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The Book Thief VS. The BFG


Josh500

The Book Thief VS. The BFG  

31 members have voted

  1. 1. Which score do you like better?

    • The Book Thief
      14
    • The BFG
      17
  2. 2. Which movie do you like better?

    • The Book Thief
      14
    • The BFG
      17


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I haven't seen the movie so I don't know if there was another shot, but is this it? Doesn't seem like such a huge deal but it does stick out when you consider it's just right there in the middle of all the photographs. I'm not sure I would have noticed, though, to be honest.

 

 

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

We're all surrounded by objects with great big brand logos on them.  I find it more distracting when a film has gone out its way to de-brand a set.  Less realistic.

 

What is distracting is when it's obvious paid product placement.  Like they keep making sure to show the logo to camera.  When it feels unnatural.

 

The funniest is when characters use literally any search engine instead of Google. Especially Bing. I think more movie characters have used Bing than real people.

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Yes of course that's the shot, but that's some sort of camcorder in a theater recording of the film, so the framing isn't the same

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The BFG for film & score. The Book Thief was fine as a film, but as someone who actually read the book I was a bit disappointed. It seemed "standard". 

 

As for the product placement, I didn't notice it till now, but yeah it's distracting. As is always the case the studio likely paid for the product placement and forced the crew to put it in, and it's completely out of place.

 

 

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5 minutes ago, Jay said:

Yes of course that's the shot, but that's some sort of camcorder in a theater recording of the film, so the framing isn't the same

 

I can't quite tell in this quality if it racks focus to the Apple logo as it passes by but that would probably make the difference to me.

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It's important to keep product placement subtle, especially in historical films it just doesn't fit.

 

However there are exceptions. "Minority Report" for example has extremely obvious product placement which is cleverly used to depict the future world. It is part of the utopia there, so it finances the movie and improves the futuristic design.

 

Of course it has also a critical message, so it's like a combination of promotion and anti-promotion.

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1 minute ago, Brundlefly said:

"Minority Report" for example has extremely obvious product placement which is cleverly used to depict the future world. It is part of the utopia there, so it finances the movie and improves the futuristic design.

 

A trick Spielberg took from Blade Runner of course.

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5 hours ago, Jay said:

 

You don't think its ridiculous to have platant product placement of a modern technology company logo in what is otherwise a WW2 holocaust movie!?

 

Well I didn't even think of "Oh this is Apple! Product placement, product placement! Please no! This ruined the whole movie ;(" but more like "Oh look at this computer, this means the scene is happening years later, in 21st century". I don't understand how it bugged you all that much to see that specific logo...

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Because:

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Exactly, it felt like blatant product placement through and through


You can pan through her modern apart with the pictures of her children, etc, without needing to show what specific brand of computer she uses to write

 

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The worst product placement I've ever seen was for Torque, also one of the worst movies I've ever seen. There's pretty much a Pepsi product in the background of every scene.

 

Michael Bay has his meta product placements for Pepsi, Microsoft, and Cadillac. 

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Really, there's product placement in every movie. I don't even like Apple and I didn't care about the logo in TBT. They needed a shot with a computer and they chose a mac. If it was a TV it's be a Sony probably..

 

I'm not watching a film to look at company logos that pop up on  screen

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16 hours ago, Chewy said:

I see, but still, it's not something big enough to "ruin" the movie...

 

 

This comment is more like WTF

 

If you don't get it, then never mind. 

 

I'm not gonna ruin it for ya (or for anybody else who don't get it). 

1 hour ago, king mark said:

Really, there's product placement in every movie. I don't even like Apple and I didn't care about the logo in TBT. They needed a shot with a computer and they chose a mac. If it was a TV it's be a Sony probably..

 

I'm not watching a film to look at company logos that pop up on  screen

 

No, it's not that simple. It's most likely not just a "random" product placement. 

 

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Seems to me a bit overreactive to think a 5 second shot ruins a whole movie...

 

That kind of sensitivity is a bit surprising. Do all movies under go the same scrutiny or do some movies slip under the radar due to personal bias?

 

However, another thing that surprised me, before this thread descended into quibbling about product placement, is that a lot of people also seem to prefer The BFG over TBT as a whole, and genuinely think it's a better movie.

 

To me - product placement or nor - The Book Thief was a beautiful drama, full of real life tragedy enabled by amazing acting, told by a supernatural narrator which was an original and evocative twist.

 

I found The BFG to be an unengaging CGI filled mess with generic characters, over-the-top visuals and unfocused direction.

 

But I think the comparison is a little bit unfair when it comes to comparing the two movies. They are in no way intended to be alike. In my eyes, one is made for 20-50 year olds while the other one is made for kids.

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9 hours ago, rough cut said:

I found The BFG to be an unengaging CGI filled mess with generic characters, over-the-top visuals and unfocused direction.

 

That's exactly what I thought when I first watched the first 20 minutes of The BFG!

 

9 hours ago, rough cut said:

But I think the comparison is a little bit unfair when it comes to comparing the two movies. They are in no way intended to be alike. In my eyes, one is made for 20-50 year olds while the other one is made for kids.

 

And who's asking you to compare them? Reread my OP! 

 

I asked, Which do you personally like better?!

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Ok I understand, but that is semantics.

 

In the "which do you prefer"-game, my point is that the set up works better if the nominees are in the same genre or intended for a similar purpose.

 

For example, say "Star Wars" vs "Harry Potter".

 

Of course, all set ups work but it makes the outcome less meaningfull in my eyes. It becomes hard to derive any true knowledge from the results.

 

Just for laughs, which would you prefer: "A free new luxury suit" vs "A free new pair of sports shoes"? This is stupid, I know, but it drives the point home: it's not easy to compare... it depends completely on the demographic.

 

All in all, this doesn't apply to your question regarding the music to the films, that comparison is fine, only to the films themselves.

 

(Jeez, just to be clear, if someone is compiling a "my 1 000 best movies"-list then of course you'd have to compare across genres. It's the one-on-one comparison that I find lacking.)

 

Josh - By no way do I mean offense to your query, though! It has resulted in that we now know that most JWFaners prefer The BFG over TBT. Who'd have thought! :)

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I didn't find either film particularly engaging, but The BFG wins for me because it's a really sweet, optimistic little film, a breath of fresh air. The Book Thief is a pretty standard drama. (It wasn't asked, but I also prefer The BFG book to The Book Thief. The former is really funny and sweet, much more-so even than the film, while the latter was apparently supposed to be really sad but just didn't connect with me, making it a bit of a slog.)

 

Score, I'm not sure, as I haven't listened to The Book Thief as much as The BFG. I do enjoy both, that much I can say. 

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44 minutes ago, rough cut said:

Ok I understand, but that is semantics.

 

In the "which do you prefer"-game, my point is that the set up works better if the nominees are in the same genre or intended for a similar purpose.

 

For example, say "Star Wars" vs "Harry Potter".

 

Of course, all set ups work but it makes the outcome less meaningfull in my eyes. It becomes hard to derive any true knowledge from the results.

 

Just for laughs, which would you prefer: "A free new luxury suit" vs "A free new pair of sports shoes"? This is stupid, I know, but it drives the point home: it's not easy to compare... it depends completely on the demographic.

 

All in all, this doesn't apply to your question regarding the music to the films, that comparison is fine, only to the films themselves.

 

(Jeez, just to be clear, if someone is compiling a "my 1 000 best movies"-list then of course you'd have to compare across genres. It's the one-on-one comparison that I find lacking.)

 

Josh - By no way do I mean offense to your query, though! It has resulted in that we now know that most JWFaners prefer The BFG over TBT. Who'd have thought! :)

 

Well, no offense taken. :)

 

But you may be overthinking this. My question Which do you personally prefer? simply translates to which genre of movie do you like better/do you get more enjoyment out of?

 

You don't have to compare the movies themselves. Just remember the occasions when you watched these movies and ask yourself which experience was more satisfying to you personally.... So just compare your personal feelings.

 

Fine line, maybe, but I consciously asked Which do you personally prefer? and not Which do you think is BETTER? As I noted in my OP, I know that these two are very different types of movies.

 

 

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I don't care for either film but I enjoy listening to The Book Thief more even though the orchestration and colors in BFG are more fun and whimsical. I like the delicate piano and harp music in TBT and the general moodiness of the score. Some cues are a little monotonous but I just skip those tracks. 

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