Section B - A Field in England

100 Word Summary

Ben Wheatley wanted to try and distribute the film ‘A Field in England’ across all the platforms in order for the audience to get easy access to it. The film was launched on VOD (4OD and iTunes), free broadcast TV (Film4), DVD, Blu-ray and cinema (17 picture house cinema’s). Through this they are expanding their audiences which will equal to higher revenue. Some people might not go to cinema and illegally stream the movie online; however the word will get around really quickly through family and friends. If the film is desired by the audience watching it, it will be promoted and more people will want to watch it.

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

The films release was different to other films as they released it on many different platforms. this is usually not carried out by film distributors, however they have done this in order to expand the films audiences. This type of films are not promoted in cinema's or online long enough for audiences to franchise.

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

The advantage of releasing this kind of film across different platforms is that audiences will be able to view it through on of the platforms. An independent film does not usually produce its film n a lot of different platforms and usually show at Arthouse cinema's. These cinema's are not very common as regular cinemas such as Vue and are not very local where as others are. Releasing it on a number of platforms enables this film to be promoted into a number of audiences.

What are the disadvantages to this approach?

The disadvantages to this is that the film may not receive the audience it may desire. It may not gain a high box-office as well. The film received a different reception as it was the first film to release on all the different platforms.

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

I think that this filmed would be aimed at an audience aged 21-35 and for the audience to be a majority of males. This is because the story line is quite moderate and it is during an older period of time (based in the 17th Century).

Do you think all films in future will be released across all platforms simultaneously in future?

I think that if a film had a high level of promotion of it's franchise, it can help a film be more successful when releasing it on many different platforms. I think some producers may do this, however due to the success rate of 'A Field in England', they may not carry out that this kind of method of distribution.