MEST 1 SECTION B: A Field in England

1) Read the Media Magazine article on A Field In England in Issue 47 and write a 100 word summary of the article on your blog. You'll find the article in our Media Magazine archive - click on MM47 and go to page 19.

The magazine was talking about how the film was released and why they used this specific way of releasing the film on more than one platform. It was done for promotional purposes and to generate as much profit as the film could make as it targeted a niche audience who would go out and spend the money on the film for cultural purposes.  The film is set out to cause an effect on  the way Hollywood films are also released out to the public and that in the future they would benefit from doing it the same way ‘A Field In England’ did as they claim that films which are seen in the cinema aren’t there for a longer period of time would benefit from releasing it on different platforms for both those who produce the film and the audience.

2) Read the following pages on the official website for A Field In England and write a one-sentence summary of each. Each page provides explanations of the unique release strategy that the institutions behind the film chose: 

Industrial Evolution: Producer Andy Starke on the music industry influences informing A Field In England’s release strategy.  

How people are unable to get into cinema so using VoD is better and the begginings og Hollywood producers. 

Screening/radical release: Commissioning Executive Anna Higgs on the groundbreaking release plans for A Field In England.

Release plan for the movie and how Film 4 let the film be out and viewed by the public. 

Audience: Anna Higgs discusses where A Field In England sits within British cinema and how it will reach its intended audience for the film.

How releasing the movie in one day makes it easier for a larger audience to see it

3) How was A Field In England’s release different to typical film releases?

It was different as the release was simultaneous rather than staggered- in cinemas, on DVD, Blu Ray and VoD which lead to a lot of attention as being the first to allow everyone to watch the movie in their choice of medium. 

4) What are the advantages to releasing the film across all platforms on the same day?

The advantages is that it creates controversy and hypes up the films release as it is different to the mainstream/typical way of releasing a film. This means that audiences will find this interesting and either watch it at the cinema or buy it on DVD or Blu-ray or even on TV.

5) What are the disadvantages to this approach?

The obvious disadvantage of this method is that people who want to watch the film could watch it at home for free. This would then reduce the income the film would receive. Also, it reduces the time the film will have hype for and people would lose their attention from the film. This is because as the film gets old advertisements would be gradually be reduced so the audience would assume the film wasn't a success.

6) What target audience would A Field In England be aimed at? Demographics and Psychographics.

A Field In England would be targeted at quite a niche  ABC1 market; predominantly quite a middle-class. I also think it would be aimed at an elder, more mature audience due to the setting of the 17th century and the use of the black and white filming. However, I also think it has potential to appeal to a younger market due to the content of the film being drugs and so his may therefore appeal to a wider audience. They are more likely to be succeeders as those who are middle class have a job in society which is of a high social status, they would value films, like an arthouse one, dissimilar to a mainstream multiplex such as VUE.

 Also, it gives them a sense of British history and culture but also admiring the arthouse films that are being produced as they are usually for those who are educated.

7) Do you think all films in future will be released across all platforms simultaneously in future? Why? What role will technology play in film distribution? 

I think films in the future films won't be released in this way as it was a good way for an Arthouse film to maximise profit in this way. Hollywood films will be generating more money as the film would have been promoted more and for a longer time than Arthouse films. So, in the future when movies from Hollywood come out on DVD will more likely receive more profit due to their large promotion and larger budget. Unlike a small Arthouse film,  which doesn't have that same hype or money spent on publicity of the film. However technology would improve and it would be easier to quickly distribute and promote movies.