Attack the Block Review

Attack the Block Review

Attack The Block

Attack The Block was produced by a company called Big Talk Productions. BTP also produced films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot fuzz. They also produced along side Film4, The UK Film Council and StudioCanal. Overall the film was shot across many different estates around London, as Joe Cornish the producer explains in a quote. But They used an opening scene shot of a birds-eye view of an estate to use as the map for the film. interior shots were filmed in a studio. 

Attack The Block was based upon Joe Cornish, coming into contact with a very realistic gang himself. Due to being previously mugged, Cornish decided to investigate into large gangs and estates around London, and this influenced and inspired him into making the film.

Cornish went on to say in an interview that he thought "In the UK there are a lot of hood movies. They're usually quite depressing." Joe claimed that he wrote from his instinct and wrote what he thought about were his genuine ideas.
The soundtrack in attack The Block was composed by Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton from the Basement Jaxx and also Steven Price. They did actually use a song or two that was a Basement Jaxx song. So they brought their own work into the film.With money saving problems, driectors only used CG effects when necessary, and had an extreme budget on how they did their special effects with the aliens, using puppets and even people in alien costumes.
Problems Whilst making attack the block, they didn't have the correct budget to have 3D animated aliens so had to improvise.

5x5

5 Favourite Bands/Artists

You Me At Six
Two Door Cinema Club
Blondie
Fleetwood Mac
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5 Favourite Actresses

Evangeline Lily
Emilie De Ravin
Kristen Stewart
Mila Kunis
Maggie Grace

5 Favourite TV Programmes

Lost
Desperate Housewives
How I Met Your Mother
Ghost Whisperer
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5 Favourite Actors

Johnny Depp
Jason Statham
Matthew Fox
Josh Holloway
Michael Emerson

5 Favourite Films

Titanic
The Twilight Saga
Harry Potter
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Good Cop Homework

Good Cop Homework

TV Drama, Lost

TV drama

The idea -

• People become inspired for new film idea.
• Producer decides to make idea reality
• director visualises script
• Writer defines main characters and plot
• Writer makes descrpition of film and main characters
• Producer does a pitch to sell film to finances

Development finance -

• Producer uses pitch to persuade for funding for a script
• Producer then goes to film production companies
• Producers offer percentage of money made, in return for money for a script
• Producers applies for public funding body for development grant
• Might pitch the film to private investors to try and get more funding possibilites

Script Development -

• Produce sypnosis, then decide on key events and scenes in the film
• Create step by step outline on how to produce their script
• First draft is made
• Once draft is done and happy with, sent to finances for them to tweek it
• Once everyone is happy with final draft, becomes final piece and the writer is then paid
• Creation of sales treatment

Packaging -

• Producer and director package script
• Start attatching well-known actors for script
• Heads of deparment consider finances
• Decide on how much it will cost to make
• Investors interest in how they will make the money for the film, and how it is paid back
• Finally finished, sent off to see what other outsider people think about it

Financing -

• Producer travels to make the film
• Proucer lawyer makes contracts to finalise the deals
• Makes money before film is made (Pre-sales)
• Certain banks offer loans to make the film
• Insurance for production, completion bond
• Once essential funding is comfirmed, film can start to be produced

Pre-Production -

• Department heads are hired, pre-production begins
• Casting director, director and producer do a long process of finding the right actors
• Storyboards are created for blueprints of film
• Production designer plans how film will look, hires people to design and build each part
• Effect shots are planned in more detail, as they take longer to make
• The line producer and production manager make up key triangle of production

The shoot -

• Shooting begins, funding released
• Camera department get all footage for director and editor to make the story
• Lighting and sound set up, hair and make-up complete, shot begins
• Actors begin to act in a way to attract audience attention
• Special effects filmed carefully, with minimal trying risk to injury
• Producers have time limit, if fall behind schedule insurance and financers may step in

Post-prodouction -

• Footage goes to editor, narrative sequence is created
• Sound department work on audio tracking
• Digital effects, credits and opening titles are added by Special effects
• Final stage to adjust colour of the film and shots
• Rough sound mix is sent to dubbing theatre to create final sounds
• Film is finished and ready for duplication

Sales -

• Producer secures sales with sales agent
• Trailer is made to show main market aspects of film
• Producers get everything together in order to sell to distributors
• Producers goes to great extents in order to try and compete with other film producers marketing films
• High-profile screening of the film is shown
• Negotiates with international distributors

Marketing -

• Producer hires sales agent
• Market team run test screens to lure in audience
• Audience is targeted. E.g. posters, trailers, TV
• TV, radio and newspapers promote film by word of mouth
• Internet also displays information about movie
• Distributer makes deal with cinemas to screen the film

Exhibition -

• Premier to launch film with high media coverage
• A lot of cinemas for it to be displayed in
• Prints of film are made for Ehibitors
• Exhibitors take box office receipts, distrobuters gain marketing costs back
• Once paid, Finance can recover their investment 

Other windows -

• Sells to in-flight entertainment, and hotel channels
• Goes on DVD for box office failure
• TV is used for pay-TV showings on the film
• Create games of the film
• Profit is made. Producer and key people get rewarded
• Income is constantly made for film e.g. film being re-released

Selected Key Terms for Institutions and Audiences - The Film Industry

An institution (in the film industry)
Definition: any company or organisation that produces, distributes or exhibits films. The BBC makes films with their BBC Films arm; Channel4's Film Four produces films, Working Title also produce films, as does Vertigo Films, etc. Some institutions need to join with other institutions which distribute films. Vertigo Films is able to distribute its own films, Channel Four distributed Slumdog Millionaire through Pathe. Working Title's distribution partner is Universal, a huge US company which can make, distribute and show films. The type of owner ship within an institution matters as, for instance, Channel 4 and the BBC are able to show their own films at an earlier stage than other films made by other institutions. They are also better placed to cross-promote their in-house films within their media organisations. Use you work on Film Four as the basis for most of what you write, Moon is a good cross comparison as Duncan Jones had to create his own institution just to get the film made.


Distribution and Marketing

Definition: the business of getting films to their audiences by booking them for runs into cinemas and taking them there in vans or through digital downloads; distributors also create the marketing campaign for films producing posters, trailers, websites, organise free previews, press packs, television interviews with the "talent", sign contracts for promotions, competitions, etc. Distributors use their know-how and size to ensure that DVDs of the film end up in stores and on supermarket shelves. Distributors also obtain the BBFC certificate, and try to get films released as the most favourable times of the year for their genre, etc.


Examples:
Universal distributed Working Title's The Boat That Rocked; Pathe distributedFilm4 and Celadors' Slumdog Millionaire after the original US distributor, Warner Independent went out of business. TRON was heavily marketed across a variety of mediums, Moon struggled to get press attention and Duncan Jones had to really push the film  in obscure places like Popular Mechanics etc. The Kings Speech was distributed by Momentum (a susiduary of Aliance films) who are a major independent film distributor.


ExhibitionDefinition: showing films in cinemas or on DVD. Media attention through opening nights and premieres How the audience can see the film: in cinemas, at home, on DVD, through downloads, through television, including premieres, the box office take in the opening weeks; audience reviews which includes those of the film critics, ordinary people, cinemas runs; awards in festivals, The Oscars, BAFTAS, etc.


Examples:
Slumdog Millionaire almost never got distribution. Its early US distributor, Warner Independent was a victim of the economic downturn and went out of business. The film's makers then struggled to find a distributor! Then Fox Searchlight stepped up and "the rest is history". The 8 out of 10 Oscar nomination wins ensured that the film has been the greatest British success in awards and in box office for nearly 60years.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/boyle-reveals-slumdog-millionaire-was-nearly-never-made-1331821.html

Motherhood took just £86!
Moon. Initially Sony Pictures Worldwide were due to distribute the film but they specialise in straight to DVD features. Following positive reaction following its Sundance film festival the rights were acquired by Sony Classic Pictures who gave the film a limited release in the US in Cities like New York and LA.

Exchange
Definition: The unintended use of an institution’s media text (i.e. a film) by OTHER PEOPLE who use the film or parts of it to form new texts. What happens to a film, etc. after the public get their hands on it using digital technology. 

Examples:People unconnected to the institution/ film using WEB 2.0 applications such as YOUTUBE, Blogger, Amazon film message boards, TWITTER, Face-Book, discuss the film or edit parts of together to form a new text which the may then put a new soundtrack to and publish on YOUTUBE, etc. When you add a trailer from a site like YouTube on your blog you have been engaging with exchange. Look back to MArk Kermodes video regarding piracy and the new release strategies for films like Ken Loach's "Route Irish" (Loach has reportedly steeled himself for a frosty response from critics and anticipates an underwhelming box office, noting the difficulty he faced securing a distribution deal. Though pragmatic in his view that “people don’t make films to communicate; they make it as a commodity”,an unorthodox release strategy utilising Sky Movies Premier - which will place the film (and by extension, its subject matter) in a wider public sphere than it might otherwise have reached – suggests he hasn’t given up on pedagogy entirely.) or the Jack Ass 3 release on DVD and Sky Box Office.


Vertical and Horizontal Integration
Definition: Absorption into a single firm of several firms involved in all aspects of a product's manufacture from raw materials to distribution.


Example:
Vivendi Universal have integrated film, music, web and distribution technology into the company, including owning big stakes in cables and wires that deliver these services. Therefore they are vertically integrated because they own all the different companies involved in film, from production to distribution to exhibition. They are also horizontally integrated because they have all the expertise for producing media content under one roof – films, TV, magazines, books, music, games thus being able to produce all the related media content for one film under the same roof (see synergy). This is important for the control the institution has over their product/film.


Synergy/Synergies 
Definition: The interaction of two or more agents (institutions/companies) to ensure a larger effect than if they acted independently. This is beneficial for each company through efficiencies in expertise and costs.

 
Examples:
Working Title know how to make films and they have formed a business partnership with Universal, a massive US company, who have the experience and size in the marketplace (cinemas, stores, online, etc.) to distribute them. (They create the marketing campaign to target audiences through posters, trailers, create the film’s website, free previews, television and press interviews featuring “the talent”, drum up press reviews, word of mouth, and determine when a film is released for the best possible audience and the type of release: limited, wide, etc.) Channel Four’s Film 4 and Celador Films(Celador also produce Who Wants to Be A Millionaire and films, too) benefited by pooling their know-how, experience and expertise to jointly produce Slumdog Millionaire. These companies formed a business relationship with France’s Pathe to distribute this film. In the UK Pathe helped create the poster, trailer, website, etc. In the USA the film found another distributor after being nominated for the Oscars.


Viral Marketing

Definition: A marketing technique aiming at reproducing "word of mouth" usually on the internet and through existing social networks. YouTube Video pastiches, trailers, interviews with cast members, the director, writer, etc. You can find interviews of “the talent” trying to gain publicity for your case study films on YouTube. Find some clips from the films we have studied to help you in the exam.
Guerilla MarketingDefinition: The use of unconventional and low cost marketing strategies to raise awareness of a product. The aim is usually to create “buzz” and “word of mouth” around a film. Unusual stunts to gain publicity (P.R.) on the film’s opening weekend, etc.

Examples:
Sasha Baron Cohen created “buzz” before the release of his film “Borat” by holding fake press conferences. The studio also accessed the popularity of YouTube by releasing the first 4 minutes of the movie on YouTube, a week before it’s release, which can then be sent virally across the nation. At a special viewing of “Bruno” Cohen landed on Eminem “butt first” from the roof MTV Awards venue, dressed in as an angel outfit with rents in the rear end.


Media Convergence
Definition 1: Convergence of media occurs when multiple products come together to form one product with the advantages of all of them.

 
Examples:
More and more films are being marketed on the Internet and on mobile phones. You no longer need even to buy the DVDs or CDs as you can download films and music directly to your laptop, Mac or PC. Blue Ray DVDs can carry more features than ordinary DVDs and can be played on HD televisions and in home cinemas for enhanced/cinematic picture quality. You can save films on SKY digital, Free-box digital players, etc. You mobile phone has multiple features and applications. With media and technological convergence this is growing year on year. Play-Stations, X-Boxes and the Wii can can connect with the Internet and you can play video games with multiple players.


Technological ConvergenceDefinition 2: The growing interractive use of digital technology in the film industry and media which enables people to share, consume and produce media that was difficult or impossible just a few years earlier.

Examples:
For instance, the use of new software to add special effects in editing; the use of blue-screen; using new types of digital cameras like the one Danny Boyle used in “Slumdog Millionaire” (The Silicon Imaging Camera to shoot high quality film in tight spaces); you can use the Internet to download a film rather than go see it in the cinema; you can watch it on YouTube; you can use special editing programs like Final Cut Pro to edit bits of a film, give it new soundtrack and upload it on YouTube; you can produce illegal, pirate copies on DVDs from downloads and by converting the film’s format; you can buy Blue Ray DVDs with greater compression which allows superior viewing and more features on the DVD; distributors can use digital software to create high concept posters; cinemas can download films to their projection screens and do not have to depend on a van dropping off the film! The is also the Digital Screen Network. There are tons of ways in which technological convergence affects the production, distribution, exhibition and exchange by prosumers. ( A prosumer is someone who not only consumes (watches films) but also writes about them the Net, blogs and make films out of them, often uploading them on sites like YouTube, etc.

A Mainstream Film

Definition: A high budget film that would appeal to most segments of an audience: the young, boys, girls, teenagers, young people, the middle aged, older people, the various classes in society. Distributors often spend as much or more than the film cost to make when distributing mainstream films that are given wide or universal releases.


Example:The Boat That Rocked was a mainstream idea and was given the mainstream treatment on wide release. The film flopped at the UK box office on release ( and has not done too well since mid November 2009 on release in the USA. This was mostly because of its poor reviews, particularly from “Time-Out”. However, when young and older audiences see the DVD they generally like the film because of its uplifting storyline and the well-chosen soundtrack.


Art House Films

Definition: A low budget independent film that would mostly appeal to an educated, higher class audience who follow unusual genres or like cult directors that few people have heard of. Therefore it is usually aimed at a niche market. Foreign films often come under this category.


Examples:
The low budget film, Once (2007) which found a specialised, boutique distributor in Fox Searchlight fits this label. (FOX the mainstream company usually distributes big budget film and blockbusters); So does “Juno” from 2008 which began as a low budget film about teenage pregnancy that the big studios thought too risky to touch – but it found popularity through its touching storyline, engaging music and its Oscar nomination for best script. Like “Slumdog Millionaire” the film crossed over between art-house cinemas and audiences to mainstream ones because of the recognition it received from Canadian film festivals and award ceremonies like Britain’s BAFTAS and the Hollywood’s Oscars.

Ratings bodies BBFC - The British Board of Film ClassificationHow your institutions films are rated will affect audiences in so far as WHO can see them. Remember that sex scenes, offensive language, excessive violence, the use of profanity, etc. can affect the rating and certificate the film receives and therefore affect

This is a two shot angle from the movie Juno.

This is a point of view shot from the Film Cloverfield.

This is a close up from the TV drama Lost

This is a medium camera shot from the film The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas.

This is an ebstablishing shot from Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone

This is a long shot camera angle from the movie Superbad.