Donelle Karikari-Senkyere

Mainstream, Independent and Niche Films Difference between a mainstream film and an independent film:

One difference is that, with mainstream films, there is often sequels to the original. This comes from the large amounts of money that mainstream films take in whilst being shown and this money can often be used for a sequel in order to make further money. It’s extremely rare for there to ever be a sequel to an independent film as it’s not often the original takes enough money for a second film to be made.

There are clear differences in exhibition between the film types. The large cinema chains such as Vue and Odeon will always screen the big mainstream films as they know this is what the vast majority want to see. The will show some independent films but not many. However, there are independent cinemas such as Cinema City which almost exclusively show independent films. These are often watched by a more select audience who tend to know more about the film industry and want to support independent film-makers.

Looking at production, you can immediately notice differences between mainstream and independent films. One element of production may be the director. With mainstream films, the directors behind them are normally very well-known and multi-award winning so therefore, this immediately shows that it’s a characteristic of mainstream films as they appeal to a very wide audience which will result in a larger audience and more money.

We can also see differences in the marketing process between the two film types. Mainstream films are marketed in a much more public way as opposed to independent films. This again

comes down to money. The mainstream companies such as Universal and Paramount can afford to advertise the movies through a variety of media. They use trailers on television and the internet, adverts, billboards, adverts in magazines and newspapers, posters, adverts on buses and they advertise on large websites on the internet such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. They will also show trailers of the film pre-release in cinemas before a film. This isn’t possible for independent films again due to their more modest budget.

Mainstream Film: Fast and Furious 7

Mainstream Film - Examples of the well-known director and big characters in Fast and Furious 7:

Example 1 – Director: James Wan

James Wan is a Malaysian-born Australian film director, screenwriter, and producer. He is widely known for directing the horror film Saw and creating Billy the Puppet

Example 2 – Cast: Vin Diesel

Mark Sinclair, better known by his stage name Vin Diesel, is an American actor, producer, director, and screenwriter.

Example 3 – Cast: Paul Walker

Paul William Walker IV was an American actor. Walker began his career guest-starring in several television shows such as The Young and the Restless and Touched by an Angel

Example 4 – Cast: Dwayne Johnson

Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is a Canadian-American actor, producer, and semi-retired professional wrestler currently signed to WWE

The mainstream film Fast and Furious 7 has grossed $735.2 million overseas in 17 days and $273.7 million in North America after 15 days, making it the fastest movie to reach $1 billion. They made that millions so quickly probably because people are interested to go and spend money to watch their favourite or the well-known characters in the movie and also the director as people may take an interest in him.

Main big locations of Fast and Furious 7:

Casting began in the same month with the re-signing of Diesel and Walker, and an initial release date was set. Principal photography began in Atlanta, Georgia, in September 2013, resumed in April 2014 and ended in July 2014, with other filming locations including Los Angeles, Colorado, Abu Dhabi and Tokyo.

Independent Film: Juno

Independent Film - Examples of the not well-known director and small characters in Juno:

Example 1 – Director: Jason Reitman

Jason Reitman is a Canadian-American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking, Juno, Up in the Air, and Young Adult.

Example 2 – Cast: Ellen Page

Ellen Grace Phillpotts-Page, known professionally as Ellen Page, is a Canadian actress. She started her career

in Canada with roles in television shows including Pit Pony, Trailer Park Boys, and ReGenesis.

Example 3 – Cast: Michael Cera

Michael Austin Cera is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, most notably portraying a young Chuck Barris in Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.

Example 4 – Cast: Jennifer Garner

Jennifer Anne Garner is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in the comedy Dude, Where's My Car.

Juno earned back its initial budget of $6.5 million in twenty days, the first nineteen of which were when the film was in limited release. It went on to earn $231 million. Juno received acclaim from critics, many of whom placed the film on their top ten lists for the year. It has received criticism and praise from members of both the pro-life and pro-choice communities regarding its treatment of abortion

Main locations in Juno:

Filming. Eric Hamber Secondary School stood in for the fictional Dancing Elk High School. Shooting on a budget of US$6.5 million, Juno was filmed in and around Vancouver, British Columbia, standing in for Minnesota, where production was originally intended to take place.

Niche Film: Foodfight!

Examples of Characters:

Example 1 – Cast:

Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress and singer. Duff began her acting career at a young age, and quickly became labelled a teen idol as the title character of the Disney Channel comedy series Lizzie McGuire

Example 2 – Cast:

Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. Sheen rose to fame after a series of successful films such as Platoon, Wall Street, Young Guns, Eight Men Out, Major League, Hot Shots!, and The Three Musketeers.

What is a Niche Film?:

An art film is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience.

A B movie is a low-budget profitable movie that is not an arthouse film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more exactly identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature. Although the U.S. production of movies intended as second features largely ceased by the end of the 1950s, the term B movie continued to be used in the broader sense it

maintains today. In its post–Golden Age usage, there is ambiguity on both sides of the definition: on the one hand, the primary interest of many cheap exploitation films is unhealthy; on the other, many B movies display a high degree of craft and artistic skill.

Foodfight:

Despite Kasanoff raising tens of millions of dollars in funding, Foodfight! had a troubled and much delayed production. The film was originally scheduled for a Christmas 2003 theatrical release, however this failed to materialize and later planned release dates were also missed. Eventually, after the producers defaulted on a loan, in September 2011 creditors auctioned off the film's assets and all associated rights. In 2012, the film had a low-key release, being direct-to-DVD in most territories.

Foodfight: Cost $65 million to make, made $70,000 at the box office. The shittiest animated movie ever. Starring Charlie Sheen and Hilary Duff.