SSC Film Studies

"Neither audiences, nor producers need film stars anymore" 

It can be argued that audiences do not rely on film stars in order to go and watch a film in the cinema, this is due to the decline in film stars and rise in franchise films. For example, in 2014, 9 out of the top 10 highest grossing films were franchises. This means that audiences are taking more of an interest in character driven franchise films rather than the stars themselves. Franchise films are huge stories which can take decades to tell and so audiences have become invested in the narrative of a franchise and drawn to certain characters in it. Audience's feel that they go on a 'journey' with the character and are able to watch them develop, rather than a single star led movie which consequently leads to the decline of these. For example, the Alien franchise began with the first film in 1979 and grossed $104,931,801, it had a simple, engaging story and was visually unique. The second Alien instalment - Aliens (1986) - had the same visual style and maintained the same lead as Sigourney Weaver playing the of Ripley, which was a major appeal as both films had a strong female lead character in a male dominated genre, it grossed $131,060,248. Alien 3 is said to be the weakest movie out of the 3 mentioned as it tried to be too different and several of the main characters were killed off screen which audiences felt betrayed by. Also the main character Ripley died at the end of the film which many fans saw as closure to the series. Despite this audiences still payed to see it as it grossed $159,814,498. This is because audiences remain loyal to franchises which they have previously seen due to the characters in the movie and the story they tell. By loving Alien and Aliens the audience automatically believes that they will love Alien 3 too. 

Nowadays it seems that stars have become a construct of what we see in the media and hold star qualities that the audience has come to expect from that character. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger holds star qualities of being muscle bound, having a memorable accent and witty one liners. The characters he plays are generally protagonists or good guys and usually reinforce our ideological perspective. Arnold's character types offer security to the audience and a familiar experience which can help to attract audiences whilst also increasing profits. The audience become so familiar with him and the characters he plays and so it becomes a common theme to see the movies he stars in in order to feel the comfort of is familiar characters and have their expectations met. Producers rely on stars to connect with the audience so that it draws them in to see each film which they star in, leading to increased profit based on the audience's loyalty.  

Franchises also allow for expanded universes. For example, the Harry Potter franchise is available as toys, video games, merchandise, books and theme parks. This means that the audience can enjoy the franchise in different forms whilst still being a part of the story and engaging with the same characters. It also allows for a social experience which is shared by a generation of film goers who grew up watching the franchise. Therefore it is likely that audiences went to see each film with the same group of people and so shared the experience.  

Another reason for the decline in film stars is that audiences have more choice in the type of media they wish to consume. For example, video games are growing in popularity, they are becoming more complex and focus on narrative driven worlds that offer audiences a greater challenge. Video games are a social experience that offer a cheaper alternative to an expensive cinema trip, they offer up to 100 hours of game play and online interactive experiences. This means that the audience becomes active members by contributing to the narrative process and interacting with the medium. It is argued that films treat the audience as passive as they do not contribute to the narrative of the medium and the audience is simply watching another person's vision. TV dramas have become increasingly complex, varied and challenging in its genre. Shows such as Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and The Wire have become extremely popular and an alternative to cinema as they offer long, open-ended stories which require hundreds of hours to complete.  

There has become a greater pool of talent to draw from when casting actors in a movie. For example, the movie Fish Tank won a BAFTA for Best British Film and also the Jury Prize in the 2009 Cannes Film Festival. The main character was played by Katie Jarvis who had no previous acting experience and was spotted when a casting assistant saw her arguing with her boyfriend in a train station.  Not only that, but the movie Precious received 6 Oscar nominations including Best Picture and numerous other awards including a Golden Globe. The lead character was played by Gabourey Sidibe who received an Academy Award and Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in her role as Precious, she also had no prior acting experience and was chosen out of over 300 others who had also auditioned in nation-wide casting calls. This shows how the role of a star is not necessary for a film's success. Movies are becoming more and more character led and the focus is choosing actors to fit the role rather than a star who can draw attention to the film.  

It is important that films have an international appeal in order for the producers to gain a large profit. Stars can restrict the ability to have a global box office, however Hollywood is becoming increasingly conscious about how to make films more relevant to non-US audiences in order to achieve global success rather than just US success. For example, Transformers: Age of Extinction was the first film to cross the $300 million mark in China and actually take more than it made in the US. This is because the movie featured Chinese stars and a large part of the film was shot in China. This makes it more appealing to a Chinese audience as it offers a sense of familiarity. It is vital that studios aim to make movies appeal to people around the world because franchise films are expensive to produce and market, also budgets can range from $150 million to more than $200 million. This means that it is important that these films do well at the box-office so that the studios can make a profit and avoid any losses, to do this these films needs to target a global audience.