Independent films


Independent Films


conventions of an indie film:

  • Unknown actors
  • Lower budget
  • Niche target audience
  • More thought-provoking
  • Active audience
  • Distribute locally and at film festivals
  • Filmed in small locations, not high-budget film studios
  • More creative freedom
  • Work with other companies ( Horizontal Integration)

 

Examples of indie film:

The Whale 2022

The Breakfast Club 1985

Winnie The Pooh 2023

Submarine 2010

NightCrawler 2014

Ghost World 2001

Nomadland 2020

Saw 2004

An Independent film is one made outside of the Hollywood studio system.


The big six- create blockbusters/ big films

-Paramount

-Warner Brothers-20th century Fox

-Universal 

-Columbia

-Walt Disney


BAIT- case study

  • released in august 2019
  • 'no- budget film'- no exact budget was given
  • directed by Mark Jenkin and initially was recorded without sound- this was added in post-production
  • Jenkin also recorded and wrote the score (soundtrack)


Which distributor picked up Bait in the UK?

  • BFI ( British Film Institute ) take the film to 23 cinemas
Where did they see it initially?
  • Berlin film festival
What was the marketing strategy/ How did Jenkin contribute to this?
  • The marketing strategy consisted mostly of the director going to as many screenings in person to introduce the film and answer questions
What did the film make on the opening weekend?
  • £48,400
What was the film's gross at the time of publication?
  • £264,000
List some specifications:
  • black&white
  • shot on 16mm lens
  • hand processed - film reel not digital
  • Director created the music score( playlist) and edited it in post-production


Joint Venture


A joint venture is when one media company works with another to undertake a project mutually beneficial for both parties

Get Out is an example of a joint venture. It was produced by independent companies, whilst universal acquired the rights to distribute the film

Get Out 2017 - case study:
  • Director: Jordan Peele
  • Stars: Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams
  • Production companies: Blumhouse, QC, Monkeypaw
  • Distributed by Universal
  • Budget: $4.5 million       Box office: $255.4 million

First look deal:
A First- look deal is any contract containing a clause granting pre-emption right, right of refusal, or right of first offer to another party.
  • They are then given the first opportunity to buy outright, co-own, invest in, licence ect.- something that is newly coming into existence or on the market or after absence such as intellectual property (manuscript, business idea, invention) or real property

Cross media Promotion

Advantages (Blumhouse, Monkey Paw and Universal) working in synergy 

Disadvantages  

  • - Great for marketing

  • - Wealth of ideas and fresh perspectives 

  • - Funding available to make ideas a reality 

  • - personnel- wider variety of people to work with- different companies have people with different skills

  • -more exposure for the company

 

 

 

 

- Loss of creative control due to influence and dominance of mainstream co. 
- Lose overall profit because mainstream co. playing a role in distribution  
- personnel- more people have to be paid, increase in costs
- Ownership- Less credit per company, conflict of opinions/authority


Exam question june 2018

Explain why an independent company often works with other companies as part of a joint venture. Use examples to support your answer.

One reason why an independent company would work with other companies is because it allows fresh ideas to be brought into the project, because an independent company may have a smaller amount of personnel compared to a larger company such as Blumhouse and Monkeypaw working in synergy with Universal to create the film 'Get Out', Universal provided a variety of ideas for the Distribution and marketing of the film such as getting the film into cinemas. Another reason why an independent company would work with other companies would be an increase in funding for the project, for example Universal Studios is a conglomerate therefore they possess large amounts of profits from previous successful films, thus being able to provide capital for the marketing and distribution for 'Get Out' as the two other independent companies would not be able to provide for the film's distribution the same way Universal Studios can.

4/4 Amazing, good vocab- tamar 

Explain two disadvantages of being an independent company. Use examples to support your answer

One disadvantage of being an independent company 

***


Production Roles/ process

The production process

The 7 stages of production:

  • Pre-production- research, documents, planning
  • Production- the making of any product
  • Post-production- putting together of the product e,g. editing, sound effects
  • Advertising- advertising of the product to make people aware- specific
  • Marketing- the whole process of advertising 
  • Distribution- the methods by which a media product is delivered to the audiences such as a marketing campaign
  • Exhibition- the process of showing and consuming a product e.g. showing a film in the cinemas or a theatre show

Pre-production:

  • after the developememt stage
  • an extremely detailed schedule is produced
  • the screenplay is finalised
  • financing is confirmed
  • crew is hired, cast members (cinematographer, director, actors), costumes, special effects, locations are finalised
  • sets are constructed
  • project is greenlit (permission to move forward with the project)

Production:
  • The shooting/making of the film
  • the timescale varies for every product

Post-production:













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