This is another blog for my students of film and media. Following on from my case study blogs on Prometheus, Juno and Attack the Block recently, this is the start of an essay explaining how the Hollywood and British production contexts differ and how these production contexts can affect the films that are produced.
The Hollywood and British production
contexts have many differences and can produce very different films. There are a number of factors that affect the
relationship between production contexts and films and these include finance,
technology, social and political issues and use of stars. The Hollywood
production context has changed a great deal since the ‘Golden Age’ when all the
studios were vertically integrated and the ‘Big 5’ had full control and
dominance over the production, distribution and exhibition of films. Now there are a greater number of studios in
Hollywood that are producing films such as DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Studio
as well as Paramount and Warner Brothers and others that survived from the
‘Golden Age’.
Finance, Production, Technology
Finance has a huge impact on the
relationship between production contexts and films. Hollywood
is known for making massive budget, special-effects and star filled
blockbusters. Prometheus is a perfect example of this. It had a budget of approximately $130,000,000
and grossed over $402,000,000 at the worldwide box office. The companies that invested in its production
are Twentieth Century-Fox
Film Corporation, Brandywine Production, Dune Entertainment and
Scott Free Corporations. These companies
would have considered investing so much money because of the blockbuster appeal
that the film would have. They can
afford to take big risks by investing into huge budgets but they reduce the
risk by working with stars and directors that they know have a reputation of
making profitable films with international appeal. Prometheus
had internationally recognisable stars like Guy Pearce, Charlize Theron and
Michael Fassbender. It has quite a complex
storyline for a blockbuster that is hard to understand. This might reduce its appeal compared to some
simpler blockbusters but the visuals and spectacular special effects will also
help it to appeal to a wide audience, despite its thoughtful themes. It also has a star director, Ridley Scott,
who had made some very profitable films previously such as Gladiator and Alien. This also showed that he could handle the
special effects that would be required in Prometheus
and would be a key part of the marketing campaign.
The British film Attack the Block had a low budget
compared to Hollywood blockbusters but a bigger budget than the smallest
independent films like The Blair Witch
Project with a budget of $60,000.
$13 million was invested into the production of Attack the Block but it
only made nearly $6 million at the worldwide box office, meaning the film made
a loss. The film only had Nick Frost as
a star and he is not that well known compared to the biggest A-list stars in
Hollywood. The filmmakers would have
struggled to raise the budget as there is less chance of big international box
office without internationally recognised stars. Also director Joe Cornish had never made a
feature film before and the subject is very distinctly British in terms of
characters and locations. Investors would normally be
reluctant to give first time filmmakers £13 million to make a British film with
a cast of mostly unknowns, set in a tower block and featuring characters that
open the movie mugging an innocent nurse.
However Joe Cornish has had a great deal of experience
in television and has developed a strong following with his radio and
television shows. He is also co-writing
Spielberg’s latest film with Edgar Wright who recently had a huge international
hit with Shaun of the Dead. Like that film, Attack the Block takes very English characters, stars and settings
and mixes them with a popular genre. So the
science fiction element could help to draw in bigger crowds and therefore make
investors feel more comfortable putting in £13 million. Also casting Nick Frost might draw in
international fans of Shaun of the Dead,
helping Attack the Block sell
worldwide. It was funded by Studio
Canal, Film 4, the UK Film Council and Big Talk Productions. There was no funding from the Hollywood
studios and it was mostly financed by British companies and the UK Film Council
which is a funding body set up to help produce films that promote British
culture and tell British stories.
Interestingly two of these companies are very involved in television
which suggests Joe Cornish is likely to have had a working relationship with
them before shooting his first feature film.
Prometheus was all shot in 3D and with IMAX technology and uses a
mixture of computer generated and practical effects. This makes it even more expensive to produce
but also gives it more appeal to huge audiences as it promises great spectacle
and the latest in cutting edge technology.
It is a science fiction film that takes place on distant planets and features
numerous alien life forms, explosive set-pieces and space ships and other
computer-generated special effects. This
focus on spectacle helps the film to sell to an international audience and to
have a mass appeal. Audiences see the
marketing and expect something spectacular and out of this world.
Similarly
Attack the Block also combines practical and computer generated effects for its
alien creatures. Director Joe Cornish
had a much lower budget so had to limit the CGI and work more with traditional
techniques. He said ‘they designed this terrific costume-suit, and then we shot
that, and then there’s a little bit of enhancement by a company called Digital
Negative, and a very brilliant European company called Fido. So the end result
is a combination of practical, with a little bit of digital’ (Den of
Geek). Attack the Block was shot on
locations in and around London to add
to the realism. This also makes it stand
out from much of Hollywood’s science fiction output including Prometheus which
was mainly shot at Pinewood studios. It
also will save the producers of Attack the Block money as fewer sets have to be
built.
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