Research Essay on Blockbuster and High Concept Films

Introduction

The American film industry has continuously experienced changes in the production, writing, and acting of its film with the focus being to attract more audience and maximise revenue. This has seen the industry experiencing different eras with distinct characteristics particularly the mode of production, actors, and the creativity in the films. The New Hollywood era or Hollywood Renaissance (1967-1976) was a significant turning point characterised by the entrance of young, countercultural and film-school-educated filmmakers that revolutionised the industry. The Hollywood Renaissance was a period of creativity where filmmakers developed low concept films with numerous themes to attract the young generation.

The New Hollywood Era gave way to the Blockbuster Age of Hollywood (1975–1989) that emphasizes on marketing and spectacle instead of the creative freedom experienced in the previous period. The Blockbuster era is defined by its low-point of capitalist cultural production due to the impact of corporate power on creativity. This period abandoned the innovative and creative personnel in favour of a faceless economic institution that aims at maximising profitability by producing simple-storyline films to attract the masses (Evers, 2013). Indeed, the blockbuster era is described as mass audience blockbuster, unlike the New Hollywood period which is recognised as the middle-class art cinema. Although the Blockbuster Era welcomed a period of less creativity, it has revolutionised the Hollywood film industry and made it a billion dollar industry. In exploring why blockbuster and high concept films have dominated Hollywood, it is important to conceptualise the blockbuster and high concept film before examining the factors that make these films dominate Hollywood.

Conceptualisation

Blockbuster Films

Cucco (2009) state that blockbuster is the best audio-visual product to represent modern Hollywood. Apparently, blockbuster embraces a variety of genres making it difficult to single out its features. The blockbuster films trace their origin to the Second World War as the world implied large-scale bombs. Its use in the cinematographic field refers to large-size production with ‘size’ implying economic investment and revenue. This draws the definition or features of blockbuster films as movies characterised by high costs of production and good returns (Cucco, 2009). The blockbuster films emerged in a period where the dominant idea equated big/costly production to a better performance in the box office.

Although the blockbuster era rose in the 1970s, its origin dates back to the late 1940s and early 1950s during the Hollywood crisis (Schatz, 2013). At this time, people were migrating to the suburb areas where there were no theatres (Cucco, 2009).  Other factors causing the crisis include reduced cinematographic consumption by the baby boom, investment in durables, and birth of competing media, McCarthyism, as well as bad reputation of the cinema industry due to sexual scandals (Cucco, 2009). This led to the metamorphosis of the industry by reducing the number of films and focusing on big and expensive production. The focus on big production welcomed the use of high and advanced technology to counter competing media such as television. In return, this revived the theatre as a place for the best film experience and high-quality entertainment (Cucco, 2009). The modern blockbuster films draw influence from the 1970s era where they gained additional aspects over the investment facet. In the 1970s, blockbuster films embraced the new promotional process, genre selection, narrative component, and consumption as illustrated in the film Titanic. Therefore, blockbuster films can be conceptualised to have two distinctive features. Firstly, it has high investment and financial success that approaches, meets, or breaks box office records. Secondly, the production approach is designed and based on a formula that aims at attracting a wide audience through the prescription of the genre, exhibition practices, and the marketing technique.

High Concept Films

The phrase high concept in Hollywood originated in the early 197os, and it is associated with Barry Diller who introduced a made-for-television movie format. This was necessitated by the need for marketable themes or plot that can be summarised in a single sentence. Michael Eisner described a high concept in terms of “a unique idea whose originality could be conveyed briefly” (Wyatt, 1994, P. 8). Peter Guber conceptualises high concept in terms of the narrative instead of the uniqueness of the idea by describing it as straightforward, easy to communicate and comprehend narrative. Wyatt (1994) adds that although high concept contains an idea that is easy communicated and summarised, the concept must be marketable in two ways: the initial pitch and marketing the pitch to the public. Additionally, the qualification of a film into a high concept is not restricted to the idea, summation, communicability, and marketability but also appeal to a wide range of audience. Nonetheless, there is a significant connection between marketability and high concept films as suggested by Brandon Stoddard. The idea of a high concept film should be explained in one or two sentences to facilitate marketing campaigns.

High concept films can also be described as having a star power or persona to enhance their marketability. This is achieved by linking a star persona with the concept. However, this feature is inadequate to categorise a film as a high concept. This relationship comes into play when a star works directly or indirectly against his/her image. As described by Diana Widom, the juxtaposition of a character with the concept creates a high concept film. For example, describing the theme of race and social/economic status using an African American star (Eddie Murphy) with royalty (Prince Charles). Wyatt (1994) also associates the high concepts film with the themes. He argues that high concept films must deal with a timely or fashionable subject. Based on this conceptualisation, it is concluded that a high concept film is a movie associated with a highly marketable narrative based upon a star persona, star and the concept/premise, or a fashionable subject matter such as the Jurassic Park.  

Why is Blockbuster and High Concept Films the prevailing mode for Mainstream Hollywood Products?

The film Industry in America has grown into a multi-billion sector where the focus is on high concept and blockbuster films. Although there are many blockbuster films such as Star Wars, The Avengers, The Lord of the Rings, and Avatar, and High concept films such as Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop, and True Lies, this research focuses on the Titanic and Jurassic Park. The Titanic is an example of a blockbuster film while Jurassic Park falls under the high concept category. This research paper will examine the economic, social and cinematographic factors that make a blockbuster and high concept films prevail in the Hollywood products. The Hollywood films fall within both the blockbuster and high concept category based on the conceptualisation of these categories as indicated above.

Economic Factor

The economic factors that make Hollywood invest in blockbuster and high concept films include high profitability and marketability. These aspects are critical since marketability is part of the big production characterised by the high cost of production with the aim to attain high revenues. 

Big Production/ high cost of production and Profitability

Blockbuster and high concept films emphasize the production driving their production cost very high. This is needed to ensure there are adequate prompts, human resource, and technology to facilitate the production of a blockbuster (Bay, 2010). The high cost of production also involves negative and marketing cost. According to Cucco (2009), blockbusters spend so much on technology and human resource to achieve the objective of breaking, meeting or approaching the box office records. For example, blockbuster films use expensive special effects that require the use of advanced technology that does not come cheap. The high cost in the production process helps to distinguish the films from other films and media. The special effects influence cinematographic consumption as well as affect the enjoyment of the movie at the theatre or at home. Blockbuster films are popular among the young generation who prefer and find time to move outside the home for entertainment. Apparently, special effects are popular with blockbuster films covering science fiction, action movies, and adventure films.

Although Titanic is an epic romance and tragedy film, the use of special effects qualifies it into the blockbuster category. A specific scene is when the ship is shown from an aerial point of view showing the entire ship from bow to stern before it steams to its destiny. The scene shows the whole ship including the flags and the smoke as well as the passengers and captures every detail of the running children, servants, and sportsmen. This is a scene that makes use of special effects to a point that it makes the audience believe that it was a rebuild of the Titanic. Ebert (1997) quotes Titanic director, James Cameron, saying that the people were computer graphics. He says:

"The people were all computer graphics. The way we did it was, we had people act out all of those individual behaviours in what we call a 'motion capture environment.' So, a steward pouring tea for a lady seated on a deck chair - that was all acted out and then that motion file was used to drive and animate those figures. The end result is like you said: We pull back down the full length of Titanic, and you see 350 people all over the decks, doing all those different things. The same technique was used for the sinking when you see hundreds of people on the ship jumping off or rolling down the decks” Ebert (1997).

The blockbuster films that dominate the Hollywood market science fiction and adventure films such as the Star Wars and Jaws respectively.  However, thrillers and dramatic films such as the Titanic qualify to the blockbuster category based on the cost of production. The high production cost for blockbusters comes from human and technological resources. The production of the Titanic in 1997 broke the box office films as the highest grossing film of all times from the year of production to 2009. The total cost of production of the film is estimated to be $200,000,000. The revenue for the Titanic matches its high cost of investment given that it made $28,638,131 in the domestic opening weekend and $658,672,302 worldwide. The all-time revenue for the international box office stands at $2,187,463,944. These earnings show that the Titanic is a blockbuster film which is among the most preferred by the young population since it meets the high-cost aspect of the category. 

Although Jurassic Park is described as a high concept film based on its features, it has significant characteristics that qualify it into a blockbuster. Produced in 1993 by Steven Spielberg, the film contains special effects and visual effects in the development of the dino-labs and the dinosaur (Huls, 2013). The film used special effects to represent the dinosaurs that the audience believed. Visual and sound effects are effectively utilised to show the dinosaur in 3-D and the thud made by their feet. The effective use of special effects in the Jurassic Park film did not only make the film and its director popular but become synonymous with summer blockbuster (Huls, 2013).  Special effects are an indication of advanced technology used in blockbusters that elevate the cost of production which is a significant aspect of the modern Hollywood products. Special effects make the film better by improving its enjoyment both at home and at the theatre.

Jurassic Park is a typical action and science fiction film that Cucco (2009) categorises as a blockbuster. As illustrated, big production or high cost of production is a specific feature of blockbuster films. Most of the cost of the production goes to human and technological resources. According to the Statista, the production cost of Jurassic Park in 1993 was 63 million U.S. dollars. However, the film made $50,159,460 in the opening weekend, $395,708,305 in the domestic box office and $1,038,812,584 in the global box office. This meets the cost and profitability aspect of a blockbuster film which is a focus on the high cost of production that results in high revenue (Redfern, 2012).

Marketability

Blockbuster and high concept films prevail due to their marketability and marketing approaches used by the producers. The marketability of the films relates to features that make the film marketable to a wide range of audience. These features include the use of stars, easy concept, and the film idea. In describing the blockbuster films, Cucco (2009) says that they originate from the US popular culture and target the mass public. Additionally, these films appeal to feelings and primary emotions and use characters and situations that affect the emotions of the viewers. The stories give a universal message using a simple narrative which is neither revolutionary in content nor apolitical. These features contribute to the marketability of blockbuster films.

Science fiction and action movies are easily marketable in both the domestic and foreign markets since they focus more on kinematics and illustrate a global concept. Dramas and comedies are less likely to feature in blockbusters since they focus less on kinematics and their subject matter centre on the local culture. Titanic being a drama film qualifies into the blockbuster category since its subject is universal. Indeed, a boat crashing into icebergs is not a subject confined into the American culture since it has a global focus which is human life (Cucco, 2009). For this reason, the marketability of the Titanic assumes a global approach since it centres on a historical event reflecting the level of human technology and disaster which occur and affect the international community.

The marketing aspect that makes blockbuster predominant in Hollywood is the integration of specific themes that appear to be a standard in American culture. In particular, the incorporation of romantic elements makes the story attract a global audience because love is a universal subject (McMahon, 2015). In the Titanic, love is a significant theme that introduces the film through the two main characters (Jack and Rose). The blockbuster era constitutes of films that focus on event blockbuster which are event films that gain prominence by focusing on a single event to receive worldwide attention and get everyone talking about it. The Titanic utilizes this marketing strategy by focusing on the Titanic disaster of 1912; thus becoming the best event film that uses high technology and special effects to illustrate the incident. This is also enhanced by the use of the cover image in the film that shows Jack and Rose to sell the romantic aspect of the film. 

The Jurassic Park also emphasizes the marketability perspective of blockbusters by the dinosaur logo which has become synonymous with the film. The easy-to-convey concept of the film makes it marketable to the international audience, especially non-English speaking audiences. The film is easily summarised in a single sentence as a theme park with living dinosaur which experiences a security breakdown and the dinosaurs escape. This concept is easy to sell as it entails features of an action and science fiction film which is a favourite among the youth across the world. The event concept in Jurassic Park is marketable given that it demonstrates the interaction of humans with nature, the interference, and the possible harm that can result in such a circumstance. Moreover, the concept has high marketability since it re-creates a distant past in human history. Therefore, the audience is attracted to the film as they want to see how the dinosaurs look like and comprehend how dangerous the beasts are when uncontrolled. 

Social Factors

The Hollywood film industry has specialised in the production of blockbuster and high concept films that embrace various social factors. Apparently, factors such as easy to understand (easy summation/storyline), attracts a diverse audience (including non-English speakers), use of famous/popular directors and actors make a blockbuster and high concept the prevailing mode for mainstream Hollywood products. Focusing on the Titanic and the Jurassic Park, these social features are evident in varying degrees. 

Easy to Understand/ simple storyline/concept

A blockbuster film such as the Titanic and high concept film like the Jurassic Park has a simple concept and storyline that can be summarised in a single sentence (York, 2020). In the Titanic, the simple concept is the ship built using high technology and the largest of its kind described as non-destroyable hits an iceberg and sinks. With this concept, the audience can imagine the events in the film and relate to the real Titanic incident of 1912. The simplicity of the concept is evident in the Jurassic Park where the audience imagines a situation where the dinosaurs break loose causing all sort of commotion. The films are easy to understand for a wide range of audience making them dominate. It is important to note that blockbuster and high concept films aim at realising high profitability which is achievable by targeting the domestic and foreign market (McIntyre, 2012). Therefore, Hollywood films embrace a simple storyline which is easy to understand to maximise its attractiveness in the market.

Use of famous/popular directors and actors

The American Hollywood film industry has embraced the use of famous movie stars and producers. In the recent past, Hollywood has made significant use of stars in the television media to produce blockbuster and high concept films. For example, Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) has been a critical figure in the production of modern blockbusters such as Journey to the Mysterious Island, Central Intelligence, and Rampage.  The Titanic and the Jurassic Park made effective use of this approach to dominate the box office. The Titanic was produced by James Cameron a household name in Hollywood having achieved significant popularity after his involvement in various blockbuster films in the 1980s such as Terminator in 1984 and Aliens (1986) when technology had not reached the modern status (Ebert, 1997). Nonetheless, his ability to use technology to develop special effects made these films and the Titanic a blockbuster that gained international prominence. Jurassic Park did not only use a popular director, Steven Spielberg, and production company, Universal Pictures. The film featured star actors such as Chris Prat, Bryce Dalla, William H. Macy, and Samuel L. Jackson. 

Technological Factors

Technology has changed over time and the film industry has fully integrated technology through computer software that generates imagery that dominates the blockbusters. The US box office is dominated by superhero films which are products of technology. This reflects a new studio system that lacks creativity. Although technology has reduced the level of creativity in the blockbuster, it has introduced a new form of creativity which helps to create an imaginative world through computers. These include the use of special effects to create an imaginary world into reality. In the Titanic, the scene before the sinking of the shape showing the ship and the passengers is an example of the importance of technology in the development of blockbusters. This is also evident in Jurassic Park in the creation of the dinosaur, the lab, and other special-effect related themes that make the film entertaining.

Music is an integral aspect of technology utilised by blockbuster and high concept films to make them dominate Hollywood. Music is strategically used as a theme song to reflect the theme of the film which is critical in attracting the audience. In the Titanic, the theme song, by Celine Dion was critical in the success of the film since it was done by a star and the message centred on the romantic aspect of the film. On the other hand, the message was essential in reflecting the feeling of the families of the people who perished in the Titanic. This was a comforting and assuring song that enhanced the emotional appeal of the film. Similarly, the Jurassic Park theme song was composed by John Towner Williams, a household name in the American music and film industry for his roles as a conductor, composer, and pianist.

Conclusion

Blockbuster and high concept films are the modern dominating products from Hollywood. The multi-billion dollar industry has experienced radical changes with the advancement in technology affecting the production. Arguably, blockbusters and high concept films focus on the monetary gains leading to high investment that compromise the quality and creativity. The blockbuster and high concept films are the major products in Hollywood since they reflect the market demand. Directors and scriptwriters are concentrating on simple concepts that are easy to understand, yet marketable to a global audience. This has led to the dominance of blockbuster films that utilise special effects, stars, and music that draws international relevance. Blockbuster films serve global movie lovers; thus, restrain from concentrating on a domestic theme. Additionally, they focus on simple concepts that attract the global audience including non-English speaking population. This has changed the film industry into a business that utilises marketing tactics from the conceptualisation of the film idea to the release of the completed movie.