Unit 26 Old Films for New.

Throughout time, media and technology has evolved within the film sector, and productions are
constantly eing remade in order to e!periment with new technology. "ema#es of older traditional
films are made to show a more advanced version of the original production, although is only
remade depending on how many copies and how popular the production was when it was first
released. "ema#es are not always ased around technology ut sometimes can e ased on the
different cultures, it can sometimes e a translation for others around the world, rema#es such as$
%u&on 'The (rudge), "ingu 'The "ing), and ".*.+ ',uarantine) are all well-#nown rema#es for
different cultures. There are also rema#es ased on the availale technology that has een created,
productions such as these have een remade for technology purposes$ +harlie and the +hocolate
Factory '.illy .on#a and the +hocolate Factory), / Nightmare On *lm 0treet and +arrie are all
productions that have een remade for technology purposes and were also the most popular films
throughout their decade.
The two films that 1 am going to e comparing in terms of a contemporary rema#e and the
original version is "ingu eing the %apanese original of the /merican rema#e of The "ing. This
production is within the horror genre and 1 have decided that throughout analysing this production
to focus on the particular rema#e purpose. The purpose eing that it has een remade for translation,
so that different audiences can relate to the film and listen rather that have to watch sutitles and try
and #eep focus on the situation within the production. The asis of the story is once a person has
watched this mysterious video tape that has disturing images on it, the person then has 2 days until
they die, oserving horrors throughout the wee# they have. / woman and her son challenges this y
trying to find where the tape was originated from and who the person is within the tape, eventually
the lady saves her and her son y copying the tape and showing other people, although they elieve
the way to survive is through finding the young girls ody that created the video #iller tape.
"ingu, originally pulished as a novel written y 3o4i 0u5u#i in 6776, was adapted into a
film in 6778 originally made as a %apanese film. The novel was partly insprired y 9anchou
0arayashi#i&s ghost story or the story of :ady O#i#u. There is a lot of versions of O#i#u&s story
although they all involve her eing thrown down a well. The film adaptation, directed y ;ideo
Na#ata, also wrote the screen play for the production. The film the closest adaptation to the oo#
that was written, including the ways that the scene going into the <.ell= in the production happens
rather than in the /merican version of the film. This film wasn&t #eeping you on the edge of your
seats in terms of horror, ut more the story ehind the film. /lthough, this is due to the fact that at
this time the %apanese government had to pass through and authorise the films efore it was put
through distriution, and therefore most things had to e #ept as mild. +ultural translation is #ey for
the director to translate foreign fear.
The "ing was then rought out in 2>>2, which was an /merican adaptation of the film for
others across the world. ?irected y (ore @erins#i, the film was made after the international
success of the original %apanese version. %apan hit goldmine with the production, so other countries
wanted to continue with profit and success. The production was set in /merica where it would have
een harder to adapt to ecause the %apanese version was closely adapted to the oo# which was
traditional in the way that %apanese people live including setting. This version of The "ing is more
in depth in terms of the story that it creates and the thriller in trying to find clues to find the younger
girls ody and aout her family, and more things that are in this film relate to the <#iller= video
tape. The ending of defeating the curse y allowing others to watch it isn&t introduced directly in the
ending, although when the main female character stares into the copy that is made, you can ma#e
your own 4udgement aout what she is thin#ing which leads to the ending of continuously ma#ing
more copies of the video tape. Typically the reason for the differences in oth of these films are to
get a etter understanding of culture. 1t is a way of celerating %apanese culture, ut producing the
%apanese film from the %apanese originally written oo#. Themes that are included in oth of these
films are$ youth culture, a father&s responsiility and a mother&s love.
Financial determinants are typical reasons for rema#es eing made, typically an original low
udget production is made into a new more recent film which is more effective as the udget of it is
a lot higher than the original movie. 1n comparison with the original film, it was typical for the
/merican version to have a higher udget, this is due to the asis of the success that came out of the
international version of the film. This allowed a etter understanding of the /merican culture and
props, +(1 that was used and the scary images that was used to portray the effect that this video
tape had at the end of the production. 1t may have een that settings had a higher udget in the
%apanese version, although this is to #eep the culture and locations strictly culture for the audience
to relate to. 1t would have een e!tremely rare to see a %apanese film without the asics of a
%apanese home and locations. The estimated production cost for The "ing '2>>2) is ABC million and
in 2>>2 the production had e!ceeded more than 627 million in U0 ?ollars in o! office sales, for
4ust that year it had more than douled the amount it cost to create the production. "ingu had a
udget of 6.2 million and had later earned A6C.C million, which is more than 62 times its profit,
although this was a low udget film compared to the rema#e of the film, it shows that "ingu had
made the most profit out of the film.
Technologies of production plays a ig part within the purpose of rema#es, especially
focusing around the genres 0ci-Fi and ;orror. These type of films otain masses amount of special
effects in order for the production to not e perceived as surreal. Dore and more rema#es for these
types of genres are eing made, especially with modern technology evolving, the significance of the
films to the audience is that is what it was supposed to loo# li#e to egin with, the rema#es
challenge the original in all aspects of the production. 9etween the times in which "ingu and The
"ing were made, there wasn&t a massive amount of change in technology that was availale, it was
all upon the asis of udget that allowed the most type of technology. /s shown, The "ing '2>>2)
had a larger udget so therefore more advanced technology was used for it, and it really does show
in comparison with some of the images that "ingu '6778) had created for the purpose of horror.
This demonstrates that the more money you spend on technology for throughout horror productions,
the less surreal it loo#s which therefore has a greater impact on the audience.
?istriution and e!hiition is another reason for rema#es, this is where some of the original
productions missed out on a few of the <Three Stooges, the process in which productions are
produced, distriuted and e!hiited. The producing side is where production is made and is
collected into a final production, then is followed y a middleman attempting to get the movie into
the theatreEcinema for audiences and then is followed y e!hiition where it is shown in theatres
and cinemas for the audiences. /lthough, some original movies s#ipped one of those processes and
in result was not as popular as what it should have een, the ma4ority of the productions that were
produced often missed out the e!hiition side of the process, usually ecause some companies
oo#ed their production in to e seen months ahead #nowing when they&re deadline would e in
order for a larger audience. 1n cases of The "ing and "ingu, this was not a prolem, although this
was due to the fact that "ingu was already a well-#nown story that was written in %apan. .hen it
was released as film in theatres audiences were interested in the interpretation that was created from
the oo#, and also ecause they wanted to see the adaptation of the :ady O#i#u&s story. 1t was
released into theatres on the F6
st
%anuary 6778, which isn&t a pee# time to release a loc#uster
although, it did really interest the audience and therefore sold. The "ing was e!hiited also, and
ecause this was the first international rema#e in the world, it sold out Guic#ly in theatres. The film
was first released into the theatres in U0/ on 68
th
Octoer 2>>2, which is a pee# time and is
common of horror films ecause it is e!tremely close to the elieved cursed night of ;alloween,
also it was also a holiday so more audiences would go and watch the production in theatre.
Trends including genres, stars, social and political trends was a contriutor of rema#es to e
made, these were almost li#e ait for audiences to watch originals of films even if the production
wasn&t anything special, and a lot of audiences challenged rema#es as the original icons were not in
them, although more modernly, rema#es are now containing the <originals= for audiences to
initially relive the e!perience li#e the original although with more advancements. /lthough in
"ingu, the actors and actresses that were used were all fairly #nown y the audience. The main
female protagonist Nana#o Datsushima is very popular in %apan and was #nown efore the film
was made so therefore was a selling point for the production. The /merican rema#es main female
protagonist Naomi .atts, was also e!tremely popular and therefore people that had previously
watched her films and en4oyed them were most li#ely to go and watch the ring. ?uring the
millennium, horror films were creeping up more and more freGuently ecause they seemed to e
ma#ing money a lot more than what other genres were ma#ing during the millennium. Therefore,
during this time the horror genre was a popular one, especially for the youth culture.
0ynergies etween films are when two films oth original and rema#e, promote each other
y advertising each otherHs productions in order to gain audiences, audiences from the original
technically almost decline rema#es ecause when watching the originals that was a good film for
them ac# in their day, and they almost feel li#e watching the rema#e shatters memories of the
original film and destroys the e!perience that they had with watching it. 1n terms of "ingu and The
"ing, The "ing '2>>2) advertised more of "ingu than what the production of "ingu did for the
/merican rema#e. /lthough, this is due to the fact that "ingu had already een e!hiited and it
wouldn&t have een relatale or relevant for the %apanese to watch The "ing and therefore was no
need for "ingu to promote the rema#e. /lthough, over in /merica ecause it was the first time that
there was an /merican adaptation of a well-#nown %apanese film, it was important to use synergy
when promoting the rema#e, audience would e more li#ely to respond if the recognise something
that is similar to them, and that is how The "ing gained their audiences.
To conclude, 1 have e!plained aout how countries around the world rema#e films for
cultural reasons and how different determinants effect the overall productions when they are remade
compared to the original. 1 demonstrate how throughout cultural productions, it is important to use
such features in order to represent films in the eyes of the individual culture. 1t also shows how
rema#ing an international production can e popular and how profitale it can ecome, and after the
rema#e of "ingu into the /merican version of The "ing, we see how popular they can ecome and
how eneficial it is for production companies.