INSITUTIONS AND AUDIENCESTHE FILM INDUSTRY

WORKING TITLE FILMSThe Boat that Rocked

Production cycle – Research Task

Working Title Films

• Research the production cycle for The Boat that Rocked. This is so you can trace the issues and patterns of how this particular institution goes about making films and their state as a player in the British marketplace.

• Trace how the film progressed from the initial idea to its box-office success (or failure). Use the internet/film magazines/books to help you with your research.

Working Title Films• Treat the following questions as guidelines. You will not

always be able to answer some of these questions and you might have ideas of your own.

• You are going to research the production and distribution companies that made and distributed The Boat that Rocked.

• Present the work as spider-drams, tables, presentation…so that it looks interesting but is still informative. It may be an idea to find the answers to a group of question first and then think about how you want to present the information.

What are the pre-production issues for the production company when making films?

• Whose idea was the film? Did the idea start with the writer, or were writers brought in to develop a preconceived idea?

• What are the issues with the genre of the film?• Where did the idea come from? Was it an original idea, or perhaps a book

first, or TV series, or comic strip, or from some other source?• Who wrote the original script? Did other people become involved in the

writing as the project progressed?• How easy was it to arrange the financial backing to make the film? Who

were the financial backers? Why?• Casting – who were cast in the main roles and why? What other films

featured the stars? What were the associations they brought with them?• Who was the producer? How did he or she become involved?• Who was the director? How did he or she become involved?• Who composed the film music and why was he or she chosen? Consider

the sales of the CDs on Amazon, etc. Seek out reviews.

What were the issues for the production company during the production phase?

• Was it an easy ‘shoot’? If there were difficulties what were they?• Were there tensions between any of the creative personnel, often known as

‘the talent’?• Was any part of the film shot on location? If so, where? Why were some

locations chosen over others? Were costs a factor?• Where there any difficulties with casting or with acquiring the stars/actors

the producer wanted?• How significant was casting to reach specific audiences?• What did the studio film cost to make? How much did the stars get? Where

did the budget go? Was the film shot within budget? Was it ever in any danger of going over budget?

• Were there any changes to the script during production? How many changes or re-writes? Did the same scriptwriter(s) stay ‘on board’ all the time, or were some replaced?

• List some of the key people who made contributions to the production and highlight some of their individual contributions.

• What were the technological issues for the studio for producing and distributing the film?

Useful sites to use

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Boat_That_Rocked

• http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/news/view/post/169

• http://www.workingtitlefilms.com/news/view/post/150

• www.imdb.com

• You should do the same for This is England (2006)

• This will reflect the film and be a ‘smaller’ case study.

I.S

• To be completed and handed in next Monday

• These case studies will enable you to answer.– A British Film maker will find it difficult making his

film entirely ‘British’. Discuss.– Outline the issues film companies have to think

about when they are targeting global and local audiences.