characters within the films they represent.
‘The Inbetweeners’postershares similar elements to ‘We’re the Millers’
and ‘Horrible Bosses’as it depicts the protagonists posing in a certain
manner and also gives the audience insight regarding the personality of
the characters. The posteralso features actor Mark L. Young who also
stars in ‘We’re the Millers’ as a character called Scotty P. Mark is shown
to be posing in a manner that suggests that he is an ignorant student on
the Inbetweeners poster. This somewhat reflects the personality of his
character in ‘We’re the Millers’. Overall, it can be consideredvery easy
to compare the three films due to the fact that they share the same style
on their posters.
Horizontal Integration
American multinational media conglomerate Time Warner is an
organization that owns Warner Bros. Pictures, Warner Bros.Pictures
International and New Line Cinema, all of which are film distribution
companies.As a result, all three companies operate at the same level of
production(the
‘distribution’
stage) and work
together. This
can be
considered highly
beneficialfor
Time Warner
because the
organization would not be required to hire outside companies in order to
produce a film. The stage of productionwould be organized in a logical
and thorough manner, thus allowing for greater flexibility in regard to

13. distributing the film. Both New Line Cinema and Warner Bros. Pictures
distributed ‘We’re the Millers’ in 2013.It is implied that both companies
had complete control over the distribution of the film and that
collaborating together on a specific stage of the productionprocess
would result in increased profits for the parent company (Time Warner).
Horizontal integration will have been beneficialfor the production of
‘We’re the Millers’ because it would have resulted in a reduction of
productioncosts, as well as reduced competition.New Line Cinema and
Warner Bros. Pictures are good examples of horizontal integration
because they are quite similar to each other and operate not only within
the same industry, but also on the same level of production.
Vertical Integration
Vertical Integration is defined as an organization that has complete
ownership of the means of production, distribution and exhibition in
regard to a film that is produced by the same
organization. In this particular case,
productioncompanies are present at
differentlevels of the productionprocess,
thus a significant amount of economic and
political influence is possessed bythe
organization. ‘We’re the Millers’ was
produced by multiple companies including New
Line Cinema, Heyday Films and Newman/Tooley
Films, with the formercompany being an
independentfilm studio as well as a distribution
company. Both Warner Bros. and New Line
Cinema, which operate at the distribution stage
and the production stage respectively,are owned
by the same organization (Time Warner) and
were responsibleforproducing and distributing
‘We’re the Millers’. This shows that both companies had control over
multiple levels of the production processas opposedto only one stage
of production,thus providing both companies with increased control
when it came to producing the film. The production companies were also
more likely to have greater societal influence.

14. The World’s End (2013)
The World’s End is a British
comic science-fictionfilm
written and directed by Edgar
Wright, with Simon Pegg co-
writing the film. It was
produced by film companies
Working Title Films, Relativity
Media, StudioCanal and Big
Talk Productions and
distributed by Universal
Pictures and Focus Features.
The film stars Pegg,Nick
Frost, Paddy Considine,Martin Freemanand Eddie Marsan, all of whom
portray a group of adults who encounter an alien invasion whilst
attempting a pub crawl (referred to as ‘the GoldenMile’) encompassing
12 differentpubs, with ‘the World’s End’ being the final pub. The film’s
primary setting is Newton Haven, a fictional town which serves as the
hometown of the main characters. The film was released on the 19th
of
July 2013 in the U.K. and the 23rd
August in the United States.
Production
The World’s End is a British comedicgenre film with ‘a relationship
comedysmuggled inside a sci-fi movie’ as describedby Wright. The
directorhas also describedthe film as ‘a sci-fi where even the people
who are going to be your saviours are hammered’.The World’s End
appears to fall short of the mainstream, much like other films directed by
Wright, for a variety of reasons. Firstly, the budgetfor The World’s End
was $20 million, with an overall domestic boxoffice gross of$46.1
million. The companies which produced the film are based primarily
within the United Kingdom and are not major productioncompanies.
Also, the film was not distributed globally, therefore it had a limited
distribution. The film appears to challenge audiences on an emotional
level, feels quite experimental at times and even takes risks in an artistic
manner. For example, the core theme of perpetual adolescence (which
refers to the struggle to acceptthe past and become an adult) is present

15. within The World’s End. However, this theme is only seeminglypresent
within the film because Wright desired to utilize similar themes that were
featured within Shaun of the Dead (2004)and Hot Fuzz (2007)and that
Wright wanted to provide a conclusion of sorts in regard to the themes.
This does not imply a great deal of sophisticationin regard to the film. All
three films differsignificantly from other comedyfilms,mainly because of
the manner in which they combine differentgenres together.As a result,
all three films (including The World’s End) are quite unique.
The production of The World’s End will have beeninfluenced by a
variety of factors including copyright issues,as well as the ‘all persons
fictitious disclaimer’which refers to protecting the film company from
getting sued for libel due to similarities between aspects of the film and
real events, people etc.Throughout The World’s End, a wide range of
songs were employed as tunes playing on the radio of the protagonists’
car, as music playing within pubs etc. A good example is the song ‘I’m
Free’ by Scottishalternative rock band ‘The Soup Dragons’ which is a
cover version of the song of the same name by The Rolling Stones. The
song is featured twice within the film. The producers of The World’s End
will have been required to considerthe fact that both bands own the
rights to the song and are thus entitled to control whether or not it can be
used within other films. In order to avoid copyright infringement, the
producers of the film will have been required to obtain permissionto
employthe song ‘I’m Free’ within The World’s End.
There are multiple references
to differentfilms presentwithin
The World’s End; for example,
the final scene of the movie
(which features the protagonist
entering a bar) involves the
protagonist drawing a sword
and posing in a manner strikingly similar to the character Aragorn from
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King whilst saying ‘They call me the
King’. However, this is only a humorous reference to a well-known film; it
would not have been necessaryfor the producers of The World’s End to
obtain permissionfrom the production company behind The Lord of the
Rings trilogy. There is an exceptionpresentwithin copyright laws

16. referred to as ‘Fair Use’ which states that an original work can be used
as parody in most cases.
Another factorthat will have influenced the production of The World’s
End is the disclaimerinvolving the depictionof people,events etc. within
a film. The World’s End is based within a fictional town in the United
Kingdom.The production company will have beenrequired to film in
multiple towns throughout the country. Such towns included
Hertfordshire,Letchworth and Welwyn. Because the pubs featured
within the film e.g. The First Postand The Old Familiar did not exist in
real-life, the productionteam shot scenes of action within pubs present
at the towns they
filmed at. The
producers of The
World’s End may
have been
required to considerthe fact that real-life pubs throughout the country
might possess the exact same name (or names which are similar) as
pubs which are depicted within the film. In order to avoid any legal action
from a personwho falsely assumes that a real-life location has been
portrayed in a negative manner, the productioncompany will have
featured the disclaimerwithin the end credits of the film, thus protecting
itself from court action in the process.
The World’s End grossed $46.1 million in
regard to box office against a $20 million
budget.Because the amount of money
available for the productionof the film was
fairly low, there will have beenfar less
flexibility during filming in comparisonto
We’re the Millers which had a higher budget
($37 million). The majority of scenes within
The World’s End were shot at locations
situated primarily within Hertfordshire, a
county in Southern England. The production
company did not film scenes elsewhere in
England; this implies that there were limited
options in regard to where The World’s End

17. could be filmed.The lack of finance in regard to a film production clearly
has a negative impact on the overall quality of a film because it hinders
the creativity of the filmmaker(s) who are unable to produce a film that
features scenes captured from locations in multiple countries. If The
World’s End had a higher budgete.g. $100 million, Wright might have
been able to further establish the key element of the narrative (global
alien invasion) as the film could be based in other countries such as the
U.S. or European countries.
The World’s End initially began as a screenplay titled ‘Crawl’. During
production, the exteriors of real-life pubs located around Hertfordshire
were filmed,although their signs were altered in regard to the names of
the fictional pubs within the film. Wright stated that each of the 12 pubs
were provided with names that provided key foreshadowing elements
within the narrative. For example, the 11th
pub (which was named the
‘Hole in the Wall’) was partially destroyed when one of the protagonists
drove a car through the wall, whereas the interior of the 2nd
pub (the Old
Familiar) appeared strikingly similar to that of the previous pub which
was named ‘The First Post’. Sure enough, this was the first pub the
characters entered during the crawl. The production company will have
been required to pay fortemporary altered signage in regard to the pubs
that were filmed.
Productionfor The World’s End is likely
to have been funded by the British Film
Institute, a film and charitable
organization which utilizes funds from
the National Lottery in order to provide
supportto films made within the U.K.
The organization tends to operate
across film production and development,
as well as audience development.
Funding for The World’s End will have
been required in order to ensure the successfuldevelopmentof the film,
as well as pay to film in public places, alter the signs of pubs etc.
Funding will also have been required for the post-productionprocess.
Following the production of the film, the revenue of The World’s End will
have beenshared amongst the productioncompanies,the director,

18. producer(s),actors and the distribution company. Due to their
contribution to the film, as well as their occupationas well-known
actors/actresses,those who starred as the protagonists of the film e.g.
Simon Pegg as Gary King and Rosamund Pike as Sam Chamberlain will
have received a significant amount of funding. Pegg possessesa net
worth of $10 million, therefore Wright will have been required to pay a
significant amount of the film’s revenue to the actor. The director will
have also received a significant amount of the overall revenue due to the
nature of his job role.
The United Kingdom in general is apparently an ideal country to film in,
mainly due to the fact that film production companies who are producing
a British film (which can be of any
budgetlevel) are able to claim a
25% cash rebate in regard to
qualifying expenditure within the
U.K. i.e. the action of spending
funds. The tax relief available for
British qualifying films is capped at
80% expenditure, meaning that
productioncompanies can spend
just over 10% on their films. Tax
incentives can be considered
beneficialfor films produced within the U.K. because it means that
companies can pay less tax in order to take account of money they’ve
spent on actors, equipment, accommodationetc. The majority of The
World’s End was filmed in this country and it can be stated that the film
benefited from being filmed within the U.K. simply because it will have
been far cheaperfor the productioncompany as opposed to filming
within a major city in the United States, specificallyin an area which
would require the production company to enlist the help of the police to
stop traffic or pedestrians from entering a place where a scene is being
filmed.In this particular case, the film would have cost far more as
opposed to if it was being filmed in a different location e.g. the
countryside.
The majority of scenes forThe World’s End were filmed through usage
of Arriflex movie cameras such as the Arriflex 435 and the 16SR;these

19. products were developed within the 1970s and 1990s and tend to run at
1-150 frames per second.They can be
considered highly beneficialin regard to
filmmaking, especially when combined
with a Panavision Primo lens which
enables shooting in high-resolution
footage.The availability of cameras in
this manner will have highly benefited the productionof The World’s End
because the overall visual quality of the film will have been enhanced
significantly. Other resources available during productionfor the film
were provided by post-productioncompanies based in London,most
notably Company 3 and Technicolor.Company 3 specializes primarily in
things like colour grading and location services which are provided to
films, music videos and television programmes.Following the production
process,The World’s End was edited by the post-productioncompany,
which will have
manipulated things such
as image characteristics
and colours within the
footage obtained during
the production stage in a
final adjustment attempt
prior to the film’s
distribution. The
presence of this company can be considered advantageous for the film
because a great deal of editing will have been provided by a
professionalinstitution that possesses a great deal of technical
proficiency.The role of Technicolorin regard to the post-production
process was the processing ofthe film
i.e. editing the original footage and
assisting with the post-production
process.The World’s End most likely
benefited from the assistance of
companies such as Technicolor as
these companies will have provided

20. highly saturated colours that drastically increased the overall intensity of
colours within the scenes in the film, particularly the glowing blue eyes of
the Androids present during its action sequences.
Distribution
The World’s End has a running time of 1 hour and 49 minutes (109
minutes). The film was distributed globally by Universal Pictures,
premiering on July 10th
, 2013 at LeicesterSquare in Londonand being
released nine days later. Within the United States, The World’s End was
distributed by American film productioncompany Focus Features, after
which it was released on August 23rd
. In orderto promote the film and
ensure that it reaches the audience successfully,companies will have
been required to create
advertisements that would appear
between television programmes,
within film cinemas and on YouTube.
Featuring trailers on YouTube can be
considered beneficialbecause
millions of people access the site,
thus The World’s End would be likely to become popularas a wide
range of people would come across it. The film will have also been
advertised on social media e.g. Facebookand Twitter; this technique
also increases the chances of a wide range of people noticing the trailer
and becoming intrigued by it.
Exhibition
The World’s End earned £2,122,288during its U.K.
opening weekend, thus showing that a wide range of
people were intrigued by the film. Upon its release
within the United States, the film earned $3.5 million,
gaining the ‘highest per-theatre average out of all
films in theatres throughout the country on its
opening day’ in the process.The World’s End also
earned the most out of all three films within the
Cornetto Trilogy in regard to its opening weekend
and eventually gained an overall box office gross of
$46.1 million. As well as audiences, review

21. aggregators such as Rotten Tomatoes interacted with the film, providing
it with a rating based on multiple reviews. For The World’s End, Rotten
Tomatoes gave an 89% approval rating, along with a score of 81/100 by
review aggregator Metacritic. Entertainment Weekly also provided a
rating for the film, giving it a B+ due to its humour and emotional
aspects.
Trends
The World’s End is a comedyfilm, therefore its primary emphasis is on
humour. It was designed specificallyto amuse the audience and was
able to accomplishthis by providing exaggeration in regard to things
which are possible in real-life, most notably the presence of androids
which representordinary people and apparent feats of great physical
strength in regard to the main characters as they engage in hand-to-
hand combatwith the androids. As opposed to other genres of film,
comedyfilms tend to exaggerate activities that exceed the boundaries
regarding what is actually
possible in real-life. This is an
example of ‘slapstickcomedy’
that exaggerates physical
strength. This is quite common
throughout the action sequences
of The World’s End, in which
characters are shown leaping
through glass windows, lifting
people from the ground etc. Many comedyfilms, particularly Home
Alone and Ace Ventura, tend to feature violence that is cartoonish with
little to no focus on physical injury whatsoever. The World’s End can be
considered similardue to the fact that the androids only spurt blood
which looks like blue paint that stains the environment; their limbs and
heads can be ripped off easily by human characters, after which they
remain mobile e.g. disembodied heads are still able to speak. Although
this can be considered somewhatdisturbing, the violence seems
cartoonish and only non-human characters are wounded in this manner.
The World’s End combines two differentgenres:comedyand science
fiction, thus indicating that the film has a hybrid subgenre. The film
clearly exploits the conventions of the Sci-Fi genre by representing

22. things such as apocalypse and alien invasion in a comedic manner. For
example, the scene involving the protagonists confronting the Network
(portrayed by Bill Nighy), an alien entity that attempts to persuade the
characters to join the ‘galactic community’
and be replaced by androids clearly satirizes
standard conventions of the Sci-Fi genre;
the entity, which is supposedlya malicious
being that possesses greatpower, appears
to lose its temperas it reacts to the attitude
of the characters and even curses at one
point. Edgar Wright clearly attempted to
follow the trend of hybridization, which has
influenced a wide range of comedyfilms in
the past e.g. the Men in Black franchise
which utilizes conventions of both Sci-Fi and
comedy.This decisionwas likely influenced
by the fact that the previous two films within
the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) also featured
hybrid subgenres such as zombie apocalypse/comedyand
action/comedyrespectively,thus Wright attempted to provide a
conclusionto the trilogy as well as ensure that all three films were
similar.
The World’s End possesses awide range of similarities to Shaun of the
Dead and Hot Fuzz, which were also directed by Wright and Simon
Pegg.All three films share similar themes, most notably friendship,
community and desire.For
example, Pegg portrays a
character in Shaun of the
Dead who has a love
interest, whereas in The
World’s End he plays a
character that longs for a
time period in the past. All
three films fit into the
comedygenre and feature
the same actors playing the same roles; Simon Pegg and Nick Frost
portray the protagonists of all three films. Both actors also portray

23. characters that are bestfriends in all three films, although they do have
contrasting personalities.The characters portrayed by Nick Frost in all
three films seem innocent, whereas those played by Pegg tend to be
troublesome.This does well to create juxtaposition betweenthe two
characters in all three films,thus providing increased aspects for the
audience to interact with.
The World’s End could have a potentially negative impact on societydue
to its representationof teenagers,who are depicted as immature and
troublesome,as well as people in general. Although the individuals
within the fictional town of Newton Haven are actually androids, the
implication of large amounts of people attacking others can be quite
offensive because it reflects disorderand confusion.A good example is
the scene involving the protagonist Gary, who races to the 11th
pub after
abandoning the
other
protagonists.
The androids
pursue the
character.
Throughout the
film, there is
also a constant
focus on alcohol and intoxication which can be considered quite
negative because it could potentially endorse the behavior and mislead
people.The film could also have a negative impact on public affairs i.e.
government relations due to the narrative of the story which revolves
around alien invaders who desire to improve the planet by replacing its
inhabitants with androids. This action was influenced by the fact that
humans are considereduncivilized by the invaders, who attempt to
make the world a better place.
The ending of the film could also have a negative impact on government
relations because it involves an electromagnetic pulse which wipes out
all moderntechnology and causes widespread devastation, resulting in
the collapse of civilization. Humanity is ‘sent back to the Dark Ages’as
stated by the character Andy (portrayed by Frost). An implication is
created of governments worldwide collapsing and this could be

24. considered anegative impressionon public affairs, especially as it a
devastating event such as this is depicted in a comedic manner.
Regulatory Issues
The World’s End was rated ‘15’ by the British Board of Film
Classificationdue the presence of very strong language (including 3
uses of the C-word) and strong sexual referencesthroughout the course
of the film. The role of the BBFC in regard to The World’s End will have
been to monitor things such as discrimination, imitable behavior and
violence, as well as the tone and impact of the film i.e. the way it makes
the audience feel. The majority of the violence depicted within The
World’s End is highly comical,although it is quite over-the-top and could
still potentially be disturbing to more sensitive viewers because of the
presence of human-like characters being dismembered,decapitated and
crushed, with blue liquid (which serves as the blood of the androids)
staining the environment and spraying all over the characters.
The BBFC will have been required to considerthe fact that although
most of the violence throughout the film is inflicted upon the various non-
human characters, the blue paint that is shed by them looks exactly like
gore and could be just as disturbing. Another thing the BBFC might have
considered was the graphic portrayal of violent and/or dangerous acts
which could harm the public
or even make the violence
look appealing to the
viewer(s). The violence
depicted in The World’s End
could also be seen as
sadistic i.e. with the
protagonists taking pleasure from inflicting pain and humiliation on non-
human characters. The production of The World’s End is likely to have
been influenced by the potential responsesthe film would receive from
the BBFC due to its content; the fight sequences and themes within the
film, for example, could pose a risk to the behavior of individuals, along
with society as a whole. According to the BBFC,a film that contains
material which could risk harm to individuals in real-life would be refused
an 18 certificate;therefore the producers will have been required to be
careful when it came to including scenes of graphic violence within The

25. World’s End. The presence of rules such as these can be considereda
disadvantage in regard to the film because the creativity of the filmmaker
will have been hindered.
Synergy
The World’s End clearly shares similar elements with the other two
installments of the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’: Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz,
both of which feature the same actors (who portray the protagonists of
both films)that star in The World’s End as the primary characters. In the
promotional posters forall
three films, the protagonists
are depicted in the same long,
full-body shots that help to
establish them in relation to
the primary settings of all three films which are zombie apocalypse,
crime and alien invasion. These themes are represented by the nature of
the locations depicted within all three posters;for example, the posterfor
The World’s End depicts the androids that appear within the film, as
hinted by their glowing blue eyes.This clearly shows that all three films
share a strikingly similar style which makes them appear almost visually
identical. The films also mirror each other via the style of their title,
specificallyin regard to placement, size and font. On all three posters,
the title of each film is positioned close to the centre of the image in big,
bold capital lettering that would do well to attract the eye of the
customer. This ensures that all three films are easily recognizable to the
audience, mainly due to possessing a similar visual style which helps to
imply that they belong to the same trilogy.

26. Horizontal Integration
Founded in the year 1912,Universal Studios is an American film
organization that is considered ‘the oldestsurviving film studio in the
United States’. A subsidiary of Universal Studios is Working Title Films,
a productioncompany
based within the United Kingdom which played an important role in
regard to the productionprocess of The World’s End. Along with
Working Title Films, the French productioncompany StudioCanal (which
co-produced The World’s End) has strong links to Universal Studios due
to both companies being owned by the same organization temporarily
(between 2000 and 2004).As a result, Universal Studios owned both
productioncompanies,both of which operated during the production
stage of The World’s End. This is a good example of Horizontal
Integration which will have benefited the film because of increased
efficiencyin regard to the productionof the film due to the presence of
multiple productioncompanies.The parent company would also benefit
due to increased profits as it expands and dominates the market (thus
market share is increased).However, horizontal integration will have
also been considered a disadvantage in regard to the process of
productiondue to the creation of oligopolies,which refers to the majority
of companies being controlled by a single company.
Vertical Integration
Universal Studios also had complete control
over the production,distribution and
exhibition of The World’s End due to the fact
that it owned Working Title Films, as well as
Focus Features which is an American film
productionand distribution company. Focus
Features was involved primarily with the
distribution of The World’s End, whereas
Working Title Films was involved with the
production. The World’s End will have most

27. likely benefited from the presence of multiple companies operating at
differentlevels of the productionprocess due to increased flexibility in
regard to its production,as well as the creation of institutional synergies
i.e. only the companies that were owned by the organization will have
been required for production and it won’t have been necessaryto
employother companies.Another advantage will have beenthe
presence of rationalized operations throughout production which will
have made the productionmore efficient.It is also implied that Universal
Studios will have had greater societal and public influence due to owning
multiple film productioncompanies.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
‘The Usual Suspects’is a 1995 neo-noir
mystery film produced by Bad Hat Harry
Productions,Blue Parrot and Spelling Films
International. Released on January 25th
, 1995,it
was directed by Bryan Singer, an American film
director, producerand writer. He was the
founder of Bad Hat Harry Productions,the
company that helped to produce the film. ‘The
Usual Suspects’ revolves around a con-man
(Roger‘Verbal’ Kint) and his partners in crime
who are interrogated following the destruction of
a ship docked at the Port of Los Angeles and
stars StephenBaldwin, Benicio del Toro, Kevin
Pollak and Kevin Spacey.
Production
‘The Usual Suspects’was shot on a $6 million budget(which is
considerablyless than the budgets of ‘We’re the Millers’ and ‘The
World’s End’). The productionof a film is primarily influenced by the
amount of money that is available, therefore because a small amount of
money was available during the productionof The Usual Suspects,the
producers will have had decreased flexibility and this will have had a
negative impact on the film, specificallyin regard to the visual quality.

28. However, most filmmakers would attempt to spend as little as possible
during production in order to ensure that more profit is made; despite a
low budget, The Usual Suspects had an overall box office gross of$34.4
million. It was first shown at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival out of
competition,where it received a generally positive response from the
audience. During the pre-productionprocess of the film, the producers
had a difficulttime in regard to making the film due to a lack of cast
members;therefore,well-known
actors such as ChristopherWalken,
TommyLee Jones,Charlie Sheen,
Johnny Cash and Al Pacino
received requests from the
productioncompany to star as
characters within the film.
Eventually, the productioncompany
was able to assemble a cast, all of whom received salaries that were
well below their usual pay; although each cast memberis entitled to
receive a fixed share of money due to their contribution to the film, the
actors agreed nonetheless due to the fact that they were willing to work
with each other on a film with an intriguing narrative. Well-known actors
such as Kevin Spacey (who starred in The Usual Suspects)tend to have
a high net worth i.e. personal finance and/or value, with Spacey
possessing anet worth of $80 million, therefore this type of actor is
bound to receive a huge amount of money.
The Usual Suspects has an overall running time of 1hr and 46mins
(106mins).The technologies that went into the production of the film
included Panavision camera systems and lenses,as well as special
effects that were provided by the Fotokem Laboratory located in
Burbank, California. In order to shootthe scenes forthe film, a sync-
sound 35mm motion picture camera will have been employed.Due to
the level of technologicalinnovation in regard to productionat the time,
the decreased availability of resources during filming will have had a
negative impact on the film, particularly its quality. The post-production
process ofThe Usual Suspects will have benefited significantly from
high-resolution scans, encoding,editing system rentals and editing, all of
which were provided by the Fotokem Laboratory based in California.

29. Distribution/Exhibition
The Usual Suspects was distributed by Gramercy Pictures and Polygram
Filmed Entertainment, both of which have strong relations with Universal
Studios, a major American film studio. The film was promoted by
Gramercy Pictures via an advertising campaign prior to its release in the
summer of 1995,and in order to raise audience anticipation, billboards
and posters on the sides of
buses depicting the film were
present. The quote ‘Who is
KeyserSoze?’ (a character
within the film) was shown
on the posters;the quote
does well to communicate
the theme of mystery within
The Usual Suspects.The
film was also advertised via
word of mouth marketing i.e.
the exchange of information
between people through oral
communication. Due to the
nature of the time period,it is
likely that the producers will have struggled to ensure that the film
reached the audience because social networking sites such as
Facebookand Twitter were not available, therefore it will have been
unlikely that the film would reach millions of people at the time. The
video sharing website YouTube also did not exist at the time, thus the
producers will have had a decreasedrange of options in regard to
distributing the film.
The Usual Suspects was released in multiple cinemas, eventually
making $23.3 million in the U.S. The film received mixed reviews, with
some referring to the film as having ‘a simple plot’ and containing ‘strong
and fascinatingly ambiguous characters’ and others stating that the plot
is ‘easily predictable’and ‘confusing and uninteresting’. This shows that
people had a wide range of opinions on The Usual Suspects.The film
has a rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes,which implies a highly positive
response to the film by the review aggregator.

30. Trends
During the 1990s decade,the mystery/thriller genre was quite common,
therefore it is likely that the producers of The Usual Suspects intendedto
produce a film belonging to the same genre due to the fact that they
could make more money; if a specificgenre of film has become
increasingly popular, there is a good chance that a wide range of people
would be attracted to the genre and watch a film containing similar
elements.Throughout the 1990s,a wide range of neo-noir crime-thriller
films (particularly from the U.S. and the U.K.) were released including
L.A. Confidential (1997), Seven (1995),Scream (1996)and Eyes Wide
Shut (1999),the latter of which was directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Social and Political Issues
The Usual Suspects could potentially have a negative impact on society,
primarily due to the presence of violent themes and deception
throughout the film’s plot. The film seems to revolve around a group of
criminals who desire to become rich and are willing to break the law in
order to accomplishthis. It is almost implied that the actions of the
protagonists are positive; therefore the film could potentially mislead the
audience who might assume that the behavior depicted within the film is
acceptable.The film could also influence people to commitillegal acts
such as drug smuggling; drugs such as heroin and cocaine are
represented within the film and as of recent times, these are classed as
illegal recreational drugs especially within the United States.

31. Regulatory Issues
The Usual Suspects was given an 18 rating by the BBFC due to the
presence of strong violence, drugs and frequent usage of profanity
particularly the F-word. The BBFC will have been required to consider
the potential impact the film would have on its audience, as well as
whether or not any aspects of the film (particularly scenes of violence)
would need to be removed and/or censored in order to ensure that the
film did not cause harm to the public or offend anyone. Due to the
presence of strong language and
violence, the BBFC were required
to give the film an 18 certificate.It
is implied that the violence within
the film was consideredextreme
by the BBFC because a 15
certificate usually allows strong
bloodyviolence, however the
violence within the Usual Suspects
will have been consideredhighly
disturbing, thus necessitating the
18 certificate.Because the film is
rated 18, only adults will have
been permitted to view the film at cinemas and this can be considereda
disadvantage as the audience for the film is somewhat hindered; the
reason for this is because parents would not take their children to see
the film and those who are sensitive to violence within films would refuse
to watch the film also. As a result, the film will have beenless popular
than other neo-noir crime-thriller films at the time.
The Usual Suspects was directed by Bryan Singer, who is also the
founder of American film and television productioncompany ‘Bat Hat
Harry Productions’.This film company was responsible forthe
productionstage of The Usual Suspects and as of recent times, has also
produced the X-Men film series (2000-present), Superman Returns
(2006)and Jack the Giant Slayer (2013). It is implied that Singer had
complete controlover the productionof The Usual Suspects due to the
fact that he owned the productioncompany responsible forproducing

32. the film; this can be considered quite beneficialforthe film because it
allowed for increased flexibility during the productionprocess.
Similarities and Differences
Budgets:A notable differencebetweenthe three aforementioned films
is the amount of money which was available during the processof
production; this would determine the amount of flexibility the producers
would have whilst making the films, as well as the amount of options in
regard to where the production company can film. ‘We’re the Millers’
(2013)had a budgetof $37 million, therefore the productioncompany
(New Line Cinema) will have had increased options in regard to where
they could film, as well as the technical aspects of the post-production
process,particularly access to studios such as Fotokem in California.
We’re the Millers was filmed at North Carolina and New Mexico in the
year 2012,both of which are entirely differentlocations.
This implies that the production company was able to film in multiple
countries as opposed to differentregions of a single country; this was
the case for The World’s End which had a budgetof $20 million,
considerablyless than that of We’re the Millers. The World’s End was
filmed primarily in the United Kingdom,although differenttowns and
villages were used for the setting of the fictional Newton Haven. The
visual quality of the film differs from We’re the Millers, possiblydue to the
fact that differenttypes of cameras were used to capture action
sequences forboth films. With a budgetof only $6 million, The Usual
Suspects differs significantly from We’re the Millers and The World’s
End; its visual quality is low and there will have been limited options in
regard to where the production company (Bad Hat Harry Productions)
could film. The locations chosenfor the film were Los Angeles,New
York City and San Pedro (a location within Los Angeles),all of which are
situated in a single country; the United States.
Overall, the amount of money that was available during the production
process ofall three films clearly influenced their quality, and the more
money that was available, the more flexibility the producers will have
had whilst producing the film.

33. Box Office Gross:In the year 2013,both We’re the Millers and The
World’s End were released.Although they belong to the same genre,
both films differsignificantly due to their themes; We’re the Millers
revolves around drug dealing/smuggling and The World’s End is based
around a pub crawl and an alien invasion. However, the two films are
similar because they made a huge amount of money compared to their
original budgets and grossed a significant amount within their respective
countries (the U.S. and the U.K.), even almost managing to secure a top
spotduring their opening weekends.The World’s End grossed $46.1
million, landing in fourth place behind Lee Daniels’ The Butler, We’re the
Millers and The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,with We’re the Millers
grossing more than seven times its budgetof $37 million. This shows
that each film exceededbox office expectations and earned a significant
amount of money in their opening weekends.
Technologies ofProduction: Another notable difference between all
three films is the level of technologicalinnovation at the time period in
which the films were produced.The Usual Suspects was created over
11 years ago at a time when things such as computergenerated
imagery, editing techniques and specialeffects were not as enhanced as
they are as of recent times. As a direct result, The Usual Suspects
appears less visually intriguing compared to The World’s End and We’re
the Millers, with a lack of specialeffects,lighting, variety of camera shots
and angles and presence of low-quality non-diegetic sounds. It is implied
that earlier versions of a specific camerasystem were employed during
the production of The Usual Suspects and that as time progressed,
cameras and lenses became more enhanced, as well as software
presentin post-productionstudios in the U.S. Both We’re the Millers and
The World’s End were released quite recently (just over three years
ago), therefore they appear far more visually intriguing in comparisonto
The Usual Suspects which was released almost a decade prior. In
recent times, films tend to have better visuals due to the presence of
new technologies,as well as greater funding.
Methods of Distribution: In order to raise audience awareness for a
film, production companies are required to utilize social networking sites,
trailers on YouTube, television/cinema advertising and billboards (as
well as posters on the sides of buses or in windows) to ensure that a

34. wide range of people find out about the film and becomeintrigued by it,
thus increasing the chances that the film will be popular. The production
companies forWe’re the Millers and The World’s End utilized methods
such as these in order to promote their films and therefore,there will
have beena good chance that millions of people would find out about
them. The Usual Suspects differssignificantly from the aforementioned
films because it was released in a differenttime period (the 1990s
decade)when things like social media and YouTube did not exist and
alternate methods were employed to promote films, as well as certain
events or products.One such method of distribution that was used to
promote the Usual Suspects was Word of mouth marketing, which refers
to the direct interaction of consumers with each other in order to create
excitementor anticipation in regard to a product or event, thus this can
be considered as a form of hype which is oftenseen as a goal of public
relations as well as goodwill. The Harry Potter film series is a good
example because it also involved a strong marketing buzz, along with
the Blair Witch Project.