Movies The Era of Fan Influenced Films Has Arrived

[skillzdadirecta]

This is a bad precedent in my opinion

 

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Movies have always been a collaborative medium. Writers, directors, actors, set designers, and hundreds, sometimes thousands more (you’ve seen credits) come together to create a visual work of art meant to entertain, inspire and connect us as humans. Making a film is a monumental effort, which sometimes turns into something magical, and at other times fails to create anything cohesive. But we’re beginning to see the signs of a new ingredient added to the moviemaking soup that has started to sour the taste, regardless of the creators’ intent: fan feedback.

 

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If the future is to be determined by the fans, the film industry will only make more sequels, reboots, and unoriginal, play-it-safe movies. 2019’s best films came from writers and directors who were able to tell their stories uninhibited by the online echo chamber. Bong Joon Ho’s Parasite, Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart, or Rian Johnson’s Knives Out were some of last year’s strongest films, all of which were original screenplays with incredible visions from their directors. And the biggest blockbusters (such as the Marvel movies) are at their best when they can have that same freedom.

Studio execs need to realize that Twitter and Reddit are where outrage is easy, where people conjure up the worst adjectives they can think of to get as many likes and retweets as possible, and where measured critique is rare. The biggest blockbusters would often be better movies if the studios behind them would trust the artists they’ve hired to make the best movie possible, and stick to their storytelling guns.

 

Be forewarned... this is an IGN article so if you're too good for IGN, ignore the post and do not click the link.

[Commissar SFLUFAN]

This is a TERRIBLE precedent on every level possible!

[Mercury33]

Am I the only one that thought Book Smart was average as hell? And it shouldn’t really be heralded as a beacon of originality since it’s basically “what if Superbad was about girls” 

[skillzdadirecta]

10 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Am I the only one that thought Book Smart was average as hell? And it shouldn’t really be heralded as a beacon of originality since it’s basically “what if Superbad was about girls” 

I haven't seen Book Smart or the other one... Good Guys I think its called?

 

12 minutes ago, SFLUFAN said:

This is a TERRIBLE precedent on every level possible!

 

Yeah it's spreading big time... currently Tyler Perry's latest Netflix movie is getting SHREDDED on black twitter. I mean the movie is bad, but I think the best things that filmmakers can do is essentially make their films in a vacuum because trying to please fans is a losing proposition. It's like hitting a moving target that you can barely see. I don't think this will become a HUGE problem in the industry and its also not completely without precedent... Studios do test screenings and focus groups all of the time and rework films based on that feedback fairly regularly. But if the internet mob starts to get and oversized voice regarding creative filmmaking decisions it will just further erode what makes cinema special in the first place.

 

 

 

[johnny]

23 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Am I the only one that thought Book Smart was average as hell? And it shouldn’t really be heralded as a beacon of originality since it’s basically “what if Superbad was about girls” 

The reason everybody just calls it Superbad is because we never get great comedies like this anymore. It has the same basic plot of graduating seniors partying before graduation but it’s not really the same movie. A movie doesn’t have to have a completely new premise for it to be considered original and fresh 

 

[SimpleG]

This issue falls back on the movie industry as well. By using social media to generate hype or sales prediction for films they opened the door for criticism,  for every fanboy screaming out praise there is a mouth breather shitting on it and in some instances those 2 are one in the same. The solution for this is simple,the internet mob only has the power they are given,ignore them and the power disappears. If the film industry keeps correcting course to appease the mob thats its own failures and this will continue.

[Mercury33]

9 hours ago, johnny said:

The reason everybody just calls it Superbad is because we never get great comedies like this anymore. It has the same basic plot of graduating seniors partying before graduation but it’s not really the same movie. A movie doesn’t have to have a completely new premise for it to be considered original and fresh 

 

Cool, except they have WAY more in common with each other besides “teens partying before graduation” Can’t Hardly Wait is about the same thing and that’s obviously nothing like these two movies. Hell Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldsteins play almost the exact same character, which is kinda ironic. All you have to do is google both movies together and dozens of articles about their similarities pop up.  

[johnny]

34 minutes ago, Mercury33 said:

Cool, except they have WAY more in common with each other besides “teens partying before graduation” Can’t Hardly Wait is about the same thing and that’s obviously nothing like these two movies. Hell Jonah Hill and Beanie Feldsteins play almost the exact same character, which is kinda ironic. All you have to do is google both movies together and dozens of articles about their similarities pop up.  

All Jonah hill wants to do in that movie is have sex.
 

if all you look at is plot structure I totally see how you think it’s pretty much the same movie. But fortunately there is much more to Booksmart than that. Comparing it directly to a movie about horny teenage boys is pretty lame. 
 

it’s also sad that a female-led movie is being constantly compared to a male-led movie. 

[IdeaOfEvil]

Blanket statements are never good. Fan influences on films can be as positive as they are negative. Sonic's original character model got changed because it looked like crap - now he looks good. Fans want the original untouched Star Wars trilogy released, but I guess since that would be considered an influence it's not a good idea and should be ignored?

 

And then on the other side of the coin, what makes studio decisions so great? Studios constantly edit the hell out of movies so it can reach a kid friendly audience, and movies are released in rocky formats because of odd cuts that make no sense to the adult plot was based on (Friday the 13th, Dirty Work, more recently Venom, etc)... Even something as niche as the movie Krull had it's lead actress' voice dubbed over because the one producer didn't like her British accent in post, and we got an over dubbing for her that sounded way off.

 

There is no right or wrong way for a movie to be made. Things either work out or they don't, and there's never a single answer as to why, imo

[Xbob42]

This... doesn't ring true to me.

Sure, if you go only by "fans" I guess. But if you have fans, then you're clearly making a sequel. Unless they mean fans on a broader level? Fans of a studio? Fans of movies in general?

Anyway, how is this any different from critics? Aren't critics "fans" in the same sense? They've been influencing movies for years. Focus groups have been influencing movies for years. And executives. I can't see "fans" doing any worse than these other groups.

But it won't be fans clamoring for unoriginal trash, it'll be people chasing profits. Any studio accepting fan input probably wasn't going to create an indie gem in the first place. They're just losing the focus group who want something bland for everyone and focusing on the people who actually want their products. Oh nooooo! And the directors and studios that still want to put out original work will continue to do so.

 

The masses take a long time to accept original or thought-provoking work, at least on average. This fact has been influencing the industry for decades. All this changes is that maybe some studios will focus in on their niche rather than trying to make ultra-broad garbage.

[Mercury33]

7 hours ago, johnny said:

All Jonah hill wants to do in that movie is have sex.
 

if all you look at is plot structure I totally see how you think it’s pretty much the same movie. But fortunately there is much more to Booksmart than that. Comparing it directly to a movie about horny teenage boys is pretty lame. 
 

it’s also sad that a female-led movie is being constantly compared to a male-led movie. 

Did you see either movie? And why is it sad that a female led movie is being compared to a male led movie? Their plots and character beats are very similar. It has nothing to do with the gender of the characters playing them. If Book Smart was about 2 guys it would still be compared to Super Bad. 

[johnny]

2 hours ago, Mercury33 said:

Did you see either movie? And why is it sad that a female led movie is being compared to a male led movie? Their plots and character beats are very similar. It has nothing to do with the gender of the characters playing them. If Book Smart was about 2 guys it would still be compared to Super Bad. 

I love both movies. I’m sorry you can’t look past the surface of a film. 

[Mercury33]

1 hour ago, johnny said:

I love both movies. I’m sorry you can’t look past the surface of a film. 

lol did you write both of them? You’re getting really sensitive. You honestly think, that the ONLY similarities are that they’re about friends partying after graduation before college? That’s it. No similarities between characters, no similar motivations and story beats? So those dozens and dozens of articles that were written, they all can’t see past the “surface of the film”?

 

Im not saying they are shot for shot identical movies. Of course there differences even some different themes but they are really really similar movies.