Q.1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My brother the devil: various trailers

The Hobbit desolation of smaug: Various trailers

The Hobbit the desolation of smaug: The star system

The star system was the method of creating, promoting and exploiting movie stars in Classical Hollywood cinema. Studios would select promising young actors and glamorise and create personas for them, often inventing new names and even new backgrounds. Examples of stars who went through the star system include Cary Grant (born Archie Leach), Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur), and Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer, Jr.)

The star system put an emphasis on the image rather than the acting, although discreet acting, voice, and dancing lessons were a common part of the regimen. Women were expected to behave like ladies, and were never to leave the house without makeup and stylish clothes. Men were expected to be seen in public as gentlemen. Morality clauses were a common part of actors' studio contracts.

This however, is no longer the case with the star system being exploiting or hiring an actor to ensure commercial success. Some actors will become specifically tied down to a role as Robert Downey jr is to Iron Man and Ian Mckeller is to Gandalf. The Hobbit employed a number of well known british actors in order to appeal to the british audience. The main 4 were Ian Mckeller (X-MEN), Stephen Fry (QI), Martin Freeman (Hot Fuzz) and Benedict Cumberpatch (Sherlock) who are notoriously known for a variety of British films and television series.

My brother the devil: Soundtrack analysis

My brother the devil's soundtrack was a compilation of relevant music which helped to set the scene, promote unknown rappers and draw in the fans of well known rappers like "Cashtastic". Being reflective of the atmosphere of the film these songs would often play in the background un-noticed although the film would feel empty without them. They are urban tracks creating a dark backdrop. Featuring artists like Benny Banks, Joe Black and Cashtastic.

The Hobbit desolation of smaug: Soundtrack analysis

The music of The Hobbit film trilogy is being composed, orchestrated, conducted and produced by Howard Shore. He was the obvious choice for the soundtrack as not only did he work on the original Lord of the Rings trilogy but her also worked on The Hobbit and unexpected journey.

Howard shore has made a big name for himself in the film soundtrack world having worked on other films such as the twilight saga, Eastern promises and the departed. This repertoire and a need to replicate the feel of the original LOTR trilogy means that his place on the crew was almost ensured.

A surprise addition to the soundtrack was Ed Sheeran and his song "I see fire". Written specifically for the Hobbit 2 it created buzz within the Ed Sheeran fandom and also gave the film something to promote that wasn't so fantasy heavy. This synergy benefited both The Hobbit and Ed Sheeran with their fan bases crossing over.

My brother the devil: Classification and intended audience

My brother the devil was given a classification of 15

Any film Classified 15 will contain:

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

-BBFC official website

As this film will have a much more niche audience to that of The Hobbit desolation of smaug it had to ensure that it could be viewed by as many people as possible without detracting from the message of the film. This film appeals to an audience between the ages of 15- 25. Had the film been more gory or taken a more graphic approach it would have gained an 18 classification. This would have been detrimental to the performance of the film as less people would have been able to see it. Further considering that this film is a social commentary on a very real if not hidden part of British culture it was important that it could be seen by those who would enjoy it the most.

Unlike Hobbit this film wouldn't be releasing play sets or games as it's just not intended for children. The only thing which could be marketed would perhaps be the soundtrack, composed by a number of (with want for a better phrase) urban artists.