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?
This budget was raised entirely through investment by individuals (e.g. rich friends/contacts)

3) How does the Chicken budget compare to a Hollywood-funded British blockbuster such as Spectre or Paddington 2?
It is clearly lower than budgets for Hollywood funded films that are British like Spectre as Chicken had a micro-budget.

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 uses lottery funds to provide financial aid, supporting younger filmmakers allowing them (like Joe Stephenson) to broadcast their film to a larger audience.
5) Why do you think Chicken failed to secure funding from the BFI Film Fund?
The BFI thought Chicken wouldn't generate enough profit and therefore believed it wouldn't benefit them at all or be in their best interests.
Production

1) What difficulties did the film run into during production?
The schedule was tight and so exterior therefore they were left at the mercy of British weather without a budget to have extra days.

2) How many days did the film take to shoot?
The film took 19 days to film entirely 

3) What scenes were particularly difficult for Joe Stephenson to film?
The scene towards the end of the film where there is a lot of confrontation and there is high energy and a lot of issues coming to head. The toughest challenge was the tight space of the caravan versus the blocking of the action and space for the camera to actually fit in and capture the brilliant work the actors were doing. 


Distribution

1) Why did the film fail to secure a distribution deal when first made in 2014?
The distributors felt it wouldn't generate enough profit

2) What film festivals did Chicken feature at between 2014-2016?
Chicken featured at the film festivals in, New Hampshire, Edinburgh, Dublin, Busan, Palm beach and Julian.

3) Why are film festivals an effective way for a low-budget film to secure a distribution deal?
These film festivals are great ways to generate interest for the films allowing them to reach a wider audience which will make the film more likely to be discovered by distributors 

4) When was Chicken released in cinemas in the UK?
It was released on the 20th May 2016.
5) Why do you think film subscription service MUBI chose the film to feature on the service?
The film was becoming increasingly popular generating a greater demand therefore it would be good for MUBI to feature something so popular and demand in a business perspective.
6) Why was Film4 a good choice to give the film its UK television premiere?
Film 4 is a big  UK industry so it would be in their best interest to promote a British film and most people in the UK watch Film 4 as it is extremely popular so it would make Chicken even more popular around the country creating a word of mouth.
7) When will the film be released on iTunes and other video-on-demand services in the USA and Canada?
It wil be released in January 2018 in the USA and Canada.  He is hoping to get it on other streaming sites like Netflix and Hulu.
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?
The trailer suggests the regarding genre for Chicken is drama and coming to age with a target audience of older middle class as this film would appeal to them as the film isn't easy to understand and maybe some can relate to certain parts of the film, therefore an older audience with cultural capital are able to engage and understand the film a lot better.
2) What synergy can you find between the trailer and other traditional marketing methods such as the film poster?
They show off the setting and the main characters not showing enormous amounts of detail which gets the audience much more interested in the film.
3) Why are reviews from industry figures such as Mark Kermode so important to a film's success?
Because getting good reviews from large industry figures will increase the films ratings resulting in more people going to view what all the hype is about as critics have a lot of influence over the consumers
4) How does the Chicken Twitter account create and maintain interest in the film?
The Chicken Twitter account allows different people from around the world to engage with the films producers, directors and actors and get a better insight on the film and the steps taken to make it. The twitter account also provides a connection as the audience can tweet at the account holders and talk to them and ask them a variety of questions
5) Who does the Twitter account re-tweet? How does this help to promote the film?
They re-tweet influential figures praising the film or just generally talking about it which is good because people who follow these influential people will see their thoughts and want to watch it themselves.
6) How does the Chicken Facebook page use images and video content to promote the film?
Facebook uses images and videos that highlight the fact that Chicken is a critically acclaimed film which will reach a wider audience as it is on the internet for many people to see and many people will view this and decide they want to watch it for themselves.
7) What pages are liked by the Chicken Facebook page? What does this tell you about the film and potential target audience?
Chicken likes pages that have to do with mature audiences that are most probably middle classed which tells us what the potential target audience is.
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?
A celebrity that was mentioned on the companies website is Mark Kermode, an English film critic and musician and his fans will most probably want to watch what he is interested in as they may see him as someone they look up to therefore they'l want to follow in his steps.
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 key purpose of the website is to promote Chicken as much as possible, showing how technology is the main way to influence people to watch your film as everybody uses it and will allow the film to gain more publicity therefore the producers have made a step in the right direction by using technology to share their message.
10) Go to the B Good Picture Company YouTube channel. What videos feature on the channel? How do they help to promote Chicken?
The clips on the YouTube Channel focus on the Character of Richard so the audience can gain a much better insight on the character before watching the film, even gaining a personal relationship with him which also gives them a better connection to 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.
This article talks about arthouse film, which are films that are difficult to understand or read and are are very artist instead of being commercial. Arthouse film is characterised by maximum ambiguity, which is when a random turn of events can only be explained by characters subjectivity rather than the world of the film.


2) What are some of the suggested audience pleasures for arthouse film?
Some of the audience pleasures are that the humour has a dark hue to it, the films aren't easy to read therefore the audience stays engaged and don't figure out the plot before the film is finished. 

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).
Arthouse is full of maximum ambiguity therefore the producers of arthouse film aren't making it easy for audiences to read their films , the fact that there aren't clear narratives is another reason why audiences can sometimes struggle with understanding arthouse films as the narrative could take random turns to something they won't understand. Todorovs equilibrium theory is often absent absent in arthouse cinema therefore the plot is often jumbled up.

4) To what extent is arthouse film only for the middle classes and older audiences? Why might this be the case?
A large majority of audiences struggle with arthouse film because of how it is stereotyped for a more intelligent upper classed audience, who have a good sense of cultural capital, usually associated with the middle-class audience, therefore the lower class will find it hard to engage with arthouse film. It is also difficult to read highbrow art and therefore people choose to watch the film, which still need cultural capital which will suit a more older audience with a better knowledge of cultural capital.

5) What type of audience would be interested in Chicken?
The audience that would be interested in Chicken would be niche audiences and the age range would be kind of young as the protagonist is only 15 so younger audiences will be more interested in an age they're closer to. But to properly engage with the film I think an audience of 17 or older would be best as they'd understand the plot a lot better than younger people and will learn something from the story to.