Case Study - Superbad

Superbad 

• Released on the 14th September 2007. 
• Won Breakthrough artists award at the Austins film critics association.(2007)
• Won Best performance by a male (Michael Cera). And Best writing, at the Canadian comedy award. (2008)
• Won CFCA award for most promising performer (Michael Cera) (2007)
• Won Young Hollywood Award for exciting new face (Emma Stone) (2008)
• Nominated at the Critics Choice Award for Best Comedy Movie. (2008)
• Budget - $20,000,000 (Estimated)
• Opening weekend - $33,052,411. 
• Gross prophet - $169,871,719. 

Plot

Two co-dependent high school seniors are forced to deal with separation anxiety after their plan to stage a booze-soaked party goes awry.

E-media

• Superbad has it's own Facebook page, this gives Facebook users the chance to 'Like' this page which allows them to view posts they put etc. The Superbad Facebook page has 6.4 millions likes. On the page it has a photos section, this contains shots taken from the film and the DVD cover. This gives the audience a sneak peak of the film, making them want to watch it even more. It also contains two videos, these are two scenes from the film. By doing this it'll give the audience a little teaser towards the film, again making the want to watch it even more. 
• Superbad also has it's own official website created by Sony, this website has a few different features, some you wouldn't expect from a film website. Firstly you can get a chance to get a free ringtone from Superbad, simply by texting a certain number. It also has a game feature, this is another platform that the website opens up on. Overall increasing the audience's interest in the website. You can also watch clips from the films, and view photos. If you click on 'Enter site' it takes you to an interactive website, which plays music and videos automatically. It also gives you a feature in which the characters are talking to you and say 'Hi friend, welcome to superbad.com' this again will increase the audiences interest. And finally it gives you a 'Buy now' feature, which is pretty obvious, it allows you to buy the products they sell like the DVD. 

Broadcast

• There is an official YouTube site created by the Superbad producers, on here is several clips from the film and the official trailer. The official trailer was released on the 13th April 2007. The trailer has 4,665,308 views and still rising today. All together including the other videos on the channel, there's 11,850,746 video views worldwide. I believe this is a major reason why the film was a big success. 

Print 

• This film had several prints, these two are very similar but are the most popular ones on the internet. It shows the characters from a wide range shot, simply because it'll get all three main characters in. This introduces them to the audience.

Reviews

• This review is from the Guardian, the Guardian is used by a wide range of people. These people tend to be from the middle to upper class. The review is written by Peter Bradshaw. He rated it at 3 stars out of 5. 'This comedy, produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen, the star of his now mildly controversial film Knocked Up, arrives here in the UK where the Apatow backlash is in full swing. Knocked Up has been denounced as misogynist anti-abortion propaganda. Variety editor Peter Bart has, Cassandra-like, called down on Apatow's head The Curse of John Hughes: the 80s Teen Comedy king, once Tinseltown's ruler but now fallen from those heights. Respected film writer Joe Queenan says that Apatow fans like me and the New Yorker's David Denby are just endorsing a ghastly male menopausal revenge-of-the-nerds conspiracy. And perhaps most hurtfully of all, my progressive friends and compañeros at a certain fortnightly satirical magazine have skittishly suggested we are in Mr Apatow's promotional pocket - this, mark you, from people whose Christmas loo books I have praised to the very skies. Oh, the humanity! Knocked Up isn't misogynist. Unlike most other films, of whatever genre, it shows the sexual act in terms of its long-term consequences; it shows a professional woman keeping her career and the baby, tackling the difficulties of negotiating maternity leave, and shows her partner modifying his behaviour to support her choices. Nobody, however, is going to defend Superbad in this way. It is in the very well-worn American Pie/Porky's tradition of ugly guys obsessed with getting laid, keg parties, fake IDs etc. It's immature, gross and - some of the time - very funny. In some ways, Superbad is the prequel to Knocked Up: it shows what the slacker nerds were like in high school: ie exactly the same. The lead character, fat and frizzy-haired Seth, is nakedly autobiographical; in Knocked Up, his girlfriend's disapproving sister complains about how "heavy" he already is, and asks her to consider what this slob going to look like 10 years from now. This is going backwards in time. Seth (Jonah Hill) is permanently panicky and splenetic with the sallow, unhealthy look of a cardiac case; he is best friends with Evan (Michael Cera) but in denial about his sadness that they are about to be emotionally sundered: they got into different colleges. With their other nerdy friend Fogell (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) they plan on forgetting these woes by getting persons of the opposite gender drunk at an upcoming party. ("You know when women say 'Oh man I got so shitfaced last night and I should never have made it with that guy'? Well, that could be us! We could be that mistake!") Things go horrifically wrong when Fogell is picked up while trying to buy booze by two incompetent cops, played by Bill Hader and Rogen himself. And it soon becomes all too clear that these police officers are just as immature as they are, and cheerfully take their prisoner for a ride-along to witness their appalling professional procedures. There's a very funny line from Rogen about the differences between CSI and real police work. It's pretty crass and pretty silly, but only a puritanical grump would deny it's funny.'
• The next review is from Empire magazine, Empire rated it a 4 stars out of 5. The verdict is 'Equally hilarious and heartfelt, this is the best teen movie since American Pie and should make stars of the fantastic Cera and Hill.'