Film Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Fox Searchlight Pictures, established in 1994, is a film division of Fox Filmed Entertainment alongside the larger Fox studio 20th Century Fox. It specializes in independent and British films, alongside drama and horror as well as non-English-language films, and is variously involved with the production and/or distribution of these films.

In the early-to-mid 1980s, prior to the creation of Searchlight, Fox previously released independent films under the banner of 20th Century-Fox International Classics; the most notable of the releases under this banner include Bill Cosby: Himself, Reuben, Reuben, and Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

In 2006, a sub-label, Fox Atomic, was created to produce and/or distribute genre films. Its first release was Turistas. Fox Atomic closed down in 2009.

As is the case with Fox's television unit, all copyright notices of programming produced by a Fox-related company (with some exceptions) read "© (respective year) Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation".

Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 81st Academy Awards as well as a further 7 academy awards. Other Fox Searchlight films receiving Best Picture nominations include The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine, Juno, Black Swan, 127 Hours,The Tree of Life, and The Descendants.

Fox Searchlight Pictures distributed films such as 127 Hours on November 5, 2010 (limited); November 24, 2010 (wide) with a budget of $18 million and ended up with a Gross (worldwide) $57,335,230. Also, Slumdog Millionaire on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 with a budget of £9.2 million ($15 million) and Gross (worldwide) of $377,910,544.

Questionnaire Analysis

1. male or female 

50 / 50

3. Little knowledge etc.

70%, 10% 20%

4. Film choice

7. Genre choice

Crime 20%, Thriller 50%, Mystery 30%

8. Channel choice

Film4 - 40%

Sky movies 60%

10.

Yes - 80%

no - 20%

Storyboard Two

Storyboard One

Film Noir Target Audience

The classic Film Noir genre would be aimed at an older audience simply because the original Film Noir was big in the 1950's. However nowadays, the main target audience is late teens/young adult due to content such as violence, language and sex and drug references. As result of this, most Film Noir genre films are given an 18 certificate as you can see in the example of the L.A Confidential film poster. In addition to this, the target audience is more likely to be male than female because of the amount of violence included in these genre films.

 

 

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

1. Are you male or female?


2. What is your age range?

16-25              26-35                       36-45                     45+

3. How much do you know about the Film noir genre?

Little knowledge                                 Fairly good knowledge                          Good knowledge


4. Have you ever seen any of these films?

L.A. Confidential                      Se7en                          Reservoir Dogs                     Pulp Fiction


5. In your opinion, what is the best / most memorable film opening and why?


6. Do you prefer colour or black+white films?


7. Do you prefer; crime, thriller, or mystery film?


8. Would you rather watch films on Film4 or Sky Movies?

   












9. Do you think music is important in an opening scene of a crime / mystery film?


10. Do you think props / costumes / settings are important in opening scene of a crime / mystery film?

Film Institution - Film 4

Film4 is a free digital television channel available in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and Switzerland, owned and operated by Channel 4, that screens films. Film4 did not originally focus on broadcasting blockbusters, but nowadays broadcasts many mainstream Hollywood movies. The channel frequently has themed nights or seasons in which a number of films centred around one genre, director or actor are shown. As Channel 4 also owns a film production company, Film4 Productions, it shows many of its in-house productions.

Wherever possible, films are shown in their correct aspect ratio. No digital on-screen graphics are superimposed. Under UK broadcasting rules, it was able to screen most films unedited and in earlier timeslots when it was a subscription channel, but these concessions were lost when it became free-to-air, and more adult material is now confined to after the 9pm watershed. Some films are also now edited to make them suitable for pre-watershed screenings, a decision which was criticised by viewers on the channel's now defunct internet forum.

Film 4 Productions include successful films such as:

127 hours, Four Lions, This is England, Slumdog Millionaire, The Inbetweeners Movie and the highly rated new release The Iron Lady.

The Iron Lady

The Iron Lady, directed by Phyllida Lloyd, is an Anglo-Franco biopic about Margaret Thatcher, the longest serving Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of the 20th century, portrayed primarily by Meryl Streep, but also, in her formative and early political years, by Alexandra Roach. Thatcher's husband,Denis Thatcher, is portrayed by Jim Broadbent, and Thatcher's longest-serving cabinet member and eventual deputy, Geoffrey Howe, is portrayed by Anthony Head.

The film met with mixed reviews although Meryl Streep's performance was widely acclaimed. Streep won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup.

Early reviews have praised Streep's portrayal. The Times Kevin Maher said: "Streep has found the woman within the caricature." David Gritten at The Telegraphcommented; "Awards should be coming Streep's way; yet her brilliance rather overshadows the film itself." Xan Brooks of The Guardian said Streep's performance "is astonishing and all but flawless". Critic Baz Bamigboye of the Daily Mail wrote: "Only an actress of Streep's stature could possibly capture Thatcher's essence and bring it to the screen. It's a performance of towering proportions that sets a new benchmark for acting." Richard Corliss of Time named Meryl Streep's performance one of the Top 10 Movie Performances of 2011.

Film Noir Opening: Se7en

The opening sequence of “Se7en” runs for around 5 minutes and it is intended to introduce us to thecentral protagonist, Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), as well as to set the mood for the remainder of the film. It also gives the audience lots of information about him- including what he does for a living and what he’s like as a person, not least introducing another main character, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt).                                                                               The look of the entire opening scene (and, consequently, the entire film itself), is very rough and raw. This is to keep the tension high and the mood dark, it also links the film with dark ideas such a murder and serial killers. Continuity editing is used a lot for the opening so all of the audience’s attention is focused solely on Somerset- although the edits are fairly fast, to keep both the pace and tension as high as possible. 

Se7en Opening - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYEDqNBe7d4

The 180 Degree Rule

In film making, the 180° rule is a rule that states that the camera(s) should remain the same side of an imaginary line that is drawn perpendicular to the camera's viewpoint in the establishing shot of the scene.


In the example of an action scene, like a car chase. If a vehicle leaves the right side of the frame in one shot, it should enter from the left side of the frame in the next shot. Leaving from the right and entering from the same side will create a sense of disorientation. If the rule is broken audiences will also lose focus and become confused and they may also miss parts of the film.


The only defence for breaking the rule is 'for effect'. The only way to cross the line without disorientating the audience is to show the camera movement. You cannot cut across the line and once it has been crossed, and the movement shown, you have to stay on that side of the line, unless you show the movement back over it.

In the example from The Lord of the Rings, the 180 degree rule is shown in the schizophrenic conversation between Gollum and Smeagol.

Recent Film Noir: The Departed

'The Departed' is an example of the classic Film Noir genre but with updated themes, content, style, visual elements or media that were absent in Film Noir of the 1940s and 1950s.


Two men from opposite sides of the law are undercover within the Massachusetts State Police and the Irish Mafia, but violence and bloodshed boil when discoveries are made, and the moles are dispatched to find out their enemy's identities.

In The Departed, another in the long line of Martin Scorsese classic films, the opening scene tells you exactly what you are in for. You get an idea of what kind of person Nicholson's character is.You can tell he runs the show. You can tell people are scared of him. You can tell he gets whatever he wants. This is good because the audience know instantly the background of the character and what to expect in the rest of the film. This film opening is highly effective and draws the audience in to make them watch more.