Washington State Motion Picture And Video Production Business: Fill & Download for Free

Low risk, high reward marketing is how some of the best brands stay relevant. These initiatives take time to put together, and obviously, time isn’t free, but in terms of promotion dollars campaigns that cost next to nothing can help brands maximize their reach and minimize their budget at the same time.I’d recommend devoting some time every month to come up with ideas that could amplify your brand without costing you a fortune.One of the best ways to get your creative juices flowing is to analyze some of the past successes of the world’s best brands, which I’ll be doing below. If you want to do this for yourself, be sure to sign up for The Ad Spot, a weekly newsletter that shares all the latest trending ads. It’s like Adweek with just the best ads and no paywalls. When you’re up to date on how the best brands conduct their most successful campaigns, you’re sure to draw some ideas for promoting your own brand.With that said, let’s take a look at some of the most successful low cost, high reward marketing campaigns from the last few years. Then get your pen and paper out and see if you can drum up some new marketing ideas for your own business.1. The Great Burger King MysteryCasey Neistat is one of the biggest celebrities online. His YouTube channel has over 11 million subscribers, and each video he publishes reaches millions of viewers.On January 23, 2019, he took to Twitter to try to solve a mystery.Why was Burger King liking his tweets from 2010?Verified accounts on Twitter can be notified when other verified accounts interact with them, and Burger King clearly got Neistat’s attention.It left him, and the hundreds of thousands of people who saw his tweet, perplexed.And it wasn’t just Neistat. Burger King also liked other online influencer’s tweets, including Brant Daugherty and Nadeshot, who also tweeted about the confusion.The story went, for the lack of a better word, viral.News outlets picked it up, YouTube creators made videos about it, and thousands of people tweeted about it. Everyone was dying to know: why?!?!Eventually, the internet got the answer it was looking for.Okay. But the story doesn’t end here.Neistat created a video titled “EXPLOITED BY BURGER KING” and directed the video at the social media agency working on behalf of Burger King. He brought his viewers up to speed on the mystery and asked Burger King to make it right. He suggested Burger King make a donation to the two charities he supports: The Boys and Girls Club and the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which they happily contributed to (by the way, Neistat made yet another video praising them for doing so where they reached another 2.6 million people).Almost 3 million people watched the original video, where Neistat admitted: the stunt was pretty genius. He also suggested that whoever came up with the idea should get a big raise.Millions learned that Burger King was bringing back funnel cake fries, and the campaign cost Burger King less than an order of funnel cake fries (donations aside). Brilliant.2. Detective Pikachu is a TrollWe saw a great example of low cost, high reward marketing last month from Warner Brothers in their effort to promote Pokemon: Detective Pikachu.Warner Brothers had lots of inactive YouTube and Twitter accounts and decided to test out a very low-risk marketing campaign. They created a video titled “Detective Pikachu: Full Picture” and posted it on YouTube three days before the movie premiered.They also had Ryan Reynolds, the star of the movie and voice of Pikachu, tweet out the link and announce that the movie had been leaked.The video, of course, wasn’t actually the 1 hour and 42-minute long full motion picture, but a Rick-Roll-esque 2 hour video of Pikachu dancing after a pretty convincing opening sequence.The video garnered 22 million views on YouTube and received 100,000+ likes on Twitter.This entire idea cost next to nothing – not a dollar was spent in paid promotion, and if the idea flopped and no one watched the video, nothing was lost.It turned out that there was a lot to gain, however. Millions of viewers watched and shared the video 3 days before the premiere, which is exactly what Warner Brothers would typically spend thousands of dollars on in the form of TV spots.Take a lesson from Pikachu. When you have the opportunity to run a low risk, high reward campaign, don’t be afraid to experiment.3. Straight Outta MemesIn 2018 digital ads represented only 14% of movie advertising budgets, even though digital has been shown to drive 46% of revenue. This campaign from Beats By Dre is a great example of how movies and brands can work together. When Beats by Dre needed to promote their products, they looked to the release of “Straight Outta Compton” and focused on digital. They didn’t sink their entire budget into a digital channel, though. They got clever.To promote the brand, they decided to create a simple widget that was low cost, high reward. The idea was to get social media users to create their own content and share it across their networks.The meme generator they created allowed users to fill in the blank for the phrase “Straight Outta [insert caption]”.Here’s a look at a few of the gems users created with the meme generator.All of these images drew attention to the Beats By Dre brand and the movie release, generating a ton of buzz for Straight Outta Compton. The cost was low to create the widget, and the rewards were huge, with millions seeing the memes shared.4. Fearless GirlOn the eve of International Women’s Day in 2017, Wall Street received a new look that took the world by storm.State Street Global Advisors, which manages $2.5 trillion in assets, generated a ton of press coverage by siding with demonstrators and placing a statue at the site of the famous Charging Bull in New York City. The statue they placed, dubbed “The Fearless Girl”, was created by artist Kristen Visbal and served as a powerful reminder that women are grossly underrepresented on the boards of companies.State Street’s campaign was a huge success. They followed it up by sending letters to thousands of companies that comprise the Russel 3000 Index, asking them to take action and increase the diversity on their boards.The New York Times, Washington Post, and nearly every other major news outlet picked up on the story and shared the images across their channels. This generated a news cycle that highlighted State Street’s product, an index fund comprised of gender-diverse companies that have a relatively high percentage of women among their senior leadership.While the statue was relocated in 2018, it’s commissioning was wildly successful as a marketing campaign for State Street, and all it cost was the creation of a statue.5. Nuggs for CarterIn April 2017, Carter Wilkerson had a simple question for Wendy’s. How many retweets would it take for him to get free nuggets for one year?Wendy’s took full advantage of this question. A 10 character tweet – which may be the lowest cost marketing activity of any of the examples on this list – sent them viral.“18 Million” was their response.From here, the internet did its magic. Carter’s tweet was shared millions of times on Twitter, and the viral stunt was picked up by all of the major news outlets in the US.If no one retweeted this tweet, Wendy’s was out nothing but 10 characters. Since Twitter replies aren’t often seen by users, they had nothing to lose. But what happened garnered Wendy’s a huge increase in social followers and brand impressions that would normally cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. It’s a great example of the power of social media, and the importance of having your brand managed by a creative, responsive team.These five marketing campaigns all have two things in common: they had very little costs associated with them, and the rewards were massive. They’re great examples of what a little creativity can do to amplify your brand’s message.By Justin KerbyCheck this out – The Ad Spot is my email list reserved for marketers who want to see the best new ads in their inbox every Friday morning.

46 Famous Movie Scenes before and after Special EffectsBack in the day, filmmakers used matte paintings, miniature models and trick photography to achieve impossible looking cinematic effects. Today, Hollywood has nearly perfected the art and application of computer-generated imagery (CGI) in movies and TV shows. In fact, most film scenes that you think are filmed in spectacular locations are actually CGI composites shot in a studio. Here’s a list of 46 before-and-after CGI images that’ll leave you amazed.The AvengersMarvel's The Avengers (classified under the name Marvel Avengers Assemble in the United Kingdom and Ireland), or simply The Avengers, is a 2012 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics superhero team of the same name, produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. It is the sixth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was written and directed by Joss Whedon and features an ensemble cast that includes Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner as the titular Avengers team, alongside Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, and Samuel L. Jackson. In the film, Nick Fury, director of the peacekeeping organization S.H.I.E.L.D., recruits Tony Stark, Captain America, the Hulk, and Thor to form a team that must stop Thor's brother Loki from subjugating Earth.The film's development began when Marvel Studios received a loan from Merrill Lynch in April 2005. After the success of the film Iron Man in May 2008, Marvel announced that The Avengers would be released in July 2011. With the signing of Johansson in March 2009, the film was pushed back for a 2012 release. Whedon was brought on board in April 2010 and rewrote the original screenplay by Zak Penn. Production began in April 2011 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, before moving to Cleveland, Ohio, in August and New York City in September. The film was converted to 3D in post-production.AvatarAvatar, marketed as James Cameron's Avatar, is a 2009 American epic science fiction film directed, written, produced, and co-edited by James Cameron, and starring Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, and Sigourney Weaver. The film is set in the mid-22nd century, when humans are colonizing Pandora, a lush habitable moon of a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri star system, in order to mine the mineral unobtanium, a room-temperature superconductor. The expansion of the mining colony threatens the continued existence of a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body with the mind of a remotely located human that is used to interact with the natives of Pandora.Development of Avatar began in 1994, when Cameron wrote an 80-page treatment for the film. Filming was supposed to take place after the completion of Cameron's 1997 film Titanic, for a planned release in 1999, but, according to Cameron, the necessary technology was not yet available to achieve his vision of the film. Work on the language of the film's extraterrestrial beings began in 2005, and Cameron began developing the screenplay and fictional universe in early 2006. Avatar was officially budgeted at $237 million. Other estimates put the cost between $280 million and $310 million for production and at $150 million for promotion.[19][20][21] The film made extensive use of new motion capture filming techniques, and was released for traditional viewing, 3D viewing (using the RealD 3D, Dolby 3D, XpanD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats), and for "4D" experiences in select South Korean theaters. The stereoscopic filmmaking was touted as a breakthrough in cinematic technology.Alice in WonderlandAlice in Wonderland is a 2010 American fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny Depp, Anne Hathaway, Helena Bonham Carter, Crispin Glover, Matt Lucas and Mia Wasikowska, and features the voices of Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Michael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. Based on Lewis Carroll's fantasy novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, the film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwock, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants.The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the following day in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats as well as in conventional theaters. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010.Boardwalk EmpireBoardwalk Empire is an American period crime drama television series created by Terence Winter and broadcast on premium cable channel HBO. The series is set in Atlantic City, New Jersey, during the Prohibition era and stars Steve Buscemi as Nucky Thompson. Winter, a Primetime Emmy Award-winning screenwriter and producer, created the show, inspired by the book Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City by Nelson Johnson about historical criminal kingpin Enoch L. Johnson.The pilot episode was directed by Martin Scorsese and produced at a cost of $18 million. On September 1, 2009, HBO picked up the series for an additional 11 episodes. The series premiered on September 19, 2010, and completed its five-season run on October 26, 2014.Captain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (cover dated March 1941) from Timely Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Captain America was designed as a patriotic supersoldier who often fought the Axis powers of World War II and was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. The popularity of superheroes waned following the war and the Captain America comic book was discontinued in 1950, with a short-lived revival in 1953. Since Marvel Comics revived the character in 1964, Captain America has remained in publication.The character wears a costume bearing an American flag motif, and he utilizes a nearly indestructible shield which he throws as a projectile. Captain America is the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a frail young man enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum to aid the United States government's efforts in World War II. Near the end of the war, he was trapped in ice and survived in suspended animation until he was revived in the present day. Although Captain America often struggles to maintain his ideals as a man out of his time with its modern realities, he remains a highly respected figure in his community which includes becoming the long-time leader of the Avengers.Deadly HoneymoonA wealthy couple take a honeymoon cruise in Tahiti, but the husband disappears without trace. The captain asks an FBI agent on holiday to investigate, believing he may have been murdered. Suspicion falls on his wife, who may have objected to his infidelities, but also a trio of Hungarian gamblers with shady secrets.District 9District 9 is a 2009 science fiction action horror film directed by Neill Blomkamp, written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. It is a co-production of New Zealand, the United States, and South Africa. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James, and was adapted from Blomkamp's 2006 short film Alive in Joburg.The film is partially presented in a found footage format by featuring fictional interviews, news footage, and video from surveillance cameras. The story, which explores themes of humanity, xenophobia, and social segregation, begins in an alternate 1982, when an alien ship appears over Johannesburg, South Africa. When a population of sick and malnourished insect-like aliens is found aboard the ship, the South African government confines them to an internment camp called District 9. Years later, during the government's relocation of the aliens to another camp, one of the confined aliens named Christopher Johnson tries to escape with his son and return home, crossing paths with a bureaucrat named Wikus van der Merwe. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events in District Six, Cape Town, during the apartheid era.Game of ThronesGame of Thrones is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss. It is an adaptation of A Song of Ice and Fire, George R. R. Martin's series of fantasy novels, the first of which is A Game of Thrones. It is filmed in Belfast and elsewhere in the United Kingdom, Canada, Croatia, Iceland, Malta, Morocco, Spain, and the United States. The series premiered on HBO in the United States on April 17, 2011, and its seventh season ended on August 27, 2017. The series will conclude with its eighth season premiering in 2019.Set on the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, Game of Thrones has several plot lines and a large ensemble cast but centers on three primary story arcs. The first story arc centers on the Iron Throne of the Seven Kingdoms and follows a web of alliances and conflicts among the dynastic noble families either vying to claim the throne or fighting for independence from the throne. The second story arc focuses on the last descendant of the realm's deposed ruling dynasty, exiled and plotting a return to the throne. The third story arc centers on the longstanding brotherhood charged with defending the realm against the ancient threats of the fierce peoples and legendary creatures that lie far north, and an impending winter that threatens the realm.GravityGravity is a 2013 science fiction thriller film directed, co-written, co-edited, and produced by Alfonso Cuarón. It stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their space shuttle, and their subsequent attempt to return to Earth.Cuarón wrote the screenplay with his son Jonás and attempted to develop the film at Universal Pictures. Later, the distribution rights were acquired by Warner Bros. Pictures. David Heyman, who previously worked with Cuarón on Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), produced the film with him. Gravity was produced entirely in the United Kingdom, where British visual effects company Framestore spent more than three years creating most of the film's visual effects, which make up over 80 of its 91 minutes.Grey’s AnatomyGrey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on American Broadcasting Company (ABC) as a mid-season replacement. The fictional series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attending physicians, as they develop into seasoned doctors while trying to maintain personal lives and relationships. The title is a play on Gray's Anatomy, a classic human anatomy textbook first published in 1858 in London and written by Henry Gray. Shonda Rhimes developed the pilot and continues to write for the series; she is also one of the executive producers, along with Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Krista Vernoff, Rob Corn, Mark Wilding, and Allan Heinberg. Although the series is set in Seattle (at the fictional Seattle Grace, later known as the Grey-Sloan Memorial Hospital), it is filmed primarily in Los Angeles, California.The series was designed to be racially diverse and used color-blind casting. It revolves around the title character, Dr. Meredith Grey, played by Ellen Pompeo, first featured as an intern. The original cast consisted of nine star-billed actors: Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl, Justin Chambers, T. R. Knight, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Isaiah Washington and Patrick Dempsey. The cast has undergone major changes through the series' run, with many members leaving and being replaced by others. In its fourteenth season, the show had a large ensemble of fourteen actors, including four characters from the original cast (Meredith Grey, Alex Karev, Miranda Bailey, and Richard Webber).The HobbitThe Hobbit is a film series consisting of three high fantasy adventure films directed by Peter Jackson. They are based on the 1937 novel The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien, with large portions of the trilogy inspired by the appendices to The Return of the King, which expand on the story told in The Hobbit, as well as new material and characters written especially for the films. Together they act as a prequel to Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy. The films are subtitled An Unexpected Journey (2012), The Desolation of Smaug (2013), and The Battle of the Five Armies (2014).The screenplay was written by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Jackson, and Guillermo del Toro, who was originally chosen to direct before his departure from the project. The films take place in the fictional world of Middle-earth sixty years before the beginning of The Lord of the Rings, and follow hobbit Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman), who is convinced by the wizard Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to accompany thirteen dwarves, led by Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), on a quest to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the dragon Smaug (voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch). The films also expand upon certain elements from the novel and other source material, such as Gandalf's investigation at Dol Guldur, and the pursuit of Azog and Bolg, who seek vengeance against Thorin and his ancestors.The Hunger GamesThe Hunger Games is a trilogy of young adult dystopian novels written by American novelist Suzanne Collins. The series is set in The Hunger Games universe, and follows young characters Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark.The novels in the trilogy are titled The Hunger Games (2008), Catching Fire (2009), and Mockingjay (2010). The novels have all been developed into films starring Jennifer Lawrence, with the film adaptation of Mockingjay split into two parts. The first two books in the series were both New York Times best sellers, and Mockingjay topped all US bestseller lists upon its release. By the time the film adaptation of The Hunger Games was released in 2012, the publisher had reported over 26 million Hunger Games trilogy books in print, including movie tie-in books.Iron ManIron Man is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer and editor Stan Lee, developed by scripter Larry Lieber, and designed by artists Don Heck and Jack Kirby. The character made his first appearance in Tales of Suspense #39 (cover dated March 1963).A wealthy American business magnate, playboy, and ingenious scientist, Anthony Edward "Tony" Stark suffers a severe chest injury during a kidnapping. When his captors attempt to force him to build a weapon of mass destruction, he instead creates a powered suit of armor to save his life and escape captivity. Later, Stark develops his suit, adding weapons and other technological devices he designed through his company, Stark Industries. He uses the suit and successive versions to protect the world as Iron Man. Although at first concealing his true identity, Stark eventually declared that he was, in fact, Iron Man in a public announcement.Life of PiLife of Pi is a Canadian fantasy adventure novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry who explores issues of spirituality and practicality from an early age. He survives 227 days after a shipwreck while stranded on a lifeboat in the Pacific Ocean with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.The novel has sold more than ten million copies worldwide. It was rejected by at least five London publishing houses before being accepted by Knopf Canada, which published it in September 2001. The UK edition won the Man Booker Prize for Fiction the following year. It was also chosen for CBC Radio's Canada Reads 2003, where it was championed by author Nancy Lee.Man of SteelMan of Steel is a 2013 superhero film based on the DC Comics character Superman. It is a British-American venture produced by Legendary Pictures, DC Entertainment, Syncopy Inc., and Cruel and Unusual Films, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the first installment in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film is directed by Zack Snyder written by David S. Goyer, and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Antje Traue, Ayelet Zurer, Christopher Meloni, and Russell Crowe. Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film series that retells the character's origin story. In the film, Clark Kent learns that he is a superpowered alien from the planet Krypton and assumes the role of mankind's protector as Superman, but finds himself having to prevent General Zod from destroying humanity.Development began in 2008, when Warner Bros. took pitches from comic book writers, screenwriters, and directors, opting to reboot the franchise. In 2009, a court ruling resulted in Jerry Siegel's family recapturing the rights to Superman's origins and Siegel's copyright. The decision stated that Warner Bros. did not owe the families additional royalties from previous films, but if they did not begin production on a Superman film by 2011, then the Shuster and Siegel estates would be able to sue for lost revenue on an unproduced film. Producer Christopher Nolan pitched Goyer's idea after story discussion on The Dark Knight Rises, and Snyder was hired as the film's director in October 2010. Principal photography began in August 2011 in West Chicago, Illinois, before moving to Vancouver and Plano, Illinois.Oz the Great and PowerfulOz the Great and Powerful is a 2013 American fantasy adventure film directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Joe Roth, from a screenplay written by David Lindsay-Abaire and Mitchell Kapner. The film stars James Franco, Michelle Williams, Rachel Weisz and Mila Kunis, with Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, and Tony Cox in supporting roles. Based on L. Frank Baum's Oz novels and set 20 years before the events of the original novel, Oz the Great and Powerful is a spiritual prequel to the 1939 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film, The Wizard of Oz. The film tells the story of Oscar Diggs, a deceptive magician who arrives in the Land of Oz and encounters three witches: Theodora, Evanora, and Glinda. Oscar is then enlisted to restore order in Oz, while struggling to resolve conflicts with the witches and himself.Kapner began developing an origin story for the Wizard of Oz after a lifelong interest of wanting to create one for the character. Walt Disney Pictures commissioned the film's production in 2009, with Joe Roth as producer and Grant Curtis, Joshua Donen, Philip Steuer, and Palak Patel serving as executive producers. Raimi was hired to direct the following year. After Robert Downey Jr. and Johnny Depp declined the titular role, Franco was cast in February 2011, with principal photography commencing five months later. Danny Elfman composed the film's score.Pirates of the CaribbeanPirates of the Caribbean is a Disney media franchise encompassing numerous theme park attractions, a series of films, and spin-off novels, as well as a number of related video games and other media publications. The franchise originated with the Pirates of the Caribbean theme ride attraction, which opened at Disneyland in 1967 and was one of the last Disney theme park attractions overseen by Walt Disney. Disney based the ride on pirate legends and folklore. As of October 2016, Pirates of the Caribbean attractions can be found at five Disney theme parks. Their related films have grossed over US$ 3.7 billion worldwide as of January 2015,[1] putting the film franchise 11th in the list of all-time highest grossing franchises and film series.Rise of the Planet of the ApesRise of the Planet of the Apes is a 2011 American science fiction film directed by Rupert Wyatt and starring James Franco, Freida Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oyelowo, and Andy Serkis. Written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver, it is 20th Century Fox's reboot of the Planet of the Apes series, intended to act as an origin story for a new series of films. Its premise is similar to the fourth film in the original series, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972), but it is not a direct remake of that film.Rise of the Planet of the Apes was released on August 5, 2011, to critical and commercial success. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. It was also nominated for five Saturn Awards including Best Director for Wyatt and Best Writing for Jaffa and Silver, winning Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor for Serkis and Best Special Effects. Serkis's performance as Caesar was widely acclaimed, earning him many nominations from associations which do not usually recognize performance capture as traditional acting. A sequel to the film, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 11, 2014, and a third film, War for the Planet of the Apes, was released on July 14, 2017.The Dark Knight RisesThe Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother Jonathan Nolan, and the story with David S. Goyer.[5] Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy, and the sequel to The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale reprises the lead role of Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of allies: Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox. The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and Bane (Tom Hardy). Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, merciless revolutionary Bane forces an older Bruce Wayne to resume his role as Batman and save Gotham City from nuclear destruction.Christopher Nolan was hesitant about returning to the series for a second time, but agreed after developing a story with his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's Land". Filming took place from May to November 2011 in locations including Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City, Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras for much of the filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the quality of the picture. A vehicle variation of the Batplane and Batcopter termed the "Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were created specifically for the film. As with The Dark Knight, viral marketing campaigns began early during production. When filming concluded, Warner Bros. refocused its campaign: developing promotional websites, releasing the first six minutes of the film, screening theatrical trailers, and sending out information regarding the film's plot.The Dark KnightThe Dark Knight is a 2008 superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by Christopher Nolan. Featuring the DC Comics character Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy and a sequel to 2005's Batman Begins, starring an ensemble cast including Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Morgan Freeman. In the film, Bruce Wayne / Batman (Bale), Police Lieutenant James Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) form an alliance to dismantle organized crime in Gotham City, but are menaced by a criminal mastermind known as the Joker (Ledger) who seeks to undermine Batman's influence and create chaos.Nolan's inspiration for the film was the Joker's comic book debut in 1940, the 1988 graphic novel The Killing Joke, and the 1996 series The Long Halloween, which retold Two-Face's origin. The "Dark Knight" nickname was first applied to Batman in Batman #1 (1940), in a story written by Bill Finger.[4][5] The Dark Knight was filmed primarily in Chicago, as well as in several other locations in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Hong Kong. Nolan used IMAX 70 mm film cameras to film some sequences, including the Joker's first appearance in the film. Warner Bros. initially created a viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight, developing promotional websites and trailers highlighting screenshots of Ledger as the Joker. Ledger died on January 22, 2008, some months after the completed filming and six months before the film's release from a toxic combination of prescription drugs, leading to intense attention from the press and movie-going public.The Great GatsbyThe Great Gatsby is a 2013 romance drama film based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 novel of the same name. The film was co-written and directed by Baz Luhrmann and stars Leonardo DiCaprio as the eponymous Jay Gatsby, with Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher and Elizabeth Debicki. Production began in 2011 and took place in Australia, with a $190 million budget. The film follows the life and times of millionaire Jay Gatsby and his neighbor Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire), who recounts his encounter with Gatsby at the height of the Roaring Twenties in New York state.The film polarized critics, receiving both praise and criticism for its acting performances, soundtrack, visual style, and direction. Audiences responded more positively and Fitzgerald's granddaughter praised the film, stating "Scott would have been proud." As of 2017, it is Luhrmann's highest-grossing film, grossing over $353 million worldwide. At the 86th Academy Awards, the film won in both of its nominated categories: Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.The MatrixThe Matrix is a 1999 science fiction action film written and directed by The Wachowskis (credited as The Wachowski Brothers) and starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano. It depicts a dystopian future in which reality as perceived by most humans is actually a simulated reality called "the Matrix", created by sentient machines to subdue the human population, while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Cybercriminal and computer programmer Neo learns this truth and is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, which involves other people who have been freed from the "dream world."The Matrix is known for popularizing a visual effect known as "bullet time", in which the heightened perception of certain characters is represented by allowing the action within a shot to progress in slow-motion while the camera's viewpoint appears to move through the scene at normal speed. The film is an example of the cyberpunk subgenre. It contains numerous references to philosophical and religious ideas, and prominently pays homage to works such as Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Wachowskis' approach to action scenes drew upon their admiration for Japanese animation[8] and martial arts films, and the film's use of fight choreographers and wire fu techniques from Hong Kong action cinema influenced subsequent Hollywood action film productions.The Secret in Their EyesSecret in Their Eyes is a 2015 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Billy Ray and a remake of the 2009 Argentine film of the same name, both based on the novel La pregunta de sus ojos by author Eduardo Sacheri. The film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, Dean Norris, and Michael Kelly.The film was released by STXfilms on November 20, 2015. It received mixed reception from critics, who praised its performances but compared it unfavourably to the original.The Walking DeadThe Wolf of Wall StreetThe Wolf of Wall Street is a 2013 American biographical black comedy[3] directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Terence Winter, based on the memoir of the same name by Jordan Belfort. It recounts Belfort's perspective on his career as a stockbroker in New York City and how his firm Stratton Oakmont engaged in rampant corruption and fraud on Wall Street that ultimately led to his downfall. Leonardo DiCaprio (who was also a producer) stars as Belfort, with Jonah Hill as his business partner and friend Donnie Azoff, Margot Robbie as his wife Naomi Lapaglia and Kyle Chandler as Patrick Denham, the FBI agent who tries to bring him down. Matthew McConaughey, Rob Reiner, Jon Favreau, Joanna Lumley and Jean Dujardin also star. The film marks the director's fifth collaboration with DiCaprio, after Gangs of New York (2002), The Aviator (2004), The Departed (2006) and Shutter Island (2010), as well as his second collaboration with Winter after the television series Boardwalk Empire (2010–14).TransformersTransformers is a series of American science fiction fantasy action films based on the toys created by Hasbro and Tomy. Michael Bay has directed the first five films: Transformers (2007), Revenge of the Fallen (2009), Dark of the Moon (2011), Age of Extinction (2014) and The Last Knight (2017). A spin-off entitled Bumblebee: The Movie, directed by Travis Knight and produced by Michael Bay, is scheduled for December 21, 2018. The series has been distributed by Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks.The live-action film series has received mixed reception, with criticism of the plots, sophomoric humor, overuse of product placements and the lengths of the films, but praise of the visual effects, action sequences and music. It is the 11th-highest-grossing film series, with a total of $4.3 billion; two films in the series have individually grossed over $1 billion.The Twilight Saga: Breaking DawnThe Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 (commonly referred to as Breaking Dawn: Part 1) is a 2011 American romantic fantasy film directed by Bill Condon and based on the novel Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer. The first part of a two-part film forms the fourth and penultimate installment in The Twilight Saga film series, and is the beginning of the 2012 film Breaking Dawn: Part 2. All three main cast members, Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner, reprised their roles.Wyck Godfrey and Karen Rosenfelt served as producers of the film, along with the author of the series, Stephenie Meyer; the screenplay was written by Melissa Rosenberg, the screenwriter of the first three entries. It was released in theaters on November 18, 2011, and released to DVD on February 11, 2012 in the United States. The film grossed over $712 million worldwide. Though the film gained predominantly negative critical reviews, it was a box office hit.300300 is a 2006 American epic war film based on the 1998 comic series 300 by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. Both are fictionalized retellings of the Battle of Thermopylae within the Persian Wars. The film was directed by Zack Snyder, while Miller served as executive producer and consultant. It was filmed mostly with a super-imposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the imagery of the original comic book.The plot revolves around King Leonidas (Gerard Butler), who leads 300 Spartans into battle against the Persian "god-King" Xerxes (Rodrigo Santoro) and his invading army of more than 300,000 soldiers. As the battle rages, Queen Gorgo (Lena Headey) attempts to rally support in Sparta for her husband. The story is framed by a voice-over narrative by the Spartan soldier Dilios (David Wenham). Through this narrative technique, various fantastical creatures are introduced, placing 300 within the genre of historical fantasy.Sources: 46 Famous Movie Scenes Before And After Special Effects

Q. Which movies are known to have resulted in a surge in US military recruitment during its opening week like Top Gun?A. These movies were successful at the box office and increased interest in military service.Top Gun - WikipediaTop Gun' Boosting Service Sign-upsHow did Top Gun affect military recruitment? (Quora)An Officer and a Gentleman - WikipediaA Few Good Men - WikipediaBlack Hawk Down (film) - WikipediaSaving Private Ryan - WikipediaZero Dark Thirty - WikipediaThe US military storm Hollywood | Steve RoseWhy the Pentagon Didn’t like “Platoon”'Act of Valor', 'Call of Duty' and the Role of Entertainment in Military Recruitment - Video Games and Military RecruitmentTop 10 Lies (Some) Military Recruiters Tell ApplicantsMovies with and without Pentagon CooperationTop Gun - WikipediaTop Gun is a 1986 American romantic military action drama film directed by Tony Scott, and produced by Don Simpsonand Jerry Bruckheimer, in association with Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by an article titled "Top Guns" published in California magazine three years earlier. The film stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Anthony Edwards, and Tom Skerritt. Cruise plays Lieutenant Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, a young naval aviator aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise. He and his Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) Nick "Goose" Bradshaw (Edwards) are given the chance to train at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School at the former Naval Air Station (NAS) Miramar in San Diego.Top Gun legendary opening scene and creditsTop Gun was released on May 16, 1986. Upon its release, the film received generally mixed reviews from film critics but many particularly praised the action sequences, the effects, the aerial stunts, and the acting performances with Cruise and McGillis receiving the most praise. Four weeks after release, the number of theaters showing it increased by 45%.Despite its initial mixed critical reaction, the film was a huge commercial hit grossing $356 million against a production budget of only $15 million. The film maintained its popularity over the years and earned an IMAX 3D re-release in 2013. Additionally, the film won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Take My Breath Away" performed by Berlin.In 2015, the United States Library of Congress selected the film for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".A sequel,Top Gun: Maverick is scheduled for release on July 19, 2019.My favourite Top Gun moments'Top Gun' Boosting Service Sign-upsJuly 05, 1986|MARK EVJE | Associated Press WriterSAN DIEGO — Regulations prohibit the Navy from promoting the hit movie "Top Gun" in its recruitment efforts, but the film extolling the service's best fighter jocks apparently has become a valuable tool--in some parts of the Southwest anyway.When the film opened in May, recruiters in some cities manned tables outside movie houses during "Top Gun" premieres to answer questions from would-be flyboys emerging with a new-found need for speed from an F-14 warplane.Navy recruiting officials say they didn't keep track of that operation's success, but they have noticed more inquiries than usual about the naval aviation officer candidate program since the movie's release.They don't think it's a coincidence."Two groups I can identify (as having increased interest) are individuals who have applied in the past and were turned down or dropped out of Aviation Officers Training School, and individuals who are approaching the maximum age limit (to apply)," said Lt. Ray Gray, head of the officer programs department in Los Angeles."There seems to have been a big rush in those categories that I have to attribute to the movie. I've asked several of these individuals if they've seen the movie and if that's why they came down to talk to us again and they've said 'yes'."On the other end of the spectrum, we've seen a general increase in interest in young men who don't yet qualify for the program, and I have to attribute that to 'Top Gun' also."Lt. Sandy Stairs, the Navy's representative while the film was in production, said Navy regulations prohibit the service from "selectively endorsing or appearing to endorse a commercial product," like the movie, even though it favorably portrays the Navy and could aid in recruiting."Some recruiters have said to me that a lot of young high school graduates said they've seen the movie and would like to sign up for naval aviation, but we don't actively go out and say, 'Go see the movie.' We're not in the business of promoting the movie, we're in the business of recruiting people," Stairs said.But Lt. Cmdr. Laura Marlowe, officer in charge of recruiting for the naval officer program in Arizona and San Diego, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said her recruiters in Phoenix have received twice as many calls as usual about the aviation program in the last month."They couldn't specifically say it was a direct result of 'Top Gun,' but they suspect it probably had a lot to do with it because when they would talk to applicants, about 90 percent said they had seen the movie," Marlowe said."Maybe it hadn't made them call in, but they'd been thinking about (joining the Navy) and this was just the kicker that put them over the line," Marlowe said.The film has been in the top 10 for box office receipts throughout its seven weeks of release, grossing more than $72 million. It depicts the extensive training given to the top 1% of fighter pilots at the Navy Fighter Weapons School at the Miramar Naval Air Station in San Diego. The school is nicknamed "Top Gun."Several scenes were filmed at the real-life Top Gun school, where most of the pilots have several years of F-14 experience. To qualify as a pilot, rigid mental and physical screenings must be passed, followed by two years of officer and flight training school and four years of non-combat flying.Despite the local tie, Marlowe said there hasn't been an appreciable increase in San Diego applicants. She said she thinks that's because of the high level of interest in aviation and the Navy in the area to begin with.Master Chief Charles Griva, who oversees the Navy's general recruiting in San Diego, said he's noticed a slight increase in people wanting to join the Navy since the movie came out and "a definite increase in those asking about the naval aviation program."This would be a hard town to sample," Griva said. "Maybe the Midwest would be a better place because if you live in Mira Mesa (next to Miramar), for example, watching F-14s is old hat."An Officer and a Gentleman - WikipediaAN OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN - Trailer ( 1982 )An Officer and a Gentleman is a 1982 American romantic drama film starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Louis Gossett Jr., who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, making him the first African American to do so. It tells the story of Zack (Gere), a United States Navy Aviation Officer Candidate who is beginning his training at Aviation Officer Candidate School. While Zack meets his first true girlfriend during his training, a local young woman named Paula (Winger), he also comes into conflict with the hard-driving Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant (Gossett Jr.), the drill instructor training his class. Also starring Phillip J. Salmon in his first role.The film was written by Douglas Day Stewart and directed by Taylor Hackford. Its title is an old expression from the Royal Navy and later from the U.S. Uniform Code of Military Justice's charge of "conduct unbecoming an Officer and a Gentleman" (from 1860). The film was commercially released in the U.S. on August 13, 1982. It was well received by critics, with a number calling it the best film of 1982. It also was a financial success, grossing $130 million against a $6 million budget.An Officer and a Gentleman was an enormous box office success and went on to become the third-highest-grossing film of 1982, after E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial and Tootsie. It grossed $3,304,679 in its opening weekend and $129,795,554 overall at the domestic box office. It sold an estimated 44 million tickets in the US.A Few Good Men - WikipediaOne man is dead. Two men are accused of his murder. The entire Marines Corps is on trial. And 'A Few Good Men' are about to ignite the most explosive episode in US military history. Universally acclaimed, 'A Few Good Men' unites the big screen's biggest stars.A Few Good Men is a 1992 American legal drama film directed by Rob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, and Demi Moore, with Kevin Bacon, Kevin Pollak, Wolfgang Bodison, James Marshall, J. T. Walsh and Kiefer Sutherland in supporting roles. It was adapted for the screen by Aaron Sorkin from his play of the same name but includes contributions by William Goldman. The film revolves around the court-martial of two U.S. Marinescharged with the murder of a fellow Marine and the tribulations of their lawyers as they prepare a case to defend their clients.Saving Private Ryan - WikipediaFollowing the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose brothers have been killed in action.Saving Private Ryan is a 1998 American epic war filmdirected by Steven Spielberg and written by Robert Rodat. Set during the Invasion of Normandy in World War II, the film is notable for its graphic portrayal of war, and for the intensity of its opening 27 minutes, which includes a depiction of the Omaha Beach assault during the Normandy landings. It follows United States Army Rangers CaptainJohn H. Miller (Tom Hanks) and a squad (Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, and Jeremy Davies) as they search for a paratrooper, Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon), who is the last-surviving brother of four servicemen.The film received widespread critical acclaim, winning several awards for film, cast, and crew, as well as earning significant returns at the box office. The film grossed $216.8 million domestically, making it the highest-grossing film of 1998 in the United States, and $481.8 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of 1998 worldwide. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture; Spielberg's direction won his second Academy Award for Best Director, with four more awards going to the film. Saving Private Ryan was released on home video in May 1999, earning another $44 million from sales.In 2014, the film was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."Black Hawk Down - WikipediaBlack Hawk Down is a 2001 war film produced and directed by Ridley Scott, from a screenplay by Ken Nolan. It is based on the 1999 non-fiction book of the same name by Mark Bowden, which in turn is based on the 29-part series of articles published in The Philadelphia Inquirer, chronicling the events of a 1993 raid in Mogadishu by the U.S. military aimed at capturing faction leader Mohamed Farrah Aidid, and the ensuing firefight, known as the Battle of Mogadishu. The film features a large ensemble cast, including Josh Hartnett, Ewan McGregor, Eric Bana, Tom Sizemore, William Fichtner, Jason Isaacs, Tom Hardy in his feature film debut, and Sam Shepard.Black Hawk Down (2001) - Official Trailer [HD]Black Hawk Down won two Academy Awards for Best Film Editing and Best Sound Mixing at the 74th Academy Awards.In 2009, an extended cut of the film was released on DVD. The cut contained an additional 8 minutes of footage increasing the running time to 152 minutes. This extended cut has yet to be released on Blu-ray.Zero Dark Thirty - WikipediaZero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American political-thriller filmdirected by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Billed as "the greatest manhunt in history", the film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for al Qaedaleader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks in the United States. This search eventually leads to the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the military raid that resulted in bin Laden's death on May 2, 2011.The film stars Jessica Chastain as Maya, a fictional CIAintelligence analyst, with Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Stephen Dillane, Chris Pratt, Édgar Ramírez, Jennifer Ehle, John Barrowman, Mark Duplass, and Frank Grillo in supporting roles.It was produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and was independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures. The film premiered in Los Angeles on December 19, 2012 and had its wide release on January 11, 2013.Zero Dark Thirty - Official Trailer #2 (HD)Zero Dark Thirty received widespread critical acclaim and appeared on 95 critics' top ten lists of 2012. It was nominated in five categories at the 85th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Chastain, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Film Editing, and won the award for Best Sound Editing. The film also earned Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay, with Chastain winning the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.The film's depiction of so-called "enhanced interrogation" generated controversy, with some critics describing it as pro-torture propaganda, as the interrogations are shown producing reliably useful and accurate information.Acting CIA director Michael Morellstated, "The film creates the strong impression that the enhanced interrogation techniques ... were the key to finding bin Laden. That impression is false."Other critics described it as an anti-torture exposure of interrogation practices.Republican Congressman Peter T. King charged that the filmmakers were given improper access to classified materials, which they denied.An unreleased draft IG report published by the Project on Government Oversight, in June 2013, stated that former CIA Director Leon Panetta discussed classified information during an awards ceremony for the SEAL team that carried out the raid on the bin Laden compound. Unbeknownst to Panetta, screenwriter Mark Boal was among the 1,300 present during the ceremony.'Act of Valor', 'Call of Duty' and the Role of Entertainment in Military Recruitment - Video Games and Military RecruitmentBy Ryan Gorman| Feb. 25, 2012The much hyped military action drama Act of Valor opens nationwide this weekend. It is the latest in a long line of movies, TV shows, and video games focusing on war and combat. The amount of readily available war-related content is at an all-time high right now, is this good or bad for military recruitment?Movies like Act of Valor impact recruiting, so do video games. Usually they cause people to enroll in the military because they want to look as cool as what they saw at the theater or on TV.The Navy saw a huge increase in recruitment after Top Gun was released. Will this film, along with the killing of Osama bin Laden and other assorted SEAL Team Six activities, boost enrollment in the Navy again? Only time will tell. One thing that is quantifiable is the impact past military/special forces dramas and video games have had on military perception.The Army is so convinced that video games like Call of Duty boost recruitment numbers that it has released multiple versions of its own video game called America’s Army. Call of Duty itself is now on its 18th iteration, with a 19th already on the way. Every year the video game franchise breaks sales records, and the latest CoD: Modern Warfare 3 was no exception. With over 12 million copies soldin the first week it broke the old record of 4.8 million copies held by Call of Duty: Black Ops; its predecessor.America’s Army has never even approached those numbers, most likely never will, but it still gets the message the military wants to broadcast out there: shooting things is fun, and you can do it while working for us.Act of Valor sets itself apart from the pack by starring an ensemble cast of active duty Navy SEALS. Most movies about combat retain former soldiers in consulting roles, but this movie put commandos in front of the camera and let them do what they do best. This may not be the best military action film ever made, but it will likely be the most realistic.Before you watch the movie, remember the Vancouver Sun review’s headline: “US Navy SEALS can do anything – except act.” They aren’t being paid to act, they’re being paid to kick ass and make it look cool while doing it like Tom Cruise and Val Kilmer did in Top Gun. Only this movie involves less drama and more murder, death, kill.While movies like Full Metal Jacket, Platoon and Saving Private Ryan made attempts to dramatize wars, they did not always convey a very positive image of the military. With graphic war scenes in the media, soldier meltdowns, and war crimes being committed all over the place; it’s no wonder people have such distrust in the soldiers who dedicate their lives to serving and protecting our freedom.That brings us back to Act of Valor, which derives its name from the Medal of Valor; an award bestowed on soldiers for heroic acts while under attack. The Navy SEALS portrayed in this film perform heroic act after heroic act because it’s their job, they’re SEALS. The movie goes for the gusto instead of the Oscar.Most movies that depict war make it look cool and fun. They make dying in combat look brave and heroic. My father fought in Vietnam, he would disagree with that idea. While dying in war can be heroic, simply doing so isn’t a heroic act and shouldn’t be viewed that way. Movies that make it look heroic to cowboy up and go guns a blazing into a hail of bullets are unrealistic and ridiculous. Movies like Act of Valor depict action in a way that will hopefully make people see war realistically. It will probably also boost recruiting so more people can try to be the hero who kills the next Osama bin LadenPhoto Credit: US NavyCall of Duty: WWII vs. Medal of Honor: Allied Assault: Storming Normandy then and now | PCWorldFilmThe US military storm Hollywood | Steve RoseThe US military happily rents out its wares to film-makers. But are the results little more than adverts for the forces? And are they now being targeted at children? Steve RoseMon 6 Jul 2009 21.30 BSTAt first glance, it looks like just another disposable summer movie, this time about battling robots from outer space. But Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is also quite possibly the most militarised film ever made. Even more than its predecessor, it crams in an exhausting amount of military hardware: jet fighters, transport planes, unmanned spy planes, helicopters, tanks, submarines, hovercrafts, aircraft carriers, you name it. And if you can't name it, an actor will usually yell something helpful like: "They're bringing in the C-17s!"Apocalypse NowIn addition, many of the characters in the movie are military personnel, and genuine US troops were used as extras. Large chunks of it were shot at US airbases, too. Holloman, in New Mexico, stands in for Diego Garcia, while the nearby White Sands missile range doubles for Egypt in the movie's comically destructive finale. It was generally assumed that the Transformers films were toy adverts disguised as event movies – but, on the strength of Revenge of the Fallen, a new question arises, one with much more sinister connotations in a movie directed at kids: are they really selling the mighty US military?By reputation, Hollywood is a town of lily-livered liberals. Military people rarely come off well in the movies: they are usually characterised as disciplinarian dads, meat-headed bullies, inflexible authoritarians or, in the case of American Beauty, self-hating, closeted gay Nazis. But there's a contingent of film-makers who seem to get on just fine with the troops, and chief among them are Michael Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Not only did Bay direct both Transformers movies, but also such war-tastic blockbusters as Pearl Harbor and Armageddon, each made with heavy military cooperation; Pearl Harbor even held its premiere on a US aircraft carrier. Both were produced by Bruckheimer, who has also brought the world military-themed movies such as Crimson Tide, Black Hawk Down and the daddy of the genre, Top Gun.FuryIt's not difficult to see what both sides get out of it. The use of official hardware gives a movie such as Revenge of the Fallen a much-needed veneer of credibility: without the military, it's just a film about robots fighting. And it saved the film-makers millions of dollars in props, locations and special effects. Meanwhile, the military gets to show off its latest equipment to millions of people, and depict its personnel in the best possible light."Yes, we have a good relationship," says Philip Strub, director of entertainment media at the US department of defence, who has worked with Bay since Armageddon. Bay is always keen to include the military's latest equipment, says Strub: "We might say, 'Hey, you've never shown an X, Y or a Z.' We'll send them information, talk about its role. Or they'll come back to us and say, 'We'd like to have a C-17. Or what about an aircraft carrier and some F-18s?'"Bay and Bruckheimer aren't the only military-minded film-makers in Hollywood, though. The first Oscar-winning picture, Wings, from 1927, was a first world war movie made with support from the US air force, and they have been working together ever since, in war epics such as Patton, The Green Berets and From Here to Eternity.American SniperIn theory, any US film-maker can make use of the military's hardware, personnel and property. It all belongs to the taxpayer, after all. As well as Strub's office in the Pentagon, each of the US's armed forces has its own public affairs department in LA to work with film-makers. "The rule of thumb for us is that there's no additional cost to the US government," says Strub. "So if they're filming typical flight operations on an aircraft carrier, we wouldn't charge. But if you wanted to control the aircraft, then we would charge exactly what it costs the squadron." These costs vary: from $1,000 an hour for a tank, to more than $25,000 for an F-15 jet fighter.However, you get all this on the military's terms. The script must be submitted for approval, a military consultant will be on hand during the shoot, and the finished product has to be screened for Pentagon chiefs before its release. And if the military doesn't like the way it is portrayed in the script, it won't help you until you make the changes it recommends. "Our desire is that the military are portrayed as good people trying to do the right thing the right way," says Strub. "That's probably our single most important imperative. We want the equipment to be operated in a way that's more or less the way it would be; and for servicemen to act towards each other and towards others as they would in real life."Full Metal JacketIn his 2004 book Operation Hollywood, David Robb paints a darker picture. Robb documents the discussions between the two sides on many movies since the second world war. What emerges is a startling picture of an entertainment landscape shaped by the Pentagon. Sometimes the changes are laughable. In the James Bond movie GoldenEye, the Pentagon demanded the nationality of an incompetent US admiral be changed if the producers wanted US helicopters for the finale. He became Canadian.Sometimes the changes are more sinister. In the Cuban missile crisis drama Thirteen Days, the Pentagon objected to the way generals were shown to be in favour of invading Cuba at the time, even though this was based on tapes of discussions within the White House. The military described Thirteen Days's portrayal of the generals as "negative" and "inauthentic". It sought to alter the scenes, but producer and star Kevin Costner refused, and went ahead without their support."The military is part of the US government," says Robb now. "In America we have the First Amendment, which prohibits government from favouring speech it likes, and not favouring speech it doesn't like. You can't reward somebody who makes a movie saying how great the American government is – and deny the same break to somebody criticising it." By taking the military's assistance, he says, an artist's vision is inevitably corrupted. "The military are not film-makers. They're good at making war, and making weapons, but they're not good at making movies. They don't have a sense of humour and they don't really even have a sense of their own history."Bridge over the River KwaiDespite the extra cost and hardship, many of the best Hollywood war movies have been made without the forces: Apocalypse Now, Platoon, MASH, Catch-22, Full Metal Jacket, Dr Strangelove, Three Kings. And when it comes to the recent anti-Iraq/Bush war movies such as Redacted, Rendition, Battle for Haditha, Stop Loss, In the Valley of Elah, or HBO's Generation Kill, the film-makers didn't even bother to ask the US military for support, knowing full well how they operate. Even Bay and Bruckheimer have managed to make the odd movie without Pentagon help, such as 1996's The Rock, in which renegade US marines hold the country to ransom and kill Navy SEALs – a definite deal-breaker.But the more commercially minded film-makers have learned how to get the goods without coming close to upsetting the top brass, through a process that could be described as self-censorship. Transformers is the perfect example. First, it is not a war movie but a sci-fi movie. Its fantastical, apolitical storyline neatly sidesteps issues of historical accuracy or military competence. As Strub puts it: "Since we don't have too many existing war plans for fighting Decepticons, and allying with Autobots, there's an enormous amount of flexibility in terms of artistic licence."StalingradSecondly, and more worryingly, Transformers is aimed at children. Its target audience might well come to associate the military and warfare solely with exciting action, giddying technology, civic duty and untarnished heroism – and perhaps one day sign up themselves. The military don't like to talk about the recruiting value of movies these days, but they are clearly mindful of the Top Gun effect. It seems impossible to imagine now, especially since Quentin Tarantino's "Top Gun is the gayest movie ever" analysis, but in 1986, the sight of Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer and co in white uniforms and aviator shades standing in front of throbbing jet fighters sent lots of America's young men straight to the nearest recruiting office. They usually didn't have to go far – the Navy installed special recruiting booths in cinema lobbies.That strategy would never work today. Post 9/11, the appetite of US film-goers for patriotic entertainment might be undiminished, but recruitment rates are low. And they haven't been helped by real-life events such as Abu Ghraib, friendly fire incidents, extraordinary rendition, atrocities committed by troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, not to mention friends and family killed or maimed in the US's current conflicts. So sci-fi movies aimed at younger audiences seem to be a new direction for military recruitment. In the last few years, the Pentagon has helped with Spielberg's War of the Worlds, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Iron Man. Coming soon are Iron Man 2 and GI Joe (another toy being turned into a movie). Think it's all just brainless nonsense and nothing to worry about? Well, bear in mind that Transformers broke box-office records.Paths of GloryWHY THE PENTAGON DIDN'T LIKE 'PLATOON'Fighting for country. At war with themselves. A contemporary trailer for Oliver Stone's Oscar-winning 1986 Vietnam War movie "Platoon". This is a fan-made trailer.There's a group of movie critics that the public knows little about, yet it has a sometimes important influence on movies the public sees: the anonymous military officers in the Pentagon who decide whether a movie maker will get official cooperation that could save millions in production costs.From our examination of a series of documents that detail the confidential negotiations between Hollywood and the Pentagon, we have come to the following conclusions:The Pentagon gives its wholehearted cooperation only to those producers who agree to turn out the equivalent of a recruiting poster.If a producer acts like a doormat to get the military reviewers' approval and cooperation, the Pentagon will walk all over him and demand changes that could significantly affect the artistic integrity of the movie.There's an inverse principle of military movie making: the less support (and interference) a producer gets from the Pentagon, the more likely it is that the movie will be a critical and/or commercial success.In short, this unholy, unhealthy alliance between Hollywood and the Pentagon -- so often eagerly sought after by each side -- is usually to the advantage of neither, and is certainly not useful for the American public, which pays for the movie in both subsidies and at the box office.Perhaps the best confirmation of these conclusions is that the total level of Pentagon support for the Vietnam War movie ''Platoon'' was exactly zero. Yet it was both a critical and a commercial success of prodigious proportions.The low-budget ($6 million) film was a blockbuster at the box office and won four Oscars, including ''Best Picture'' and ''Best Director.'' Its success was a tribute to Oliver Stone's dogged loyalty to a script he wrote in 1975, based on his own combat experience in Vietnam -- a script that was rejected by all the major studios.The ''Platoon'' script was also rejected by the Pentagon. In a confidential memo dated June 28, 1984, Col. John E. Taylor of the Army's public affairs staff wrote:''We have reviewed the script, 'The Platoon,' and have found the Army cannot support it as written. In its present form, the script presents an unfair and inaccurate view of the Army.''There are numerous problem areas in the script. They include: the murder and rape of innocent Vietnamese villagers by U.S. soldiers, the coldblooded murder of one U.S. soldier by another, rampant drug abuse, the stereotyping of black soldiers and the portrayal of the majority of soldiers as illiterate delinquents. The entire script is rife with unrealistic and highly unfavorable depictions of the American soldier.''Donald E. Baruch, a top Pentagon public affairs official, concurred in a July 5, 1984, letter. ''In our opinion,'' he wrote, ''the script basically creates an unbalanced portrayal by stereotyping black soldiers, showing rampant drug abuse, illiteracy and concentrating action on brutality.''Baruch left the door open for compromise: ''Of course, we would be delighted if your company would consider screenplay revisions. A meeting can be arranged to go over the script, if someone wishes to come to Washington.''As it happens, all objections raised by the Army censors were aimed at the very features of the movie that eventually drew critical acclaim, led to its commercial success and brought widespread testimony from Vietnam veterans that the story of their war had finally been told as it was.Admittedly a movie doesn't have to be a critical smash to get the thumbs down from the Pentagon. It refused to cooperate with Sylvester Stallone's ''First Blood,'' a gory action adventure that was a smash with the public and a bust with the critics.The Pentagon also refused to cooperate with the makers of another Vietnam film, ''The Deerhunter.'' Other Pentagon rejects included Arnold Schwarzenegger's ''Commando'' (for ''implying that the U.S. Army has or had a special unit trained solely for the purpose of committing murder and pillage''); ''War Games'' (because no computer hacker could break into the military's strategic defense system); ''An Officer and a Gentleman'' (because the Lou Gossett character and the portrayal of boot camp were offensive) and ''Heartbreak Ridge'' (because the profanity and other attributes of the Clint Eastwood character were offensive).The one notable exception that proves the rule was ''Top Gun,'' which succeeded even with the Pentagon's enthusiastic cooperation.Top Gun versus Sergeant Bilko? Pentagon CooperationFilms which obtained cooperation:• Air Force One• The Caine Mutiny• A Few Good Men• From Here to Eternity• Armageddon• The Longest Day• The Hunt for Red October• Pearl Harbour• Patton• Patriot Games• Top Gun• Windtalkers (to be released)• The Jackal• Hamburger Hill• Hearts in Atlantis (to be released)• The Longest Day• GoldenEye• The American President• Behind Enemy LInes (to be released)• Apollo 13• Tomorrow Never Dies• Tora! Tora! Tora!• A Time to KillFilms denied cooperation:• Apocalypse Now• Catch-22Advertisement• Broken Arrow• Die Hard 2• Dr Strangelove• Forrest Gump• Full Metal Jacket• GI Jane• Independence Day• The Last Detail• Lone Star• Mars Attacks!• Memphis Belle• An Officer and a Gentleman• Platoon• Sgt Bilko• The Thin Red LineTop 10 Lies (Some) Military Recruiters Tell Applicants