STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

Case study
 PRODUCT CONTEXT : F. GARY GRAY
F. Gary Gray was the producer of ‘Straight Outta Compton’. The film was released in 2015.
He was involved in a number of films including The fate of the furious, The sea of trees, Be cool, The Italian job and many more. Below are
some links to their trailers
Sea of trees: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tuemib6AG4
Be cool: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsBQlyoLzXw
The Italian job: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Eyw-Qiwpj0
He was born in 1969 and is an America film Director, producer, music video director and actor.
He was involved in the following music videos as well:
Waterfalls (TLC): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WEtxJ4-sh4
If I could turn back the hands of time R.Kelly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsOPVCK745I
Ms. Jackson outcast: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYxAiK6VnXw
PRODUCT CONTECT- ACCEPTENCE?
 At the start of N.W.A they struggled to be accepted because their
song were based on their life experiences and a lot of their lyrics were
misogynistic and aggressive.
 The assistant director of FBI sent a letter to Ruthless and it’s
distributing company advising the rappers that “advocating violence
and assault is wrong and we In the law enforcement community take
action to such actions”
 PRODUCT CONTEXTT: N.W.A
• NWA (Niggaz Wit Attitudes) was an American Hip-Hop group from Los Angeles
• The group involved: Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, and Ice Cube. DJ Yella and MC Ren joined later, with Arabian Prince eventually leaving
shortly before the official release of Straight Outta Compton
• N.W.A songs
• Express yourself: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u31FO_4d9TY
• Parental Discretion Iz Advised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz1Opgruj-Y
• The group was active 1986-1991 and returned 1998-2000 for a reunion.
• Their music genre is west coast hip hop and gangsta rap
 Historical Context
 The historical context within the film ‘straight Outta Compton’. The film portrays events set mostly in the mid 1980’s in
California USA
 The depiction of the period in this film may have been impacted by the social upheaval caused by the racial tension and
the LA riots in 1992
 The N.W.A may have been subject to social change which is shown in the film
 Cultural context
o N.W.A were significant in terms of social change as advocates for free speech, producers of protest songs
and as highly successful black men from disenfranchised American urban communities.
o N.W.A were also heavily criticised for their lyrics and the promotion of their lifestyle which objectified
women.
o As their music is based on their life events and what it was like for them growing up these lyrics are true to
what it was like for them, this makes some people criticize their work leading to controversy.
o Straight out of Compton is used to show what it was like for different cultures and is a good way to show how N.W.A grew
up and what it was like in the streets of Compton.
o It shows the culture clashes and what they had to endure, experiencing racism towards the black culture.
 Economic & political context
 The film was co-produced by two of the original N.W.A stars.
 The funding of the film was mostly by some of the stars and shows that even though they grew up
in a horrible part of California it didn’t stop them making money through their music.
 The film can be used as an example for other people and shows that even though they didn’t
have fame and fortune growing up they have it now and used it to show their story.
 MEDIA OWNERSHIP
• The film was produced by Legendary pictures in 2014, legendary pictures is in partnership with Universal and universal is
owned by NBC Universal a Comcast company.
• ‘Straight Outta Compton’ is their usual film genre that they deal with so wasn’t a big jump to see if it would be a success.
There are a number of different films they have produced. There is a wide range of films that they have done
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legendary_Entertainment
• https://www.universalpictures.com/
 AUDIENCE
 There are four main audience groups the film was aimed at.
 Fans of N.W.A that lived through the period of time that the film is set in. older fans that were
around what the band was first formed and younger fans because of their cultural significance.
 Fans of rap/ Gangster rap – middle class youths
 Fans of biographic films
 Fans of the film studios and/or producers
 REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
• Straight Outta Compton is rated an 18 by the BBFC although several people rated it at a 15. more
information can be found on the BBFC website at: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/
• The American MPAA rated it in America with an R, which means restricted meaning people under
the age of 17 couldn’t view it with ought being accompanied by a parent.
• Many other countries had different ratings for the film, for example Malaysia banned the film all
together. However gained an 11 rating in Sweden.
• These age ratings are important to gain audience viewings so producers and distributors need to
decide that age ratings carefully taking in the factors of the film.
 PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION AND
CIRCULATION
 The first movie trailer was released by universal on February 8th 2015, with a ‘red band’ to show
the restricted nature of the film. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KC_kFFmT2c. The trailer
included an introduction by Ice cube and Dr Dre.
The second global trailer was released on 1st April 2015, before screening universals ‘Furious 7’.
Straight Outta Compton may have benefitted from being trailered before a more mainstream film,
with wider audience appeal. http://.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2015/04/07/why-
universal-teased-straight-outta-Compton-with-furious-7-instead-of-Jurassic-
world/#54f76a1c2a52.
Straight outta Compton was released in Britain on 28th August and it was released in the USE on
11th August 2015.
 The film was a major commercial success, making over $200 million- it had a $50 million total
budget with at $28 million production budget.
 THORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
• David Hesmondhalgh- Cultural industries
• Throughout the film N.W.A’s music was used as the soundtrack to the
film. It also featured and No.1 in the rap charts and also reached No.1
on the hip hop charts.
• David Hesmondhalgh had the idea that media conglomerates and
that it operates in many different areas of the media industry