Film 4

Film 4 is a free digital TV channel in the UK and republic or Ireland

Film 4 was originally known as Film four; it used to say the word four but changed to the number. It changed when channel 4 bought it. It became channel 4 second channel when it launched in 1^st November 1998. It is know owned and operated by Channel 4 that screens films.

Before it joined to channel 4 it cost to pay for it, the price range was £5.98-£6.00 but went up to £7. It then shut down and relaunched as film 4. It spread to 300,000 subscribers to 18 millions households the highest it’s ever been. The broadcasting was originally at 11:00am-8:45pm but changed to 1:00pm-8:45pm with commercial breaks when it relaunched. Tessa Ross became head of film 4 and channels 4 drama. Film 4 is known for some of its popular films such as Borat Cultural Learnings of America and Slumdog Millionaire. In my case I will be using Slumdog Millionaire of an example of Film 4’s success.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a popular film with its big success. The background on Slumdog Millionaire is about a young man from the  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slum" \o "Slum" slums of  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai" \o "Mumbai" Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Who_Wants_to_Be_a_Millionaire%3F" \o "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? And exceeds people's expectations, thereby arousing the suspicions of the game show host and of law enforcement officials. 

Slumdog Millionaire was a British film created in 2008; the film was directed by  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Boyle" \o "Danny Boyle" Danny Boyle. Danny Boyle is very successful British director, and by getting Danny Boyle to direct this film would help it to become more successful than if someone was to direct it. The screenplay written by  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Beaufoy" \o "Simon Beaufoy" Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveleen_Tandan" \o "Loveleen Tandan" Loveleen Tandan. When slumdog Millionaire was produced it was not expected to become a success of which it has today. When realised they expected it to only reach a small number of the UK, as it did not have any particular Genres, or moods that people enjoy watching in the cinema, the reason of its success was because the producers showed the struggle of what people in the slums of India had to live in, they should the pain that people have to go through in everyday life, therefore this helped for it to become more successful as it created awareness. 

When creating this film, two posters were designed for it; this is unusual for a film to do. The poster on the right you are able to see two characters, a girl and the face of a boy. You can tell that they are the main characters as they are the only people you can see in the poster. The girl in the poster, you can see most of her body, and you can tell that she running this could suggest that she is trying to aim for something e.g. a goal that she wants to achieve. The boy in the poster is mainly focused on his head as this is all you can see. His face takes up most of the poster and it is hard to see his face clearly this could suggest he is a important character in the film. With his face blurred out it may show that he doesn’t have authority but might gain it during the film, this could explain why his head takes up most of the poster but is hard to see. 

The poster of the left is showing the same things but placed differently, it is showing the girl and the boy together, and seems like they have achieved something as they are both smiling and looking up together. Both of the posters set different moods, the one on the right could suggest the beginning of the film as they are both struggling, this is also suggested by the background (the colour black) suggests darkness and struggle, but then in the second poster it could suggest the end of the film when they have achieved something and they are smiling and the colour background (white) suggests purity and happiness. On both of the poster it both shows the question “What does it take to find a lost love” in the style of ‘who wants to be a millionaire?’ so by adding this in of that particular style may suggest to audiences that it is linked to the British television program who wants to be a millionaire? So therefore this could increase the UK audiences. Also they have included on both posters that it is a Danny Boyle film, so people that like films produced by Danny Boyle may go to watch it as they may think it will be another film they will enjoy by him. 

Audience

Before the film was created, there would have been a set audience which is highly likely to be the most popular people to watch this film. The film was targeted for people over 16, as children under 16 would not get the storyline. Also it was targeted for both male and female, even though it was more likely that females would go to watch the film as the genre was based on Comedy, Romance, and Drama, which would normally attract females. All social classes would have been targeted, as it would help to raise awareness of the film and improve profits. The estimated target audience was very similar to the actual audience that went to view the film, the most common age group was 15-24 as 46% almost of the viewers were between this age group. There was almost an equal number of male to females that went to watch it, as 44% were male and 56% were female, these are both very close, but more women were suggested to see the film, and more women did go to watch the film. 

Film success

Slumdog millionaire was not created to become a successful film; this is because it was created in India, and as a successful film has never been created in India before they was unsure whether it would be a big hit, also another reason why it was not expected to be a big film was because it was a Art House film, this is a low budget film so therefore its likely to follow a unusual genre, so it will be targeted at a niche market, also as this film was co-directed in India it can be classed as a foreign film, and foreign film are very likely to come under a art house film. Even though Slumdog Millionaire was predicted not to become a successful, it did become very successful and went on to win lots of awards. Slumdog Millionaire was nominated for ten  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/81st_Academy_Awards" \o "81st Academy Awards" Academy Awards in 2009 and won eight, the most for any film of 2008, including  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Picture" \o "Academy Award for Best Picture" Best Picture,  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Best_Director" \o "Academy Award for Best Director" Best Director, and  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Academy_Award_for_Adapted_Screenplay" \o "Academy Award for Adapted Screenplay" Best Adapted Screenplay. It also won seven  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/62nd_British_Academy_Film_Awards" \o "62nd British Academy Film Awards" BAFTA Awards (including  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BAFTA_Award_for_Best_Film" \o "BAFTA Award for Best Film" Best Film), five  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast_Film_Critics_Association_Awards_2008" \o "Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2008" Critics' Choice Awards, and four  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/66th_Golden_Globe_Awards" \o "66th Golden Globe Awards" Golden Globes. This shows that it became a very successful film.

Film sales/budgeting

When Slumdog Millionaire was created, it only had a budget of $15.1 million; this is not a lot of money when creating a film, so therefore they only had a low budget to create this film, this one of it reasons why it was so big, as it had such a small budget and then became a big worldwide known film. The gross revenue was $377,417,293, this is large number for a film that only had a budget of $15 million. After the expenses were paid the gross revenue would have been slightly lower, as they would need to pay the cast, director etc. and also the equipment used to create the film. Before the film was created,  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Searchlight_Pictures" \o "Fox Searchlight Pictures" Fox Searchlight Pictures made an initial offer that was reportedly in the $2 million range, but  HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Independent_Pictures" \o "Warner Independent Pictures" Warner Independent Pictures made a $5 million offer to help support the film, and then they would also been known as the American distributors. 

Casting

When Slumdog Millionaire was created, there were no successful actors included in the film, this is because the cast are originally for the slums of India, and by getting the cast from the slums of India will help to create the awareness of the life they have. Casting can have a large impact on the success of a film, this is because if there are successful actors/actresses in the film people will see them when in advertisement and recognise that someone famous is in the film that they like so therefore there is a higher chance that people will go and watch it, as they liked a previous film that they were in. By having no famous actors known to the British of American can deeply impact because audiences could possibly think that as there is no one famous or successful in the casting, it is only a small film which will not be all that good to watch, so this could reduce the lack of people that go to see it.

Director

The director can also largely impact on the success of a film, this is because people are happier watching a film with a successful actor that they have heard of before and created good films. Danny Boyle is a much known director in the UK, so this will have a good impact on the sales and success of the film, but for America it would not be such a success as Danny Boyle is not a big success in America, so it will impact on the sales and success of the film. 

Location

Location is very important to the success of a film, normally successful films are created in America, so hearing about a film that was created in India, may drift the audience away, as it may seem unusual for a film to be set in India, also it may draw a very small group of people as some others may want to see a change in where the film is based and filmed. The location of this film was proved to be a success as many people went see it. 

Storyline

The storyline can impact on the success of a film because if they public do not think that the film has a good story line to it, then it will not become successful as people will not go to see it. It is important when creating a film that the producers and script writers create a good storyline that will always keep people attached to the film. The storyline of this film was very unusual as it involved people in the slums of India. The storyline of this film also had an advantage because it involved program ‘who wants to be a millionaire?’ so viewers of this show are more likely to go and watch it before they know what the story line is about. 

Advertisement

Slumdog Millionaire was advertised in different ways, these were by posters, TV and online. TV is a very important part in advertisement, this is because many people watch TV so therefore lots of people will see the trailer on TV and may possibly go to see the film. Posters are a very successful way of advertising, because many people will see the posters in the street and think that it could be a good film to watch. Online is a good way to advertise a new film, this is because many people go on to the internet everyday so therefore lots of people will see the trailer of it online.