A Field in england

1) 100 word summary Media Magazine
The magazine describes the unusual distribution method that A Field in England had gone through, mainly noting upon the challenges a distributor may go through to select a film to be chosen to be distributed, as many factors are considered to choosing  film to see if it would be successful. For low budget movies/ Art-house films it is extremely difficult to find ways to distribute their film as either a huge interest in the movie is needed or would need to be funded by a big company. If a Art-house film does not get distributed it would only be shown in Art-house cinemas leading to a lower revenue although this is not the main objective for the director of a Art-house film.

2) Read the following pages on the official website for A Field In England and write a one-sentence summary of each. Each page provides explanations of the unique release strategy that the institutions behind the film chose: 

The release of the film is very strange as it was shown in cinemas, Film 4, VOD, DVD and Blu Ray all on the 5th of July 2013, this meant that audiences could view the movie at home for free if they pleased, but due to the nature of Art-house movies the audiences view movies in cinema to fully appreciate the movie therefore the movie had a successful run in the cinemas for a Art-house film. The advantage of this is that audiences that are interested can view the film in cinema or if unable to can still access the film on TV or through VOD allowing all interested audiences to appreciate the movie which is the goal of the director. This type of release has only been seen in the movie The Interview which had to be done due to the threats the movie received for being about killing Kim Jun Un the dictator of China. Therefore seeing a release like this would not be normal for any movie as it wouldn't really make sense as people would just end up watching the film at home instead of going to the cinema

3) How was A Field In England’s release different to typical film releases?

The strange release of A Field in England is done due to the changing ways that audiences view content, while loyal viewers that admire Art-house would go to the cinema, mot audiences may just enjoy viewing the movie in the comfort of their home without paying the premium price of the cinema yet the movie still get's to audiences which is the goal of the director.

4) What are the advantages to releasing the film across all platforms on the same day?

The first screening describes how audiences were really impressed by the movie due to being in such a finished state which allowed audiences to see the view of what the director was attempting to create. The release of the film describes how the movie was advertised using companies that would promote the movie in their respected company and used the release strategy to get as many viewers on the first day as possible to maximise the amount of buzz related to the film.

5) What are the disadvantages to this approach?

The reason Chicken was unable to achieve this distribution strategy was due to not being having enough shots or mentions of the capital London and does not reflect on positive attributes of being British. Also being filmed in a remote location it did not glorify England enough.

6) What target audience would A Field In England be aimed at? Think about demographics and Psychographics.

The target audience seems to be viewers that are generally regarded to be Art-house movie viewers as being able to watch a movie and digest what the movie is showing them while also being able to ponder upon what has been informed to them, the audience therefore is typically more educated and able to understand what is being told.

7) Do you think all films in future will be released across all platforms simultaneously in future? Why? What role will technology play in film distribution?
The more popular Netflix becomes, the more competition there will be for channels so there will probably be similar release strategies in the future. In terms of cinema, that is likely to become less popular while producers pay more attention to selling their movie to sites like Netflix or Amazon.

8) Why was Chicken unable to use such a release and distribution strategy when it was made in 2014?
It was made independently so it wasn't shown in large cinemas or even movies channels weren't convinced it was going to be successful. Therefore, showing it in a small, niche cinema would have been more profitable.