RESEARCH: BIFA

This week I have been Following the BIFA nominations through my twitter feed. BIFA celebrates achievement in independently funded British filmmaking.

I have recently been researching the British Independent Film Awards after having visited the British Film Institution. At the BFI I had learned about, and watched the trailer for, a film named American Honey, directed by Andrea Arnold, and at the time of the research into the BIFA, American Honey was nominated for an award.

I am particularly interested in American Honey because it is somewhat similar to an independent film that I am producing: it is relatively low budget, it features (almost) all unknown actors and it is defining our generation. I learned about the film American Honey at a study trip to the BFI on November 2^nd where I attended a talk, Introduction to the Film Industry: A Level Study Day, hosted by Rob Miller.

At the BFI I also learned that American honey counts as a British film as it features a British cast, and has a British director, Andrea Arnold – famous for producing Fishtank (2009) which had a budget of £1.3 million (compared to Star Wars: the Force awakens’ £203 million).

 It is an example of the BFI’s/ Film4 funding model. American Honey’s key themes involve youth and their lifestyle hedonism (living for the moment in a care freeway), love and betrayal, which are themes and issues not usually covered by mainstream cinema.

Similarly to American Honey, our film will not feature expensive sets as they are shot on location as it has extremely low production values. Part of how its social realism approach was achieved was the style of the film and depiction of urban youth, which is echoed in our film.

Media consumption

There are numerous types of cinema available to audiences in the UK, for example; Multiplex cinemas – which are defined by having multiple screens in the same building, used to show various types of films to try and appeal to a greater and more varied audience, examples of these types of these cinemas would be Odeon, Cineworld and Vue cinemas. Another type of cinema are the Independent cinemas – for example the Curzon cinema which is host to foreign films, independent films and more mainstream films, these types of cinemas typically appeal to niche audiences. Additionally there are; Boutique cinemas – which are typically lavish and expensive; Pop-up cinemas – for example, the Luna cinema which frequently hosts open air screenings of older films (i.e. Die Hard); Repertory cinemas – such as the BFI in London southbank which hosts classic and contemporary films; Film festivals. I often attend multiplex cinemas to see new releases as they are more convenient for me to attend as there are multiple cinemas within a short train journey that I could go to.

There are three larger cinema chains, including; the Odeon, which is the largest cinema chain in the UK; Cineworld; Vue. However three of the smaller cinema chains include; Empire; the Everyman; Curzon cinemas. The larger cinema chains typically cater less to the consumer than the smaller cinema chains are they have mass market appeal whereas, for example, the Everyman offers alcohol and food to be brought to your seat.

Multiplex cinemas, such as Odeon, were designed to be able to show a variety of films to try and appeal to a mass audience however there are several independent cinema brands such as the Tyneside in Newcastle; this cinema is host to both independent, such as I, Daniel Blake, and large budget movies, such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. This cinema is also a host to foreign films; older movies (for example Dark Victory); themed programmes such as ‘Enjoy the Silence’, which includes 4 films, a meal, yoga and a voucher for coffee. Cinemas such as this may appeal to audiences because of it’s catered to their preferences as the building also includes a bar which can also be used to order tickets. The Tyneside also caters to people who aspire to get into filmmaking as they teach courses on cinematic themes, including filmmaking, at on-site studios.

 

IMAXs around the world are still commercially successful because of the experience they offer, on the way to the BFI I walked past the London IMAX, at the time it was showing Doctor Strange; I understand why it would be subjectively better to see the movie in an IMAX cinema as the IMAX includes a wrap-around screens and sharp image. A trend that has been slowly increasing is the popularity and utilisation of IMAX screens, originally IMAX screens were used at science museums however it is now being used to screen blockbusters and mainstream cinema as the technology required to make films at IMAX resolutions is incredibly expensive. The IMAX cinemas offer a unique experience that immerses the audience into the film in a way that standard cinema screens aren’t able to.

The online consumption of film and television is a rising trend across the world as these ‘video on demand’ services allow audiences to access films and television programmes anytime as they are not restricted to a week-by-week schedule. Instead these services offer a service where the audience can choose to watch an episode or they can binge on several episodes consecutively, this practice of watching shows allows the audience to get instant gratification from cliff hangers as well as increases the audience’s attention retention and the audience’s information retention as instead of forgetting information over the course of a week.