What we learned from the 'Star Wars' commentary
In this issue: Star Wars insights, How John Williams changed superhero movies, Screenwriting competitions worth the fee, Nickelodeon updates logo
Movies and TV
31 Things We Learned from the Star Wars Commentary
By Kevin Carr, Film School Rejects
It’s hard not to think about Star Wars with all the news and potential spoilers about Episode VII dropping lately. Still, for the purist, the original will remain the greatest of the series, even if there is no high-quality version of the theatrical releases available. With so much Star Wars lately, it only seems appropriate to go back to the beginning and revisit Star Wars before it was ever known as A New Hope.
For the DVD release in 2007, a commentary track was added to the film, which has been preserved through the subsequent Blu-ray releases. Recorded separately and cobbled together for relevant points of the film, the commentary includes George Lucas, Carrie Fisher, Ben Burtt, and Dennis Muren. While this particular commentary does not offer a modern perspective of the legacy of the prequels or the upcoming films and spin-offs, it does give a look back at the making of a classic.
How John Williams Changed Superhero Movies
By Charlie Brigden, Film School Rejects
Five minutes. That’s all it took. Five minutes and 40 years later, we’re still humming John Williams‘ theme from Superman: The Movie, still thrilling to Christopher Reeve swooping out of the night sky to catch Margot Kidder, still begging for the next Superman movie to bring the music back. The power of association and identification is something many covet, yet it seems so difficult to attain today, especially when it comes to the modern myth of superheroes, with their liberal use of high adventure and fantasy.
Of course, Superman as a character is regarded as the whole catalyst for the medium of comics as we know it. So it’s unsurprising that before Williams came numerous screen and television adaptations of the Man of Steel, with each one musically different enough. Yet they all still remained within the same tone, partially because the majority of film composers were reading from the same hymn sheet, that of Vienna in the 19th century.
Filmmaking
15 Submission-Worthy Screenwriting Competitions
By Greg Gilman, MovieMaker
Screenwriting is among the most difficult literary endeavors, because a screenplay isn’t published, it’s produced—and before it can ever be produced, it must first be discovered.
While there are many routes a writer may take to land on the radar of agents, managers, producers and directors, screenwriting competitions are among the most accessible, especially to those writers living outside the Hollywood bubble. But you need to carefully choose the few that are worthy of your time, money and effort.
Marketing & Advertising
Nickelodeon Refreshes Brand After 14 Years
By Mollie Cahillane, AdWeek
For the first time in 14 years, Nickelodeon has a new look.
The network will spend the rest of 2023 rolling out a new brand identity and refreshed on-air look that’s designed to invoke nostalgia and return to its history.
“It was time for us to really look at the brand, and look at our audience, and talk with our audience and revisit all the pieces of Nickelodeon,” Sabrina Caluori, evp of global kids and family marketing at Nickelodeon and Paramount, told Adweek.
The “Portal to Fun” campaign launched today with the first of five spots. “Quartet” shows a bored kid at a family dinner, who then notices the orange splat above them on the ceiling. After sticking their head through the splat, the kid finds a barbershop quartet performing.