Case study of the low budget UK film Shifty (2009) for use in Section B of the AS Media Studies exam - Institutions and Audiences.
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1. Film Industry Case Study
2. Case Study - Shifty
G322 Key Media Concepts (TV Drama)
Section B: Institutions and Audiences
UK film aimed at a national audience
Traditional UK film genre
Ultra low budget production via National Lottery UK Film
Council / Film London
Typical UK film funding
Metrodome distributors
Interesting use of viral marketing, film festival and award
ceremony
Produced with DVD extras in mind
3. Case Study - Shifty
UK film aimed at a national audience
Shifty is a typical British success story.
Filmed on ashoestring budget , director Eran Creevy was still
able to create thischaracter-led ,well-crafted , cinematic piece as
his first feature film.
Eran Creevy -Well established in the world of music promos and
commercials, he has been honing his craft for a good few years
before turning his hand to features.
http://www.thereel.net/blog.php?article_id=172
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkYhQoLEDzA 4. Case Study -
Shifty
The actors -As his first feature, it was obviously a risk for
well known actorDaniel Mays(Atonement and Vera Drake) and
up-and-coming actorRiz Ahmed(Brits and Deadset) to undertake but,
with Erans well-written script, insightful character observation
and on-point direction, what was created in only three weeks
certainly was impressive.
5. Case Study - Shifty
Traditional UK film genre
The story tells of 24hrs in the life of your friendly
neighbourhood crack dealer and doesnt adhere to the often,
stereotypical workings of previous British, working-class, grimy
gangster flicks.
Its a character led film that has its feet firmly on the
ground. It doesnt try to be something its not and theres no
glossing over the grim realities of a story based on a childhood
friend of Eran.
Genre - contemporary, urban thriller with a strong element of
social realism. More Ken Loach and Mike Leigh than Guy Ritchie or
kidulthood!
6. Case Study - Shifty
Ultralow budget production
Microwave challenges film-makers to shoot a full length film
for up to100,000.The scheme will provide an intensive approach to
film-making, with an emphasis ontightly focused scripts ,short
production schedulesand commercial potential.
Microwave offers a unique professionalmentoringscheme from
leading industry figures.
Film London and its partners will also offer a range of
assistance including in-kind support from leading facilities and
service companies,waived locations feesfrom many of Londons local
authorities, and a generous revenue share model which will enable
producers to utilise the UKs newtax creditto secure a40% share of
receipts . Completed projects will have the opportunity to showcase
at the annual London UK Film Focus sales event as well as atmajor
international markets .
7.
Rory Aitken - Producer
The Microwave Scheme challenges filmmakers to make films for
100,000. You could make it for less, but for no more. It's run
byFilm Londonso they oversee the production and you have to go
through various stages of applications. The last one of which they
callMicro-schooland that's a week where you spend time with
experienced people in the industry who talk you through your film
and you try to develop it in various directions - to thescript ,
thebudgetand who you're going to get to act in it etc. - and then
you have topitchthe film to about 10 people on a panel for 15
minutes which is the most terrifying bit of it all. They then gave
us half the money and we had to raise the other half. Then they
helped us make the film with that very, very low budget.
8. Case Study - Shifty
Typical UK film funding
The average budget for a domestic UK film in 2009 was 3.3
million.
IndependentThe Duchess ,In Bruges, Son of Rambow
UK Film Council productionsBright Star, In the Loop
TV Co-productions
BBCThe Duchess, Fish Tank, Revolutionary Road
Film4Slumdog Millionaire, Nowhere Boy
European co-productionsAdulthood
Anglo-American co-productionsMamma Mia! ,Quantum of
SolaceandThe Dark Knight
9. Case Study - Shifty
Interesting use film festival and award
ceremony
As part of the microwave projectShiftypremiered atThe Times BFI
52nd London Film Festivalon Friday 24 October 2008 at Odeon West
End.
Shiftywas also nominated for a FIPRESCI International Critics
Award for best first or second feature and later for 5 British
Independent Film Awards.
Shiftyhad some great reviews off the back of the screenings
from the Daily Mail, Time Out included it as one of their three
Picks of the Festival, Heat magazine called it Ace!, and The
Observer called it their personal discovery of the festival.
10.
Metrodome distributors
Following the London Film Festival screening in October Shifty
had interest from several distributors.
Rory Aitken - We went to meet several interested parties
individually to discuss the film, and after some negotiations with
them all, we went with Metrodome - a great UK distributor who
didDonnie Darko , and Oscar-winningThe Counterfeiterslast
year.
11.
So what did the distributor Metrodome find attractive
aboutShifty ?
Metrodome acquiredShiftyhaving seen it in 2008 and I think the
first and most important point is that cinema can be so much more
than big studio blockbusters. I think great British cinema, can be
about a place that you might live, about people you might know. It
can involve stories that might be familiar to you. It really
doesn't have to be an Americanised view of the world. There's some
fantastic cinema out there which comes from Britain, from London
and other regions, and I think really in distributing films
likeShiftywe're just trying to get people to see how diverse cinema
is in Britain today.
One of the important things for Metrodome aboutShiftywas -
although it is an urban genre film which obviously brings to
mindBullet Boy, Kidulthood&Adulthoodit's not just a group of
anecdotes and stories about drug dealing scrapes and the police. At
the heart of it, there are two people getting to know each other
again after four years apart and a universal story about
friendship. So although it is an urban genre film, it's very
important that it's telling a real story.
12.
What kind of challenges did a film like Shifty present in
marketing terms?
The marketing challenge for us is telling people who we think
would be interested in the film that it's coming and it's out there
and we have to do it in such a way that you feel you can make an
informed decision.
It can be a struggle for a small company because we can't spend
the level of money that a Hollywood blockbuster would spend so we
have to try and be clever about how we do things and I think we
have to be sure that when we speak to the target audience that
we're doing it in such a way that they feel that the tone is right
and represents the film
To do that we're used a mixture of TV and ads on things like
pirate radio. We did fly-posting. The poster of the film was really
designed to be eye-catching and simple but really we always said
the poster needed to be quite exhibitionist. A show-off poster -
just so it's big and loud and yellow - but we also need to be able
to give you an idea of what the subject matter of the film is
without spelling out that it's about drug dealing as that may be a
problem for some people.
13. Case Study - Shifty
International Distribution
Shiftywent on to further success and secured a distribution
deal inAustralia . The newly set-up distribution arm of Curious
Film, based in Sydney, handled the release.
Deals like this signify the increasing opportunities for
independent films to reach audiences globally.
Mia Bays, Creative Executive for Microwave, went to Australia
to give a keynote speech in which she gave her tips for making a
little go a long way.
Her top tips urged film-makers to make sure they had a clear
motivation, story and vision for their films and emphasised the
importance of teamwork. However, she maintained that getting your
film made is only the first step half your job is making the film,
the other half is getting it out to the world.
14. Case Study - Shifty
Interesting use of viral marketing
'Drugs' email banned by ad watchdog
Shifty email viral campaign banned
An email marketing campaign for the British filmShiftythat
encouraged people to "stitch up a mate" by making them think they
were being investigated by police for drugs offences has been
banned by the advertising regulator.
The website promoting the movie, which charts a bad day in the
life of a drug dealer, allowed web users to anonymously send a
friend an email with the headline "Criminal Investigation".
The email, which was sent from a ficticious police department,
told the recipient they had been named by someone caught in a
class-A drugs swoop by police as a "habitual narcotics user".
15. 16. 17. 18.
Produced with DVD sales in mind!
Throughout the production period, a selection ofaccompanying
materialwill be produced such as documentary footage of the films
being made, as well as transcripts of seminars and interviews. This
will be made universally available as anonline learningresource for
all micro-budget film-makers.
19. 20. Case Study - Shifty
Exhibition
With the BBC as Microwaves broadcast partner even the eventual
screening of the film on TV is already organised.