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 preconvieved idea?

The film was written and directed by Richard Curtis.

What are the issues with the genre of the film?
The genre of the film is comedy, drama music and romance. Comedy is one of the most popular genres in film, and as they are paired with so many other sub genres they may be a put off.

Where did the idea come from? Was it an original idea, or perhaps a book first, or TV series, or comic strip, or from another source?
The film was an original idea from Richard Curtis.

Who were the cast in the main roles?
Tom Sturridge-Little Carl
Bill Nighy-Quentin (Love Actually, Shaun of The Dead, )
Nick Frost-Doctor Dave (Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz)
Chris O'Dowd-Simple Simon (How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, The I.T Crowd)
Gemma Arterton- Desiree (St. Trinian's, Quantum of Solace)
Jack Davenport-Dominic Twatt

Who was the producer?

Kidulthood

Why would this film have found it difficult to get finance from a production company?

I think it would have been hard to get finance from a production company as it is a risky subject and people may not want to portray kids in a way in which violence, sex and drugs, dominate their lives. Also, the actors on the movie weren't experienced and the screen writer, Noel Clarke had never written a storyline before and so production companies didn't want to invest lots of money unless the movie was going to be a success.

Avatar Research

A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.

Director: James Cameron
Writer: James Cameron

The Boat That Rocked Research

A period comedy about an illegal radio station in the North Sea in the 1960s.

Director: Richard Curtis
Writer: Richard Curtis
Year: 2009
Synopsis from the official website:
Broadcasting live 24/7 from an old tanker anchored in the middle of the North Sea (just beyond British jurisdiction), Radio Rock sends out a vibrant and unifying signal to millions across the nation, ranging in age from wide-eyed pre-teens secretly tuning in long past their bedtimes to everyday people in need of a musical pick-me-up.

The Radio Rock roster, overseen by unflappable station owner (and ship’s captain) Quentin (Bill Nighy), includes a risk-prone American known only as The Count (Philip Seymour Hoffman); mystic deejay royalty Gavin (Rhys Ifans); slyly amorous Dave (Nick Frost); idiosyncratic New Zealander Angus (Rhys Darby); the rarely seen Bob (Ralph Brown); the aptly named Thick Kevin (Tom Brooke); lovelorn Simon (Chris O’Dowd); ladies’ magnet Mark (Tom Wisdom); shy Harold (Ike Hamilton); reporter News John (Will Adamsdale); and lesbian ship’s cook Felicity (Katherine Parkinson).

One night in 1966, Quentin’s teenaged godson Carl (Tom Sturridge) comes aboard. While Carl harbors romantic aspirations that he hopes will be fulfilled during one of the biweekly visits by Radio Rock’s prettiest fans, he also hopes to find out more about his long-absent father…

Kidulthood Research

A film about day in the life of a group of troubled 15-year-olds growing up in West London.

Director: Menhaj Huda
Writer: Noel Clarke
Year: 2006
Synopsis of movie from the official website:
For 15-year-old Trife, a boy form West London, life is a day-to-day struggle. Trapped between the worlds of his powerful and dangerous uncle, Trife must choose between the path he knows is right and a life of guns, drugs and violence that he has come to know only too well.

When a class mate's suicide leaves Trife and his crew, Mooney and Jay, with the day off school it seems as though circles of violence may have finally come to a tragic conclusion - but in a world where sex is currency, drugs are easy, and violence is a way of life, trouble can never be too far around the corner.

Powerful, disturbing and moving, Kidulthood takes you deep into London's unseen underbelly and delivers a gritty, hard-hitting reflection of what life is really like for 21st century teenagers.

Research Task

Production - The act of producing; creating; manufacturing (the making of the movie)

Distribution - An act or instance of distributing (Launches the movie)

Marketing - The act of buying or selling in a market (selling the movie)

Audience - The group of spectators at a public event; listeners or viewers (the consumer of the movie)

Institution - An organization, establishment, foundation, society, or the like, devoted to the promotion of a particular cause or program (promotion of movie)

Digital - Having digits or digitlike parts

Ownership - The state or fact of being an owner (the owner of a movie)

Convergence - The approach toward a definite value, a definite point, a common view or opinion

Synergy - Where different entities cooperate advantageously for a final outcome

New Technologies

Hardware - The mechanical equipment necessary for conducting an activity, usually distinguished from the theory and design that make the activity possible.

How do different films get produced and what is the 'production process'?

A film starts out as an idea which is thought up by the producer from a story, real life event, book, play, another film or an original idea. The producer then works with the writers to come up with a story, theme and any underlying messages, to create a synopsis. They then break the story down into detailed paragraphs of each scene to show the dramatic effect and structure, this is called step outline. The next step is the treatment, this is all about the mood, feeling, structure of the story, characters and audiences. This helps to show stage directions and visualise key points.

During produduction, is where the feature film is shot, this focuses on the the shooting of the scene and the audio before it goes into the editing stage. The film is usually made in parts, they would shoot all the shots they needed on site of a specific scenery such as the woods, a city etc. and after they would go to the studios and film the rest of the shots they need that require special effects and green screen.

How do films get distrubuted and what does film distribution involve?

This is one of the last When the film is complete, it is often shown to audiences in a theatre or a cinema. The film is duplicated as required for distribution to cinemas.

What does the exhibition of films involve?

Press kits, posters, and other advertising materials are published and the film is advertised.