How was Avatar produced compared to Slumdog Millionaire?

David Cameron the director of 'Avator' has first though of the idea  for avatar in 1994. He planned to film it after 'Titanic' was released in 1996. Production was begin to start in the summer of 1997 for a 1999 release; but camera stopped this as he thought that technology had not caught up with the story and vision he wanted to tell. When cameron saw the technological advances in the creation of computer generated characters, such as Gollum and King Kong, he decided  that technology had caught up with the story he wanted to tell. 

Avatar on its opening day

20th Century Fox's "Avatar"
Opening Weekend

$77,025,481 (USA) (20 December 2009) (3,452 Screens)
£8,509,050 (UK) (20 December 2009) (503 Screens)

£18,404,659 (UK) (27 December 2009) gross to date.

Awards: Won 2 Golden Globes. Another 12 wins & 32 nominations

'Avatar' compared to 'Slumdog millionaire'

Film 4's "Slumdog Millionaire" only cost $15 million dollars - it did better business than the more expensive film by Working Title. News Corporation's 20th Century Fox is in another league! Its "Avatar" cost around $250 million to make and another $170 million in distribution and promotional costs! Much of the production costs went in developing new technology (special digital cameras) and special effects. 20th Century Fox was only able to raise this cash because it was part of  a group of companies worth many Billions. (News Corp). Media Convergence worked in its favour as News Corp own just about any type of media company you may imagine. The synergies available in a company like this enable massive promotion of the film across a range of media.

Avatar

Exchange

Exchange is not made by the film company, it is the consequences of the film, for example if we looked on  youtube people would have made their own trailers for Slumdog or even  taken pictures of the actors in the film and then put their own music over the top, maybe even take parts of the film and copy it. 

This is an example of Exchange, 

Exhibition

On November 12th, 2008 Slumdog was released but only limited, this was around the time of the oscars this is a good time to release a film as depending on how it does at the awards helps the film with cinema ratings as people think it must be a good film if its up for so many awards. it was then again released, December 26, 2008 this time world wide. This was because it was considered for a lot of awards which it later won. Slumdog started as an independent film with a low budget, but it then crossed over to a mainstream film, this was still with its low budget. The target audience for the film was from the age 15 and above, we know this as it was given a certificate of 15. 

What is the film's unique selling point?

Slumdog Millionaire uses fresh new actors and actresses which people have never seen in films before. This sets it aside from other films as they are not the same old 'A list' stars which we are used to seeing. Also the films uses real life to relate to the audiences for example when we see part of the film set in the slums of millionaire, this is different to other films as we are not seeing the big houses, which we all dream about living in. They also use Danny Boyle as a selling point as he is a successful director who has had hit films before. This will make fans of Danny Boyle want to go and see the films he directs. 

Slumdog Millionire trailer

Consumption

How was the film consumed in the UK?

 The film was very well received in the UK and won lots of awards. In the opening weekend Slumdog Millionaire made £1,827,457, it was screened in over 300 cinemas. On Amazon Slumdog Millionaire is 40th on the best sellers list. The average customer review is 3 and a half stars, which is not too bad.  

   On Amazon people have reviewed the film and it has been very well praised; one man says 'Slumdog Millionaire deserves a place among the masterpieces of world cinema'  he aslso rates it 5 stars. Another woman also admits how at first she did not want to see the film as she thought it would be a 'drippy foreign film' she says it is far from what she thought and the film had even moved her to tears. On Amazon all i could see was positive comments. Which shows what a an amazing film it was. 

Budget

The film was projected to cost US$15 million, so Celador the british production company, sought a U.S. distributor to share costs. Fox Searchlight Pictures made an initial offer that was reportedly in the $2 million range, but Warner Independent Pictures made a $5 million offer to win rights to the picture.

Music

The Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack was composed by A.R.Radman, he completed it in two weeks. Danny Boyle has said that he chose Rahman because "not only does he draw on Indian classical music, but he's got R&B and hiphop coming in from America, house music coming in from Europe and this incredible fusion is created." Rahman won the 2009 Golden Globe award for best score and won two out of three nominations for the Academy Award, including one for Best oringinal score and one for best original song for ''Jai Ho''. The song ''O...Saya'' got a nomination shared with M.I.A.. and the song ''Jai Ho'' won the Oscar, which A. R. Rahman shared with lyricist Gulzar.

Dev Patal and Freida Pinto

Cast

Slumdog millionaire did not use well known characters to the film industry. Dev Patel got the leading role; Danny Boyle considered hundreds of young Bollywood actors, but Boyle's daughter pointed Dev Patal out from his role in the television drama Skins. The lead girl Freida Pinto was an indian model who had never been in a feature film before. By using fresh new actors and actresses, it made Slumdog millionaire different and stand out from other films. People wanted to watch this fresh new film. The film was a big hit.

Production

In the summer of 2006, British production companies Celador films and Film4 productions invited director Danny Boyle to read the script of slumdog millionaire. Boyle initially hesitated, since he was not interested in making a film about Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, which was produced by Celador. However, Boyle soon found out that the screenwriter was Beaufoy, who had written The Full Monty , one of the director's favourite British Films, and decided to revisit the script.

Danny Boyle the director of Slumdog millionaire

Danny Boyle is a successful director who works for channel fours; film four. He has directed many films, for example Shallow Grave and Trainspotting. In 2008 he directed slumdog millionaire for which Boyle won an Academy Award. The film won eight Academy Awards in total, he takes audiences on a journey into the heart of contemporary Mumbai. 

What is Slumdog Millionaire?

This is an extraordinary film. From the original concept of the novel on which it is based (Q&A by Vikas Swarup), the screenplay by Simon Beaufoy (Full Monty) but especially the masterful creation and direction of the film by Danny Boyle. From the opening moments until the final scene, the audience was fully engaged. I was completely lost in the world that Danny Boyle created. This is not a story that has been told and retold. It is fresh and engaging - all at once quickly moving, romantic, violent and culturally insightful. There are also some comic elements to the film. Slumdog Millionaire is yet another testament to depth and range of Boyle's artistic talent who has directed such diverse films as Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine.

Channel Four Films and The Industrial context

In terms of cost Film Four films typically costed £500k-£600k compared with conventionally funded feature films which cost around £3-4 million. Channel 4 proved attractive to filmmakers and producers, this was because until 1985 there was a generous system of tax write offs against production costs in which costs could be written off against profits straight away whilst films not initially targeted and TV has their cost written off over several years. This meant that in terms of risks and returns for investors funding channel 4 film was a much lower risk. Whilst film-makers enjoyed the tax write offs they was to make big money and wanted their films to go straight to the cinema. However David Rose the commissioning editor for fiction at channel 4 correctly felt that this wouldn't allow channel 4 to build up its audiences. When these films were theatrical release they didn't enter into the mainstream usually being released in small number of cinemas which were indentified with the Art House circuit. 

 

Introduction to my case study channel 4

Channel 4 became the fourth terrestrial channel in 1982.  Channel 4 decided  that they wanted to make a different range of productions;  which had not been seen in any other channels. Many films were made which appealed to lots of different audiences. some of these films even became the most well known and most financially successful films in british cinima. This shows what a powerful influence channel 4 has had over the long term as it has now been operating for over 25 years. There has been of 25 feature films for the special feature Film on Four. 

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