ATTACK THE BLOCK CASE STUDY G322 SECTION B

1. ATTACK THE BLOCK
KEY QUESTION: What were the issues for the production company during the
production phase?
LOCATION - Was any part of the film shot on location? If so, where? Why were
some locations chosen over others?
Attack the Block is set in a fictional neighbourhood referred to as "The Ends", said in-film to
be located in the London borough of Brixton. "The Ends" is actually a composite of various
council estates across London. Director Joe Cornish explains:
"We wanted to stamp a clear layout on the audience's minds early, and since we couldn't afford
to show an aerial shot of the estate as it doesn't exist, the way to show it was by showing this top
shot of the map at the very beginning of the film."
The film was shot across London from March to May 2010, with 6 weeks of night shoots on
the Heygate Estate in Elephant and Castle; Myatts Field, Brixton; Oval tube station in
Kennington and the Bemerton Estate in Islington. Interior scenes were filmed at Three Mills
Studios in Newham, part of the East End of London.
The film was shot largely on Heygate Estate, which is now undergoing a long demolition
process (scheduled through 2015), after which the area will be regenerated. Heygate
Estate had earned “…a reputation as one of the capital’s worst sink estates, riddled by
crime, poverty and dilapidated housing.” (BBC)
Two flats (apartments) were used for all the flat settings and redressed again and again.
Cornish complimented Production Designer Marcus Rowland (Shaun of the Dead, Scott
Pilgrim vs. the World, Hot Fuzz), who took a lot of reference from the actors’ actual rooms.
“He gave them cameras and had them take pictures of their own rooms.”
Were costs a factor?
For the underground garage shoot, they “could only afford one BMW, so we could only
shoot it (the crash) once.” The director said “Jodie (Whittaker) thought it was an innocent
underground garage—remember Aliens? We had a bit of an Aliens moment (like) when
the alien was crawling in the ceiling. On the second day shooting in the garage, we
realized what we thought was water dripping down was actually sewage from the
building. Peoples’ waste was dripping on us. We had to go wrap all the pipes and
everything in plastic. Lots of rats too.”
Where there any difficulties with casting or with acquiring the stars/actors the
producer wanted? How significant was casting to reach specific audiences?
Representative of the film's plot and location, most of the cast were young, relative
unknowns, and local to the area. According the DVD making-of featurette, the teenagers
were selected from drama classes of London council estate schools, and then had to go
through eight auditions before being offered a part. John Boyega found out about this
film from an ad placed on the internet.
The cast includes:
1. Jodie Whittaker as Sam, a nurse and new resident of the Block who is mugged by the
teenagers but is later saved by them from the aliens
2. John Boyega as Moses, a quiet teenage gang leader and orphan looking for respect
around the Block
3. Alex Esmail as Pest, Moses' smart alec second-in-command of the gang
4. Franz Drameh as Dennis, a hotheaded pizza delivery boy and member of the gang

2. 5. Leeon Jones as Jerome, a schoolboy and member of the gang
6. Simon Howard as Biggz, the youngest member of the gang
• Nick Frost as Ron, the local weed dealer who lives in the penthouse of the Block and
knows everyone
• Luke Treadaway as Brewis, a student stoner and one of Ron's customers. At first an
outsider to the Block, Brewis correctly theorizes on the true nature of the creatures and
their motivations, helping Moses to defeat them and earn respect. It is also mentioned
that he is a member of Amnesty
• Jumayn Hunter as Hi-Hatz, Ron's feared boss and the local psychotic gangster of the
Block
• Danielle Vitalis as Tia, a resident of the Block
• Paige Meade as Dimples, a resident of the Block
• Michael Ajao as Mayhem, a child who wants to be a gangster
• Sammy Williams as Probs, a child who wants to be a gangster
What did the film cost to make? How much did the stars get? Where did the
budget go? Was the film shot within budget? Was it ever in any danger of
going over budget?
• £8 million
• £3,615,712 box office takings
Were there any changes to the script during production?
Cornish used mostly unknowns, kids who were involved in drama clubs or had otherwise
demonstrated interest in acting. “1,500” young people were auditioned over and over, in
part so Cornish would know the aspiring actors would show up on time and have self-
discipline. During the process, they learned lines and did improv. After casting, the last
two drafts Cornish wrote were influenced by the actors. “I let them go through all the
dialogue and change anything they wanted to or we discussed any changes they
wanted.”
When doing research for the film, Cornish showed a group of
youths photographs by American photographer Charlie
White—”…who does lots of amazing photographs of aliens in
real environments.” Cornish asked one of the girls, “What
would you think of this creature if you found it?” The girl said,
“I wouldn’t touch it, don’t want to get chlamydia.” That quote
went straight into script; many lines were taken directly from
research. Above: Cocktail Party by Charlie White
List some of the key people who made contributions to the production and
highlight some of their individual contributions.
‘The Creature’ was designed by Cornish, who was inspired by his memory of Ralph
Bakshi’s Lord of the Rings ringwraiths and the wolf at the beginning of 300. Cornish knew
he didn’t have the budget for CGI and wanted the creatures to be practical, using some
digital effects. Movement Choreographer Terry Notary (Cabin in the Woods, Rise of the
Planet of the Apes, Avatar and the upcoming The Hobbit films) worked with Spectral
Motion to design the Creature suit(s) and Digital Negative and Fido added digital effects.
What were the technological issues for the studio for producing and
distributing the film?