AR; Institutuional Context

How do industrial and independent studios produce and distribute their horror films?

Those who produce and distribute in the film industry have to work hard in pleasing the audience as well as keeping to a budget. For horror films the target audience is male 12-29 year olds. The budget can depend on whether the film is industrial or independent. Industrial studios make ultra-high budget/tentpole films, ensuring a great quality and appearance by using the newest most expensive technology. Independent films produce film using a much smaller budget. They rely of the acting and narrative to attract audiences. A film needs to regain costs of investment and go into profit to be a success. The creative triangle must ensure that the budget is less than the level of income. The film maker will be looking to make three times the original capital, this is important so that future films can be made. This is achieved through careful consideration of appropriate target audience for the type of budget being used to make the film. 

Last year the UK had cinema admissions of 127 million, the second highest total in the last ten years. This increase in audiences may be due to developments in production like 3D film of new techniques of distribution for example in the film ‘Monsters’ Vue Entertainment and Cineworld Cinemas set up ‘infected locations’ which gave users access to exclusive Monsters content and the chance to win random on-the-spot prizes. The internet can help immensely with distribution. British audiences exist within a more pluralistic media landscape as the internet has enabled wider spread distribution of films in other territories, however the hegemonic status of the US major Hollywood studios means that US production dominates cinema listings.

Modern horror films have an expectation to keep to the changing tastes of horror fans or to excite expectations with new genre’s or re-creations of old ones, like how ‘I am Legend’ was thought of in the 90’s at a time of the re-emergence of science fiction horror. The development in digital technology raises audience expectation of the visuals of horror, for example more graphic, realistic gore using CGI or even using 3D to scare the audience with the ultra-real, invasive form of the images.

Vertigo Film is a UK independent production studio. The horror film Monsters (2010, Edwards) was made under Vertigo Film. It was produced with improvised characters, scripts and locations. The extras were those who were around at the time of filming, it also used a real life couple to create a sense of realism.  This allowed for less money to be spent as the film would not need to hire people such as casting directors, production designers and screenplay writers. This method is called Guerrilla film making. It is a risky form of film production as with little planning it is highly likely the film may be a flop as it is unpredictable. UK independents use Guerrilla film making methods of improvisation for low budget production. The budget was only $500, 000 with the filming equipment costing as little as $15, 000. Prosumer cameras were used to record digital footage instead of the more commonly used 35 mm film which is much more expensive. The crew were so concerned about saving costs that 90% of the kit and crew were transported in one van. Edwards did all the editing himself including the special effects, all in his bedroom. The film made over $4 million at box office which made Monsters a success as it over tripled in income. 

 

Warner Brothers is an industrial film production studio and a subsidiary of the major conglomerate of Time Warner. Industrial film is an institution which owns assets and has the advantage of vertical and horizontal integration. An Industrial horror film that is made by Warner Brothers is ‘I am Legend’ (2007, Lawrence). It is similar to 'Monsters' as it was also a success but the amount that went into it and came out was significantly larger with a budget of $150 million and $585 million at box office. It used a similar method of existing relationships to create better, more authentic acting. In terms of 'I am Legend' it was Will Smith and his daughter Willow Smith. There were a lot of rewrites during the production of this film because of Smith's improvisational skills and Lawrence's preference to keep various scenes silent, as this could be very effective in cinema especially in building tension in a horror. The production of Monsters was inexpensive as they worked with what they had rather than manipulated to scenery to fit them. The creators of 'I am Legend' were inspired by the deserted London in '28 Days Later' but wanted to create this look for New York.
It was an expensive process to close off major streets and have Florida imported weeds to be strewn across locations to make the city look abandoned and overgrown. CGI was also used to erase pedestrians, workers in windows, spectators and cars in the shots and add lions and deer into the film.

'I am Legend' had a successful marketing strategy made accessible through horizontal and vertical integration within the conglomerates of Time Warner. There was a tie-in from DC Comics and Vertigo Comics which created 'I Am Legend: Awakening.' The comic book will go through further advancements to become an online format in which animated featurettes will be shown on the official website. An online multiplayer game was also launched 'I Am Legend: Survival' by Warner Bros. Pictures in conjunction with the Electric Sheep Company in the virtual world of 'Secret Life'. The studio also hired the ad agency 'Crew Creative' to develop a website that would be specifically viewable on the Iphone.