Ben Kelleher

Tyrannosaur - PlotThe story of Joseph a man plagued by

violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals into turmoil a chance of redemption appears in the form of Hannah, a Christian charity shop worker. Their relationship develops to reveal that Hannah is hiding a secret of her own. After years of domestic violence and rape Hannah snaps and has to rely on Joseph as well.

Tyrannosaur - Financed by…

• Film 4• EM Media• UK Film Council• Screen Yorkshire

for a budget of £1.2 million the same month Hollywood released ‘Rise of the Planet of the Apes’ with a budget of $93 million!

Tyrannosaur - Produced by…

• Warp x - “We want our films to be fuelled by irresistible stories, and extraordinary, even exotic, worlds. To challenge and entertain contemporary British and international cinema audiences.

• The films have to be made digitally and on budgets between £400,000 - £800,000. So we need movies that can be made faster, leaner, lighter - with no excess baggage. That way the films will become profitable much quicker.”

• Inflammable films - Tyrannosaur is their first film.

Tyrannosaur - Tech Details

• Shot on Digital

• Shot on DSLR

• English cast and crew

• English subject

• Genre - Social realist

• Hard hitting drama

Tyrannosaur - Distributed by…• Many different companies• In the UK: Optimum releasing, on DVD Optimum

Home Entertainment (now known as Studio Canal owned by French company Canal+ owned by Vivendi (a major conglomerate) who have a large stake in US film production but no longer own a studio).

• In the US: Strand Releasing - An art house distributor

• Digital distribution on itunes, lovefilm, Blu-ray.

Tyrannosaur - Marketing

• Posters.

• Trailers.

• A lot of film festival promotion.

• Empire magazine podcast.

• No featurettes or TV spots.

• No major stars to sell it.

• Niche audience. Cinephiles over the age of 25.

Tyrannosaur - Exhibition

• Opened on 5 screens in the US• Film festivals - Toronto and Sundance, amongst

others.• Limited release - They knew it wouldn’t do well

in cinemas and the money to be made was through downloads and dvd sales.

• Digital distribution meaning exhibition was a lot cheaper. Instead of spending £1000 for each printed reel of film (a film usually has around 4 -5 reels).

Tyrannosaur - Profit

• Only a few thousand at the cinemas.• Opening Weekend• $7,635 (USA) (20 November 2011) (5 Screens)

Gross

• $22,088 (USA) (11 March 2012)$21,062 (USA) (4 March 2012)$19,998 (USA) (12 February 2012)$19,483 (USA) (5 February 2012)$18,525 (USA) (22 January 2012)$17,219 (USA) (8 January 2012)$15,085 (USA) (11 December 2011)$13,454 (USA) (4 December 2011)$7,635 (USA) (20 November 2011)£243,252 (UK) (1 January 2012)

Tyrannosaur - Reviews Generally Tyrannosaur has been received well

by critics - this is what the American top critics said:

• This isn't the kind of movie that even has hope enough to contain a message. There is no message, only the reality of these wounded personalities. Roger Ebert - Top critic

• Tyrannosaur is British miserabilism at its most numbingly brutal and blunt. - Melissa Anderson - Village voice

Tyrannosaur - Issues• Horizontal integration• Distributed by a subsidiary (Canal+) of a major conglomerate (Vivendi), therefore money goes back to

them as 50% of cinema sales goes back to the distributor after they have recouped their marketing costs.• A very British style - miserablism! Or social-realism (this is not a film for a mass market) and so many

U.S citizen’s may not have wanted to see the film. What is popular with a U.S audience is period dramas or quaint village dramas reinforcing there stereotypical view of Britain e.g. The King’s Speech.

• With the influx of American films, British people feel the same too and want to see mainstream films, so does David Cameron:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/14/british-film-lord-smith-review-brand-promotion• Only opened in 5 cinemas in the U.S.

• Digital production and distribution has kept costs low, therefore the production companies maybe able to

turn a profit over a longer period of time with dvd and download sales.

• Questions to ponder: Should we make mainstream films in Britain for a British audience? Or should we make culturally significant films?

• If we made mainstream films that sold well abroad, would we be able to make more lower budget films that are culturally significant due to a healthy industry?

Case Study: Black Swan and Fox Searchlight Pictures

PlotDirected by Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan' follows the story of Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter's professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has competition: a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who impresses Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan, who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

Financed by…

Black Swan began development under Protozoa Pictures and

Overnight Productions, the latter financing the film.

Produced by…

Producers:•Ari Handel•Scott Franklin•Mike Medavoy•Arnold Messer•Brian Oliver

Production Companies:•Protozoa Pictures•Phoenix Pictures•Cross Creek Pictures

Black Swan - Tech detailsCamera

•Arriflex 16 SR3, Zeiss Ultra 16 Lenses

•Arriflex 416, Zeiss Ultra 16 Lenses

•Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon L-Series Lenses

•Canon EOS 7D, Canon L-Series Lenses

Laboratory

•DeLuxe, Hollywood (CA), USA (prints)

•Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA

•Technicolor, New York (NY), USA (digital intermediate)

Film length (metres)

•2946 m

Film negative format (mm/video inches)•16 mm (Fuji Eterna Vivid 160T 8643, Eterna Vivid 500T 8647)•Digital

Cinematographic process•Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format)•HDTV (1080p/24) (source format) (some scenes)•Super 16 (source format)

Printed film format•35 mm (anamorphic) (blow-up) (Fuji Eterna-CP 3513DI)•D-Cinema

Aspect ratio•2.35 : 1

Distributed by…• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (2010) (worldwide) (all media)

• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through Warner Bros.)

• 20th Century Fox (2011) (world-wide excluding those below) (theatrical)

• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2011) ( only Argentina) (theatrical)

• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2011) ( only Germany) (theatrical)

• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2010) ( only USA) (theatrical)

• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2010) ( only United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)

• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (2011) ( only Spain) (theatrical)

• Odeon (2011) (only Greece) (theatrical)

• Twentieth Century Fox C.I.S. (2011) (only Russia) (theatrical)

• Warner Bros. (2011) (only Netherlands) (theatrical)

• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2011) (World-wide excluding those below) (DVD + Blu-Ray)

• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2011) ( only Spain) (DVD)

• (Castello Lopes Multimédia (2011) ( only Portugal) (all media)

• Film1 (2012) (only Netherlands) ( only TV)

• Odeon (2011) (only Greece) (DVD + Blu-ray)

• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2011) (only Germany) (DVD)• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2011) (only Netherlands) (DVD + Blu-Ray)

Main distributor

Marketing

• Posters

• Trailers

• Online

• Advertising and cross-promotions; within tv, websites, apps etc.

• Media and Publicity; specifically from awards buzz and critical acclaim.

Black Swan raises the bar with striking and beautiful set of posters - The Guardian

The marketing creators said they were ‘overwhelmed’ with the response to the posters that they created, bringing in a mass audience after just trying to appeal to niche.

Exhibition

• Costing an estimated $13,000,000 (with further 50% expected to be spent on marketing) it was relatively small budget and independent film, under Fox Searchlight Pictures.

• But was exhibited world-wide in cinemas, then online and available in different forms or hard copy, and has so far made a gross profit of $329,398,046 world-wide.

SynergyFox Searchlight worked within its conglomerate and Warner Bros and Twentieth Century Fox, among others, in order to promote the film.

They worked specifically on merchandising; within their own retail units. Making posters available to buy, and promoting film branded clothing, thus promoting features of the film and attracting people to the soundtrack to the film (created with the production company’s record label), among many other different items to buy; in order to promote the film, which overall attracts people to the film.

And also talking about the film through other media outlets, eg. Reviews on tv shows, papers or/and online.

Reviews/Awards

Black Swan received huge critical acclaim, being applauded by many. The film received five Academy Award nominations and Portman won the Best Actress award for the film, as well as many other Best Actress awards in several guilds and festivals, while Aronofsky was nominated for Best Director. In addition, the film itself received a nomination for Best Picture.

‘An extraordinary, intoxicating movie. Its hard, twisted edges may turn off some, but there’s no faulting either Aronofsky’s technical mastery or Portman’s flawless performance.’ – Empire Magazine

‘A beautiful and nightmarish masterpiece’ – IMdB

‘Natalie Portman excels in this gripping ballet psychodrama from Darren Aronofsky. Peter Bradshaw applauds a film about fear, love and hatred.’ – Guardian

IssuesAmy Westcott is credited as the costume designer and received several award nominations. But questions were asked over who designed some of the costumes, eventually Westcott responded, stating that in all only 7 costumes, among them the black and white swan, had been created in a collaboration between Rodarte; costume design company, Westcott, and Aronofsky.

ABT dancer Sarah Lane served as a "dance double" for Portman in the film, so people asked questions about wherever her performace could be accredited. But Portman did star in the majority of the scenes, with Benjamin Millepied and Aronofsky defending her, giving examples of her ballet training as a child and intense year-long training for the film beforehand.

But overall the film was met with huge critical acclaim, and there were no major issues.

Black Swan and Tyrannosaur comparison

• The production values between the two was hugely different, with Tyrannosaur being extremely low budget, and Black Swan a bigger budget, but still relatively small.

• Tyrannosaur was filmed digitally and Black Swan on film.

• Black Swan was allowed massive synergy and convergence; with a soundtrack and posters, etc., through Fox Searchlight’s many sources, whereas Tyrannosaur had to market individually, with mainly posters, etc., through Warp X. The films could both be exhibited worldwide, and distributed through many sources, but Black Swan has a bigger range of outlets, so to allow for further distribution.

DEBATES• MEDIA COMPANIES ARE BLAMED AS MEDIA

CONCENTRATION LEADS TO MONOPOLY IN THE MARKET

• SPONSORS AND ADVERTISERS MORE IMPORTANT THAN VOICE OF THE MASSES

• LACK OF HEALTHY MARKET COMPETITION • PEOPLE HAVE LESS DIVERSE OPTIONS• INCREASED CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP

CAN LEAD TO THE CENSORSHIP OF A WIDE RANGE OF CRITICAL THOUGHT.

• HENCE SLOW MODERNIZATION AND INCREASE IN PRICES

• DOES NOT SERVE PUBLIC INTEREST• CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA CONGLOMERATES IN US

HAS LED TO AMERICANIZATION

COUNTER VIEW• MEDIA COMPANIES STATE THAT IT LEADS TO

BETTER COMPETITIVENESS BETWEEN GIANT MEDIA CONGLOMERATES

• REDUCED COST OF OPERATIONS DUE TO CONSOLIDATION OF SOME FUNCTIONS

• MORE SEGMENTED OR DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS AND SERVICES TO RESPOND TO A WIDER VARIETY OF DEMANDS BETTER

• INTERNET HAS BECOME A NEW SOURCE OF AQUIRING INFORMATION. THROUGH BLOGS, FORUMS.

• THANKS TO THIS TREND GOOGLE AND YAHOO ARE ALSO MEDIA GIANTS IN THE MAKING.

Piracy

• http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/14029865

• Major issues facing British Film Makers

•According to King's Speech director, Tom Hooper, there has been a revolution in British film making due to the rise in digital technology. When he was younger digital technology was not available so he had to use film and could not afford to add sound so his films were silent. Today gadgets like iPhones etc have the ability to film in HD with sound so everyone has the opportunity to make a film. Digital is a lot cheaper way of film making however there hasn't been a reduced cost of marketing a film to the public. E.g. from The King's Speech budget of $15 million dollars it takes $25/30 million has to be spent marketing it to the US. Tom Hooper says that there is still a restriction to who can make a film that will reach everyone because even if you manage to make a film for nothing you still have to have millions of dollars to market it.

So despite the revolution the digital technology makes to the actual production of the film it has had little impact to the cost. He also mentions that the use of big name stars is a large part of the appeal to films and that also is very expensive. So although the digital revolution has change and given the British film industry opportunities film makers are still restricted by costs of marketing and distribution, and also the ability to make a film with wide appeal with blockbuster stars.

RECAPWrite down the key term on one side and the definition on the

back.

• Production

• Subsidiary

• Distribution

• Marketing

• Exhibition

• Vertical Integration

• Co-Production

• Synergy

• Niche market

• Conglomerates

• Exchange