1) What was the budget for Chicken?
£110,000
2) How did Joe Stephenson end up raising the money to make the film?
Asking for money from family members and the rich friends of his parents
3) How does the Chicken budget compare to a Hollywood-funded British blockbuster such as Spectre or Paddington 2?
Chicken is a microbudget funded British film whereas Spectre is a blockbuster film with lots of Hollywood funded money.
4) Joe Stephenson tried to secure funding from organisations that help low-budget filmmakers. What is the BFI Film Fund and how does it contribute to the British film industry?
This helps up and coming film producers to fund their projects that are unable to find sufficient funds for their film.
5) Why do you think Chicken failed to secure funding from the BFI Film Fund?
Because it was an abstract film, the debate over art vs commerce came into full effect.
Production
1) What difficulties did the film run into during production?
Difficulties with weather (rain)
2) How many days did the film take to shoot?
19
3) What scenes were particularly difficult for Joe Stephenson to film?
Outdoor scenes, lighting issues were prominent.
Distribution
1) Why did the film fail to secure a distribution deal when first made in 2014?
Small producer, no stars to market the film, artistic value dominating over profit goals.
2) What film festivals did Chicken feature at between 2014-2016?
New Hampshire, Edinburgh, Giffoni
3) Why are film festivals an effective way for a low-budget film to secure a distribution deal?
Lots of critics see the film and are more likely to develop a positive opinion on it.
4) When was Chicken released in cinemas in the UK?
May 2016
5) Why do you think film subscription service MUBI chose the film to feature on the service?
MUBI agrees with the art-house aspect of Chicken
6) Why was Film4 a good choice to give the film its UK television premiere?
Film4 premieres a lot of new and artistic movies, it is also an alternative broadcaster and not someone like Sky or ITV, these companies take a lot of money and give very little back.
7) When will the film be released on iTunes and other video-on-demand services in the USA and Canada?
Early 2018
Promotion
Note: some of these pages will be blocked in school - you will need to complete those particular questions at home.
1) What does the trailer suggest regarding genre and the potential audience pleasures of Chicken?
The genre could be seen as art-house and the audience could be a niche and specialised audience. The audience would value art over a film's ability to make profit.
The audience seems to be a sort of art-house appreciating and mature/niche audience.
2) What synergy can you find between the trailer and other traditional marketing methods such as the film poster?
The film was a micro budget film and the marketing strategy was not heavily funded so they needed to get a film festival circuit to make sure they had critical acclaim - this simple and cheap market approach enforces the view that this is meant for an art-house audience.
3) Why are reviews from industry figures such as Mark Kermode so important to a film's success?
He is highly revered by the film world as he is the best and most well known BBC film critic, he has influence and the ability to make small films well known in a bigger and more profitable field.
It ensures audiences that this is a film that is highly revered. This encompasses the use of star power to market the film.
4) How does the Chicken Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?
It is a free social media account which is good due to a tight budget. The account gets a lot of reach as Twitter has the most reach of any social platform.
5) Who does the Twitter account re-tweet? How does this help to promote the film?
The account retweets critical reviews and expert opinions that praise the film, this creates a synthetic sense of star power. The account retweets accounts such as BFI, Amazon Prime and various esteemed film critics.
6) How does the Chicken Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film?
They post little videos of the film and also screenshots from certain, gripping scenes. The account also posted an interview with Sir Ian Mckellen ahead of the Film4 premiere in 2017, this creates hype and interest in the film.
7) What pages are liked by the Chicken Facebook page? What does this tell you about the film and potential target audience?
They are liked by many film critics, this shows that this filom is well liked among those who value art over commercial potential.
8) Go to the website of the B Good Picture Company. What does the homepage say and what other films have they produced or are in production currently?
"Films that get people talking, make people think, make people care." They have made: In Love With, Chicken, Random Acts; The Castle and Mckellen: Playing the part.
9) Now go to the B Good Picture Company's website page for Chicken. How does this page promote Chicken specifically?
It describes Chicken as 'critically acclaimed' and that makes the 'art house' target audience think that thisis THE film for them. It includes ideas and clues that this is also an art house film which makes the reader switch from passive to active.
10) Go to the B Good Picture Company YouTube channel. What videos feature on the channel? How do they help to promote Chicken?
They release little snippets of Chicken to get the reader to invest their interest. This comes with titles such as 'I Was Happy' to get the audience to emotionally connect with Richard.
Final reading: Media Magazine - the appeal of arthouse cinema
Complete the following tasks to improve your understanding of arthouse film and the possible audience pleasures that the genre offers:
Read Beyond Hollywood: Reading Arthouse Cinema. This is in MM45 on page 24 - go to our Media Magazine archive to find the article.
1) Summarise the article in 50 words.
This article is explaining the effect, purpose and origin of art house. It describes art house as artistic rather than commercial in character. 4.4% of the British film revenue in 2011 came from foreign language films, otherwise known as 'art house'.they are films that are purposelydifficult to understand or ‘read’.
2) What are some of the suggested audience pleasures for arthouse film?
It comes from the film being difficult to understand or having many different and difficult meanings.
3) Why do some audiences struggle with arthouse film? Refer to some media theory here (there are some important media theories discussed in the article itself).
People who are passive viewers and fall under the 'hypodermic needle' model think that films are just for enjoyment and bear no complexity with them. Passive viewers are unlikely to enjoy art house films as they are there simply for entertainment.
4) To what extent is arthouse film only for the middle classes and older audiences? Why might this be the case?
C1 or C2 citizens may be only suited to films that entertain them and have a relatively simple plot-line or just doesn't have any complexity what so ever. People that are middle class and have an expanded and active viewing mindset are more liley to understand the various grave topics art house can sometimes deal with.
5) What type of audience would be interested in Chicken?
An active audience with a capacity to sympathise with a protagonist should be good. They need to be able to comprehend the unfair treatment that Richard receives but should be able to see the development in character in ways of increasing violence.
No comments:
Post a Comment