Arthouse Film Institution Research

Production: Independent film studios

Look back at the five films you have analysed for your existing product research. Find which studios made them – e.g. Film Four, Studio Canal, BFI, BBC Films etc.

Se7en - New Line Cinema

Kill Bill - Miramax Films

Donnie Darko - Pandora Cinema, Newmarket Films

Little Miss Sunshine - Fox Searchlight Pictures

What other films do these studios produce? Can you find any any other independent, arthouse or low-budget examples?

New Line Cinema:

-'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1974)

-'A Nightmare on Elm Street' (1984)

-The 'Final Destination' franchise (2000-2011)

-'The Conjuring' + 'Annabelle' (2013 + 2014)

Miramax Films:

-'Reservoir Dogs' (1992)

-'Three Colours: Blue' (1993)

-'Pulp Fiction' (1994)

-'Trainspotting' (1996)

-'Amelie' (2001)

-'City of God' (2002)

-'No Country for Old Men' (2007)

Newmarket Films:

-'The Usual Suspects' (1995)

-'Cruel Intentions' (1999)

-'Memento' (2000)

Fox Searchlight Pictures:

-'Waking Ned' (1998)

-'One Hour Photo' (2002)

-'28 Days Later' (2003)

-'Napolean Dynamite' (2004)

-'Confetti' (2006)

-'Juno' (2007)

-'Slumdog Millionaire' (2008)

-'Black Swan' (2010)

-'The Grand Budapest Hotel' (2014)

-'Brooklyn' (2015)

-'Me, Earl and the Dying Girl' (2015)

Do the studios have any notable successes? What is the most successful low-budget or independent film the studio has released?

These studios do have notable successes. A good example is that it's clear that Little Miss Sunshine of Fox Searchlight Pictures was extremely successful in that its budget was just $8 million and yet it managed to make a profit of $100.5 million.

Distribution: Independent film distributors

Now research the distributors for each of the arthouse films you have analysed for your existing product research. Who distributed each film in the UK?

Se7en - David Fincher (1995) - Entertainment Film Distributors

Kill Bill - Quentin Tarantino (2003) - Buena Vista International

Donnie Darko - Richard Kelly (2001) - Metrodome Distribution

Little Miss Sunshine - Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris (2006) - Twentieth Century Fox Film Company

How many cinemas did each film open in?

Se7en - According to Wikipedia, it was released in the US on 22nd September 1995 in 2,441 cinemas where it grossed $13.9 million on its opening weekend.

Kill Bill - According to Wikipedia, it was released in both the US and Canada on 10th October 2003 in 3,102 cinemas, grossing $22 million on its opening weekend.

Donnie Darko - Interestingly, during its first weekend, it was only screened in 58 cinemas in the US, earning just $110,494. It is speculated that this may have resulted from the fact that the film was released shortly after the 9/11 attacks.

Little Miss Sunshine - Upon initial release, it was only released in seven cinemas in the US, earning an impressive $498,796. The largest number of US cinemas it appeared in was 1,602.

How much money did each film make? Did it make a profit against the budget?

Se7en

Budget: $33 million

Box Office: $327.3 million

Kill Bill

Budget: $30 million

Box Office: $180.9 million

Donnie Darko

Budget: $4.5 million

Box Office: $7.3 million

Little Miss Sunshine

Budget: $8 million

Box Office: $100.5 million

Research Curzon Artificial Eye. Who are they and what do they do?

Curzon Artificial Eye is a British film distributor that specialises in arthouse, foreign and independent films.

Look at the Curzon Artficial Eye YouTube channel. Watch three trailers for recent or upcoming independent films and identify something you can learn from each film to use in your own film production.

In this trailer for 'The Unknown Girl' I liked the use of withholding information from the audience, for example, we never actually see the dead girl who is being talked about throughout the trailer, despite the main character Jenny showing numerous people pictures of her, and more specifically, a moment towards the end of the trailer when we see a car pull in front of the main character's car and hear it crash but we aren't shown anything else.

From this trailer for 'After Love', I could try and incorporate a variety of camera angles in my production to try and communicate the mood of a scene just like we see in the trailer. For example, during the brief scene when the main female character has friends over for dinner, she is in none of the same shots as her husband which could emphasise their romantic separation so maybe this is something I could try and replicate in my own work.

For me personally, I love how in film, non-diegetic music can combine with editing to create the desired atmosphere and I think this trailer for 'The Handmaiden' does that very effectively, especially towards the end when the pace of the editing begins to quicken and the music reaches a dramatic crescendo. I think with certain scenes from my production in mind, I could use this same strategy to create tension and other feelings throughout the film.

Exhibition: Arthouse cinemas

Find some London-based arthouse cinemas and research the following:

What is the name of the cinema? Where is it?

I researched the Electric Cinema which is located on Portobello Road in Notting Hill.

What type of films do they show? What films are on this week? How do their programmes differ from the major cinema chains like Vue?

At the moment, 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2' is being shown every day until the 11th May. This doesn't differ hugely from the films that are most likely currently being shown at major cinema chains but there are films being shown over the next few weeks that aren't currently being shown at mainstream cinemas e.g. 'Rules Don't Apply' and 'The Levelling'.

What type of audience attends this kind of arthouse cinemas? Are there any clues on the website regarding the target audience? How can you tell?

I think that the vast majority of an arthouse cinema audience would definitely be people who have an avid interest and appreciation for arthouse film and art in general and enjoy watching independent, niche films. Something that could be an indicator of this on the Electric Cinema website is that where it advertises the screenings of the conventionally arthouse films, most of them appear to only be available to members which could imply that they know that the people that are going to be members are the people that have a genuine interest in the arthouse genre.

A case study in independent film production: Film London and Microwave Film

What is Film London and why does it exist?

Film London is London's film and media agency. Its aims are to: grow the film industry in London, ensure the film culture in London is maintained and use film to promote the city of London to the world.

What is the purpose of Microwave Film?

Microwave Film funds the films made by Film London but as well as that, it aims to provide mentoring support to all of the shortlisted upcoming projects, and then providing financial aid once the projects have been distributed.

What is the London Calling project for Film London and how does it encourage independent filmmaking?

London Calling is Film London's annual short film scheme which supports and helps London's most budding filmmakers reach their full filmmaking potential while providing financial support and professional training and mentoring.

BBFC Institution Research

1) Research the BBFC: what is the institution responsible for? How is it funded? What link does it have to government?
The British Board of Film Classifications (BBFC) is an independent company that allocates age ratings to films before being released in the UK. According to the BBFC official website it is a "non-governmental body" that gets its income "solely from the from the fees it charges for its services" which is based on the running time of the films they release.

2) Read this BBFC guide to how films are rated. Summarise the process in 50 words.
One of the main things that the BBFC do is analyse the films they are rating just to see what the narrative is/who the characters are and how frequent things like strong language, violence, sex/nudity, drugs, threat are in the film and at what points they occur during the film. Sometimes, film content can be deemed too inappropriate for the BBFC to assign a rating so they are sent to the distributors who ultimately have final say over whether the film is released or not.

3) Read this BBFC outline of the issues faced when classifying a film. Summarise the debate in 50 words.
The main argument had in the classifying process is whether films should have the freedom to include whatever content they want (provided it stays within the law) without worrying about what age group it should be limited to or whether by doing that, they risk damaging the "moral development" of young children if they happen to be exposed to it.

4) Read this BBFC section on controversial decisions. Why did The Dark Knight generate a large amount of media coverage regarding its certificate? Do you agree with the 12A certificate The Dark Knight was awarded?
The main reason The Dark Knight generated a large amount of media coverage was that a large proportion of the public deemed a 12A certificate to be too low a rating due to the amount of violence that features in the film and parents were worried that it could be too distressing for 12-14 year olds to watch. However, an argument against this that I personally agree with is that despite hundreds of complaints from members of the public, examiners said that all the violence in The Dark Knight adheres to the BBFC Guidelines for a 12A rating which states that "violence must not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood".

5) What are the guidelines for a 15 certificate?
Discrimination: A film with a 15 certificate may make reference to homophobic, racist or other discriminatory themes/language, however it should not encourage or support such behaviour.

Drugs: There may be some reference to or display of drug-taking but similarly to discrimination it should never promote or advocate drug misuse.

Imitable behaviour: Any 15 rated film that exhibits any type of imitable behaviour e.g. suicide, self-harm should not (according to the BBFC website) "dwell on detail which could be copied", in simpler terms, they should not show any details of the behaviour that could make copying it easier.

Language: Generally, very strong language is permitted in a 15 rated film, depending on the context in which it is used. In order to determine whether a film should receive a 15 certificate, the BBFC usually consider the frequency of strong language, the people using it and the manner it is used in.

Nudity: In a film with a 15 certificate, there are generally no restrictions on nudity if the context is non-sexual. They may permit some nudity in a sexual context, provided they don't exhibit it in great detail.

Sex: Similarly to nudity, sexual behaviour can be shown but without strong detail. However, any references to sex in the film may be much stronger than the activity itself but any references that are deemed too strong will probably be unacceptable.

6) The BBFC website offers an explanation of every classification it makes and detailed case studies on selected titles. Choose one 15-rated film from the BBFC case studies section and summarise the classification the film was given and why. 
Some could argue that Hot Fuzz's 15 certificate was the wrong decision due to the fact that the BBFC's guidelines state that "there should be no emphasis on injuries or blood", yet there are several moments in the film that go against that guideline. However, the BBFC argue that because these moments are usually accompanied by humorous dialogue, it essentially prevents the distressing atmosphere that would have existed, were the violence not comically exaggerated. Therefore they felt it was not necessary to raise the certificate to anything higher than a 15.
As well as this, the BBFC website mentions that Hot Fuzz incorporates two uses of what could be considered the strongest language, which ordinarily would immediately assign an 18 certificate to a film. However, similarly to the violence in the film, the two uses of this particular word are seen in quite laid back, humorous situations and neither use is with malicious intent. One could also argue that the second usage of the word could have more positive than negative effects as the character that uses it is using it to express his disapproval of drug-dealing. 
The BBFC concluded that due to the fact that the film is generally funny throughout and incorporates this humour to accompany the elements that individually would warrant an 18 certificate, that leaving it as a 15 was the right decision.

Film Pitch

Title and tagline:
Out of Mind

Topic from brief (e.g. Modern-noir, Urban Life etc.):
The Secret

Genre (and sub-genre if applicable):
Mystery, psychological thriller, science fiction

Logline – one sentence that sums up the film and hooks people in (25 words or fewer):
Imagine waking up one day to discover you are no longer a memory of the people you loved. Meet Natalie.  

Other successful films that are similar to yours:
The Bourne Identity, The Vow, 28 Days Later

Narrative structure for full 30-minute film – what happens and in what order (max 100 words):
After being involved in a serious car accident resulting in her being in a coma, Natalie wakes up to discover that everyone she knows has forgotten her. She is first made aware of this when she goes home and her father denies having any memory of her. Distressed and confused she spends the night in a park where she sees her two best friends who also deny ever knowing her. She is then approached by a young man who claims to know who she is and that he is the same as her. They form a close friendship and he introduces her to other people who appear to have experienced the same thing as Natalie. The remainder of the film consists of the two of them becoming closer in their friendship until right at the end where they are both involved in an accident together, causing them to forget each other.

Main protagonist, their desires, the conflicts they encounter etc.:
Our main protagonist is Natalie and once she's realised she's been forgotten her desire is to find out why.

Other characters and their role/audience appeal:
Demi & Tim - Natalie's best friends who we see deny ever knowing her.
Moses - A stranger who is ironically the only person who knows who Natalie is.
Natalie's father - he also denies ever seeing her before in his life.

Target audience for your film (age, gender, social class, interests etc.):
Age - 15 - 25
Gender - 60:40 female to male ratio.
Social class - Variety of social classes.

Ethnicity - Variety of ethnicities.

Interests - Thrill-seekers, films of similar genres e.g. The Bourne Identity.

The three-minute extract you will make and where it would appear in the film:
We'll be creating the opening three minutes. It'll be from the moment when Natalie wakes up in hospital to when Moses claims to know who she is and why she has gone through what she has.