Evaluation Task 3:

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

Account for your choice of institutional context and its implications for production, distribution and exhibition of your film product.

Our thriller is based on the Miami Zombie attack in 2008. This was the main spin of for our inspiration and we brought our idea on from here. We looked at 28 days later distributed by 20th Century Fox, Dawn of the Dead distributed by Universal Studios, Shawn of the Dead distributed by Universal Pictures and Rouge Pictures, I am Legend distributed by Warner Bros Pictures and finally Monsters distributed by Magnet Realising and Vertigo Films. The majority of these films take the zombie genre and are low concept films with key high concept sequences. Some of these films are bigger than others and hold a higher concept. Also, different production companies, some being bigger then others distribute the films.

Our sequence itself is about a young postgraduate going for a interview, she is on a new trial drug and is experiencing some weird side effects. She is particularly worked up about the interview as well as not feeling well as a result of the trial drug that she is taking, although this is unbeknown by her and the interviewer. Towards the end she then blacks out and goes crazy, biting the interviewer's arm.

We completed some research on the production companies, the sorts of films they distributed and the concepts of many zombie type films. We noticed that a film like 28 Days Later is essentially a low concept film with high concept scenes; this is the type of film that our thriller would come under too. The film itself was distributed by 20^th Century Fox. 20^th Century Fox as of 2011 is one of the main six major America film production companies and distributes a range of high and low budget films. The production company for 28 days later is DNA Films. Which is a very small independent British company yet is very successful. It is run by Andrew Macdonald who is a very successful and talented director. Their Productions include Dredd 3D, Never Let Me Go, The Last King of Scotland, Notes on a Scandal, 28 Weeks Later, 28 Days Later, Sunshine, The Beach, Trainspotting and Shallow. Although they have not produced many films, the films that they have produced are extremely successful and well known.

Looking at the cinema release dates showed how the 28 Days Later started of as a small British independent film and was such a big hit that it was then released in the USA. 28 Days Later was released in the UK on 3^rd November 2003 on 318 screens grossing £1,500,079. It was then released in the USA on the 29^th of June 2003 on 1,250 screens grossing $10,061,858, showing it was a much bigger hit in the USA.

The budget for the film 28 Days Later was £5,000,000, for a British independent film this is a fairly high budget yet for a Hollywood film this could considered to be a low budget. However, when you are making a zombie genre film even for a small British independent you would want a £5 million budget because you would need to have the special effects in order to make it a reasonably good film. If the films was distributed by a big company and was high concept the marketing would be much bigger and a wider audience would be addressed. Whereas a smaller British independent film would not have as bigger budget so the marketing would not be as wide and less people would probably hear of the film.  The cinema release would not be as wide because they would not have the money to show it on lots of screens.

The other films we researched such as; Dawn of the Dead and I am Legend which were distributed by big production companies that deal with high concept films. We also researched Monsters, which was disturbed by Magnet Releasing in the U.S and Vertigo Films.

We also had a look at Shaun of the Dead, this was distributed by Universal Pictures and Rogue Pictures. It was also produced by Universal Pictures. It was a fairly low budget film of £4,000,00 but as it was successful in the market it became a high concept film and very successful.

If we went for a high concept with a big production company we would have the think about the cast and the people staring in it, they would have to be well known. Also the special effects would have to be of a very high standard and this would cost a lot of money. There is a huge market in the film industry for Zombie films and the majority of the films we have researched have been high concept films.

There for we would be aiming for a fairly small budget and low concept zombie film with high concept scenes like 28 Days Later. So a distribution company like DNA films would be what we are targeting because they are a small independent film company yet with a well know director (Danny Boyle) and it is possible that over time the film will become a big hit. By using a smaller independent film company we would also be able to have a low budget which is perfect because we do not know how big of a hit the film would be and we would not lose a lot of money and there is a possibility for a big profit if it is a big hit.