OBLIVION PODCAST

OBLIVION PODCAST

Box Office Hits: Oblivion

Box Office: Oblivion

The number one box office hit for the weekend of April 21, 2013 is Oblivion starring Tom Cruise. Oblivion is a sci-fi flick that brought in a whopping $38 million its opening weekend and duplicated its success here in the states to that of the international market. The estimated budget for this film was $120,000,000 and grossed $75,814,250 in the United States as of May 3, 2013 according to IMDb.com. This motion picture is a 2013 release depicting an American post-apocalyptic world co-written, produced, and directed by Joseph Kosinski and based on his unpublished graphic novel.

Planet Earth is reduced to a radiation-poisoned wasteland due to the destruction of Earth’s moon and an ongoing war with the alien Scavs. Mankind is evacuated to the largest moon on Saturn called Titan. Jack Harper and Victoria Olsen who is played by Andrea Riseborough are drone maintenance officers who are in charge of protecting the drones who extract resources from planet earth to Titan. An alien invasion threaten the transference of the resources and that is where the conflict arises. They both had their memory swiped five years prior for security purposes, but the reoccurring dreams of a mysterious woman at the Empire State Building before the war who turns out to be Jacks wife, plagues Jack.

This movie was wonderfully created it is perfectly designed for the big screen the overall quality is astonishing. The film was shot with 4k cameras which added the clarity that I really enjoy. The script; however, could use some work. As quoted by rottentomatoes.com the motion picture was “Visually striking but thinly scripted”. It is not a picture that catches your attention right off the bat. The story starts off slowly and is really hard to follow. The IMAX movie experience makes it a little easier to swallow. I interviewed several people who had watch this movie and asked them, what exactly brought them out to watch this motion picture. The responses varied but the overall consensus was that they liked the previews and that they thought it would be an action packed film.

 Rovonne Odums a 31 year old mother of two had taken her sons to watch this movie, and when asked of her opinion of the film she replied that she had feel asleep during the showing. On the topics of the cast, story, and production values she replied that the picture and sound was pleasing but she really didn’t understand the movie and felt that she was lost leading to her to fall asleep. Her son: however, said that he liked the spaceships and some of the special effects in the film.

Regardless of the negative feedback given about Oblivion, the fact still remains that it took the number one spot at the Box Office for the weekend of April 21, 2013. Whether it was great promotion or a lack of other entertainment options that led to the success of this motion picture remains to be seen, but Oblivion’s first week’s profits were impressive.

Works Cited

"Oblivion | Teaser Trailer." Oblivion | Teaser Trailer. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.

"Oblivion (2013)." Oblivion. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.

"Oblivion." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.

Odums, Rovonne. "Oblivion:What Did You Think?" Interview by Clark J. Stephens, Jr. N.d. Television.

"Website." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2013. Web. 07 May 2013.

Prime Time Series: N.C.I.S.

The topic for this post is “What Makes Prime Time and Why”. Topping the Nielson Television Ratings Chart for the week of March 4-10, 2013 is N.C.I.S. which stands for Naval Criminal Investigative Service and airs on C.B.S. Tuesday night at 8 p.m. The show chronicles an elite team of special agents whose mission is to investigate any crime that has a shred of evidence connected to Navy and Marine Corp personnel (according to tvlistings.zap2it.com). My question is what makes this show so popular with the 18-49 year old demographic that tuned in to this show with over 20 million viewers? Is it the actors, production, or the story that has so many people sitting in front of their televisions or computers on a Tuesday night, or is something else? I sat down with actor/ casting director of Big Roses Entertainment Dante Floyd and asked him what he thought the contributive factors were that led to such a large number of viewers that tuned into that particular episode of N.C.I.S. that beat out American Idol for the first time in history with almost double its viewers. “I am a big fan of the show says Floyd, it is an action packed show with a great cast that can make people want to move things around in their schedule to ensure that next Tuesday night they are tuned in to C.B.S”. With all of the shows that share the 8 pm time slot on different network stations, how is it that this particular episode beat out everything else to win its top spot on the Nielson Ratings Chart?  It’s a combination of talent, scriptwriting, and a great story that can generate this kind of interest in my eyes, but I am just one person. When asked the same question Floyd replied “In any series your ability to grab your audience’s attention will make or break its success. Your audience has to be able to relate to the story as well as the actors, and if one of those aspects flops the whole thing will flop. Also the proper promotion with word of mouth can do wonders for the take-off of a production”. Some of the technical qualities that Floyd elaborated on were the black and white freeze frame that they incorporate at the end of segments and the fast cuts between shots during action scenes. He states that the usage of the transitions separated the segments perfectly and that the fast pace editing added to the action in the story. He also states that he has been a Mark Harmon fan who plays Special Agent Leroy “Jethro” Gibbs from day one.

The purpose of this blog is to spark the exchange of ideas and understand what and why people feel or think something is entertaining. In my quest to better understand what separates a production from a great production I am seeking input from the very consumers, who the shows are aimed to. There are different things that each individual may find entertaining. My goal is to review the input I gather and funnel these ideas into different projects that I may be working on, in essence, giving the customer exactly what they want. So feedback is very necessary for me to achieve this goal. This is the first of many posts that I intend on gathering information on different topics related to entertainment such as movies, music, plays, sports, as well as individuals. Please feel free to leave any comments, pictures, or anything that you may feel is entertaining to you on this blog. For more information you may contact me at entertayne@gmail.com or you can view the Facebook page roseyproductions1. It is all for your entertaynement you dig!

Works Cited

      101856_d0598b_1. Digital image. Cbs.com. N.p., 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

      Floyd, Dante. "What Is Entertaining You." Interview by Clark J. Stephens, Jr. n.d.: n. pag. Print.

      "TV Listings." Guide, TV Ratings, TV News, TV Shows. N.p., 25 Mar. 2013. Web. 18 Mar. 2013.

Act Like a Women, Think Like a Man

The movie," Act like a Woman, Think Like A Man" ,was better than I thought it would be, but I must admit that it reminded me of countless other successful black people movies. Where is the originality? Two Can Play That Game, Brothers, or any Tyler Perry movie, seen one; seen them all