mike ogden
UK
Recent activity
Comments (4)
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Comment on: What we could learn from Iron Man’s Masters
I think this article is silly for lots of reasons. The US has a dominant culture of IP titles that have been worldwide for decades, like 'Spiderman' etc that Marvel can exploit and have a ready made worldwide audience because audiences know who Spiderman is. Same with Batman. Same with... well you fill in the superhero. The UK has a small handful of IP that either is already in the hands of US studios (Harry Potter, Bond) or isn't as well known globally and so would struggle . The last time anyone tried this was possibly with the Alex Rider book 'Stormchaser', which flopped. Mining games titles is a pretty thin seam too. More 'Tomb Raider' anyone? Um, no thanks. How many times can we remake 'Jane Eyre' (again)? 'Sherlock Holmes' (oops, those damn yankees did it again)? Can you name a games title that is solely UK owned and might make a franchise? Me neither. Making films from game titles isn't that easy or has a successful track record. Homogenising the UK industry into one big studio system to exploit UK IP is a fantasy. The money men and women don't care where the profit comes from and their sure bet is always going to be the US studios with their theatrical dominance, a few bits of cash going to the independent producers. Yes, we do have talent and yes, we do have money, but we need more support for the creatives who actually make films instead of the bean counters and endless consultants, agencies and B2B companies who seem to make more money telling us what is right and wrong with what we do. It's got us nowhere. Besides, do we actually WANT a film industry the same as the US (which actually in effect is failing from the ground up too as a business model in this new world), or do we want something more creative and interesting than some sausage factory churning out endless, soul-less franchises? Can we afford to run a business model on the back of one massive tentpole hit and several misses without the backup of theatrical dominance? No. Despite its losses in 1997, Marvel still had a legacy to exploit to help it crawl back out of the bin. What do we have? Nothing but wishful thinking and the creativity of a screenwriters imagination. This is all we have. Given a choice between that and more superhero franchises or retreads of the same old stories, I know what I'd take.
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Comment on: Film industry should be more accessible, says Hope
The studios have lost their grip? Are you sure? One quick look at the local multiplex listings puts paid to that notion. Studios still suck up huge amounts of potential independent investment with the premise that their films will make a buck as opposed to the more truly independently made movies. Even when they don't make a buck, the machine still grinds on, eating investment monies from the middle east and asia, filling screens with 4000 prints and elbowing independents off of the best marketing spots on itunes, blockbuster etc. That's their model and they're not going to let go so easily. Where is the independent distribution model everyone has been waffling on about for 9 - 10 years now? Damned if I can see it.
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Comment on: Film industry should be more accessible, says Hope
This is nonsense on so many levels, your typical 'digital revolution sky-is-falling' b.s. conference. I hope the break time food was nice though... It ignores the most basic 'rule' of storytelling - submerge your audience in a believable world and for that story to hold its audience, never giving the audience an opportunity to question it thus breaking the narrative and that world. Otherwise, you're making a computer game and whilst there's nothing wrong with that medium, its not film and its not storytelling. And multiple endings? Even the computer industry threw that out back in the early '90's. It's unfeasable and unsatisfying. And why this crazy obsession with showing the audience the man behind the curtain? Where is the magic? I'm a great believer in realism but, sheesh - how dull. Guess Tom likes the audience knowing how every shot was constructed AS they watch the narrative. I guess the crew are all meant to have webcams strapped to their heads now, huh? And its not my job to reference films within films. I left that 'technique' back in film school. This reads like Tom discovered his kids PS3 one night and got all excited over a new medium. As the gamer world would say, 'what a noob'!
