Case study research task for straight outta compton.

Whose idea was the film?

Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American biographical film directed by F. Gary Gray, depicting the career of gangsta rap group N.W.A. 

Did the idea start with the writer, or were writers brought in to develop a preconceived idea? 

The writers were brought in to develop a preconceived idea because it is said to be biographical film about the NWA which include members: Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, DJ Yella, The D.O.C. and Arabian Prince. 

Where did the idea come from? Was it an original idea, or perhaps a book first, or TV series, or comic strip, or from some other source?

The idea of the film came from Dr Dre, Ice Cube and Eazy-E's widow Tomica Woods-Wright. They were set to produce the movie since it is based on a true story of NWA they did help out with the writing.

Was the film based upon an original script or developed over time by many writers?

The movie was is in development for some time and the inspiration for the movie came from Dr Dre and Ice Cube as they were in NWA which were the main topic of the movie. In May 2010, it was announced Andrea Berloff would write a draft of the screenplay. The movie had several writers which developed it over time.

Who financed the film - Production Company? What other films have they produced?

The main production companies who also financed it was legendary pictures and New line cinema, New line cinema has produced many other movies, for example, IT, Elf, The Conjuring, Rush Hour. Legendary Pictures also produced movies such as Pacific Rim, Spectral, Kong: Skull Island.

Casting – who were cast in the main roles and why? How important were stars? How did the film-makers think the chosen stars would appeal to audiences? 

O'Shea Jackson Jr. as N.W.A member O'Shea "Ice Cube" Jackson

Jason Mitchell as N.W.A member Eric "Eazy-E" Wright

Corey Hawkins as N.W.A member Andre " Dr Dre" Young

Aldis Hodge as N.W.A member Lorenzo "MC Ren" Patterson

Neil Brown Jr. as N.W.A member Antoine "DJ Yella" Carraby

Paul Giamatti as N.W.A's manager Jerry Heller

Marlon Yates Jr. as N.W.A collaborator and Ruthless/Death Row Records artist Tracy "The D.O.C." Curry

Alexandra Shipp as Ice Cube's wife Kimberly Woodruff[5]

Carra Patterson as Eazy-E's wife Tomica Woods-Wright[6]

Corey Reynolds as Alonzo Williams, club owner and member of Dr Dre and DJ Yella's pre-N.W.A group 

World Class Wreckin' Cru

Tate Ellington as Priority Records head Bryan Turner

Who was the producer? 

The producers of Straight Outta Compton were Ice Cube, Dr Dre, F. Gary Grey, Matt Alvares, Scott Berstein.

Who was the director and why did they take the project on? 

The director was F.Gary Grey, he directed several past successful movies such as Friday, Set It Off, The Negotiator, The Italian Job. The film's soundtrack featured song already made by N.W.A 

Did they have a track record of success? 

• Friday (1995)
• Set It Off (1996)
• The Negotiator (1998)
• A Man Apart (2003)
• The Italian Job (2003)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
• Straight Outta Compton (2015)

Was there anything interesting about the film soundtrack?

The soundtrack includes most of NWA's old songs in the soundtrack it includes songs like "Straight outta Compton" "fuck the police", "Dopeman" and many more. Straight Outta Compton: Music from the Motion Picture is the soundtrack to the 2015 film of the same name. The album was released by Universal Music Enterprises on January 8, 2016 in digital formats. The soundtrack features songs that were mainly performed by N.W.A but also includes solo performances from N.W.A members Ice Cube, Eazy-E, and Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Dogg).

The soundtrack debuted at number 39 on the US Billboard 200, for the week ending January 30, 2016. The album debuted at number-one on the Top Rap Albums chart. In the second week, the album peaked at number one on the Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums, selling 12,000 units in the second chart week.

What happened during the production phase? 

Where there any difficulties with casting or with acquiring the stars/actors the producer wanted? 

During casting, people said that there was sexism during this. The casting call was looking for African-American girls for the film using an A-D ranking scale. Though the "A girls" category was looking for "classy" women of all colours, the "B through D" categories were very explicitly linked with skin-tone. As the women get less attractive, the casting call wants the women's flesh tone to be darker, with the lowest listing calling for "African American girls. Poor, not in good shape. Medium to dark skin tone." The casting call post went viral as people expressed their outrage of what they call colourism, sexism, and racism in the categorizing of black women. A representative for Sande Alessi Casting said the ad was an "innocent mistake" and when it comes to casting "poor" people, they are also looking for women of various skin tones and body types.

Was any part of the film shot on location? If so, where? Why were some locations chosen over others? Were costs a factor? 
During production there was violence on set On August 12, 2014, TMZ reported that just seven days into filming in Compton, a drive-by shooting took place directly in front of the cast and crew members while they were on the set. A group of men standing outside the Compton Courthouse flashed gang signs at a passing car and passengers in the car opened fire on the group. No one affiliated with the film was injured or hurt, but one civilian near the set was shot. Despite the incident, it was announced that filming would continue to take place as planned in the city.

Was it an easy ‘shoot’? If there were difficulties what were they? Were there tensions between any of the creative personnel, often known as ‘the talent’? 
On January 29, 2015, Suge Knight was involved in a hit-and-run incident that left one man dead and another hospitalized. Witnesses claim that Knight followed the men after an argument on the Straight Outta Compton film set to a burger stand parking lot in Compton and that the collisions looked intentional. Security footage video was released online in early March showing Knight running over both men but which Knight's attorney said helps his client's self-defence claim. Terry Carter, co-founder (along with Ice Cube) of Heavyweight Records and a friend of Knight, was the man killed. 

The second victim, filmmaker Cle Sloan, suffered a mangled foot and head injuries.

In October 2017, transcripts from a grand jury hearing earlier in the year indicated Knight allegedly gave multiple menacing warnings to director F. Gary Gray during filming. Although Gray would testify he did not recall any calls or texts threatening his safety (a move Deputy District Attorney Cynthia Barnes referred to as intentional perjury out of fear), Knight was allegedly angry at his depiction in the film and that he was not compensated for his portrayal.

They chose certain locations to make the movie more realistic to the audience as this was a true story.

What did the film cost to make? How much did the stars get? Where did the budget go? Was the film shot within budget? Was it ever in any danger of going over budget?
The budget for Straight Outta Compton was large, it was $50 million (gross) $45 million (net), the budget includes everything such as paying the actors, crew, locations, props, equipment, advertising, marketing etc. There were several changes during the making of the final script as they wanted to make the movie more appealing to the audience.

What technology was used in the production of the film such as camera?
Equipment used to film:

SDDS | Datasat | Dolby Digital

Camera Red Epic Dragon, Cooke Anamorphic/ I, Kowa Prominar, Zeiss Super Speed, Lightweight, Fujinon Alura, Angenieux Optimo and Optimo 2S Lenses

Laboratory EFilm (digital intermediate)

Kowa Scope (anamorphic) (source format) 

Printed Film Format 35 mm (Kodak Vision 2383) 

D-Cinema

What happened during the marketing and distribution phase of your case study film?

Who were the distributors? How well known was the company? What is their track record as distributors? (Other films/genres) 

There were many distributors of the film as it was sold worldwide some of these distributors are:

Home Box Office (HBO) (2016) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)

KVH Media Group (2015) (World-wide) (all media) (ships)

Universal Home Entertainment (2016) (UK) (DVD)

Universal Home Entertainment (2016) (UK) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

Universal Pictures Benelux (2016) (Netherlands) (Blu-ray)

Universal Pictures Benelux (2016) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) (2016) (USA) (DVD)

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPHE) (2016) (USA) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (DVD)

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (2016) (Germany) (Blu-ray) (DVD)

Universal Pictures (2015) (Spain) (all media Rated R for language throughout, strong sexuality/nudity, violence, and drug use)

Were there any issues with the classification of the film?

Who was the target audience? How do you know? 
When they were marketing they wanted their target market to not be specific to a single race and therefore they teamed up with Facebook to create multiple trailers that target different types of audiences, they didn't want a small target audience. This links in with where they released the film, they released it worldwide as they believed that people all over the world would find it appealing, it was released on the 14th of August. The premiere of the film was in Los Angeles on the 11th of August.