Here are the key terms with definitions: Production (front) The process of making a film, including development, financing, filming, editing, etc. Subs (back) Short for subtitles, text displayed on screen to translate dialogue or provide other information.

1. Ben Kelleher

2. Tyrannosaur - Plot
The story of Joseph a man plagued by
violence and a rage that is driving him to
self-destruction. As Joseph's life spirals
into turmoil a chance of redemption
appears in the form of Hannah, a
Christian charity shop worker. Their
relationship develops to reveal that
Hannah is hiding a secret of her own.
After years of domestic violence and
rape Hannah snaps and has to rely on
Joseph as well.

3. Tyrannosaur - Financed by…
• Film 4
• EM Media
• UK Film Council
• Screen Yorkshire
for a budget of £1.2 million the same month
Hollywood released ‘Rise of the Planet of
the Apes’ with a budget of $93 million!

4. Tyrannosaur - Produced by…
• Warp x - “We want our films to be fuelled by irresistible
stories, and extraordinary, even exotic, worlds. To
challenge and entertain contemporary British and
international cinema audiences.
• The films have to be made digitally and on budgets
between £400,000 - £800,000. So we need movies that can
be made faster, leaner, lighter - with no excess baggage.
That way the films will become profitable much quicker.”
• Inflammable films - Tyrannosaur is their first film.

5. Tyrannosaur - Tech Details
• Shot on Digital
• Shot on DSLR
• English cast and crew
• English subject
• Genre - Social realist
• Hard hitting drama

6. Tyrannosaur - Distributed by…
• Many different companies
• In the UK: Optimum releasing, on DVD Optimum
Home Entertainment (now known as Studio Canal
owned by French company Canal+ owned by
Vivendi (a major conglomerate) who have a large
stake in US film production but no longer own a
studio).
• In the US: Strand Releasing - An art house
distributor
• Digital distribution on itunes, lovefilm, Blu-ray.

7. Tyrannosaur - Marketing
• Posters.
• Trailers.
• A lot of film festival promotion.
• Empire magazine podcast.
• No featurettes or TV spots.
• No major stars to sell it.
• Niche audience. Cinephiles over the age of
25.

8. Tyrannosaur - Exhibition
• Opened on 5 screens in the US
• Film festivals - Toronto and Sundance, amongst
others.
• Limited release - They knew it wouldn’t do well
in cinemas and the money to be made was through
downloads and dvd sales.
• Digital distribution meaning exhibition was a lot
cheaper. Instead of spending £1000 for each
printed reel of film (a film usually has around 4 -5
reels).

9. Tyrannosaur - Profit
• Only a few thousand at the cinemas.
• Opening Weekend
• $7,635 (USA) (20 November 2011) (5 Screens)
Gross
• $22,088 (USA) (11 March 2012)
$21,062 (USA) (4 March 2012)
$19,998 (USA) (12 February 2012)
$19,483 (USA) (5 February 2012)
$18,525 (USA) (22 January 2012)
$17,219 (USA) (8 January 2012)
$15,085 (USA) (11 December 2011)
$13,454 (USA) (4 December 2011)
$7,635 (USA) (20 November 2011)
£243,252 (UK) (1 January 2012)

10. Tyrannosaur - Reviews
Generally Tyrannosaur has been received well
by critics - this is what the American top
critics said:
• This isn't the kind of movie that even
has hope enough to contain a
message. There is no message, only
the reality of these wounded
personalities. Roger Ebert - Top critic
• Tyrannosaur is British miserabilism at
its most numbingly brutal and blunt. -
Melissa Anderson - Village voice

11. • Horizontal integration
Tyrannosaur - Issues
• Distributed by a subsidiary (Canal+) of a major conglomerate (Vivendi), therefore money goes
back to them as 50% of cinema sales goes back to the distributor after they have recouped their
marketing costs.
• A very British style - miserablism! Or social-realism (this is not a film for a mass market) and so
many U.S citizen’s may not have wanted to see the film. What is popular with a U.S audience is
period dramas or quaint village dramas reinforcing there stereotypical view of Britain e.g. The
King’s Speech.
• With the influx of American films, British people feel the same too and want to see mainstream
films, so does David Cameron:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2012/jan/14/british-film-lord-smith-review-brand-promotion
• Only opened in 5 cinemas in the U.S.
• Digital production and distribution has kept costs low, therefore the production companies maybe
able to turn a profit over a longer period of time with dvd and download sales.
• Questions to ponder: Should we make mainstream films in
Britain for a British audience? Or should we make culturally
significant films?
• If we made mainstream films that sold well abroad, would we be
able to make more lower budget films that are culturally
significant due to a healthy industry?

12. Case Study:
Black Swan and
Fox Searchlight
Pictures

13. Plot
Directed by Darren Aronofsky, 'Black Swan' follows the story of
Nina (Natalie Portman), a ballerina in a New York City ballet
company whose life, like all those in her profession, is completely
consumed with dance. She lives with her retired ballerina mother
Erica (Barbara Hershey) who zealously supports her daughter's
professional ambition. When artistic director Thomas Leroy
(Vincent Cassel) decides to replace prima ballerina Beth
MacIntyre (Winona Ryder) for the opening production of their
new season, Swan Lake, Nina is his first choice. But Nina has
competition: a new dancer, Lily (Mila Kunis), who impresses
Leroy as well. Swan Lake requires a dancer who can play both
the White Swan with innocence and grace, and the Black Swan,
who represents guile and sensuality. Nina fits the White Swan
role perfectly but Lily is the personification of the Black Swan. As
the two young dancers expand their rivalry into a twisted
friendship, Nina begins to get more in touch with her dark side
with a recklessness that threatens to destroy her.

14. Financed by…
Black Swan began development
under Protozoa Pictures and
Overnight Productions, the latter
financing the film.

15. Produced by…
Producers: Production Companies:
•Ari Handel •Protozoa Pictures
•Scott Franklin •Phoenix Pictures
•Mike Medavoy •Cross Creek Pictures
•Arnold Messer
•Brian Oliver

16. Black Swan - Tech details
Camera
Film negative format (mm/video inches)
•Arriflex 16 SR3, Zeiss Ultra 16 Lenses
•16 mm (Fuji Eterna Vivid 160T 8643, Eterna
•Arriflex 416, Zeiss Ultra 16 Lenses Vivid 500T 8647)
•Canon EOS 5D Mark II, Canon L-Series •Digital
Lenses
•Canon EOS 7D, Canon L-Series Lenses Cinematographic process
•Digital Intermediate (2K) (master format)
•HDTV (1080p/24) (source format) (some
Laboratory
scenes)
•DeLuxe, Hollywood (CA), USA (prints) •Super 16 (source format)
•Technicolor, Hollywood (CA), USA
•Technicolor, New York (NY), USA Printed film format
(digital intermediate) •35 mm (anamorphic) (blow-up) (Fuji Eterna-
CP 3513DI)
•D-Cinema
Film length (metres)
•2946 m Aspect ratio
•2.35 : 1

17. Main distributor Distributed by…
• Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (2010) (worldwide) (all media)
• 20th Century Fox Netherlands (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical) (through Warner Bros.)
• 20th Century Fox (2011) (world-wide excluding those below) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox de Argentina (2011) ( only Argentina) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox of Germany (2011) ( only Germany) (theatrical)
• Fox Searchlight Pictures (2010) ( only USA) (theatrical)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2010) ( only United Arab Emirates) (theatrical)
• Hispano Foxfilms S.A.E. (2011) ( only Spain) (theatrical)
• Odeon (2011) (only Greece) (theatrical)
• Twentieth Century Fox C.I.S. (2011) (only Russia) (theatrical)
• Warner Bros. (2011) (only Netherlands) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (2011) (World-wide excluding those below)
(DVD + Blu-Ray)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment España S.A. (2011) ( only Spain) (DVD)
• (Castello Lopes Multimédia (2011) ( only Portugal) (all media)
• Film1 (2012) (only Netherlands) ( only TV)
• Odeon (2011) (only Greece) (DVD + Blu-ray)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Germany (2011) (only Germany) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2011) (only Netherlands) (DVD + Blu-
Ray)

18. Marketing Black Swan raises the bar with striking
and beautiful set of posters - The
Guardian
• Posters
• Trailers
• Online
• Advertising and cross-promotions; within
tv, websites, apps etc.
• Media and Publicity; specifically from
awards buzz and critical acclaim.
The marketing creators said they were ‘overwhelmed’ with the
response to the posters that they created, bringing in a mass
audience after just trying to appeal to niche.

19. Exhibition
• Costing an estimated $13,000,000 (with
further 50% expected to be spent on
marketing) it was relatively small budget
and independent film, under Fox
Searchlight Pictures.
• But was exhibited world-wide in cinemas,
then online and available in different forms
or hard copy, and has so far made a gross
profit of $329,398,046 world-wide.

20. Synergy
Fox Searchlight worked within its conglomerate and Warner
Bros and Twentieth Century Fox, among others, in order to
promote the film.
They worked specifically on merchandising; within their
own retail units. Making posters available to buy, and
promoting film branded clothing, thus promoting features of
the film and attracting people to the soundtrack to the film
(created with the production company’s record label),
among many other different items to buy; in order to
promote the film, which overall attracts people to the film.
And also talking about the film through other media outlets,
eg. Reviews on tv shows, papers or/and online.

21. ‘An extraordinary,
intoxicating movie. Its hard,
twisted edges may turn off
some, but there’s no faulting
either Aronofsky’s technical
mastery or Portman’s
Reviews/Awards
flawless performance.’ –
Empire Magazine
Black Swan received huge critical acclaim, being
applauded by many. The film received five Academy
Award nominations and Portman won the Best
Actress award for the film, as well as many other
Best Actress awards in several guilds and festivals,
while Aronofsky was nominated for Best Director. In
addition, the film itself received a nomination for
Best Picture.
‘Natalie Portman excels in this gripping ‘A beautiful and
ballet psychodrama from Darren nightmarish
Aronofsky. Peter Bradshaw applauds a masterpiece’ –
film about fear, love and hatred.’ – IMdB
Guardian

22. Issues
Amy Westcott is credited as the costume designer and received
several award nominations. But questions were asked over who
designed some of the costumes, eventually Westcott responded,
stating that in all only 7 costumes, among them the black and white
swan, had been created in a collaboration between Rodarte;
costume design company, Westcott, and Aronofsky.
ABT dancer Sarah Lane served as a "dance double" for Portman in
the film, so people asked questions about wherever her performace
could be accredited. But Portman did star in the majority of the
scenes, with Benjamin Millepied and Aronofsky defending her,
giving examples of her ballet training as a child and intense year-
long training for the film beforehand.
But overall the film was met with huge critical acclaim, and there
were no major issues.

23. Black Swan and Tyrannosaur comparison
• The production values between the two was hugely
different, with Tyrannosaur being extremely low budget,
and Black Swan a bigger budget, but still relatively small.
• Tyrannosaur was filmed digitally and Black Swan on film.
• Black Swan was allowed massive synergy and
convergence; with a soundtrack and posters, etc., through
Fox Searchlight’s many sources, whereas Tyrannosaur had
to market individually, with mainly posters, etc., through
Warp X. The films could both be exhibited worldwide, and
distributed through many sources, but Black Swan has a
bigger range of outlets, so to allow for further distribution.

24. DEBATES
• MEDIA COMPANIES ARE BLAMED AS MEDIA
CONCENTRATION LEADS TO MONOPOLY IN THE
MARKET
• SPONSORS AND ADVERTISERS MORE IMPORTANT
THAN VOICE OF THE MASSES
• LACK OF HEALTHY MARKET COMPETITION
• PEOPLE HAVE LESS DIVERSE OPTIONS
• INCREASED CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP
CAN LEAD TO THE CENSORSHIP OF A WIDE RANGE
OF CRITICAL THOUGHT.
• HENCE SLOW MODERNIZATION AND INCREASE IN
PRICES
• DOES NOT SERVE PUBLIC INTEREST
• CONCENTRATION OF MEDIA CONGLOMERATES IN US
HAS LED TO AMERICANIZATION

25. COUNTER VIEW
• MEDIA COMPANIES STATE THAT IT LEADS TO
BETTER COMPETITIVENESS BETWEEN GIANT MEDIA
CONGLOMERATES
• REDUCED COST OF OPERATIONS DUE TO
CONSOLIDATION OF SOME FUNCTIONS
• MORE SEGMENTED OR DIFFERENTIATED PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES TO RESPOND TO A WIDER VARIETY
OF DEMANDS BETTER
• INTERNET HAS BECOME A NEW SOURCE OF
AQUIRING INFORMATION. THROUGH BLOGS,
FORUMS.
• THANKS TO THIS TREND GOOGLE AND YAHOO ARE
ALSO MEDIA GIANTS IN THE MAKING.

26. Piracy
• http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/14029865

27. • Major issues facing British Film Makers
•
According to King's Speech director, Tom Hooper, there has been a revolution in British film
making due to the rise in digital technology. When he was younger digital technology was not
available so he had to use film and could not afford to add sound so his films were silent.
Today gadgets like iPhones etc have the ability to film in HD with sound so everyone has the
opportunity to make a film. Digital is a lot cheaper way of film making however there hasn't
been a reduced cost of marketing a film to the public. E.g. from The King's Speech budget of
$15 million dollars it takes $25/30 million has to be spent marketing it to the US. Tom Hooper
says that there is still a restriction to who can make a film that will reach everyone because
even if you manage to make a film for nothing you still have to have millions of dollars to
market it.
So despite the revolution the digital technology makes to the actual production of the film it
has had little impact to the cost. He also mentions that the use of big name stars is a large part
of the appeal to films and that also is very expensive. So although the digital revolution has
change and given the British film industry opportunities film makers are still restricted by costs
of marketing and distribution, and also the ability to make a film with wide appeal with
blockbuster stars.

28. RECAP
Write down the key term on one side and the definition on the back.
• Production
• Subsidiary
• Distribution
• Marketing
• Exhibition
• Vertical Integration
• Co-Production
• Synergy
• Niche market
• Conglomerates
• Exchange