I, Daniel Blake - Economic Contexts

Question 1

Funding

Answer 1

• IDB gained funding from the British Film Institution (BFI, a charitable organisation that invest in British Cinema)
• Was a co-production (BBC Films and WhyNot Films) meaning they could pool their resources together, giving them a higher budget

Question 2

Success

Answer 2

• Ken Loaches aim was not to make a commercially successful film, instead the priority was to get across the political/social message
• The film became a critical success, winning the palm d’or at Cannes Film Festival

Question 3

Film Festivals

Answer 3

• They generate and create a great amount of awareness and recognition for Independent Films
• This lead to IDB being picked up by Universal, allowing it to be distributed to Canada, France, Brazil and Japan as well as the UK

Question 4

Low Budget and Social-Realist Aesthetic

Answer 4

• Ken Loach cast unrecognisable stars to stay cost-effective and to keep in line with the social-realist aesthetic
• The BFI were willing to fund IDB as Ken Loach has been producing low-budget films for over 60 years
• The film was shot on location, which is cheaper (not paying for sets or CGI)
• The characters are all wearing their own clothes/clothes they were asked to buy for their character
• No clothing featured any logos or branding (cost-effective)
• Ended up being his highest grossing film at the box office (over £8 million)

Question 5

Power and Media Industries

Answer 5

Curran and Seaton
- ‘media is controlled by a small number or companies that are primarily driven by the logic of profit and power’
- ‘media concentration generally limits and inhibits variety, creativity and quality’
- IDB challenges this theory as it provides an experience that lies outside the logic of profit and power
- The film possibly demonstrates a level of variety and creativity

Question 6

Regulation

Answer 6

Livingstone and Lunt
- ‘there is an underlying struggle in UK regulation between furthering the interests of citizens and furthering interests of consumers’
- ‘the rise in convergent media technologies and the transformation in production, distribution and marketing of digital media has placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk’
- IDB was given a 15 certificate by the BBFC
- Strong use of expletives (and stronger ones like c*nt)
- Verbal sexual references in the film, as well as scenes of emotional intensity