I, Daniel Blake: blog tasks

 1) What is an independent cinema and how is it different to Hollywood blockbusters?

Independent films normally have a lower budget than Hollywood blockbusters meaning they are normally a lower quality than Hollywood movies. For example, they would use something other than CGI like how Marvel would or how Marvel would have realistic and detailed props and settings but an indie film wouldn't.

2) What is I, Daniel Blake about?

It tells us a story about a man struggling with money trying to find a job. However, through this movie we learn about the lives of people in the UK struggling to find money and jobs and how our government doesn't help. This was released in 2016 this links to the video as this movie talks about the political state of the UK in 2016. It is also a British film meaning it is set in Britain which in this case the northeast of Britain this is important to the story as the main plot of this is the problem of benefits and how it's not fair in this system. 

3) Who directed I, Daniel Blake and why is this important?

Ken Loach directed this film. This is important as he is one of the 3 key ingredients of a good film, a good director, meaning he is the main reason why the audience is willing to watch the movie. However, he is most well-known for his political statements and films and his silent power to talk about unspoken issues in our benefit system, society and how class plays a big part in discrimination in Britain.

4) How was I, Daniel Blake promoted to an audience? List at least three different methods used by the film's marketing campaign and how they targeted their audience.

One was that Ken Loach appeared on BBC Question Time. This allows new audiences to take an interest in his movies as they relate to the channel and what they are talking about. The audience may have discovered the movie from this as they may have wanted to see illustrations and descriptions of sorts to see a point and why Ken Loach emphasises why this is a big issue. Another way is that they used a projector in the House of Parliament. This is guerrilla marketing meaning underground and not much context is given on why or what which allows people seeing this the be more interested and curious about the context of the projection on "I, Daniel Blake". 

5) What unusual or creative marketing methods were used to get audiences talking about the film?

The film was premiered not in London but in Newcastle. This gets the audience talking about the film as first it allows the target audience to actually be reached physically. They also allowed people to watch the film for free or as much as they could give. This is unusual and gets people talking about the movie as it's unusual for movie premiers and movie showings to be cheap or free. This also helps the movie with advertising as this is word of mouth.

6) What was the estimated production budget for I, Daniel Blake and how much did it make at the box office?

The estimated funding for me, Daniel Blake was about £2 million. At the box office, they made about $15.8 million.

7) How can independent films like I, Daniel Blake compete with Hollywood blockbusters like Black Widow?

They had a unique selling point. For example, they premiered in Newcastle and didn't have a set price so people could pay as much as possible. This allows them to get more people/audiences to come and watch the movie however compared to black widow it would be more expensive as it is directed towards mainstream audiences and would be a higher price as it's a highly produced movie meaning fewer people would come as its more expensive.

8) What is the name of the film regulator in the UK and what was the age rating for I, Daniel Blake?

The BBFC (British Board Of Classification) is the film regulator of the UK and gave I, Daniel Blake a rating of 15.

9) What aspects of the film contributed to the film's age rating?

The strong language and sex references made it a 15.

10) Finally, considering everything you have learned about I, Daniel Blake, do you think the film was a success? Explain your answer in a well developed paragraph.

For being a niche film, I think I, Daniel Blake was successful as it drew in many audiences from its advertising techniques. . The main goal of this movie I would say is not to bring in much profit but to speak out about the issues that it talks about which it did. This is shown as during the premiere you could go for free or pay how much you could. We also know that Ken Loach is someone who speaks and makes things known to society which proves my point of this movie wanting to spread a message which it did. However, if we compare it to Hollywood blockbusters you could see it as a loss as the money it made is significantly less. This would be because it's not directed to a mainstream audience like most blockbusters are.