The Grand Budapest Hotel Research:

Task 1 Research

What is Indian Paintbrush and who owns it?
Indian paintbrush is a production company owned by Steve M.Rales who is the co-founder of Danaher Corporation.
Which company is Fox Searchlight a subsidiary of?
Fox searchlight production company is subsidiary the Fox Entertainment Group.

Which type of films do Fox Searchlight distribute?  
Fox Searchlight distribute independent and British films. These films are dramatic with comedy or horror films.
Which two countries financed the film?
The two countries that financed the film were Britain and Germany.
What did Anderson use instead of CGI (computer generated imagery)?
He used painted backdrops instead of CGI which meant that every thing was filmed on set and no green screen was used. This made his budget lower spending $31 million.
Where did the inspiration for the Hotel come from?
He would tour round hotels getting inspiration for the look of the hotel. also the storyline was inspired by Stefan Zweig's collection of writing. Which film festival opened with The Grand Budapest Hotel?
The 64th berlin international film festival opened with the Grand Budapest Hotel.
Alexanre Desplat wrote the score, which major Hollywood films has he worked on?
Alexanre Desplat has worked on many other major holly wood films such as The Queen, The Golden Compass, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Harry Potter an the Deathly Hallows pat 1 and 2, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Kings Speech, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty and Godzilla.
How many awards has the film won?
The film has won 6 awards. It won the Berlin international film Festival in the Jury Grand Prix category, David De Donatello Awards for best foreign film, Golden Trailer Awards for Best Graphics in a TV Spot, Nastro D'argento for Best Costume Design, World Soundtrack Awards for Best Original Score of the Year and Gotham Awards for Best Feature.
how many cinemas did the film open on in the US?
 In North America, the film opened in four cinemas
How much did it average per cinema?
$202,791.50
The film was released on Ultraviolet BluRay, what does this enable consumers to do?
This enables customers to stream and download to multiple devices, which means they can watch the film without having to pay for them again.Which companies do not support Ultraviolet?
Disney, Google, amazon and apple do not support ultraviolent.
What complaints did Ultraviolet encounter when it launched?  
The redemption sheets that come with the physical disks sometimes direct the buyer to sites that you need to register on and these often confuse the buyers. This was a big problem when ultraviolet first launched and caused a backlash among buyers. Redemption codes also have a expiree date.

Task 2 comprehension

Part 1 The Story
List the cast of the film as explained in the featurette:



Ralph Fiennes: M.Gustave
Edward Norton: Henckles
Owen Wilson: M.Chuck
Tony Revolori: Zero
Jeff Goldblum: Deputy Vilmos Kovacs
Tilda Swinton: Madame D
Adrien Brody: Dmitri Desgoffe
Saorise Ronan: Agatha
Jason Skwartzman: M.Jean
Willem Dafoe: Jopling
Harvey Keitle: Ludwig
Bill Murray: M.Ivan
Mathieu Amalric: Serge.X
F.Murray Abraham: Mr. Moustafa
Lea Seydoux: Clotilde
Tom Wilkinson: Author
Jude Law: Young Writer


Part 3 Building A Hotel



Where did scouting for a hotel take place?
Central Europe.
Which location did the production team eventually use?
A department store in Gorlitz Germany.
Did they film on location or on a sound stage?
On location.
Where were the production offices located?
On the top Floor.
How did they film the 60's and 30's hotel?
They wanted to shoot the 60's and the 30's hotel back to back, to do this they created a set within a set. They built the 30's set and then the 60's one over the top, they then shot it backwards and peeled away the 60's layer. This exposed the earlier period of the hotel.
Where did inspiration for the hotel's interior come from?
They gathered ideas of what could go in the hotel by travelling to different places in eastern Europe.
How many extras did it take to fill the loby?
It took 150 Extras to fill the loby.



Task 3 - Marketing

Read this Variety piece and summarise the 5 secrets to the film's success

http://variety.com/2014/film/news/five-keys-to-wes-andersons-hotel-success-story-1201154272/



 1. Anderson's World
The director’s eye for detail is a merchandiser’s dream. The films production designer Adam Stockhausen organised an art collection inspired by the film. There is a Budapest collection on eBay, a partnership initiated by actor and frequent Anderson collaborator Waris Ahluwalia. Items were auctioned ranging from wax mustaches to copies of 'The Society of the Crossed Keys' Anderson’s book of selections from the writings of Stefan Zweig, which inspired the film.

2. Unique promotions

Fox searchlight is touring a large model of the hotel to theaters in Hollywood and Berlin. Secret cinema. this is a secret club that holds monthly gathers with live performances and audience interaction.

3. Viral Chow
Fox searchlight created instructions on how to recreate the baked goods that are inspired by Mendl's pastries in the film. Fans sent back footage of their creations making it go viral, searchlight used these in cooking networks.

4. Young Moonrisers
The success of 2012’s 'Moonrise Kingdom' Gilula says that Anderson’s fans have gotten younger. 'He’s attracted a whole new generation, some of whom weren’t even born when ‘Royal Tenenbaums’ (2001) and ‘Bottle Rocket’ (1996) were released'.

5. Universal Access
The marketing would be pointless if the film was poorly received. 'Budapest' has generated a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, behind only Anderson’s 'Moonrise Kingdom' and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox.' Critics have called 'Budapest' his most accessible film. 'we don’t see the ceiling yet,' Gilula says.

How did Anderson use the QE2 to market the film?
Wes Anderson, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and Roman Coppola promoted the film by, screening it numerous times and holding a Q&A session. David Dingle The Cunard CEO,said 'Mr. Anderson has many fans among Cunard passengers, and we know they will jump at this unique opportunity to enjoy his films and spend time with him and his wonderful collaborators'.

What connects Prada to the marketing of the film?
Prada worked with Anderson by helping to design the costumes and the props for the film. So those interested in fashion might have gone to see it because of this in the film. Prada had an indoor display and two windows in a shop in Berlin which were dedicated to the film, this would have brought interested viewers.

http://www.akademiezubrowka.com/

Task 4 - Opinion

Why would a big Six company be interested in supporting a smaller distribution company like Fox Searchlight?
So they do not make the typical blockbuster that people don't appreciate and they make something interesting and noticeable.
Which audience category best describes The Grand Budapest Hotel (Mainstream, Mainstream plus, officianados, )
officianados
Why might the use of Ultraviolet alienate the film's audience?
Many products don't support Ultraviolet so they wont be able to access the film using this method.
Why might the use of secret cinema work as viral marketing for the film?
The secret cinema helped market the film because it would have interested people in going to see the film for themselves.