Harry Potter

Film Four Questions

1. What is Film4's remit (its reason and purpose for being)?

Film 4 is a production house and a channel that produces and broadcasts alternative films. They offer a distinctive range of mainstream and independent films; 'Alternative, and challenging films.' Their aim is to be 'committed to enhancing the British film making industry by nurturing and funding new talent.'

2. What types of films are green-lighted by Film4? Give examples of films and genres.

Film 4's biggest films to date are; 'Slumdog Millionaire' a British drama about a young Indian man from he slums of Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' the movie combines elements of crime and adventure, it is an alternative film. Also '127 Hours' which is a biographical survival drama film about a canyoneer that becomes trapped by a boulder in an isolated slot canyon, and was eventually forced to amputate his own arm in order to set people free, this would also be classed as an alternative story. And also 'The Inbetweeners movie' which is a British comedy film based on the E4 series. The film is about four teenage lads going on a lads holiday to Crete after their final year at school together.

3. Why is Tessa Ross regarded as "the mother of British film-making" and therefore instrumental for Film4's success?
Tessa Ross is a 47 year old woman who is the controller of Film Four. She has become like a mother figure to Britain's film industry, nurturing new talent and nursing more established directors who might be feeling unloved. She is not uncomfortable with being seen in a maternal role. "I'd like that, I think that's the right way, isn't it?" she says. "It's all about nurturing. This should be a very cosy place, it should be the safe place. If you can't make mistakes here at home, where can you?" Her hard work and pioneering achievements were recognized when Slumdog Millionaire won all of it's awards.  Tessa Ross, more than anyone else, was responsible for making this remarkable film project happen. It was Ross who brought all the ingredients together and had the vision to imagine what might result: the originality of Vikas Swarup's novel Q&A.

4. How much is Film4's yearly budget and how much of it did "Slumdog Millionaire take up? ( Be careful with this one as co-productions, UK Lottery money and deals with Pathe, etc. helps make Film4's budget stretch further!)
Film Fours annual budget is £15m, Slumdog millionaire cost them???

5. Why does Film4 form partnerships with other companies/individuals?
Film Four forms parternerships with other companies/individuals in order to gain funding through synergy, spreading the cost of making a film as they have a very low budget. A perfect example of this was when Film Four made 'Slumdog Millionaire' where Film 4 worked along side with Celador Films (an independent production company) and Warner Bros in order to make the film.

6. What is the future for Film4 - budget and film-wise?If this question would've been asked 5 years ago, then I would've said bleak. However due to the recent success of films such as The Inbetweeners, Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, Film Four have received a slight financial boost, and they have proven to the film industry that they can make multi-national successful films. All that needs to happen now, is for one very wealthy British entrepreneur to take a risk and invest in the British film industry to really get the ball rolling. Richard Branson would be the perfect man to do so. 

Mr smith film 4 notes

Film 4

• The controller of film 4 is a women called Tessa Ross.
• Film 4 is a production house and a channel that produces and broadcasts alternative films.
• By 2006 Film four was struggling. Its business model of pay TV on a subscription basis wasn't working. Therefore in the same year, Film Four moved from being a pay T.V channel to being free-to-air, allowing more free access to home-grown and blockbuster films.
• Film Four's business objective is to be 'committed to enhancing the British film making industry by nurturing and funding new talent.'
• They offer a distinctive range of mainstream and independent films; 'Alternative, and challenging films.' 
• Channel 4 own film 4, and channel 4 had a budget rise of 50% in 2011 to £15m per year, guaranteed for the next five years. This increased budget will provide the British film industry with a financial boost, in accordance to the government's decision to close the UK film council.

Production

• Makes round 6 films a year.
• Set up a low-budget studio with the film council and distributors optimum: wrap X (digital production house).
• Slumdog  millionaire was the most successful film four film; it cost £15m to make and achieved a market revenue of £243m. One unique aspect of the film during it's filming stage was that they used the S1-2k camera, which is a handheld digital camera, they used this camera to keep the filming costs relatively low.
• Another film that film four have made is '127 hours' this film was cheap to make and also used the S1-2k camera. 4 companies came together and used synergy in order to make the film.
• Also Film four made The Inbetweeners movie, this is the most successful british comedy film of all time, and sold a triumphant 1 million DVD's in the first 5 days of it's release.

5+5=1

Sentences

• In 2001 the company was doing very poorly.
• In 2006 the channel moved from pay T.V to free.
• Film 4 is owned by channel 4.
• Inbetweeners is the most successful british comedy film of all time, - largest growth profit.
• Film Four is owned by Tessa Ross

Words

• 2001
• 2006
• 4
• Inbetweeners
• Tyrannosaurus rex

1 Word

• Alternative

Media convergence and synergy

How is Media Convergence important for audiences and Institutions?

In today’s film industry the importance of media convergence is huge. The film industry relies on media convergence when marketing, distributing and exhibiting a film, and especially more recently, making an audience aware of what is happening at the production stage of filming. During this essay I will be relating the importance of media convergence for audiences and institutions to the films ‘Kick Ass’ and ‘The king’s speech.'

During the production stage of the film ‘Kick Ass’ media convergence was used very effectively. For example a series of posters presenting the individual characters were released to gain the audiences interest, on these posters were URL addresses which sent you to the official kick ass website, where there was further posters, games and information about the film, this gave the audience a feeling that they had gained a secret insight in to the film and what it was going to be about. This brought the audiences attention to the website where the makers of kick ass proceeded to upload pre-release trailers, behind the scene videos, short clips of the film and games to bring in a high amount of publicity from the audiences. Media convergence was important for 'Kick Ass' as it was made by British producers and some scenes were filmed in the UK, for example: the opening scene with Nicholas Cage in was filmed in a sewage plant in East London, but the films main audience would be America. In order to achieve a film that appealed mainly to Americans, the British producers had to add an aspect of American heritage to the film, they did this by; hiring well known American actors such as Nicholas Cage, also they used Elstree studios in Heartfordshire in the UK, but used huge screens that allowed them to manipulate the background in order to make it look like the film was being filmed in America. This worked successfully and Kick ass did well not only in the US but worldwide, achieving a worldwide box office revenue of over $96,000,000.

Media convergence Is vital for small film production companies, as it allows them to team up with other stakeholders and companies in order to make a film which would otherwise be out of their budget. A prime example of this is during the production of 'The kings speech' where the Weinstein Company gained one million pounds funding from the UK film council, this extended the films budget and provided them with the finance to create a better film, the UK film council deserve a lot of credit for the success of 'The Kings Speech.'

The Weinstein company being an American organisation was very helpful when producing the film using media convergence. The company were aware of how fixated Americans are on the culture of British heritage and the capitalised on this, making a film that combined authenticity and regal opulence with the scruffy depression era of London. The film portrayed an idealistic view of the British royalty's way of life.

This became a major selling point to the Americans. The makers created a website that informed the audience about the progress of the film during the production stage. Also there were a number of posters released of the main characters in the film, the King (Colin Firth) and 'Lionel' (Geoffrey Rush). The posters were designed in the style of the 'Keep calm and carry on' world war two posters, they pictured the King and Lionel dressed in royal clothing and surrounded by regal fonts. This was a clever design as it further endorsed the traditional English heritage of the film and appealed to the American and worldwide audiences. This media convergence was vital in the advertising of the film in order for it to appeal to the worldwide audience and 'The Kings Speech' did this very successfully, from a budget of just eight million pounds the film generated a phenomenal box office revenue of over two hundred and sixty million pounds.

Media convergence is vital during all stages of film production, marketing and editing. Media convergence can be hugely beneficial for Institutions, as it allows them to team up with other stakeholders and companies in order to make a film which would otherwise be out of their budget. Also media convergence can be massively beneficial for the Audiences, as it allows them to gain an insight to the film during it's production  and marketing stages, creating an interest in the film for the audience. Without the use of this it would be very difficult to make a successful film.