Meida AS level

2. AVATAR AND PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
• HIGH BUDGET- AVATAR
• PRODUCTION BUDGET: $425,000,000
• RELEASED: DECEMBER 18TH 2009 BY 20TH
CENTURY FOX
• GENRE: ACTION
• LOW BUDGET- PARANORMAL ACTIVITY
• PRODUCTION BUDGET: $104,028,807
• RELEASED: OCTOBER 21ST 2011 BY BLUMHOUSE
PRODUCTION, SOLANA FILMS AND PARAMOUNT
• GENRE: HORROR

3. 1) WHAT ARE THE MAIN INSTITUTIONS USED FOR EACH OF THE FILMS? (IN TERMS OF PRODUCTION AND
DISTRIBUTION?)
Avatar:
20th Century Fox was formed on May 31, 1935, as the result of the merger between Fox Film Corporation, founded by
William Fox in 1915, and Twentieth Century Pictures, founded in 1933 by Darryl F. Zanuck and Joseph M. Schenck.
It is one of the six major American film studios, located in the Century City area of Los Angeles. 20th Century Fox are
a high budgeted institution who have produced top high-grossing popular movies such as Titanic and Planet of the
Apes.
Paranormal Activity:
Paramount Pictures was formed in 1912 (as Famous Players Film Company) then in 1914 (as Paramount Pictures). It
was founded by Adolph Zukor, Jesse L. Lasky and W. W. Hodkinson. Paramount Pictures is noteworthy for having
three films that have surpassed the $1-billion-mark in worldwide box office sales however its main institutions was
Solana films and Blumhouse production.

4. HOW MUCH MONEY WAS USED TO PRODUCE EACH FILM?
Paranormal Activity's budget was a measly estimated $15,000 compared to Avatars
$237,000,000

5. HOW MUCH MONEY WAS MADE FROM EACH OF THE FILMS?
 Paranormal Activity made £3,593,762 in the opening weekend in the UK and grossed a
total of over $107,917,283 in the USA.
 Avatar made £8,509,050 in its opening weekend in the UK and grossed a total over
$760,505,847 in the USA.

6. HOW WELL KNOWN ARE THE PRODUCTION COMPANIES FOR BOTH THE HIGH-BUDGET AND LOW-BUDGET
FILM?
Avatar’s production company is very well known household name. It is a
globally recognised institutions and is a very high-budgeted company
therefore is known to a huge scale of viewers. Also, Twentieth Century Fox
can be adorned for their extensive range of countless films to an extent
where everyone can name movies that they have produced.
Paranormal Activity’s production companies are not well-known as Solana
Films are only responsible for the Paranormal Activity franchise therefore it
is a very low-budgeted institutes as they have not yet managed to make any
other films, however Blumhouse Productions are slightly more known for
movies such as Insidious and Sinister.

7. LIST THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE HIGH-BUDGET FILM AND THE LOW-BUDGET FILM IN
TERMS OF THE INSTITUTIONS?
Paranormal Activity's institution ‘Solana Films’ operates in a simple way uses low-budget technology and
traditional equipment due to the institution being a low-budget. Whereas Avatars Twentieth Century Fox are
able to produce better quality filming as they have the newest technology and a number of innovative visual
effects techniques that were used in the production of Avatar as their budget is a lot bigger and they would be
getting all of their budget money back from the total gross after the film has finished it theatrical period.

8. LIST ANY SIMILARITIES THAT EXIST BETWEEN THE HIGH-BUDGET FILM AND THE LOW-BUDGET
FILM IN TERMS OF THE INSTITUTIONS?
The similarities between the two institutions is they place high amounts of their
earnings into the production and marketing. Both productions did exceptionally
well in the box office and made considerably more money than there was in their
budget.

9. WHAT OTHER FILMS HAS THE PRODUCTION COMPANY MADE ? WERE THESE
SUCCESSFUL?
Twentieth Century Fox:
Love & Other Drugs made $32,357,532 total gross
Prometheus made $126,464,904 total gross
Black Swan made $106,952,327 total gross
These movies did do well however compared to Avatar who successfully made a total gross of $760,505,847 none of the above
examples did nearly as well and this could be due to the actors global status and his extreme popularity of James Cameron
amongst film-lovers due to his back-catalogue of films such as Titanic and Aliens.
Solana Films:
Paranormal Activity 2 made $84,749,884 total gross
Paranormal Activity 3 made $104,007,828 total gross
Paranormal Activity 4 made $53,884,821 total gross
In comparison to the originals total gross of $107,917,283 however the sequels have not done as well, I believe this is because
the selling point of the first movie, was the enigma and expectations as we as an audience did not know what to expect.
Therefore, for the rest of the sequels there was a decrease in total gross as the viewers knew what was coming.

10. WHAT GENRE OF FILMS DOES THE COMPANY USUALLY PRODUCE? IS THIS IMPORTNANT
WHEN CONSIDERING WHO COULD PRODUCE YOUR FILM ?
Paranormal Activity's main production company was Paramount Picture's, Paramount
Pictures are known for there wide scale of movies, ranging from all different genres, they are
responsible for the Titanic, Madagascar and many more, therefore they produce a huge
variety of film a each have a different genre, however this is important when considering
producing your film as you need to see if this institutes is successful and are they in a
specific genre. Avatar’s main production company was Twentieth Century Fox is similar to
Paramount they produce a variety of movies all ranging in genres, ‘Devils due’ and ‘The
Internship’ and ‘Taken 2’ these films was very successful and show a wide range of genres
conveyed, this variety is good because many different audiences are incorporated by the
company as opposed to an institution which only caters for a certain genre of film. The genre
of the film that the company create is very important when considering who could produce
your film as the history of the genre would tell how successful that genre is fro that company.

11. WHAT AUDIENCES DO EACH OF THE INSTITUTIONS AIM TO APPEAL TO? IS THIS
REFLECTED THROUGH THEIR FILM CHOICE, OR DOES THIS VARY?
Solana Films appeal to horror movie enthusiasts as this is reflected through there films as ‘Paranormal
Activity’ is aimed to seek thrill and horror amongst the audience and viewers to frighten them and create a
sense of fear. However, Twentieth Century Fox aim to please all audiences as this is reflected through the
wide range of films and genres as all their films are different aiming to please all viewers.

12. WHICH INSTITUTION DO YOU FEEL OUTPERFORMS THE OTHER AND COULD CLAIM TO BE
MORE SUCCESSFUL, CONSIDERING YOUR RESEARCH?
I believe Twentieth Century Fox outperforms and is a lot more successful than Solana Films as it is the
most well-known institute and caters for all viewers and seeks to please all audiences as it as a company
have a huge range of films from every single genre whereas Solana only cater for horror enthusiasts.
Also, Twentieth Century Fox are defiantly more successful than Solana Films this is reflected through the
total gross of their films (shown in my research) and the amount of movies they have produced. As well
as that Twentieth Century Fox are a globally know instate whereas Solana Films is only known by the
viewers of Paranormal activity, until then no one had heard of this institute, however 20th Century Fox
have produced the viewers with an in-undated amount of films.