PRODUCT - F.

GARY GRAY
• F. Gary Gray directed the film ‘Straight Outta Compton’ which was released in 2015.
• He was born in 1969 and is an American film director, producer, music film director and actor.
• He has directed many other films e.g. ‘Set It Off’, ‘Friday’, ‘The Italian Job’ and ‘The Negotiator’. He also
directed the eighth ‘Fast and Furious’ film.
• ‘Set It Off’ trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qb5jq3doQa8
• ‘Friday’ trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nH1Ulp4PBtA
• ‘The Negotiator’ trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ1pS1W0XXg
• ‘The Italian Job’ trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eyw-Qiwpj0
• ‘The Fate of the Furious’ trailer- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XBmsl7wbIQ
• He has also directed many music videos e.g. ‘It Was a Good Day’ by Ice Cube and ‘Keep Their Heads Ringin’
by Dr. Dre. Both of which are award winning music videos.
• ‘It Was a Good Day’- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4UqMyldS7Q
• ‘Keep Their Heads Ringin’- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjIMeVKgd84
 PRODUCT - NWA
• NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) is an American hip-hop group from Los Angeles,
California.
• The group consisted of: MC Ren, Ice Cube, Eazy-E, DJ Yella and Dr. Dre. The
‘Arabian Prince’ was also apart of the group but left shortly before the release of
the film. MC Ren joined the group later than the others.
• The group experienced plenty of controversy due to their lyrics which included
the glorification of drugs and crime and disrespecting women.
• Some examples of their songs include: ‘Express yourself’, ‘Gangsta, gangsta’ and
‘100 miles and runnin’.
 PRODUCT -ACCEPTENCE?
• At the start of their career the group experienced a lot of controversy due to their lyrics. The songs
include a lot of lyrics about drugs, crimes and disrespecting women.
• The group also received a letter from the FBI advising the rappers that ‘advocating violence and assault
is wrong and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action’. The letter only
spread more awareness about the group.
• The group was banned from playing on mainstream radio stations in America however still sold over 10
million units in the USA.
• The group also focused on political music due to their experiences with racism and excessive policing.
They were known for their deep hatred towards the police which is shown throughout their songs.
• However the film itself received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.
• The movie’s soundtrack also reached number 1 in multiple charts.
• Jerry Heller filed a lawsuit against the movie for the way he had been portrayed and depicted, claiming
that parts of the film had been taken from his autobiography without permission.
• During the casting for the film there was a controversy when the movie asked for African-American
girls for the film using a A-D ranking scale. The A girls were more ‘classy’ and wanted girls of any colour
the B-D girls were explicitly linked to skin tone. The casting asked for the less attractive girls to have a
darker skin tone. After the post went viral the casting director announced it as a ‘innocent mistake’.
 HISTORICAL
• The film is set in mid-1980s California and reflects events from that
time period.
• The film portrays the racial tension in America at that time.
• It is also possible that the LA riots in 1992 may have impacted the
creation of the film.
• The riots took place in April and May of 1992 where there was a
series of lootings, riots, arsons, and civil disturbances.
• During the riots a video was released of Rodney King being beaten
and arrested which caused further uprising and commotion.
 CULTURAL
• As the group’s music was heavily influenced by their experiences with
racism the group were significant in terms of social change and free
speech. They produced songs which protested against the way they were
treated. As they were highly successful it showed their audience that you
shouldn’t stop where you come from or how you look stop you from being
successful and standing up for what you believe in.
• However, many were angry about their disrespectful portrayal of women in
their songs.
• The movie conveys what their life was like experiencing racism and the
meaning behind their songs, showing the audience why they wrote about
the things they did.
• A song that clearly portrays their anger is the song ‘F*** the Police’.
 ECONOMIC CONTEXT
• The film was co-produced by two members of NWA itself. Ice Cube
and Dr. Dre had a large say in the movie and how it came across,
implying that the film is very accurate to their experience and what
they went through.
• The film made over $200 million against their $50 million budget, the
film portrays that people who aren’t famous can still become
successful even when there are reasons people would believe they
wouldn’t.
Dr. Dre

Ice Cube
 MEDIA
• The film was produced by Legendary Pictures who are in partnership with Universal
which is a Comcast company.
• These companies are known for producing popular films that reach a high standard,
when the audience learn that the movie is produced by them they instantly recognise
the brand and other popular films they have done, implying to the audience that this film
would be enjoyable/good as well.
• For both companies the movie ‘Straight Outta Compton’ is atypical for their usual genre.
For example Legendary pictures usually focuses on sci-fi and fantasy films whilst
Universal focus on a very wide range of films. As the film is produced by both companies
the reputation of the film was not resting on one of them individually.
• https://www.legendary.com/
• https://www.universalpictures.com/
 AUD NCE
• Fans of NWA- This includes fans from when the group was first created and
their music. Even if the film gained a bad reputation we can assume this
group would still watch it as they enjoy the group’s music.
• Fans of rap/gangster rap- Predominantly American audience or anyone
who can relate their experiences to the group and what they went through.
• Fans of biopic films- People who enjoy older and open minded films who
don’t necessarily have a particular interest in NWA.
• Fans of the film studios/producers- Once Universal and Legendary pictures
released that they would be co-producing the films anyone who usually
enjoys their content would be likely to go watch the film. Having their
names behind the movie would have increased the audience as they are
well known companies.
 REGULATORY
• The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) rated the film a 18 however
local councils can override the BBFC and wanted it to be rated a 15.
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
• The theatrical release gained a 15 certificate.
• The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) rated the film a ‘R’ which
stands for ‘restricted’. This means that under 17s cannot attend without a
parent. https://www.mpaa.org/
• Age ratings are important to producers as they decide the initial size of the
audience, for example a 15 rated movie opens up a much wider audience
then a 18 film.
• The rating for the film varied widely across countries for example it was
banned in Malaysia but was rated an 11 in Sweden.
 PRODUCTION, & CIRCULATION
• The second global trailer for the film was released before the screening of Universal’s
Furious 7 which turned out to be the sixth-highest grossing opening of all time. This offered
great publicity for ‘Straight Outta Compton’ and spread the word about the movie. More
information: http://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/04/07/why-universal-
teased-straight-outta-compton-with-furious-7-instead-of-jurassic-world/#54f76a1c2a52
• The first trailer was originally rated ‘red band’ card which reflects the restricted nature of
the film, it was released February 8th when the movie was released in August.
• On the 7th August beats by Dre released an app that allowed people to create their own
‘Straight Outta…’ on the website http://www.straightouttasomewhere.com/. People were
then able to use the ‘Straight Outta’ logo and a location of their choice and share it on social
media. There was over 6 million downloads of the images before the film’s opening day. This
once again, spread the awareness of the film and it’s release.
• ‘Straight Outta Compton’ was released in Britain on the 28th August 2015 and was released
in the USA on the 11th August 2015.
• The film made over $200 million and had a $50 million budget, $28 million for production.
• The film also had award nominations which contributed to it’s success. For example the
Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. For more awards:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1398426/awards
 THEORETICAL
• David Hesmondhalgh- Cultural Identities
• The film’s soundtrack album which featured music by NWA debuted at no.
1 on the Rap Albums chart and reached no. 1 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop
Albums chart.
• The film also inspired Dr. Dre’s album ‘Compton’ which debuted at no. 2 on
the US Billboard 200 album chart a week prior to the film's release.
• The success of these albums spread more awareness of the film on other
platforms.
• Two of the film’s producers were past members of NWA (Ice Cube and Dr.
Dre). As they were already successful on their own the film’s success wasn’t
as important to theirs. By being producers they also brought their audience
to the film as well as people who enjoy biopic films. Their music would
have also been familiar with the audience.