Convergence

Convergence is the process by which a range of media platforms are integrated within a single piece of media technology.  

Technological Convergence

For example the new X Box 360 is a games console, a DVD player, an internet modem.
The iPhone is a phone, a camera, a video camera, an mp3 player, an FM radio, a games console, a web browser, a palmtop computer.

This demonstrates ‘convergence’ of a wide range of technologies.

Media institutions recognize that audiences enjoy using converged technology, want to consume media in a variety of different ways (including ‘on the go’)  and provide short form content for downloading eg video clips, trailers, music videos, jingles, wallpapers, music tracks etc.

The Hunger Games had a number of games both online and apps for phones.

The soundtrack for the first film was released as The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, which included songs such as "Safe and Sound" by Taylor Swift 

Institutional Convergence

When two or more production houses come together to produce a media product, as can be found in The Hunger Games series where Lionsgate and Color Force Production worked together to produce it.

Synergy

Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome. Simply defined, it means that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

It’s the ‘strategy of synchronizing and actively forging connections between directly related areas of entertainment’.

New Technologies support this process – web, DVD, downloading. Media institution exploit various platforms to sell various products related to one film (e.g. film and soundtrack and video game).



A marketing synergy refers to the use of information campaigns, studies, and scientific discovery or experimentation for research or development. This promotes the sale of products for varied use or off-market sales as well as development of marketing tools and in several cases exaggeration of effects. It is also often a meaningless buzzword used by corporate leaders.


In media economics, synergy is the promotion and sale of a product (and all its versions) throughout the various subsidiaries of a media conglomerate,e.g. films, soundtracks or video games.
 Walt Disney pioneered synergistic marketing techniques in the 1930s by granting dozens of firms the right to use his Mickey Mouse character in products and ads, and continued to market Disney media through licensing arrangements. These products can help advertise the film itself and thus help to increase the film's sales
. For example, the Spider-Man films had toys of webshooters and figures of the characters made, as well as posters and games.
The NBC sitcom 30 Rock often shows the power of synergy, while also poking fun at the use of the term in the corporate world There are also different forms of synergy in popular card games like Yu-Gi-Oh!, Cardfight!! Vanguard, Pokemon.

In video game media a Synergist role is adapted in games, such as Square Enix's Final Fantasy XIII series to allow a character to buff up themselves or their party. In short, Synergists add resiliencies to certain attacks, lessen status ailments that are inflicted on a character, or oftentimes blocking most attacks all together.

Marketing: Capitol Couture

Capitol Couture is a website created to promote the The Hunger Games film. It went live on January 27, 2012.
The chief marketing officer of Lionsgate was quoted saying that Capitol Couture “quickly became an out-of-world experience for both fans of the franchise and those obsessed with the future of fashion.”

There are websites devoted to couture spreads of each of the Quarter Quell champions, advertising them much in the way that you would expect the Capitol to—treating the former victors as assets in promotion, viewing them as canvases rather than people. It’s frighteningly real, which is why it’s jarring; if the Hunger Games were an activity that the world participated in, it wouldn’t be hard to imagine real ads and websites just like these ones.

The Capitol Couture website is a test for those trying to find the line between reality and fiction. It gives the fans the opportunity to be part of a community and interact with each other and explore categories such as fashion, design make up, Capitol TV and so on.

Capitol Couture is meant to do something different—to be ahead of the curve, as outrageous as the overfed, over-stimulated, undereducated Capitol citizens are in the novels. And it’s intriguing that designers are partnering with the film as an excuse to push the envelope of what they can do, certainly.

People who have zero interest in fashion may scoff at all of this regardless, but it doesn’t change the fact that clothes communicate. The Hunger Games Trilogy itself acknowledges this: Cinna’s designing of Katniss and Peeta are what make them a focal point in the Games, their costuming arguably one of the most important elements in keeping them alive. Fashion is used to exploit the tributes, and the slavish manner that Capitol citizens adhere to its trends show readers and viewers just how far removed they are from their own reality. 

 Creators

Distribution

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was Distributed by Lionsgate Films, which was involved in the co-production of all the Hunger Games films with Production house Color Force. Nina Jacobson sold the movie rights to Lions Gate and that is also a way the distributor is involved in the film.


Positioning and Release:
The movie premiered in Los Angeles, at the L.A. Live, complex on November 16, and in New York on November 18. 
It premiered internationally in Berlin on November 4, in London November 5, in Paris November 9, in Madrid November 10, and in Beijing November 12.
But due to the terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13, Lionsgate scaled down its L.A. premiere, cancelling press interviews on the red carpet (which was scheduled to last two hours). 
 Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on November 20, 2015 in the United States and Canada. The film was originally scheduled to be released in 2D, Digital 3D, RealD 3D, and IMAX 3D, which would have made it the only film of the series to be globally released in 3D formats; the previous film was released in 3D in China.
 However, the decision to release the film in 3D and IMAX 3D in North America was revoked. 
Director Francis Lawrence discussed the decision, stating, "I love the 3D format and I know that Mockingjay Part 2 will play perfectly in 3D and 2D internationally – but I'm pleased that we're maintaining the 2D only (and IMAX) formats domestically. It is the best of all worlds!". 
It was nevertheless released in 3D formats in overseas markets, including China.

 The film was also released in the Dolby Vision format in Dolby Cinemas, which is the first ever for Lionsgate.

International Distribution

Internationally, it was released day-and-date across 87 countries, starting from November 18, in certain markets like Belgium, Brazil, France and the Netherlands and on November 19 in Australia, Germany, Russia, Italy, and the United Kingdom, followed by China, Mexico, Japan, the United States, Canada, and 19 other markets, on November 20, as part of the biggest movie roll out ever by Lionsgate. The only big territories where the film did not open on the same weekend are Spain, Greece and India, which released the movie on November 27.

Merchandising

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 was released on Digital HD on March 8, 2016, and will be followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on March 22, 2016.

Along with that more merchandise in the shape of clothes, collectibles and action figures, even trading cards were made and sold.

 

Guerrilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is an advertisement strategy concept designed for businesses to promote their products or services in an unconventional way with little budget to spend. This involves high energy and imagination focusing on grasping the attention of the public in more personal and memorable level.


For Mockingjay Part 2, promotion started  in the form of the rebellion hacking into the Capitol’s official Twitter page.
The page had been inactive since last November, and on 1st June it began tweeting.

 Never-seen-before footage from the film will be unveiled at the movie's presentation at Comic Con in San Diego in July.

As part of other promotional activity related to the film, billboards featuring the salute symbolic of support for Katniss, has been put up in 18 different countries.

 Each billboard shows a different hand, featuring varying ages and races.

Marketing: Print Media

Posters:
 Pop sugar said: "The entire Hunger Games franchise has been building toward Mockingjay — Part 2, and the posters for the movie look like nothing we've ever seen before from Katniss and her crew. Not, the latest poster is here for IMAX, and it's stunning. The revolution in Panem has been building, and we'll see the results when the movie premieres."

Talk about a girl on fire. It’s a really dramatic look, which seems appropriate given that this isn’t just the last The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2 poster, but likely the last Hunger Games poster, ever.

 The poster features Jennifer Lawrence, decked out in red gear, sitting on President Snow’s white throne. She looks rather regal and radiant. 

That bright red armor is pretty bad ass, and it contrasts perfectly with the rest of the white poster. And it’s all part of the campaign of District 13 to stand against The Capitol and imagine a better tomorrow. 

FACES OF THE REVOLUTION:

It was said in Forbes magazine: "But they are just another example of what has been an incredibly confident and genuinely engaging pieces of poster art going back to the first sequel if not the first film outright. We talk a lot about generic poster art and photoshop atrocities, but I would argue that the various Hunger Games posters for the four film series have often been genuine works of art.
The Capitol propaganda posters for Mockingjay part I were remarkably clever, to say nothing of the skewed commercials that were of course discreet teasers for the film. And of course these posters, which are counterpoint offerings, propaganda posters for the revolution this time around, are rather gorgeous.
These posters don’t state the name of the film or even the character being highlighted. Much of the unconventional promotional materials were confident enough in the intelligence of their audience to not necessarily slap “Hunger Games!!” all over the place just to make sure audiences knew what was being teased.
 Like the other pieces mentioned above, they work as stand-alone art as well as marketing,the designs, which basically hide the stars in darkness and war paint, shows a genuine affirmative confidence not just in the product  but in the that that the fans will follow them home.

100 days before The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 was released , a special poster was released to mark the occasion. 
The landscape poster features Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, with her face covered in red face paint in the shape of a Mockingjay, against a black background. It's basically the "Faces of the Revolution," character poster, with just a teeny tiny addition.

Marketing

Along with the film's first teaser poster, Lionsgate released a teaser trailer on March 18, 2015, titled The Hunger Games Franchise Logo —  featuring the transformation of the Mockingjay, along with notable quotes from the previous three movies, as well as a quote from the new film.The teaser was also played at screenings of Lionsgate's The Divergent Series: Insurgent. .


 On June 1, a brand new teaser poster for the film, featuring a vandalized statue of President Snow, was revealed on the viral site http://www.thecapitol.pn/

On June 9, the teaser trailer for the film was released, showing Katniss standing at the top of a giant statue that portrays the three-finger salute, which becomes the official hand signal of the revolution, accompanied by dramatic drum beats.

Teaser Trailer: https://youtu.be/3WFw7oMNR0I

A series of different posters, featuring the main cast with red Mockingjays painted on their faces, was released in July by Lionsgate.

Later in July 2015, Lionsgate released a motion and teaser poster and propaganda video, followed by the film's official trailer. 
Trailer : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbd_s-486vQ#t=16

In August, a poster was released stating "100 days until The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2".

 However, it was taken down shortly thereafter, as the text on the poster appeared to resemble a swear word due to layout.

However, another "bold and beautiful" poster was released depicting Katniss standing on the shoulder of a fallen President Snow statue.

In October 2015, the first official clip and the final trailer were released,followed by the film's theatrical posters. In October, fan sites revealed the first two TV spots.

"The Mockingjay App" was revealed on October 20.

In certain parts of Israel, the poster which depicted the image of Katniss (Lawrence) aiming her bow and arrow was removed over concerns her image would offend ultra-conservative Jewish audiences. 
Instead, a fiery Mockingjay in the poster's background replaced Lawrence in marketing materials in multiple locations in Israel. Lionsgate did not comment on the Israeli marketing campaign.

Technology: Cantina Creative VFX

Culver City-based design and visual effects studio Cantina Creative relied on Cinema 4D as a central digital content creation tool to generate 120 visual effects shots and 30 hologram shots ranging from holograms, animated posters, monitor shots and user interface (UI) graphics that appear throughout the Lionsgate sequel, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. 

The Cantina Creative VFX team on Mockingjay Part 2 − which also provided extensive visual effects for Mockingjay Part 1 − comprised of VFX Supervisors, VFX Producer Donna Cullen, Compositing Supervisor and Cantina Creative Co-founder, and  Executive Producer and Cantina Creative Co-founder, Sean Cushing, again worked closely with Mockingjay Part 2 Director, Francis Lawrence, and VFX Supervisor, Charles Gibson, who provided creative direction in terms of design content requirements. 

The studio’s primary focus on Mockingjay Part 1 was to generate interactive on-set monitor graphics that would stream live during shooting and that for Mockingjay Part 2 the team was given a more extensive range of post-heavy challenges that included the exclusive use of Cinema 4D to create two main hologram effects and to composite hero monitor screens that required story specific information and animations to advance key plot sequences.

“Our aesthetic reach in this film was much broader and required us to deliver a more advanced design style as we were asked to create detailed 3D hologram content for the Capitol. We were also tasked with generating the hologram for the “Nut”, a strategic military compound located in an underground mountain bunker which houses all the military equipment for the Capitol.”

“Although Lawrence and the Lionsgate team had very clear ideas in regards to the aesthetic needs of each corresponding environment in Mockingjay Part 2, the collaboration gave us plenty of liberty to experiment with style and feel,” said Grunfeld. “To meet the technical complexities of a movie of this scope demanded that we rely on the various toolsets in our Cinema 4D pipeline which provided us the creative flexibility to explore and tweak story notes throughout the project, critical in delivering a number of beautiful storytelling graphics on some very challenging design sequences. In combination with After Effects, we were able to generate external compositing tags and compositing project files throughout all of the hologram sequences that further resulted in an efficient workflow.”

The “Nut” hologram, in particular, challenged the Cantina Creative team to deliver a fully detailed, 3D photoreal and precise mountain range with only a single 2D matte painting to use as reference. 3D artist Jayse Hansen who worked with Cantina on Mockingjay Part 2 in preproduction and on location designed the initial hologram concept including the entire interior of the Nut. 

"Leveraging the landscape generator in Cinema 4D to block off shapes and the expansive sculpting tools in the software provided great creative latitude so that I could hand off a number of very precise hologram looks and models of the mountainous terrain surrounding the “Nut” and Capitol from different perspectives,” said Hansen. These concepts were then further refined by Stephen Morton who created a final workable version that helped the team work out positions for important story elements for several hologram sequences."

“In addition to the sculpting tools which proved critical in allowing artists’ to further customize and organize the project in layers and work nondestructively to churn out dozens of iterations of mountain topography, we used Cinema 4D to render a number of passes, namely a few variations of cel renders, layered procedural shaders, and a depth map. We also exported light and null data to use for additional elements in comp,” adds Morton.

“The time effector tool was also extremely useful on the mountain hologram to rotate topography designs uniformly across nearly 30 shots in the sequence and made it easy to explore rotation speeds and successfully arrive at something that both the client and we were pleased with.”

Reference Sites:
http://www.maxon.net/en/customer-stories/movies/singleview/article/maxon-cinema-4d-fires-up-cantina-creative-vfx-workflow-on-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2.html

http://www.cantinacreative.com/

Technology : Special Effects

The futuristic saga of a marginalized citizen of a totalitarian state who transforms into an influential revolutionary comes to a dramatic conclusion in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. Orchestrating the 1,200 visual effects shots for filmmaker Francis Lawrence was Charles Gibson, who had the same responsibility for The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1.

Comparing Mockingjays
The mandate from Francis Lawrence was to translate concepts from the book into his realistic version. "The two films are different in tone and execution,” observes Gibson. "Mockingjay – Part 2 was more of an action/war film with big set pieces playing within The Capitol. We had to enhance battle action and create believable environments that would hold up for extended coverage. Part 2 also required the creation of Capitol traps – "Pods” – that needed to be tentpole moments in the film.”

Collaborating with Phil Messina and Joe Willems
Key members assisting with the cinematic adaptation were Phil Messina, who was responsible for the production design for the entire franchise, and the cinematographer for the last three films, Jo Willems. "Phil and I had extensive discussions about locations vs. building digital sets; we agreed that a mix of both would be best for the film,” remarks Charles Gibson. "For the end sequence where Katniss and Gale are involved in a firefight in The Capitol, Phil built a skeleton footprint of a portion of The Capitol that was a great start for the photography; we ended up populating, modifying and extending it in all directions. With Joe Willems, it was more of a constant dialogue about what was needed on a day-to-day basis, where we needed blue screens, how we would approach a certain scene if there was to be a set extension, how we'd like a shadow to appear, and how to handle a day-for-night shot.”

The Capitol Sequence with Gale and Katniss and Snow's execution represented our biggest Green Screen efforts: containers on three sides stacked six high in order to cast the appropriate shadows. Those sequences were all handled by Double Negative, London.” 
Communication was essential in making sure that there was a successful marriage between visual effects, special effects and stunts. There were quite a few BG extensions and augmentations once we arrive in The Capitol and in District 2 – making the best of existing locations and extending them.

We generally shot additional clean plates, water splash plates and lighting references with each take. We also shot standalone water splash elements, fire and explosion elements to enhance a number of shots. Weta Digital subsequently created digital water, fire and smoke for shots in which none of those elements would suffice. Weta Digital had to develop sophisticated skin shaders and a realistic ‘wet' shader, all of which had to hold up in multiple lighting scenarios and at multiple scales.

Data collection was critical in avoiding issues with compositing, rendering, textures, lighting, shaders and camera tracking. "We had a great team of data wranglers throughout the production so there was quite a bit of information available to all of the vendors. The show used vintage anamorphic lenses from Panavision that needed to be mapped, but once that was done most of the shots were able to be tracked straightforwardly.” Gibson adds, "The show was predominantly shot on Alexa so we decided to use the Alexa native format for the show. For the few times we shot in a different format we pre-converted to an Alexa-like colour space before turning the elements over to the vendor.”

Reference Site:

http://www.3dtotal.com/interview/718-the-hunger-games-mockingjay-part-2-visual-effects-supervisor-charles-gibson-interview-by-trevor-hogg-2-vfx-lionsgate

Box office

As of February 14, 2016, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 has grossed $281.3 million in North America and $371.2 million in other territories for a worldwide total of $652.6 million. Its worldwide opening of $247.2 million is the twenty-fifth biggest of all time.
 It is the lowest grossing film in The Hunger Games film series, and the ninth highest-grossing film of 2015, Lionsgate's co-chairman Rob Friedman blamed the impact of the November 2015 Paris attacks as well as Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the film's underwhelming performance in certain European countries and in the U.S. and Canada, further blaming the later for cutting the film's North American gross by as much as $50–100 million.However, according to Deadline.com, this is untrue given how Mockingjay – Part 2 had the lowest opening among the series and was already grossing behind Mockingjay – Part 1 by $32.7 million or 12% before The Force Awakens even opened. And notably in China (where the film grossed a dismal $21.5 million), the studio blamed The Martian and Spectre for the film's under performance there after facing competition with the two films along with Taiwanese film Our Times.

Technology: Holograms & UI

All were executed by the amazing Cantina Creative which excels at creating this material for features,” notes Charles Gibson. "These shots usually need to communicate a key point for the audience in a way that doesn't bump them out of the movie. Additionally the design effect might need to indicate a technological origin [Capitol vs. Rebel, for example] or in our case show a political power shift via design of the propaganda graphics. And all of it has to be rendered convincingly as if displayed on a piece of future technology like a Capitol television or a holographic projector. It's complex work that requires excellent visual effects, storytelling and design skills.”

Visual Effects : Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman who plays Plutarch Heavensbee tragically died from a drug overdose before production had completed on the project. "Hoffman had finished the majority of his work before his death,” states Charles Gibson. "The few instances where his presence was manipulated were achieved either editorially or with simple split screens.”

Technology: Camera

Mockingjay pt 2 was shot with an Arri Alexa and an IMAX camera for some of the scenes.

The Arri Alexa (stylised as ALEXA) is a film-style digital motion picture camera system made by Arri first introduced in April 2010. The camera marks Arri's first major transition into digital cinematography after smaller previous efforts such as the Arriflex D-20 and D-21.

IMAX (an acronym for Image MAXimum) is a motion picture film format and a set of cinema projection standards created by Canadian company IMAX Corporation and developed by Graeme Ferguson, Roman Kroitor, Robert Kerr, and William C. Shaw. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems. Since 2002, some feature films have been converted (or upgraded) into IMAX format for displaying in IMAX theatres and some have also been partially shot in IMAX.

Technology

The following were involved in providing technological assistance for the production of the movie:

Weta Digital:
Weta Digital is a digital visual effects company based in Wellington, New Zealand. It was founded by Peter Jackson, Richard Taylor, and Jamie Selkirk in 1993.
To date, Weta Digital has won five Academy Awards for Best Visual Effects.

Weta Digital has developed several proprietary software packages to achieve groundbreaking visual effects.

For Mockingjay part 2, they played the parts of being the  digital compositors,effects technical directors, camera technical directors, lead camera technical directors, animation coordinators and so on.
WETA digital was responsible for lead lighting  and technical issues.


Legend3D:
Founded in 2001, Legend3D, Inc. is an innovative virtual reality, 3D visual effects and conversion company committed to advancing the 3D medium globally. Legend’s technology enables the conversion of new and historically produced 2D movies, TV shows, advertisements and other video entertainment assets into 3D.

Most of the music and composition for Mockingjay pt 2 was provided by Legend3D.


Double Negative:
Double Negative is a British full-service visual effects/computer animation company located in Fitzrovia, London. The company was set up in 1998 with a team of 30 staff and has since grown to over 1,000 staff, making it Europe's largest provider of visual effects for film.



Recruit for the visual effects work were Double Negative, Weta Digital, MPC, The Embassy Visual Effects, Lola VFX, Skulley Effects, Exceptional Minds, Magnopus and previz by Halon. "Fortunately I'd had the good luck to work with most of the facilities before and I was able to cast the companies and supervisors in the roles for which I felt they were best suited,” states Charles Gibson. "I generally try to avoid too much sharing of shots and assets, mostly for scheduling reasons, but we did share some hard models and a number of plates where it made sense.” 

Production: Color Force Production Company

Color Force is an independent American studio founded in 2007 by producer Nina Jacobson.The Animation studio and communication agency is based in Grenoble, France. 
It is notable for producing films based on novels, particularly the Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Hunger Games series. Color Force signed a three-year "first-look" production deal with DreamWorks in December 2006.
Color Force and Lionsgate collaborated for all 4 movies. 

Hunger Games : Mockingjay pt 2 is distributed and co-produced by Lionsgate.
The Hunger Games film series is the 15th highest-grossing film franchise of all time, having grossed over US$2.9 billion worldwide.

Financing

The whole Hunger Games trilogy has been distributed and funded by an independent studio " Lions Gate Entertainment" which is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. that is a conglomerate owning several companies spanning over different ares of the media such as films, home entertainment, music and publishing and television.

Jacobson picked up the movie rights to the Suzanne Collins trilogy in 2009 for $200,000 and sold them to Lionsgate for $1.25 million. 

The film's production began on September 16, 2013, in Boston, Atlanta, and Los Angeles. . The film carried a production budget of $160 million with a further $55 million spent on promotion and advertisements, and $13.9 million in television advertisements.


The movie carried some commercially sound elements such as the principal cast of  Jennifer Lawrence as Katniss, Josh Hutcherson as Peeta, Liam Hemsworth as Gale, Woody Harrelson as Haymitch, Donald Sutherland as President Snow, Elizabeth Banks as Effie etc.
As this film was the last movie of The Hunger Games trilogy, the 'Must-See' element was already present as everyone wanted to find out how it does justice to the cliffhanger left in the previous movie.
The previous movies were very successful as they won many awards over the course of the previous 3 movies such as:

BAFTA Awards 2012
Won

BAFTA Children's Award Best Feature Film


Alliance of Women Film Journalists 2013
Won
Kick Ass Award for Best Female Action Star

Jennifer Lawrence 


North Carolina Film Critics Association 2013
Won
Tar Heel Award

Comparative analysis between the British rating system and American rating system

A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content.
 A particular issued rating can be called a certification, classification, certificate or rating. Ratings typically carry age recommendations in an advisory or restrictive capacity, and are often given in lieu of censorship. In some jurisdictions the legal obligation of administering the rating may be imposed on movie theaters.

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) classifies films to be publicly exhibited in the United Kingdom, although statutory powers remain with local councils which can overrule any of the BBFC's decisions. If the BBFC refuses a classification this effectively amounts to a ban (although local councils retain the legal right to overturn it in the case of cinema exhibition). The BBFC's regulatory powers do not extend to the internet, so a film they have banned on physical media can still be made available via streaming media/video on demand.
The current BBFC system is:
Uc – Especially suitable for pre-school children. 
U (Universal) –  Suitable for all. A U-rated film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over.
PG (Parental Guidance) –  General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children.
12A –  Cinema release suitable for 12 years and over. 
12 – Video release suitable for 12 years and over.
15 –  Suitable only for 15 years and older. No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15-rated film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15-rated video.
18 –  Suitable only for adults.

R18 (Restricted 18) –  Adult works for licensed premises only. 


In the United States of America, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), through the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), issues ratings for movies. The system was established in 1968 and is voluntary; an unrated film is often informally denoted by "NR" in newspapers and so forth.

G (General Audiences) – All Ages Admitted.
PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) – Some Material May Not Be Suitable For Children.
PG-13 (Parents Strongly Cautioned) – Some Material May Be Inappropriate For Children Under 13.
R (Restricted) – Under 17 Requires Accompanying Parent Or Adult Guardian.

NC-17 (Adults Only) – No One 17 and Under Admitted.

Financing

• Links between the financier, producer and distributor. 

• Where is the funding for the movie coming from? 

• Government Grants? 

• Pre-Sales Agreements?

• Commercially sound elements ( mainstream genres, big actor names, old successful movies and awards won) . 

• BFI classification and why? 

Lions Gate : The Hunger Games

Lionsgate Entertainment acquired worldwide distribution rights to a film adaptation of The Hunger Games, which is produced by Nina Jacobson's Color Force production company.Collins adapted the novel for film herself, along with Gary Ross.

The film began production in spring 2011 and ended summer 2011.
 It was released March 23, 2012, with a PG-13 rating. 
 Catching Fire was released on November 22, 2013, with the main cast signed on to return but director Gary Ross did not return. 

In April 2012, the director's position was offered to Francis Lawrence. Lawrence also directed Mockingjay, parts 1 and 2.

LionsGate Brand Ideology

Lions Gate Entertainment's first big success was American Psycho, and the company has since built a reputation for backing films that major studios find too controversial (Fahrenheit 9/11, Requiem for a Dream, Crash, etc.)
They have done a fair amount of movies in the genres of Horror such as Texas Chainsaw, Asylum, Silent Hill etc as well as Action Thrillers such as From Paris with Love, The Expendables and The Mechanic.
They tend to make movies that are part of a series such as SAW. The Twilight Saga and The Hunger Games itself.
In recent years they have been producing and distributing films that appeal to a younger audience i.e: teenagers and young adults. These films include Twilight, Hunger Games and Divergent. 
Lionsgate is committed to being an innovator – in pioneering new business models, and in creating windowing strategies to adapt to audience needs and changing viewing habits.

Lions Gate Entertainment : Distribution

The distribution of selected recent non-in-house films for pay-per-view and on-demand are under the supervision of NBCUniversal Television Distribution under Universal Pictures (Universal formerly held home video and television rights to many of the early Lionsgate films), while all others (particularly the in-house films) are distributed for both cable and broadcast television through Lionsgate's syndicated division.