Proposal

1. My program of study is Cinema and Communications. Within my program, I am focusing on script writing.

2. 

• I will open with an anecdote about an article I read about how the film Sonic the Hedgehog was being reworked before its release due to negative reception by fans, costing millions more than it would have.
• Why are these formulaic, cookie-cutter blockbuster films so popular? How do we promote and support smaller, independent film makers?
• The conventional wisdom that I wish to challenge is that Hollywood blockbuster movies deserve the praise they often receive and are worth the large amounts of money that they cost to make.

3. I wish to write about this topic because I often get annoyed that these lazily made, formulaic movies are so popular, and the market becomes over saturated with them. Because of this, well made, original films often fly under the radar and don’t receive the praise they deserve.

4. I hope to learn more about the process of budgeting films, where this money goes, and how it can be better used by the government.

5. Some emotions that this topic instills in me are anger and annoyance. It annoys me that such absurd amounts of money are spent on lazy films that will either bomb and end up being a huge waste of money or will go on to make billions despite not deserving it.

6.  I am not entirely sure if my feature will be a “big idea” or a “riddle/mystery” article. I plan on writing facts about the film industry and the money that is spent in it as well as asking questions, such as “why do we go see these films when they are all so similar and generic?”

7. My intended audience is filmgoers or anyone who enjoys watching films. More specifically people who either watch many of these Hollywood blockbusters (ex. Superhero films) or those who are annoyed at the overabundance of these types of films.

8. I hope to get people to question why they enjoy these types of movies as well as to try and support smaller film makers who have genuine talent and make great films, as opposed to supporting cookie-cutter films that are produced with the sole purpose of making money, lacking any artistic integrity.

9. I think that my article could appear in a publication such as Wired. They write many articles about the film industry and I think my critical approach could fit well on their site. https://www.wired.co.uk/topic/culture

10. I hope to write an article about the ethics of the film industry, more specifically the amount of money that is spent on making films. Movies like The Avengers franchise, as well as other superhero movies, are often super formulaic and made with the sole intent of making billions of dollars. I hope to question the ethics of this, and what it means for cinema as a whole. When movies like this are made, it over saturates the market and cause independent, original, artistic films to be put aside and they often won’t get the recognition they deserve. I may also comment on the fact that many of these big Hollywood films often alter their movies to adhere to certain strict censorship laws, most commonly in China. Many films studios bow down to the Chinese censors because the Chinese market is so huge and brings in so much money that these studios cannot resist, even if it means drastically altering their films. I’m not entirely sure if I will venture in that direction, but it is an issue that I find interesting and I think that people should be aware of the ethics and morals behind it. I think I need to streamline my ideas a bit more but I have the general idea of what I wish to write about.