Film Marketing Flashcards
I, Daneil Blake Production Contexts
- The genre of this film is social realism.
- This film is directed by award-winning director Ken Roach (Kes, Sweet Sixteen).
- This is a low-budget film that grossed over £8 million and was therefore both commercially and critically successful.
- This film won the Palme d’Or Cannes Award. It was also nominated for several other prestigious awards.
- The film directly engages with the political context of issues such as poverty and the welfare system (this film is particular pertinent currently because of Universal Credit).
- The film conveys a clear left-wing, socialist ideology that directly attacks the then-government’s policy of austerity. It interrogates and re-frames the right-wing representation of the jobless as lazy and unprincipled.
Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
The idea that the media is controlled by a small number of companies primarily driven by the logic
of profit and power.
The idea that media concentration generally limits or inhibits variety, creativity and quality.
The idea that more socially diverse patterns of ownership help to create the conditions for more
varied and adventurous media productions.
Regulation - Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
The idea that there is an underlying struggle in recent UK regulation policy between the need to
further the interests of citizens (by offering protection from harmful or offensive material), and
the need to further the interests of consumers (by ensuring choice, value for money, and market
competition).
The idea that the increasing power of global media corporations, together with the rise of
convergent media technologies and transformations in the production, distribution and marketing
of digital media, have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk.
Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh
The idea that cultural industry companies try to minimise risk and maximise audiences through
vertical and horizontal integration, and by formatting their cultural products (e.g. through the use
of stars, genres, and serials).
The idea that the largest companies or conglomerates now operate across a number of different
cultural industries.
The idea that the radical potential of the internet has been contained to some extent by its partial
incorporation into a large, profit-orientated set of cultural industries.
Producer Influence:IDB
I, Daniel Blake Director Ken Loach has great significance as a practitioner in British and Global
cinema to this films on-going success (as well as its initial creation) – Loach has been able to
repreatedly secure funding for social realist films and to an extent the genre itself in its current
form due to his continuing work.
he is chellenging government policy mean he is also chellenging mainstream
opinions, and therefore his films are more independent/niche in nature
a pre-solid audience of Loach fans who are eager to watch his films
gives him indepdent licence to make films that mgiht not otherwise secure
finance.
SOCIAL & POLITICAL CONTEXT
I,Daniel Blake
I, Daniel Blake addresses contemporary British social issues such as poverty, the welfare system
and the Work Capability Assessment.
The film portrays a group of traditionally underrepresneted characters in Newcastle struggling in
poverty to gain benefits and support
intended audience,I Daneil Blake
the intended audience for this film is educated, media literate and people who are socially aware of political policies.
iDaneil Blake Funded
The film was funded by the BBC and the BFI (through the national lottery funding)
I, Daniel Blake is a low budget social realist film, funded by the BFI and BBC. It adheres to the
codes and conventions of British social realism film as it:
Was filmed largely on location in exisiting regional (in Newcastle) buildings (hospital, job
centre etc.) to exhibit a sense of verisimilitude.
Features lesser known actors.
Produced on a small budget (£3.5 million).
Contains semi improvised dialogue
Contains dark humour.
Has a lock of non diegetic music
Has a linear narrative.
Does not rely on special effects.
social media marketing IDB
The internet and online marketing also allowed interactive audiences to join in with the
#WeAreAllDanielBlake campaign, creating blogs, vlogs, Youtube videos and artwork (all User
Generated Content – UGC) describing their similar experiences or opinions on the matter. The
prosumers becae real agents of social change in the way the media reported the impact of this film
– the audience were marketing the film FOR the fiilm distributer, through viral marketing as
audiences were actively seeking out this material. INCLUDE CLAY SHIRKEY HERE
Projections
New NomadX Media iProjectors were used by Kommando Marketing to project images and text
based questions about the issues from I, Daniel Blake on the side of a variety of buildings across
the UK.
The dailiy mirror
The promotion of the film though eOne’s (distributor) partnership with the Mirror Trinity Group
(now Reach PLC). The Mirror ran an on-going campaign (through print AND digital
articles/editorials – including one ‘written’ by film character DB) addressing the ‘austerity’ issue as
a source of national debate; both the film (through free ticket offers and banner advertising) and
the ‘equality for all’ issues within the film were brought to the attention of the Mirror’s
readership.
creating hype for a product with a niche audience.
Grassroots campaing
I, Daniel Blake made use of grassroot campaigns including taste maker screenings, street
marketing, ‘takeovers of refional cinemas, I, Daniel Blake speech video, etc.
Jeremy Corbyn
Connections with politics and the Labour party in particular (including Labour Leader Jeremy
Corbyn) supporting the main message behind the film, in response to the (Conservative)
governments claims of ‘saving the economy of Britain through austerity’.
Applying Hesmondhalgh & Vertical + Horizontal Integration
Vertical Integration: When one company owns corporations operating different stages of the same
process (e.g. production – distribution – exhibition)
Hortizontal Integration: When one company owns various corporations which are involved in the
same activities (e.g. production)
Unlike Straight Outta Compton who’s film process was covered under the umbrella of Fox we
know that I, Daniel Blake doesn’t have the opportunity to make use of this same technqiue.
