- The document compares and contrasts two sci-fi films, Lucy and The Anomaly, in terms of their production, distribution, and reception. - Lucy had a much larger budget of $40 million compared to The Anomaly's £10,000 budget. It was produced by a major studio while The Anomaly was produced independently. - Reviews were more positive for Lucy, praising the special effects and Scarlett Johansson's performance, while critics said The Anomaly's low budget hurt the film's quality.

1. Film Essay
My case studies consist of two films that are significantlydifferent ina varietyof ways, from their production companies to
their budget, and these differences have affectedthe final outcome of the particular film.
Firstly, Lucy, the synopsis of the film will reveal a woman, caught up an illegal drug deal, however when a series of events
leadto her turning the tables on her capturers and becoming a warrior that is beyond human logic. It has the genre of
science fictionand action, the mainprotagonist alsois a female who has become exceedingly popular within the time of this
film’s production and release. Whereas The Anomaly is a film basedona former soldier who is takencaptive and awakens in
the back of a van, where he learns that he only has a few moments tofigure out how he got there, and how tofix this
repetitive cycle. It alsohas science fictionand action genre, the mainstars inthis film are not as well known as in Lucy,
however this production was intended to be successful on an extremelylow budget.
The intuitional informationabout both films underline the opposites within the production companies; Unstoppable
Entertainment with the huge comparison of Universal Studios. Unstoppable Entertainment was founded in 2007, its main
goal as a production company is to produce UK focused, entertaining and commercial movies withinternational appeal.
They have only produced five films with The Anomaly included; they are alsoworking on two more that are still inthe post
production stages. This small Britishproductioncompany has a large difference to Universal Studios, Universal one of the
biggest Americanfilm productioncompanies. It has helped produce 225 films withmanymore in development, and was
founded in 1912 making it much older than Unstoppable Entertainment, this is the reasoning for the difference in films both
companies have produced. However despite The Anomaly’s disadvantage withthe production companies, it was still hoping
to produce a film onequal levels as Lucy.
Another large difference between the two films was the pre-production decisions, they are complete opposites. Lucy was
written by Luc Besson, he basedthe film on fictionhowever, and the film signifies the truthinthe science of using more that
10 percent of your brains capacity. Besson knew that none of the film is fact, but likedthe idea of it being possible. His idea
for the film was original, andnot basedon a film or TV series, Bessonalsowrote the original script himself as he was also the
director. Lucy was produced by Virginie Silla; she is known for producing action and biographical films. She came about being
the producer to Lucy as she is infact Luc Besson’s wife. On the other hand The Anomaly was written by a number of
different writes as there was five credits, the mainwriter was Simon Lewis. Lewis is a novelist and a screen writer however
has only ever worked on this particular film. He is not a well-known writer and as there was a number of different writers,
the idea for the film wouldhave been developed over time by the different individuals. The director for the film was Noel
Clark, he is anactor as well as a writer, and he is alsoone of the mainprotagonists inthe film. The anomalywas also
produced by Noel Clarke, James Harris, Mark Lane, Jessica Caldwell, Robert Jones, Johnny Fewings, Wayne Marc Godfrey
and DamonLane. As you cansee eachfilm hada very different strategywhen it came topre-production, Besson chose to
create a science fictionfilm anddo it his way whereas Clark was an actor within the film as well as the director therefore the
whole idea of the films script was sharedamong anarray of different individuals.
Another factor is of course the budget, The Anomaly had around £10,000 to work with; which is very low for what Noel
Clark, the director wanted to do with the film. IncomparisonLucy had an estimate of around $40,000,000 dollars which was
intended for special effects, featuring major stars andthe cost of all the actionscenes. It is evident that Lucy had the upper
hand when I comes down to budget but the question is, does budget reallymatter, is it a necessityfor a good film?
When it comes to the production phase of both films, for Lucy, the shoot was difficult; this is mainlyas Lucy is a high action,
science fictionfilm resulting inintense camera shots and filming. A maindifficultywas the ‘car chase’ scene, Luc Besson
actuallyhas to wait for everyone to leave Paris for a Holy event to film this particular scene, and as a result it took 9 years to
make.The locationscenes were all filmedinParis, this meant that ‘Arc Fe Triomphe’ and ‘Placefe la concorde’; two of the
busiest places in the city; were featured inthe film. Scarlett Johanssonis the mainactress inthe film; she was excited to be
playing the mainrole, and was Besson’s first choice. However previously, there was talkof Angelina Jolie being the main
actress however pulledout at the last minute. Eropacorp announced that Lucy was the largest budget film that they has ever
founded, a breakdown of the budget shows that visual effects was one of the top expenses when making this particular film.
The contributors to the production of the film consist of Eropacorp that I have alreadymentioned, andalso: TF! Films
Production, Canal+ and Cine+.
For The Anomaly, Noel Clarkdescribes the shooting as the easypart, he explains how they spent much more time inediting
the film. The film was aspiring tohave high qualitygraphics with amazing special effects however as critics agree, the budg et
let it down slightly. Within the film there are a variety of locationand shoot shots, the film evenfeatures New York.
The production company involved is Unstoppable Entertainment, this production company has alsoproduced other films
that Noel Clark hadworked on including: 4,3,2,1 (2010) and Adulthood (2008). They are a muchsmaller, Britishindependent
production company.The contributors to the production of the film include tea shop & Film Companyand thefyzz.
As Clark comments gothe filming being ‘easy’ andBesson explaining his shoot was difficult, concludes that you would expect
Lucy to have a much higher qualityof special effects andgraphics, this will be revealedwithin the reviews for the film.
Moving on to the distributionphases, for Lucy, the distributors include Europacorp distribution and universal pictures. The
track records as a distributor for universal pictures is that it’s an Americancompany, and is alsovery well known and has
contributed to a number of box office records. There were alsoa number of contributing factors that added the Lucy’s
success. First the advertisement of the film highlightedthe actionpacked visualizing stunning effects usedthroughout the
film. Alsothe mainactress herself, Johansson, also maximized the advertisement factor as she is anup andcoming success

2. fueled by her resent appearances in ‘Black Widow’ and ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’, alsothe fact that she is the
mainfocus and is presented as an extremelystrong female character has acted as a publicity gainfor the films distribution.
Other advertisement techniques included huge billboard posters and TV ads.
When it comes to The Anomaly The distributors for include: Universal Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures
International. Their trackrecord consists of a large number of other films including Spring Breakers, Devil and despicable Me.
One factor that could be a reason for some success of the film is the fact that two of the mainactors are quite well known,
Noel Clark has featured in a number of films andeven the series of Doctor Who. Ian Somerhaulder, is alsoknown for being a
mainprotagonist in the successful Americanseries The Vampire Diaries, he has alsofeaturedin a few other films.The film
was release on the 25th
of June 2014 at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. ThenreleasedonDVD later in October
2014. However The vampire diaries is well known in America andis only just reviewing Britishpopularity, as this film has was
releasedearlier on this year, IanSomerhaulder maynot have had much effect on the popularity of the film.
As revealed Lucy clearlyhas one well known female actress whowill be the mainadvertisement factor for the film, alsoas
she is represented as a strong dependant woman, whereas The Anomalyhas two or three actors included that are not so
popular. This is another factor that adds to the success of each film.
Last of all, the exhibition phase of the process, when The Anomalywas first releasedinJune 2014, it did not make a huge
profit at all. For their overall profit they made just over their budget, however as some critics have explained, the sales a re
much more popular on DVD rather than when the film was releasedinthe box office.
The film didnot get great reviews at all, one of the biggest film magazines ratedit onlytwo stars, a poor achievement, with
the verdict ‘Big sci-fi ideas done on a budget doesn't quite translate into a compelling thriller.’
The film didnot have ‘legs’ it was not in the cinema for a long time either. Overall critics posted negative reviews about this
film andthe mainissue was that the budget was way too low for what Noel Clarke has aspiredto do with all of the special
effects andover the top actionscenes.
When Lucy was first released, it was shown on July 25th
in 3,172 theaters in the United States, it opened with $17,088,110
placing it in the top spot for the box office opening weekend, aheadof the competing film ‘Hercules’.
The film thenproceeded to do better thanexpected, with it earning $43,899,340 at the domestic box office for the opening
weekend. Lucy was rated four out of five stars by the telegraph, andthey quoted 'everything Scarlett Johansson does is
worth watching'. However was then shown with the review ‘The end of the movie goes completelyoff the rails, but ina way
that is charming inits stupidity.’ By the Guardian. However the film was rateda critical success over all.
In conclusion, by going by the reviews of film critics, youwould class Lucyas the most successful production. A large budget,
well known actors and highquality graphics are all essential for a phenomenal film.