Chicken: case study blog tasks

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? Joe Stephenson raised the money entirely through investments from individuals.

3) How does the Chicken budget compare to a Hollywood-funded British blockbuster such asSpectre or Paddington 2? Chicken was set at a few locations within the UK whereas a Hollywood funded British blockbuster would use numerous locations within the UK and some shots may be abroad.

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 uses national lottery funds to develop and support original film makers. They contribute towards the British Film Industry because they fund low-budgeted films.

5) Why do you think Chicken failed to secure funding from the BFI Film Fund? Chicken failed to secure funding from the BFI Film Fund because the director has no past record within the film industry so it would've been too much of a risk for BFI to fund the film.


Production

1) What difficulties did the film run into during production?  Some of the difficulties the film faced during production is issues with lighting along with weather such as rain.

2) How many days did the film take to shoot? 19 days.

3) What scenes were particularly difficult for Joe Stephenson to film? The scenes in the dark where they struggled with lighting. Joe Stephenson also struggled with filming Chicken when it was raining.


Distribution

1) Why did the film fail to secure a distribution deal when first made in 2014? Because the film was a low budget and there wasn't enough advertising.

2) What film festivals did Chicken feature at between 2014-2016? Edinburgh, Busan, New Hampshire, Palm beach and Julien.

3) Why are film festivals an effective way for a low-budget film to secure a distribution deal? It can start getting word of mouth to be spread which would lead to more people watching Chicken. Furthermore, the movie would start gaining recognition and winning awards at the festival means they get more recognition.

4) When was Chicken released in cinemas in the UK? May 2016

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

6) Why was Film4 a good choice to give the film its UK television premiere? Film4 is a free movie channel and there is a huge amount of viewers that watch Film4. The movie was set in the UK it would make sense being on Film4 and it would create awareness about the sensitive topic in the film.

7) When will the film be released on iTunes and other video-on-demand services in the USA and Canada? 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? In the trailer, there is a number of potential audience pleasures that can be identified. One of them being Visual pleasures. The location that this film was set in is a rural area within the UK. This could lead the audience to feeling relaxed during the film as countrysides are often nice and quiet.

2) What synergy can you find between the trailer and other traditional marketing methods such as the film poster? The film trailer and the film poster both have the directors name along with the rating of the film with some quotes.

3) Why are reviews from industry figures such as Mark Kermode so important to a film's success? Because figures such as Mark Kermode are very important public figures ( Social influencers ) and they have a huge following so if this movie is successful, Mark would be likely to give a great review and there would be more people watching the film.

4) How does the Chicken Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film? The Chicken Twitter account might have exclusive interviews with the cast and directors and may have some bloopers for the audience to watch.

5) Who does the Twitter account re-tweet? How does this help to promote the film? Tweets are retweeted by users of Twitter. When a tweet has been retweeted it goes on the person's feed. If more people retweet Chicken's tweets there will be more publicity for the film Chicken  as more people are reading the tweets and it is also free.

6) How does the Chicken Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film? The Chicken Facebook page uses exclusive content such as bloopers from the film and interviews with the cast and directors.

7) What pages are liked by the Chicken Facebook page? What does this tell you about the film and potential target audience? This would tell us when people are looking at the pages Chicken is liked by, they may visit Chicken's page. This would help Chicken target the right audience as they're liking pages with similar target audiences.

8) Go to the B Good Picture Company's website page for Chicken. What celebrities are mentioned on the page? Why might they be highlighted? One of the celebrities that is on the company's website is Mark Kermode. Mark Kermode has a huge passion for film and has a huge following therefore, some of his fans are likely to watch the things he enjoy's watching or recommends.

9) Now go to the film's official website. What is the key purpose of the website and what does this tell you about the influence of new technology and how it is changing how people watch films? The website is not working!

10) Go to the B Good Picture Company YouTube channel. What videos feature on the channel? How do they help to promote Chicken? The videos that are featured on his YouTube channel is short clips of the movie featuring the characters, trailer and the actors talking about the film Chicken.

Our first Close Study Product is from the film industry - Chicken (2014) directed by Joe Stephenson.

Our first Close Study Product is from the film industry - Chicken (2014) directed by Joe Stephenson.

This micro budget British independent film is a great example of something the British film industry has produced for many years - low-budget social realism. Indeed, in the lesson you will have been taken through the rich history of British film from the Second World War to the 21st century. You now need to add to your knowledge of the industry by reading two media factsheets and completing a series of tasks:



1) Summarise the article in 50 words.

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

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?

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

Film Industry: British Film Industry Factsheets

Factsheet #132: British Film

1) Write a one-sentence definition of what makes a film British.

When the film is set in the UK or has some parts set in the UK along with British actors.

2) What is the difference between a Hollywood production context and production context of a British film?

Hollywood productions have more high budgeted films whereas, productions in the UK are more low-budgeted than Hollywood productions.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start? 

The James Bond franchise started in 1962.

4) In terms of film censorship and graphic content, what began to change in British film in the 1970s and 1980s? 

What we see over the course of the 20th century and into the 21st century is a gradual acceptance of social taboos being included in British Film, this usually centres on the main subjects of violence, sex (the two combined being one of the last bastions of solid censorship that films tend to see in the modern age), drug use and criminal activity. 

5) What groups are often represented in British film? Give examples of films these groups feature in.

Many British films tend to centre on topics and issues that deeply concern British society or largely make up the collective British psyche. Issues such as class, politics, social change and education are some of the many issues that British film has explored throughout its history. 

6) What does the Factsheet suggest might be the audience appeal of British film?

The factsheet suggests that the audience appeal of British film's is films that focus on class, politics, education etc.

Factsheet #100: British film industry

1) What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British? 

The cultural test is to see if the film is classified as British. In order for the film to be British it must score 16 out of 31 to be classified as British.
2) Complete the task on the Factsheet, researching the films listed and finding out what they score on the cultural test: Sweeney, Attack The Block, The King's Speech, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Skyfall.

3) What is the main problem for the British film industry?

The main problem for the British film industry is that they have predominantly been production led rather than distribution led. Filmmakers have to sell the film to a distribution company.
4) What are three of the strengths of the British film industry?

The British film industry takes 5% of the world box-office takings.
5) What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?

British film makers could choose to rely upon co-production with American studios however, this could lead to "British Films" being lost as American's would focus on themselves rather than focusing on British regional accents, politics and cultures.