Big vs Small

1. BIG VS.
Chrissie Bishop
SMALL

2. The
Hunger
Games:
Catching
Fire

3. Pre-production
◦ Lionsgate announced that a film adaptation of Catching Fire would be released as The
Hunger Games: Catching Fire on November 22nd, 2013, as a sequel of The Hunger Games
which was released on the 12th March 2012 (US) and 21st March 2012 worldwide.
◦ Catching Fire was also produced by Color Force which is an American studio notable for
producing films based on novels.
◦ Lionsgate officially announced Francis Lawrence as the director for Catching Fire on May 3,
2012. Two days later, Michael Arndt was in talks to re-write the script for Catching Fire and
Arndt was confirmed as the new writer of the script.
◦ Simon Beaufoy was hired to write the script and wrote two drafts before leaving after Gary
Ross, director of The Hunger Games, decided not to direct the sequel.
◦ The film was produced by Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, cinematography by Jo Willems, and
editing by Alan Edward Bell.
◦ The budget for Catching Fire was $130-$140 million dollars.
◦ The film featured sequences filmed in the IMAX format.

4. Cast
◦ Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle) as Katniss Everdeen.
◦ Josh Hutcherson (Little Manhattan, Bridge to Terabithia) as Peeta Mellark.
◦ Liam Hemseworth (The Last Song) as Gale Hawthorne.
◦ Woody Harrelson (White Men Can’t Jump, Now You See Me) as Haymitch Abernathy.
◦ Elizabeth Banks (The 40 Year Old Virgin, Pitch Perfect) as Effie Trinket.
◦ Lenny Kravitz (Precious) as Cinna.
◦ Phillip Seymour Hoffman (Capote, Charlie Wilson’s War) as Plutarch Heavensbee.
◦ Jeffrey Wright (Hamlet, Casino Royale) as Beetee Latier.
◦ Stanley Tucci (A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Devil Wears Prada) as Caesar Flickerman.
◦ Donald Sutherland (The Dirty Dozen, Pride & Prejudice) as President Columbus Snow.
◦ Toby Jones (Infamous, The First Avenger)as Claudius Templesmith.
◦ Sam Clafin (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides) as Finnick Odair.
◦ Jenna Malone (Stepmom, Pride & Prejudice) as Johanna Mason.

5. Background Information
◦ Catching Fire is based upon the popular novel The Hunger Games which is a trilogy by
Suzanne Collins. Catching Fire is the second installment in the film series and is based
on dystopian fiction – the creation of a degraded society that is generally headed to
an irreversible oblivion.
◦ In Catching Fire, Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark become targets of the Capitol
after their victory in the 74th Hunger Games sparks a rebellion in the Districts of Panem.
◦ A sequel to Catching Fire is scheduled to be released on November 21st 2014, called
The Hunger Games: Mockinjay - Part 1 followed by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 on November 20th 2015.

6. Production
◦ Casting for Catching Fire begun in July 2012; it was announced that Jena Malone would portray
Johanna Mason, Amanda Plummer would portray Wiress, and that Philip Seymour Hoffman would
portray Plutarch Heavensbee. In August 2012, it was announced that Lynn Cohen had been cast as
Mags. Alan Ritchson was cast as Gloss on August 9th, Sam Claflin as Finnick Odair on August 22nd and
Jeffrey Wright as Beetee on September 7th.
◦ Production officially began on September 10th 2012 with shooting for some of the cast on December
21st, 2012. Principal photography resumed and concluded in March 2013.
◦ Shooting first took place in and around Atlanta, Georgia and then moved to Hawaii, to shoot the arena
scenes. The cast and crew were working 14-hour days and six days a week.
◦ In late March, filming occurred in the Universal Studios back lot and was kept extremely secretive.
Reshoots were scheduled for April 13th in Atlanta. Filming also occurred at a base camp which was set
up at Executive Park and Goat Farm Art Center in Atlanta.
◦ Francis Lawrence has previously stated that there is approximately an hour of Arena scenes. Unlike the
first movie, cameras were mounted to avoid the shaky-cam look that was present in the first film.
◦ In an IMAX featurette, Francis Lawrence also confirmed that scenes taking place in the Arena were shot
on IMAX cameras to distinguish them from scenes external to the Arena. Approximately 50 minutes of the
films footage was shot in the IMAX format, through the use of three IMAX 15 perf/65mm film cameras.

7. Distribution
◦ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is distributed by Lionsgate.
◦ To promote its biggest budget production yet, the Lionsgate studio is spending
about $45 million to advertise the picture in the U.S.
◦ The Hunger Games was released on November 22nd, 2013 worldwide. Around
the same time, Thor: The Dark World was released around the same time
which caters towards a similar audience and was it’s biggest competition,
however The Hunger Games had a greater box office with $861,854,554,
compared to Thor which had $638,945,789.

8. Distribution: marketing and
promotion
◦ The Hunger Games: Catching Fire used many promotional methods to help increase the box
office of the film, including normal marketing such as trailers, teasers and posters as well as nail
polishes and working with Subway to make special cups.
◦ On November 16th, 2012, the first teaser trailer was released along with the the official logo
and tagline for the film. Lionsgate announced a sweepstakes competition where 12 fans
would have their name listed in the film's credits.
◦ Entertainment Weekly released a 2013 Preview edition of their magazine, with the first look of
Lawrence as Katniss and Claflin as Finnick on the cover as well as several stills showcasing
scenes from the film.
◦ CapitolCouture.PN, a promotional site for the film's fashion and culture, opened and could
only be unlocked with a passcode. On March 4th, 2013, the site began to release portraits of
the various characters.
◦ Alongside the announcement of the teaser trailer premiering at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards,
Lionsgate revealed a new website called TheHungerGamesExplorer. On April 10th, the website
was updated and fans had to tweet using the hashtag #HungerGamesExplorer to unlock new
stills from the movie. A still could be unlocked every day leading up to April 14th, 2013, the
teaser trailer's release date.
◦ The teaser trailer debuted at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards on April 14th and was presented by
Liam Hemsworth who plays Gale in the film. The trailer was be posted on
TheHungerGamesExplorer after the ceremony.
◦ An exclusive new trailer debuted at the San Diego Comic-Con International on July 20th, 2013.
An international trailer was released a few days later.
◦ The final trailer was released on October 27th 2013. Three days later a new IMAX poster for the
film was released.

9. Distribution: marketing and
promotion
◦ Catching Fire is yet to be released on DVD and Bluray, which is
due on March 17th, 2014.
◦ Bonus features in the Blu-ray version of the release include a 9part feature length documentary about the making of the
movie, entitled 'Surviving the Game: Making Catching Fire’. This
feature doesn't comprise part of the DVD release.
◦ There is also a full audio commentary which has been recorded
by the director of the movie Francis Lawrence and the
producer Nina Jacobson. There will also be a raft of deleted
scenes available on the disk, and a sneak preview of the
forthcoming movie 'Divergent', which seems to have many
similarities with the Hunger Games series.
◦ In addition to the DVD release, you are able to purchase the
film via Digital HD, Video on Demand and Pay-Per-View, with
the movie expected to show up on both the PS4 and Xbox One
platform in due course too.

10. Soundtrack
◦ In October 2012, composer James Newton
Howard confirmed that he would return to
compose the music for Catching Fire. On May
14, 2013, Alexandra Patsavas was made
music supervisor, replacing T Bone Burnett
from the first film.
◦ Coldplay were announced as the first official
artist to be featured on the Catching Fire
soundtrack album, with the song "Atlas",
released worldwide on September 6, 2013.
◦ Other artists featured on the soundtrack are
Christina Aguilera, Of Monsters and Men, Sia
featuring The Weeknd & Diplo, The National,
Imagine Dragons, Lorde, The Lumineers, Ellie
Goulding, Patti Smith, Santigold, Mikky Ekko,
Phantogram and Antony and the Johnsons.
◦ The album was released November 25th,
2013.
o Tracklist:
1. "Katniss"
2. "I Had To Do That"
3. "We Have Visitors"
4. "Just Friends"
5. "Mockingjay Graffiti"
6. "The Tour"
7. "Daffodil Waltz"
8. "Waltz In A (Op. 39, No. 15)"
9. "Fireworks"
10. "Horn Of Plenty"
11. "Peacekeepers"
12. "Prim"
13. "A Quarter Quell"
14. "Katniss Is Chosen"
15. ”Introducing The Tributes"
16. "There's Always A Flaw"
17. "Bow And Arrow"
18. "We're A Team"
19. "Let's Start"
20. "The Games Begin"
21. "Peeta's Heart Stops"
22. "Treetops"
23. "The Fog"
24. "Monkey Mutts"
25. "Jabberjays"
26. "I Need You"
27. "Broken Wire"
28. "Arena Crumbles"
29. "Good Morning Sweetheart”

11. Exhibition
◦ Premiered at the Odeon Leicester Square theater on November 11th, 2013.
◦ The film was later released on November 22nd, 2013 in the United States in traditional and IMAX theaters.
◦ The film was also shown in the 4DX format in selected international territories. 4DX cinema features
motion-enhanced seating, wind, water sprays, strobe lightning, and scent-based special effects.
◦ Catching Fire was also shown in various everyman cinemas, where you get a luxury dinner experience
whilst watching the film.
◦ It was released a total of 4,163 cinemas worldwide.
◦ Box office: It gained a worldwide total of $862,586,251. It is the 35th highest-grossing film world wide; the
highest-grossing film of the The Hunger Games series and the highest-grossing film distributed by
Lionsgate whilst also being the fourth highest-grossing 2013 film.
◦ As you can see, Catching Fire has been a massive success at the box office, with the film performing
particularly well in the United States. The second 'Hunger Games' movie in the four film quadrilogy
topped the box office for 2013 in the US, grossing more than $420 million. This made it the first film with a
female lead to top the annual box office rating sin the US for half a century.

12. Exhibition
◦ Catching Fire was in the cinemas for a total of 13 weeks.
◦ It was given a 12A age rating, possibly due to the moderate violence and threat, as
well as the infrequent strong language. In short, it allowed the film to play to the
broadest possible audience.
◦ I would say The Hunger Games franchise is attempting to be somewhat gender neutral
in terms of it’s target audience. It stars a female character who is deemed to be a
heroine, but much of the content in both films appears to involve violent competition,
which generally appeals more to males. The age range varies from 12 to 18 years.

13. Reviews and awards
◦ “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is movie escapism made with intelligence, and that
doesn't come around often enough. As I sensed this movie ending I wished it wouldn't, and
when it did I wanted the next one now. Take that, Bilbo.” – Metacritic
◦ “Smart, smoothly directed, and enriched with a deeper exploration of the franchise's
thought-provoking themes, Catching Fire proves a thoroughly compelling second
installment in the Hunger Games series.” – Rotten Tomatoes
◦ “Whatever the flaws, many from the books, this second grittier, more confident round of
Hunger Games thrills us into submission.” – Empire
◦ Awards:
◦
◦
◦
◦
◦
2013 Hollywood Film Awards – Best Song – “Atlas” - WON
2014 People’s Choice Awards – Favourite Year End Movie – WON
2014 Critics Choice Movie Awards – Best Action Film – NOMINATED
2014 Golden Globes – Best Original Song – “Atlas” – NOMINATED
2014 Grammy’s – Best Song Written for Visual Media – “Atlas” - NOMINATED

14. The
Selfish
Giant

15. Production
◦ Backed by the BFI Film Fund and Film4, and developed with support from both Film4
and the BFI, The Selfish Giant is a Moonspun Films production. It is a British independent
film.
◦ After premiering at Cannes in the Director's Fortnight in May 2013, it was released in the
UK by Artificial Eye on November 15th 2013.
◦ The film was directed by Clio Barnard, produced by Katherine Butler, Lizzie Francke and
Tracy O'Riordan, and had cinematography by Mike Eley. Music was by Harry Escott and
editing by Nick Fenton.
◦ The main cast include the likes of Conner Chapman as Arbor, Shaun Thomas as
Swifty, Sean Gilder (Doctor Who, Gangs of New York) as Kitten, Lorraine Ashbourne (The
Bill, Casualty)as Mary and Ian Burfield (Eastenders, The Bill) as Mick Brazil.
◦ The film is based on the Oscar Wilde story of the same name (The Selfish Giant).
◦ The Selfish Giant was filmed in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, UK.

16. Distribution
◦ The Selfish Giant was distributed by Film4.
◦ It was released in November 15th 2013. November is quite a popular time for
independent films to be released, as it is roughly 6 months after the film festivals so that
the films have time to develop and improve if needed. This meant that this film faced
opposition from other independent films, such as In Fear.
◦ A trailer was released for the film on September 18th 2013, along with a poster for the
film to further promote it to those interested in small, independent films.
◦ A DVD was released on 27th January 2014 which is also available on Bluray.

17. Exhibition
◦ The Selfish Giant was shown in 6 independent cinemas throughout the UK. It was in release for 3 weeks.
◦ At box office, the film made £2,589 in it’s opening weekend and a total of £10,531 as of 3rd January 2014.
Worldwide, $12,189 was made in total.
◦ The BBFC classified the film as a 15 due to it’s use of strong language
◦ The audience for the film is generally late teens to adults due to the nature of the film, and possibly fans of the
original Oscar Wilde novel.
◦ Reviews:
◦ "Barnard's storytelling is heartfelt and passionate, fluent and supremely confident and this is a heart-wrenching movie with some
stunning set pieces." - Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian
◦ "So hauntingly perfect is Barnard’s film, and so skin-pricklingly alive does it make you feel to watch it, that at first you can hardly
believe the sum of what you have seen: the astonishingly strong performances from her two young, untutored leads; Barnard’s
layered script; Mike Eley’s snow-crisp cinematography that makes the streets of Bradford shine. [...] like Ken Loach's Kes, the film
knells with myth: we get a keen sense of an older, purer England buried somewhere underneath all this junk, from the early
wide shots of horses in meadows, idling belly-deep in morning mist, to the extraordinary, almost wordless final sequence that
hints at redemption and reincarnation. The Selfish Giant is cinema that tells an unsure nation who we are." - Robbie Collin, The
Telegraph
◦ The Selfish Giant was screened in the Directors' Fortnight section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival where it won
the Europa Cinemas award. It was also nominated for the 2013 Lux Prize. The film was screened in the
Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. It won Best Film at the 24th
Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2013. Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film five out of
five stars. The film was also nominated for the 2014 Bafta for Best British Film.