What’s Playing This Summer?

WHAT does the arrival of summer mean to you? If there is a change to warmer weather, summer may be a call to the pleasant outdoors​—perhaps to enjoy outings at the beach or a park.

Those in the film industry, however, are counting on millions of people to spend a good number of summertime hours indoors at the movies. There are at least 35,000 movie screens in the United States alone, and in recent years about 40 percent of box-office profits in that country have been generated during the summer season.a “It’s like what Christmas is to the retail industry,” says Heidi Parker of Movieline magazine.

This was not always so. Summer used to be sluggish for U.S. theaters, forcing many of them to limit their schedule or close for the season. But by the mid-1970’s, air-conditioned theaters were luring millions indoors to escape the heat. Children, out of school, were an untapped market that did not escape the notice of moviemakers. Before long, the summer blockbuster emerged.b It changed the way films are made and marketed, as we shall see.

[Footnotes]

From Script to Screen

OVER the past few decades, Hollywood has become a prolific source of box-office blockbusters. This phenomenon has had global impact, since many American films are released abroad just weeks​—or in some cases days—​after their U.S. premiere. Some movies have even opened worldwide on the same date. “The international market is a growing and very vibrant place,” says Dan Fellman, president of Warner Brothers Pictures domestic distribution, “so when we make movies, we view it as a global opportunity.” Now more than ever, what happens in Hollywood affects the entertainment industry worldwide.a

But making a profit on a film is not as easy as it may seem. Many movies must take in more than $100 million just to cover production and marketing costs. And whether they succeed is entirely up to an unpredictable public. “You can never know what the public at any given moment is going to find exciting or sensationally appealing,” says David Cook, a professor of film studies at Emory University. So how do moviemakers increase their odds of success? To answer, we first need to understand a few basics about how films are made.b

Preproduction​—Laying the Groundwork

Preproduction is often the longest phase of the filmmaking process and one of the most important. As with any large project, preparation is the key. The hope is that every dollar spent in preproduction will save many more times that amount during filming.

The making of a movie begins with a story idea, which may be either fictitious or based on real-life events. A writer puts the story into script form. The script, also called the screenplay, may be revised numerous times before the final version​—called a shooting script—​is produced. The shooting script contains the dialogue of the film as well as a brief description of the action that will take place. It also provides guidance for technical details, such as camera direction and transitions between scenes.

It is while still in its early stage, however, that a screenplay is offered for sale to a producer.c What kind of screenplay might a producer be interested in? Well, typical summer film fare is targeted at teens and young adults​—“the popcorn crowd,” as one movie critic calls them. So a producer might be drawn to a story that reaches out to youths.

Better still is a script that cuts across the age demographic. For example, a movie about a comic-book superhero will surely draw younger children who are familiar with the character. And no doubt their parents will accompany them. But how do moviemakers attract the teenagers and young adults? “Edgy content” is the key, writes Liza Mundy in The Washington Post Magazine. Adding crude language, scenes of intense violence, and a generous dose of sex to a movie is a way of “maximizing its profit-making potential by leaving no group languishing out on the sidewalk.”

If a producer feels that a screenplay has potential, he might purchase it and try to sign on a reputable director and a famous actor or actress. Having a known director and a top-name star will create box-office appeal when the film is released. Yet, even at this initial stage, big names can attract investors who are needed to finance the film.

Another aspect of preproduction is storyboarding. A storyboard is a series of sketches depicting various sequences of the film, particularly those that involve action. Serving as a blueprint for the cinematographer, the storyboard saves much time during filming. As director and screenwriter Frank Darabont says, “there’s nothing worse than standing around on the set wasting your shooting day trying to figure out where to put the camera.”

Many other issues must be settled during preproduction. For example, what locations will be used for filming? Will travel be required? How will interior sets be built and designed? Will costumes be needed? Who will handle lighting, makeup, and hair? What about sound, special effects, and stunt work? These are just a sampling of the many aspects of moviemaking that need to be considered before a single frame of film is shot. Watch the closing credits of a big-budget film, and you may find that hundreds of people were involved behind the scenes! “It takes a city of people to make a feature film,” says one technician who has worked on numerous movie sets.

Production​—Putting It on Film

Shooting a movie can be time-consuming, tedious, and expensive. Indeed, a single minute wasted can cost thousands of dollars. Sometimes actors, crew members, and equipment have to be transported to a remote part of the world. No matter where shooting takes place, however, each day of filming takes a sizable bite out of the budget.

Lighting crew, hairdressers, and makeup artists are among the first to arrive on the movie set. Each day of filming, stars may spend several hours being made ready for the camera. Then a long day of filming begins.

The director closely supervises the filming of each scene. Even a relatively simple scene can take all day to film. Most scenes in a movie are filmed with a single camera, and as a result, the scene will be done over and over again for each camera angle. Additionally, each shot may need to be done repeatedly to get the best performance or to correct a technical problem. Each of these attempts at filming is called a take. For bigger scenes, 50 or more takes may be required! Later​—usually at the end of each shooting day—​the director views all the takes and decides which ones should be saved. In all, the process of filming may take weeks or even months.

Postproduction​—The Pieces Come Together

During postproduction, film footage is edited to form a cohesive motion picture. First, the audio track is synchronized with the film. Then, the editor assembles the raw footage into a preliminary version of the film, called a rough cut.

Sound effects and visual effects are also added at this stage. Special-effects cinematography​—one of the most complex elements of filmmaking—​is sometimes accomplished with the help of computer graphics. The results can be spectacular and lifelike.

The musical score is also added during postproduction, and this aspect has taken on greater prominence in today’s films. “The movie industry is now demanding more original soundtrack music than ever before​—not just twenty minutes or a few cues for dramatic moments, but often more than an hour of music,” writes Edwin Black in Film Score Monthly.

Sometimes a newly edited film is shown to a test audience, perhaps made up of the director’s friends or colleagues who were not involved in the making of the film. Based on their response, the director might reshoot scenes or eliminate them. In some cases the entire ending of a film has been changed because there was a poor response to the original in a test screening.

Finally, the completed film is released to theaters. Only at this point does it become apparent whether it will be a blockbuster or a bomb​—or something in between. But more is at stake than dollars and cents. A series of failures can ruin an actor’s prospects for work and destroy the reputation of a director. “I had seen several of my contemporaries fall away after a couple of misses,” says director John Boorman, reflecting on his early years in filmmaking. “The brutal reality of the movie business is that if you don’t make money for your masters, you are banished.”

Of course, when standing before a theater marquee, the public at large is not thinking of the employment issues of moviemakers. More likely, their primary concerns include: ‘Will I enjoy this movie? Is it worth the price of admission? Will I find the film shocking or offensive? Is it appropriate for my children?’ How can you answer such questions when deciding which movies you will see?

[Footnotes]

[Blurb on page 6]

“You can never know what the public at any given moment is going to find exciting or sensationally appealing.”​—David Cook, professor of film studies

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MARKETING A BLOCKBUSTER

The film is complete. It is ready to be seen by millions. Will it succeed? Consider a few ways that moviemakers try to market their product and turn it into a blockbuster.

◼ BUZZ: One of the most effective ways to create anticipation for a movie is through word of mouth​—or, as it is called in the industry, buzz. Sometimes buzz begins months before a movie’s release. Perhaps it is announced that there will be a sequel to a previous hit movie. Will the original stars return? Will it be as good (or as bad) as the first installment?

In some cases, buzz is created over a controversial element in a film​—perhaps depictions of sex that are unusually graphic for a mainstream motion picture. Is the scene really that bad? Has the movie “pushed the envelope” too far? Moviemakers enjoy the benefits of free advertising as opposing viewpoints are publicly debated. Sometimes the controversy that is ignited all but guarantees a large turnout for the film’s premiere.

◼ MEDIA: More traditional forms of advertising include the use of billboards, newspaper ads, TV commercials, movie trailers shown in theaters before a feature film, and interviews in which the stars plug their latest movie. Now the Internet is a prime tool for movie advertising. “Had Dorothy [of The Wizard of Oz] clicked her mouse, and not her heels,” writes film critic Steve Persall, “she’d have found herself with a rainbow of movie sites offering celebrity gossip, the latest movie trailers, tickets and times.”

◼ MERCHANDISING: Promotional items can enhance a film’s release. For example, a movie based on a comic-book hero was accompanied by tie-in lunch boxes, mugs, jewelry, clothing, key chains, clocks, lamps, a board game, and more. “Typically, 40 percent of movie merchandise is sold before a film is even released,” writes Joe Sisto in an entertainment journal of the American Bar Association.

◼ HOME VIDEO: A movie that falls short financially at the box office can make up for its losses in home video sales. Bruce Nash, who tracks the financial intake of motion pictures, says that “home video markets account for 40 to 50 percent of revenues.”

◼ RATINGS: Moviemakers have learned to use ratings to their advantage. For example, material might be deliberately inserted into a film so that it will receive a more severe rating, making the movie seem more adult. On the other hand, just enough cuts might be made to a movie to avoid an adult rating and make it marketable to teens. Liza Mundy writes in The Washington Post Magazine that a teen rating “has evolved into an advertisement: Studios use it to send a message to teenagers​—and young kids who long to be teenagers—​that the movie will contain cool stuff.” The rating creates a sort of “generational tension,” Mundy writes, “warning the parent while seducing the child.”

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HOW MOVIES ARE MADE

SCRIPT

STORYBOARDS

COSTUME

MAKEUP

FILMING ON LOCATION

SPECIAL EFFECTS FILMING

MUSIC RECORDING

SOUND MIXING

COMPUTER-GENERATED ANIMATION

EDITING

Which Movies Will You See?

IN RECENT decades, the profusion of on-screen sex, violence, and profanity has met with varied reactions. Some say that a certain sex scene is lewd, while others argue that it is artistic. Some insist that the violence in a movie is gratuitous, while others say that it is justified. Some assert that dialogue peppered with profanity is offensive, while others claim that it is realistic. What one person calls obscene, another calls freedom of expression. Listening to both sides may make this all seem to be a matter of semantics.

But film content is not just a matter for trivial debate. It is a valid concern, not only for parents but also for all who value moral standards. “Whenever I take a chance and go against my better judgment and venture back into a movie theater, I always feel like a worse person when I come out,” lamented one woman. “I’m embarrassed for the people who made this trash, and I’m embarrassed for myself. It’s like watching the stuff that I’ve just watched has made me a smaller human being.”

Setting Standards

The concern over movie content is not new. In the early days of film, a furor arose over sexual themes and criminal elements that appeared on the silver screen. Finally, in the 1930’s, a code was put in force in the United States that severely limited what could be shown in films.

According to The New Encyclopædia Britannica, this new code for films “was monumentally repressive, forbidding the depiction on screen of almost everything germane to the experience of normal human adults. It prohibited showing ‘scenes of passion,’ and adultery, illicit sex, seduction, and rape could not even be alluded to unless they were absolutely essential to the plot and severely punished by the film’s end.”

Regarding violence, films were “forbidden to display or to discuss contemporary weapons, to show the details of a crime, to show law enforcement officers dying at the hands of criminals, to suggest excessive brutality or slaughter, or to use murder or suicide except when crucial to the plot. . . . Under no circumstances could any crime be represented as justified.” All told, the code stated that “no picture shall be produced which will lower the moral standards of those who see it.”

From Restrictions to Ratings

By the 1950’s, many Hollywood producers were defying the code, feeling that its rules were antiquated. Hence, in 1968 the code was dismantled and replaced with a rating system.a With the rating system, a film could have explicit content, but it would be branded with a symbol forewarning the public of its level of “adult” content. According to Jack Valenti, who served as president of the Motion Picture Association of America for nearly four decades, the goal was “to offer some advanced cautionary warnings to parents, so that they could make their own judgments about what movies their children should and should not see.”

With the introduction of the rating system, the dam broke. Sex, violence, and profanity flooded into mainstream Hollywood movie scripts. The new freedoms that were granted to films unleashed a tidal wave that could not be suppressed. Still, with a rating, the public would be forewarned. But does a rating tell you all that you need to know?

What Ratings Cannot Tell You

Some feel that over the years the rating system has become lax. A study by the Harvard School of Public Health supports such a suspicion, for it found that films deemed acceptable for younger teens now contain more violent and sexually explicit content than those of a mere decade ago. The study concluded that “movies with the same rating can differ significantly in the amount and type of potentially objectional content” and that “age-based ratings alone do not provide good information about the depiction of violence, sex, profanity and other content.”b

Parents who obliviously send their children off to the theater may not be aware of what is considered appropriate viewing today. For example, one movie critic describes the main character of a movie rated in the United States as suitable for teens. She was “a 17-year-old free spirit who cheerfully engages in daily drunkenness, illegal drug use, orgiastic partying and aggressive sex with a boy she has just met.” This type of content is hardly uncommon. Indeed, The Washington Post Magazine notes that references to oral sex seem to be “routinely acceptable” in movies that are rated appropriate for teenagers. Clearly, a rating should not be the sole factor in assessing the content of a film. Is there a better guide?

“Hate What Is Bad”

A rating system is no substitute for a Bible-trained conscience. In all of their decisions​—including those having to do with entertainment—​Christians strive to apply the admonition found in the Bible at Psalm 97:10: “Hate what is bad.” A person who hates what is bad would consider it wrong to be entertained by things that God abhors.

Parents especially need to be cautious regarding the kind of movies that they allow their children to see. It would be naive to take no more than a passing glance at the ratings. It may well be that a movie rated appropriate for your child’s age bracket promotes values that you as a parent do not endorse. This is hardly surprising for Christians, since the world has embraced a way of thinking and acting that is at odds with godly standards.c​—Ephesians 4:17, 18; 1 John 2:15-17.

This does not mean that all movies are bad. But caution is in order. In this regard, the May 22, 1997, issue of Awake! made this comment: “Each individual should weigh matters carefully and make decisions that will leave him with a clear conscience before God and man.”​—1 Corinthians 10:31-33.

Finding Suitable Entertainment

How can parents be selective when it comes to choosing which movies their family will watch? Consider the following comments from parents around the world. Their remarks may help you in your quest to provide wholesome entertainment for your family.​—See also the box “Other Forms of Recreation,” on page 14.

“My wife or I always accompanied our children to the movies when they were younger,” says Juan, in Spain. “They never went alone or just with other youths. Now, as teenagers, they do not go to movie premieres; instead, we prefer that they wait until we have read the reviews or have heard comments about the film from others we trust. Then as a family we decide if we should see this film.”

Mark, in South Africa, encourages open communication with his teenage son about what is playing in the theaters. “My wife and I initiate the discussion, asking his opinion on the film,” Mark says. “This enables us to listen to his thoughts and reason with him. As a result, we find that we are able to choose movies that we can all enjoy together.”

Rogerio, in Brazil, also spends time with his children analyzing the films that they want to see. “I read with them what the critics have to say,” he says. “I go with them to the video store to teach them how to look at the cover for indications that a film might be inappropriate.”

Matthew, in Britain, finds it beneficial to talk with his children about the movies they want to see. “From a young age,” he says, “our children were included in discussions about the content of films that have interested us as a family. If our decision was to avoid a certain film, my wife and I would explain why, rather than just say no.”

In addition, some parents have found it helpful to research movies on the Internet. There are a number of Web sites that give detailed reports on the content of films. These can be used to get a clearer picture of the values promoted by a particular movie.

The Benefits of a Trained Conscience

The Bible speaks of those who “have their perceptive powers trained to distinguish both right and wrong.” (Hebrews 5:14) Thus, the goal of parents should be to instill values in their children that will help them to make wise decisions when they have the freedom to choose their own entertainment.

Many youths among Jehovah’s Witnesses have received excellent training from their parents in this regard. For example, Bill and Cherie, in the United States, enjoy going to the movies with their two teenage boys. “After leaving the theater,” Bill says, “we often get involved in a family discussion about the film​—what values it taught and whether we agree with those values or not.” Of course, Bill and Cherie realize the need to be selective. “We read up on the movie beforehand, and we’re not embarrassed to walk out of a film if there is objectionable content that we didn’t anticipate,” Bill says. By including their children in responsible decision-making, Bill and Cherie feel that their sons are being helped to develop a keen sense of right and wrong. “They are making wiser decisions when it comes to choosing what movies they would like to see,” Bill says.

Like Bill and Cherie, many parents have helped their children to train their perceptive powers in the matter of entertainment. Granted, much of what is produced by the film industry is not appropriate. On the other hand, when they are guided by Bible principles, Christians can enjoy good entertainment that is wholesome and refreshing.

[Footnotes]

[Box/Pictures on page 12]

“WE MAKE THE DECISION TOGETHER”

“When I was younger, we used to go to the cinema together as a family. Now that I am older, I am allowed to go without my parents. However, before they let me go, my parents want to know the title of the film and what it is about. If they haven’t heard of the movie, they read a review or watch a movie trailer on TV. They also check out information about the film on the Internet. If they feel that the movie is not suitable, they explain why. They allow me to express my opinion as well. The conversation is open, and we make the decision together.”​—Héloïse, 19, France.

[Box/Picture on page 13]

TALK IT OVER!

“If parents forbid things and don’t offer anything wholesome in place of them, the children may try to satisfy their wishes in secret. Therefore, when children show that they want to watch some type of unwholesome entertainment, some parents don’t forbid them right away, nor do they give permission. Instead, they allow time for cooling off. For a few days, without getting upset over the issue, they discuss the matter, asking the youth why he or she feels that this type of entertainment would be good. By talking it over, youths often come to agree with their parents and even thank them. Then, with the parents taking the lead, they choose some other entertainment that they can enjoy together.”​—Masaaki, a traveling overseer in Japan.

[Box/Pictures on page 14]

OTHER FORMS OF RECREATION

◼ “Young ones have a natural desire to be with others of their age, so we have always provided our daughter with wholesome companionship under our supervision. Since there are many exemplary young ones in our congregation, we have encouraged our daughter to develop friendships with them.”​—Elisa, Italy.

◼ “We are very much involved in our children’s recreation. We organize wholesome activities for them, such as walks, barbecues, picnics, and get-togethers with fellow Christians of all ages. In this way our children do not view recreation as something that they will enjoy only with their peers.”​—John, Britain.

◼ “We have found gatherings among fellow Christians to be rewarding. My children also like playing soccer, so from time to time, we arrange to participate in this sport with others.”​—Juan, Spain.

◼ “We encourage the children to enjoy playing musical instruments. We also take part in many hobbies together, such as tennis, volleyball, bicycle riding, reading, and getting together with friends.”​—Mark, Britain.

◼ “We make it a point to go bowling together as a family and with friends. Also, we try to schedule something special to do together once a month. The key to avoiding problems is for parents to be watchful.”​—Danilo, Philippines.

◼ “Attending live events is often more exciting than just sitting in a chair watching a movie. We keep our eyes open for local events such as art exhibitions, car shows, or musical programs. These types of venues often allow for communication during the event. We are also careful not to provide too much entertainment. Not only is time a factor but too much entertainment also deadens the novelty and excitement of the event.”​—Judith, South Africa.

◼ “Not everything that other children do is appropriate for my children, and I try to help them to understand that. At the same time, my husband and I try to provide them with good entertainment. We make an effort to keep them from saying, ‘We don’t go anywhere. We don’t do anything.’ As a family, we go to parks and arrange for get-togethers at our home with others from our congregation.”d​—Maria, Brazil.

[Footnote]

[Credit Line]

James Hall Museum of Transport, Johannesburg, South Africa

[Picture on page 11]

Check the movie reviews BEFORE you decide

[Picture on page 12, 13]

Parents, teach your children to be selective