EAF2502 Shots in the Dark: American Film in Profile
‘High concept addresses how [...] economic and institutional changes – including the
conglomeration of the film industry and the rise of television, new marketing methods, and
changing distribution strategies – have extended and modified some significant traits of
[Classical Hollywood]’ (Justin Wyatt, High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood)
Discuss the features that characterise ‘high-concept’ filmmaking, with reference to any TWO
post-1950s films, ONE of which should be a module film.
Films Chosen: Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg
Speed (1994) Jan de Bont
Films with ‘high-concept’ filmmaking have several notable conventions that, if applied
according to the societal contexts of that time, can extremely contribute to the financial
success of a film. Defined by their capability to attract viewers, high concept films extremely
effected the Hollywood film industry by bringing audiences back into the cinema as well as
attracting alternative international audiences. When analysing the typical conventions ‘high-
concept’ filmmaking, I can refer to Justin Wyatt’s list on aspects that define a high-concept
film such as the combination a simple narrative, image or song association to the film, pre-
sold stars, subject matter and merchandising tie-ins can define a high-concept film (Wyatt, 3).
I will be analysing two particular films which exemplify these conventions. Though both
films were produced in contrastingly different phases of American film production, both
Jaws (1975) and Speed (1994) constitute as successful high-concept films by attracting
audiences and being an enormous success at box office. Particularly in both, the films
marketing strategies in connection to the simplicity of the initial narrative idea, contribute to
the success of both films at attracting audiences and creating profits. Typical of a high-
‘High concept addresses how [...] economic and institutional changes – including the
conglomeration of the film industry and the rise of television, new marketing methods, and
changing distribution strategies – have extended and modified some significant traits of
[Classical Hollywood]’ (Justin Wyatt, High Concept: Movies and Marketing in Hollywood)
Discuss the features that characterise ‘high-concept’ filmmaking, with reference to any TWO
post-1950s films, ONE of which should be a module film.
Films Chosen: Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg
Speed (1994) Jan de Bont
Films with ‘high-concept’ filmmaking have several notable conventions that, if applied
according to the societal contexts of that time, can extremely contribute to the financial
success of a film. Defined by their capability to attract viewers, high concept films extremely
effected the Hollywood film industry by bringing audiences back into the cinema as well as
attracting alternative international audiences. When analysing the typical conventions ‘high-
concept’ filmmaking, I can refer to Justin Wyatt’s list on aspects that define a high-concept
film such as the combination a simple narrative, image or song association to the film, pre-
sold stars, subject matter and merchandising tie-ins can define a high-concept film (Wyatt, 3).
I will be analysing two particular films which exemplify these conventions. Though both
films were produced in contrastingly different phases of American film production, both
Jaws (1975) and Speed (1994) constitute as successful high-concept films by attracting
audiences and being an enormous success at box office. Particularly in both, the films
marketing strategies in connection to the simplicity of the initial narrative idea, contribute to
the success of both films at attracting audiences and creating profits. Typical of a high-
