Joe Cornish is an English comedian, presenter, write & director, made famous for the Adam & Joe show.

The films stars:John Boyega as Moses. Jodie Whittaker as Sam.Leeon Jones as Jerome. Alex Esmail as Pest.Nick Frost as Ron. Franz Drameh as Dennis.

A film set on a council estate in South London,

as a gang defends their block from aliens –

obviously targets a very niche audience.

The film is distributed by Optimum releasing & Studio Canal, produced by Big Talk Productions, &

financed by Film4 & The UK Film Council.

Attack the Block is a 2011 British Independent film.

It is written & directed by Joe Cornish, his first full length feature film.

The Five in the gang had little or no film experience.

Released: May 2011Budget: £9mGrossed: £3.8m at the worldwide box office.

Facts:• Joe Cornish was inspired to make ATB after he

was mugged in Brixton, South London.• It was considered that the U.S release include

subtitles, as the U.S audience would not understand the South London dialect.

Shot in Elephant & Castle/Kennington South London.

The same producers produced Shaun of the Dead.

Big Talk Productions is 25% owned by the BBC, &

75% independently.

Not being a subsidiary of a Major results in limited finances for production.

Big Talk Productions produced ATB. It is an independent British film company, not owned by a Major.

Attack the Block was:

Financed by Film4 & The UK Film Council

& Distributed by Optimum Releasing (Studio Canal)

The limited film budget (compared to major finances) demonstrates the obstacles

that stand in the way of producing, marketing& distributing an independent film.

Not being owned by a major, means there is no worldwide distribution network in place.

Released: May 2011

Budget: £9m

Grossed: £3.8m at the worldwide box office.

‘Star Power’ was limited due to wages. Nick Frost was hired to attract fans of the

successful film Shaun of the Dead (2004).The principle cast were made up of

relatively unknown young actors.

Filming was restricted to one local location (although relevant to the text).

The Heygate Estate in the Elephant & Castle area of South London.

The use of CGI (Computer generated imagery) was kept to a minimum due to its high costs. Joe Cornish hired Terry Notary to use "The creatures like shadow puppets“.

In contrast to the Batman trilogy, Big Talk Productions shows similar patterns to most small Independent British Films, in terms of Marketing & Distribution- VERY LIMITED.

Distribution

Distribution relied heavily on word of mouth & identifiable themes of the movie, rather than CMC & Synergy.

Big Talk recognised Nick Frost, & promoting ATB as from the same producers of Shaun of the Dead, as a USP.

CMC & Synergy was used to a minimum:

The films soundtrack was composed & distributed by UK group ‘Basement Jaxx’.

The film was released on DVD (+ 2-Disc), Blu-ray, double play, but not triple play.

Marketing – PRODUCTS

An inventive poster campaign was launched in support of the films box office release.

The general public (mostly fans of the Adam & Joe Show) were asked to hunt down three posters which have been put up around the UK. If found, they were asked to post photos on the ATB’s Facebook page.

Fans who posted, were given the chance to win official Attack the Block hoodies.

Only two promotional posters were ever released, a teaser & a theatrical. Both designs conveyed the look & tone of ATB, & were supported by key press quotes, & focussed on the Shaun of the Dead link.

Marketing – POSTERSAlthough a small /limited poster campaign, Attack the Block fans created many ‘Fan Art’ pieces to help promote the film.

Marketing - TrailersOnly two trailers were ever released for Attack the Block.

A full UK theatrical trailerA full US theatrical trailer

The only differences between the two, were different captions:

1.“London's roughest neighborhood” only appear on the US version.

2.“I feel like going home… locking my door… & playing FIFA” only appeared on the UK version .

Both trailers display the same amount of brand consistency with a single look & feel.

This same consistency creates synergy.

Examples of new technologies used in the production stage of film making:

Joe Cornish’s Attack the Block.

Production

The majority of films are shot oncelluloid film but due the high costs, ATB was shot digitally due to it being cheaper than film.

By shooting on a digital format, Cornish was able to easily review captured footage, & edit on set, due to the versatile format.

This ground breaking movement is helpingindependent film makers such as Joecreate films, even if on a tight budget.

Digital Filming

CGI ‘Computer Generated Imagery’ wasused to a minimum on Attack the Block,The focus: Adapting the aliens for screen.

Production

Joe Cornish did not want to create 100% CGIAliens, but rather have them as existinganimals in the frame with the characters.

Due to ATB’s limited budget, this was a cheaper option as CGI is very expensive.

CGITerry Notary is a Hollywood Stunt man/Movement instructor, who was hired to play the alien character in ATB.

He has worked on Fantastic Four (as theSilver Surfer) Planet of the Apes & Avatar

The CGI used on the alien characters, was aform of ‘Rotoscoping’ which is a techniqueof painting over the top of live action in post production.

The CGI took out all the texture fromTerry Notary’s costume, & created asilhouette effect (very flat & solid black).

Cornish stated that creating CGI fur wasexpensive, but he only wanted the aliensto appear as light absorbing shadows.

CGI

Some aliens were completely computergenerated, but were still based on TerryNotary’s movements. Motion capture was used to place aliens in the frame.

Attack the Block’s limited budgetdetermined the look of the film.

A key part of that look was the alien jaw,inspired by glow in the dark vampire teeth.

The black solid shapes that the alienscreated, enhanced the impact & styling ofthe glowing teeth.

On set, the jaw was operated by remotecontrol mechanics, to add realism.

However, in post production, CGI wasused to enhance the dramatic effectby adding extra teeth, & over extendingthe jaw – All in order to try & get awayfrom ‘that’s a man in a suit’.

CGI

ExhibitionAttack the Block was exhibited through exciting new technologies. However, unlike the major Hollywood studies, it was not exhibited in 3D, or IMAX due to high costs.

Download

Blu-Ray

The film became available to stream via LoveFilm through internet devices such as a PS3 or an Xbox.It also became available to download via iTunes for smart phones, laptops and desktop computers.

Despite not being supported by a major studio, Attack the Block was released on Blu-ray for home release.

It also became available on double play (DVD & Blu-ray), but not triple play.

Here are examples of how the growth in devices to watch Attack the Block, as well as the growth in actual films in the market place, have affected the films success.

Growth in Hardware

The growth in smart phones allows Big Talk to connect to their target audiences in many different ways.

ATB content can be downloaded &viewed ‘on the go’. A smart phone ‘App’ is available for the film. The youtube app allows quick access to the trailer, video clips, games, documentaries, etc.

Smart Phones

The internet provides many new ways toconsume Attack the Block.

DVD/Blu-Rays can be purchased online(Amazon, Play, HMV) & downloaded orstreamed (LoveFilm, iTunes. NetFlix).

Extra content accessed via youtube.

Internet

The Importance of Technological Convergencefor Institutions & Audiences

The Importance of Technological Convergencefor Institutions & Audiences

Compared with Warner Bros, Independent film companies are definitely much less reliant on technological convergence.

This is partly due to financial restrictions.

Convergence

The use of TC to produce, market anddistribute film is costly, a level ofinvestment too big for Indies. However,there are some free & cheap (limited)methods of TC for Big talk to embrace.

A viral marketing campaign is an efficientway to advertise a film, especially asactual prints are very expensive (perhapsthe reason why ATB only had two posters).

Big talk saw their target audience as veryinteractive, therefore ensured they couldaccess ATB content ‘on the go’. Smart App/Website/iTunes/LoveFilm.

Tech Convergence

Local AudienceJoe Cornish’s Attack the Block is targeted at a local/National (British) audience.

Many factors contribute to this.

Big Talk Productions generally focus on innovative British films that often make a political or social statement.

These types of quirky & unique films appeal to a wide British audience for many reasons:

Represents British Youth culture.Mainly shot in London so viewers relate to society & characters.Suits the British sense of humour of not taking yourself to seriously.Touches on British political reactions to gang crime in general.

Such content issues, highlight how controversial indie films struggle to attract international audiences.

Local AudienceAttack the Block takes an interesting approach to the world of contemporary gang crime in Britain, resulting in a niche target audience of local inner city teenagers (mainly urban areas in Britain).

Despite getting a national release (around the country), due to its content, it was most successful in multiplexes & independent cinemas concentrated in London & other local urban areas.

A major factor in this was the dialect (language) used by the principle cast. This caused Big Talk problems when trying to attract an international audience (Suggested subtitles in U.S).

It was shot in the Oval/Kennington area of South London. For realism, local residents were employed as extras & the cast were recruited from the London. .

Trends & BehavioursAttack the Block & Big Talk have all been affected by audience trends & behaviours.

Some good.. Some bad.

Social Networking SitesThere is a fan Facebook page for Attack the Block. Friends can advertise the films release, share trailers & other viral content. Big Talk, Joe Cornish & Nick Frost have twitter accounts.Audiences can communicate & get first hand information from films elite.

YouTubeThis video generator has allowed Big Talk to reach their ATBtargeted audiences in more ways then ever before.The films trailer, cast & crew interviews, behind the scenes footage,sneak previews & popular clips, are all available to view for free.

PiracyThis criminal act has grown in popularity over the past fewyears, with independent cinema being hit the hardest.Illegally downloaded films = a loss of revenue for film companies, which in turnresults in less money available for independent British film makers.