Film Industry: Chicken case study research

Funding

1) What was the budget for Chicken?

The budget for chicken was £110,000.

2) How did Joe Stephenson end up raising the money to make the film?

It was raised through investments from rich friends and contacts.

3) How does the Chicken budget compare to a Hollywood-funded British blockbuster such as Spectre or Paddington 2?

Chicken wasn't funded by any funding body and was originally taken by a play written by Freddie Machin which ran in Southwark Playhouse. This was a lowkey and rich film with the understanding of British culture. The comparison is that paddington was made through an American funding body and so was spectre and included locations that didn't feature British culture.

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?

The BFI Film fund decided to add it onto open festival screens and that's how they got criticism from it which was positive. They added chicken onto their steaming platform.

5) Why do you think Chicken failed to secure funding from the BFI Film Fund?

They failed to secure funding due to they weren't a big company as they weren't known. 

Production

1) What difficulties did the film run into during production?

They went through whether difficulties which stopped them from filming and actors.

2) How many days did the film take to shoot?

Raining days . 19 days .

3) What scenes were particularly difficult for Joe Stephenson to film?

Scenes in the caravan looked difficult with the harsh conditioned he had live in with rundown inside making it harder for movement inside the caravan. Also scenes shot outside in the cold weathers and dark scenes seemed hard. Distribution

1) Why did the film fail to secure a distribution deal when first made in 2014?

Because the movie wasn't known and not a lot of would've seen it.

2) What film festivals did Chicken feature at between 2014-2016?

Edinburgh, Palm beach, Busan etc. 3) Why are film festivals an effective way for a low-budget film to secure a distribution deal?

Film festivals help lower budget films just like chicken to gain recognition and become world wide which then go onto being recommended by others and spreading over social media or newspapers

4) When was Chicken released in cinemas in the UK?

May 20th 2016.

5) Why do you think film subscription service MUBI chose the film to feature on the service?

Go get more views and reach a wider audience.

6) Why was Film4 a good choice to give the film its UK television premiere?

Because it already had an audience who like that genre.

7) When will the film be released on iTunes and other video-on-demand services in the USA and Canada?

It was released 

It was on 16th January 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?

Based on the trailer we can see that chicken is a drama related film with all the intense scenes alongside powerful transitions between scenes/clips in the trailer. The trailer also showcases a range of quotes said by critics.

2) What synergy can you find between the trailer and other traditional marketing methods such as the film poster?

The film poster and trailer are closely related. For chicken the poster was a scene captured in the film also on the poster it had had quotes exactly showcased in the trailer about the film. 3) Why are reviews from industry figures such as Mark Kermode so important to a film's success?

Mark Kermode is an English film critic. For an famous film critic with a positive review shows his fans that chicken is a worth and an outstanding film to watch gaining recognition by many.

4) How does the Chicken Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?

The twitter account is active constantly posting THEIR film for recognition and so people admire their film.

5) Who does the Twitter account re-tweet? How does this help to promote the film?

When twitter accounts are re-tweeting their content this gains a lot of people acknowledging and spreading over social media going world wide

6) How does the Chicken Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film

?Facebook page for chicken has a range of videos and images to promote their film.

7) What pages are liked by the Chicken Facebook page? What does this tell you about the film and potential target audience?

Pages that are liked by Chickens Facebook page are people who enjoy art house movies such as middle class white people  

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?

 B Good pictures quote is "Films that get people talking, make people think, make people care." This quote shown on the front page in big bold stands out meaning that films are powerful and can get people talking about them. Films like " Chicken, In love with, Random acts: The castle and McKellen: Playing the part" are films they have produced. Films that are in developing like "Wonder of you, Cuman, The greatest and Noel"

9) Now go to the B Good Picture Company's website page for Chicken. How does this page promote Chicken specifically?

The page opens with a powerful in the film "We were born wrong, both of us." The quote gives an ideo of what the film is like making them read on. It also has peoples reviews on the movie which shows what others think of the film.

10) Go to the B Good Picture Company YouTube channel. What videos feature on the channel? How do they help to promote Chicken?

B good Youtube channel has a range of trailers and clips to show of the upcoming and realesed films they have worked with to promote them. Chicken has a range of small clips from the film to show to viewers what to expect of the film and a little taster of the film.

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.

Distributors categorise films as specialised, along with arthouse film,documentaries and re-released English language classics. However, these films are not popular films people go to see at the cinema. Arthouse cinema is artistic rather than commercial in character. The films are difficult to understand and read.

2) What are some of the suggested audience pleasures for arthouse film?

An audience pleasure is that they are difficult to understand for instance the film Lore which is about what happened to the children after world war 2.

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).

4) To what extent is arthouse film only for the middle classes and older audiences? Why might this be the case?

It maybe attracted to middle class and other generations as it provides insight to many different aspects of British culture and have a feel for traditional media. This means that they provide a different way of presenting movies.

5) What type of audience would be interested in Chicken?

The type of audience that would watch chicken would people into critically acclaimed movies such as arthouse movie fans.

This means although the actors are young teenagers will identify more with people who are like watch movies that have a arthouse sense and will support the hustle.