STRAIGHT COMPTON

Case study
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• Product context:
Straight outta Compton is a biopic, produced by Legendary Pictures, distributed by
Universal Pictures and directed by F. Gary Gray.
The film follows the story of hip hop band N.W.A in 1980s America. Members of the
band Ice Cube and Dr. Dre were co producer of the film.
The film was a huge commercial and critical success, became the highest grossing
music biopic of all, and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original
Screenplay.
My conclusion:
I think from seeing the film that the film is very impacting and shows how hard it
was for black people to life their daily life. I also think that this production is very
good at getting the bands point across at how their life's where at the time with
some funny and also sad scene.
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• Historical context:
The film portrays events set predominantly in mid 1980s California,
USA. The depicted of this period of time in a contemporary film may
have been impacted by the social upheaval cause by the racial tension
and the LA riots in 1992.
(The portrayal of 1980s California, and the possible glorification of the
N.W.A as agents of social change, may have been revised or influences
by subsequent events)
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• Cultural context:
The N.W.A were significantly in terms of social change as advocated for
free speech, producers of protest songs and as highly successful black
men from disenfranchised American urban communities.
N.W.A were also heavily criticised for their misogynistic lyrics and their
promotion of a lifestyle that objectified and marginalised women. The
film also shows sense of riots at the time in America showing the
impact that they had on peoples lives and how black people were
looked down upon in every day society.
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• Economic & Political context:
Two members of the original group N.W.A Dr. Dre and Ice Cube co produced the
film, so consider the possible significance of this in relation to funding and to the
portrayal of historical events.
My conclusion:
In the film you get to see how the members of the gangs used to life showing house
scene giving the audience a deeper insight at their hard lives. Throughout the film
there are also scenes of what was going in in this period of time such as particular
riots giving you also a better understanding at what the N.W.A’s message was and
allows you to understand why the gang wanted to be so successful.
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• Media Ownership:
The film was produced by Legendary Pictures who entered into partnership with Universal Pictures in 2014. As
these company's that produced the film are highly recognisable with a very good reputation this will give the
audience a sense of security that the film is going to be to a reasonable standard also gaining the amount of
people that went to see the film. Universal I owned by a NBC Universal (a Comcast company). The film was
produced and distributed by a major, vertically integrated film studio that is part of the media conglomerate is
significant in terms of funding, possibilities for cross promotion and reaching a global audience.
Universal Pictures are a well know company that have produces loads of different types of well successful films
such as drastic park, E.T, mama mia, king kong, jaws, the mummy and many, many more. Legendary Pictures has
produced films such as Godzilla, watchman, the hangover, and many more.
As these two company's have an outstanding reputation producing millions of films this has an impact on the way
the film preforms as their reputation influences how the audience view the film also relating the films they
produced with them that have been very successful.
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Straight outta Compton had a wide range of different media
platforms in which helped the film get more publicity and
awareness. For example there was the straight outta campaign, the
trailer of the film, and the N.W.A website. These different social
media platforms made more people aware of the importance of
equality, and to make it clear to members of the public that no
matter where you come from you shouldn’t be treated differently
for that. All these media platforms have a significant theme of the
film running through them making it more clear and recognisable for
the audience and public to relate these platforms with the film itself.
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 The Trailer- Shows the environmental issues of what was going on in this time, however doesn't show the story line of
the film making the audience want to find out more about the film becoming intrigued. The trailer however is full of
intensity, action and thrilling to watch showing only these aspects of the film. There is a very fast paste trailer with racial
tension and a heavy thread of the NWA music running throughout the trailer. This trailer interests the audience to know
more about what is going to happen within the film as there isn't much said about the story line within the trailer. This
therefore excites, and thrills the audience into wanting to watch the film finding out what is going to happen. There is a
wide age to this film even know there is an age restriction of 18. The audience also may be able to relate to this film from
experience or also having knowledge of this issues from when they were younger etc. Also often people like to know
about true stories so would find it interesting to get to know the NWA side of the story about them growing up and their
music.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsbWEF1Sju0

 The trailer also makes it very clear who is in the film such as Ice Cube, Dr. Dre,
and Eazy- E making the audience excited and straight always recognise who the
characters are drawing them into the film even more. The names of the character
are presented near the end of the trailer allowing the audience to get into the
story line and become familiar of the film and intensify as the trailer continues.
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 Straight outta campaign- This campaign makes people relate more to the overall message that the film is trying to portray,
making people share where they come from and creating a sense of community. This camping was set up by one of the
leading roles in the film and in the group Dr Dre and has the number one hash tag on social media. This campaign not only
spread awareness but also got celebrities involves as well in this campaign furthering the awareness for the campaign itself
and the film intriguing a wider audience. Dr Dre also produced a documentary about this campaign and how effective its
been. This campaign got everyone involves giving everyone a sense of community and a chance to say their piece within the
campaign and be proud of the place they were from. From the celebrities involved within the campaign this also further
helped the awareness getting more and more people involved and have the knowledge of what the campaign is about.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2XQgCHX2TI&t=11s
 The straight outta campaign has the same themes such as colour and text running through
the film and also the website, this is important as it allows the audience to have a clear
similarity between all these platforms and overall gives a stronger message to the public.
Furthermore, allowing the film and groups audience to have a voice and get involved within
this campaign to share their views and also except where other people come from in
addition increasing the level of respect that the community has for each other and the
factor that you shouldn’t judge someone on where they come from.
 In the campaign video there are also aspects of the film shown within this giving the
audience and giving them something to recognised also advertising the film making people
want to know more about these characters.
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• Audience:
There are a range of different audiences that the film is attempting to target, including:
 Fans of N.W.A- these types of audience are mainly an older generation who lived through the time period, and potential
younger fans for their attraction of the bands cultural significance.
 Fans of rap/ gangster rap- N.W.A are a very well know group that have sold loads of music that will still attract people of
today and their music will still be appealing to fans of their style of music.
 Fans of biopic films- As the film is set on a real life story with the input on production for Dr. Dre and Ice Cube giving the film
a more person approach attracting an audience that are interested in their story and their thoughts/ feeling of this time
period they lived through.
 Fans of the film studios/ producers- As Universal and Legendary Pictures have an outstanding reputation producing loads
of iconic films this will make people want to watch their newest films to see if they stick to their standard of amazing films.

The fans of the film are very significant of the film and how well it does, as this film is covering a very particular issue that is
very important in some peoples lives and the group become the voice of many people within this time period. From this many
people became invested in the group making them then want to see the film. On the other hand, members of the public also
might be interested in their message without have a wide amount of knowledge of the group increasing the viewing of the film
as people become more intrigued. However, overall I think that this film attracted the fans of the group and the group was a
very important part and voice to many people and are still known today for these reasons and had a big impact on people
lives.
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• Regulatory framework:
 The BBFC (British Board of Classification)- The BBFC decides what
age rating the film will be before they are released in the UK.
However, the local council have the power to overrule the BBFC
decisions and rate films differently. For example, the film ‘This is
England’ was rated an 18 by the BBFC but serval councils rated it a
15. With straight outta Compton the theatrical release gained a 15
certificate, although directors cut the DVD and was rated an 18.
 The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America)- in America the
film was gained a R rating (under 17 cannot watch the film without a
parent/ career).
 The age rating of a film is very important especially to the producers
and distributors of the film in guaranteeing an audience appropriate
to watch the film. For example, a 15 rating in the UK opens the film
to a much wider audience than an 18 certificate.
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• Production, distribution & circulation:
 The film was scheduled to release in August 2015 with the trailer being released by Universal on 8th February
2015 accompanied with a ‘red band’ card to reflect the ‘restricted’ nature of the film to the potential audience
of the film.
 The second global trailer was released 1st April 2015 (before the screening of the film Furious 7)- This
considered the significance of the ownership of the film (vertical integration) as here is how straight outta
Compton may have benefited being trailed before an arguably more mainstream film Furious 7 with a wider
audience appeal. This therefore makes the audience amount increase from showing the trailer before a known
movie Furious 7. Appealing to the audience increasing the amount of people wanting to invest their time into
watching straight outta Compton.
 Virtual marketing- 7th August 2015 Dr. Dre launched his beats app allowing users to upload their own photos
to the an online website (http://www.straightouttasomewhere.com/) where people could complete the
straight outta logo a location of their choice. Over 6 million people got involved and downloaded the straight
outta somewhere images were then generated on social media before the films opening day. This had a
massive impact on society and many celebrities got involved with Dr. Dres app making more and more people
want to get to know the film as there is a significant theme of the website and the film cover giving the
audience something to recognise.
Straight outta Compton was released in Britain on 28th August 2015 and released
in the USA on 11th August 2015 (premiere in Los Angeles).
The film was a major commercial success making over $200 million and had a $50
million total budget ($28 million production budget). The film straight outta
Compton was awarded a nomination including a award for academy awards for
the best original screenplay also contributed to its success. From this more
people would be persuaded to go and watch the fil from the awards success of
the film making more people curious into watching the film.
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• Theoretical perspectives – David Hesmondhalgh:
Hesmondhalgh’s ideas that media conglomerates operate across a range of culture
industries by considering the way the film was released in conjunction with very
successful music album.
The producer of the film was at a low risk when this film was released, this is
because musicians from N.W.A are already successful in their own right and offer
a pre-sold audience for the product and the genre of musical biopic is familiar to
audience.
 N.W.A offer considerable culture significance but their story might arguably have
been reduced to a profit making exercise by industries to allow more people to
come and enjoy the film increasing the popularity and recognitions for the film.