The Idea.• The idea of the film came from the

writer and director Quentin Tarantino himself. He spoke with ‘The Daily Telegraph’ in 2007 about developing a type of ‘spaghetti western’ set in America just before the Civil War. He wanted the film to deal with ‘America’s horrible past’ Including the theme of slavery.

• Tarantino’s idea was original but was inspired by Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 spaghetti western ‘Django’, which Tarantino also used to inspire his own film title.

• Tarantino wrote the script from the film.

Tarantino at the premiere.

‘Django’ Tarantino’s inspiration

Financing and production/distribution

companies• Django Unchained main financers were

‘Weinstein Company’ and ‘Columbia Pictures’. These companies were also the production and distribution companies. Both of these companies are extremely well known.

• ‘Weinstein’ distributed the film in the USA. This company is very well known and is responsible for many films receiving prestigious awards such as the Oscars. This shows that the film was destined for success as it had such a big company behind it. ‘Colombia’ distributed the film internationally. ‘Columbia’ is also a very well known and popular company.

Producer and Director.• There were many people on the

producing team including Bob and Harvey Weinstein (Both the heads of Weinstein Company.) The main producer however, was Reginald Hudlin.

• The Director is Quentin Tarantino, who is also the writer.

• He became involved because he was the whole creator and writer of the film.

Production and shooting

• Some difficulties of the film were trying to get the shots for real (meaning no CGI). Tarantino wanted to make the film to look as real as possible and said “If I can shoot the real thing, I will”. Tarantino made his actors endure -22C weathering so that their icy breath could be captured on camera. He also will never use CGI unless an actor’s life is in danger when they film.

• They used 90 frames per second when shooting, (very slow motion) and when people get shot in the film he filmed at 22 frames per second (sped up slightly).

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Filming Locations

•Django Unchanged was filmed in many different locations including actual locations and also studios. Here is a list of the locations that the film was filmed in:•- Second Line Stages (Studio), in New Orleans, Louisiana •- Melody Ranches (Studio), California•- Jackson Hole (Location), Wyoming•- Evergreen Plantation (Location), Louisiana•- Ahmanson Ranch (Location), Los Angeles•- Santa Clarita (Location), California•- Alabama Hills, Lone Pine,(Location), California•- Independence (Location), California•- New Orleans (Location), Louisiana

•The film was only filmed in two studios from what I can find, the majority of the film was filmed in locations around the USA. From my research I can see that they are deserted mountainous locations, which fits in with the western setting of the film. Whether the film was actually filmed on the location in the film, I

can't seem to find out whether it is or not.

CastingThere were a number of

different actors considered for the role of Django including Michael K. Williams and Will Smith, however Jamie Foxx was cast as the character.

Other people such as Jonah Hill, Sacha Baron Cohen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were offered different roles but were all unable to do the roles due to other comittments. This made some roles have to be written out due to noone able to play it.

BudgetThe Budget of the film was

around $100,000,000. However, a quote from Anthony LaPagila who had to leave the production stated that "The production was just out of control, over-budget, it was everywhere...”.

ScriptTarantino wrote the script in

full, “for the page, not for the screen” with intentions to cut a scenes out when it was time to film and even after filming. As Tarantino wrote the script himself, obviously he 'stayed on board' for the whole script and wasn't replaced. During my research I couldn't find about about any major changes to the script however, I'm certain it was refined many times before it was complete.

Production crew and jobs

List of Producers:William Paul Clark – associate producer Reginald Hudlin – Producer Shannon McIntosh – executive producer Pilar Savone – Producer Michael Shamberg – executive producer Stacey Sher – Producer James W. Skotchdopole – executive producer Bob Weinstein – executive producer Harvey Weinstein – executive producer

Cinematographer: Robert Richardson

Casting Director: Victoria Thomas

Bob and Harvey Weinstein

Film releaseThe film’s initial release was on Christmas Day, which I can imagine for two reasons. Firstly, because it is a memorable date. People will remember ‘that film that was released on Christmas day’ and secondly, during the Christmas period audiences will have more time and money to go to the cinema and see the film.

The UK release was on January 18th which was actually almost a month after the initial release. This may be to create ‘buzz’ and suspense as people will have heard about it in America and therefore want to watch it as soon as it comes out.

The film was released on 3010 screens in the USA.

MarketingThe first teaser poster was inspired by an artist called Frederico Mencosu. In August 2012 Tarantino bought the concept of the artwork for use in their poster.

Also, dolls were made of the characters as merchandise, however they have been discontinued as claims that they are racist depictions have been made.

Premiere The Django Unchained premiere took place in Leicester Square, London on January 10th 2013. All the main stars appeared, such as Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson and Kerry Washington. Obviously Quentin Tarantino was there too.

There was supposed to be a premiere in the USA however it was cancelled out of respect due to the Connecticut shootings.

AdvertisingThis is the trailer that appeared in cinemas and televisions prior and post to it’s release. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUdM9vrCbow&safe=active

There were a number of posters released including the character posters on the right. These would have been seen on billboards, on buses and in newspapers and magazines. There are many more general film posters that would also have been used.

BBFC

The BBFC gave the film an 18/R due to it’s bloody violence content, nudity and strong language.

Audience ResponseDjango Unchained has received good responses from critics and audiences alike. The film has received 8.7 stars out of 10 on IMDb. Total Film have also rated it 4/5 stars. It has also won two showdowns on Boxofficemojo against ‘Les Miserable’ and ‘Inglourious Basterds’

Media debate

The film has hit the headlines for a few reasons, mainly about their ‘dolls’ being racist. The Independent states that the toys “quite literally play with slavery”. It also states “A toy is viewed as something to give a child who is developing their understanding of the world. I suspect the toys, and their associations with children, became a controversy that the film studio just really didn't want to get into.”

Other headlines have been the fact that different actors have left the production of the film and also it’s recent nominations for awards.

TakingsThe film took $30,688,000 on the opening weekend and has so far grossed $138,361,735, which is after a month of being out in the cinema. It’s budget was $100,000,000, so Tarantino has already made a healthy profit after only a month of being out. I think that over a longer period of time it will take much more.