British and Hollywood Case Studies: Exhibition

EXHIBITION	Hollywood Film: Dawn of the Dead	Brit Film: Shaun of the Dead
Types of cinema shown in
How long it was in box offices for	2 weeks	2 weeks
Age classifications USA/UK	UK: 18, USA: R	UK: 15, USA: R
Who was the primary target audience (age, gender, class, Nationality, sexuality, race)		Young, white, straight, British men
Success in box office compared to DVD/Blue-ray/download	$102.4 million	$30 million box office, $105,000 DVD
Any other information e.g. did any cinemas keep it in box offices longer than plan due to how successful it proved?		Was released on Good Friday, quickly following the box-office debut of the classic’s remake. The campaign was designed to drive audiences into cinemas in the crucial two-week period after release. To do this, it had to link- yet carefully distinguish- Shaun from Dawn of the Dead. The campaign was concentrated during the week leading up to the Good Friday release to reach people when they were considering what to do over Easter. It leaned heavily on the zombie theme and used the analogy of commuters resembling zombies to comic effect. The campaign coined the term 'zomromcom' (from romantic comedy's romcom abbreviation) for its genre.

Technology

Timeline

• 1894 - movie camera first developed (black + white with no sound)
• 1900-1927 - silent era of black + white films
• 1906 - Edward A. Turner + George A. Smith invented the first colour system
• 1926 - Scotsman J.L. Baird invented the television (not every family had a set until 50s-60s & not many films were shown)
• 1927-1979 - some synchronised sound appears. The first British film to be exhibited with sound was Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail in 1929 (Hitchcock was 29 at the time).
• 1939 - computers got invented (would ultimately change the post-production process from linear editing to non-linear)
• 1970s - computer technology began to be used for non-linear editing during the 1970s, at this point the technology was expensive and massive.
• 1980s - CGI (could also be used to restore old films - this might lead to more revenue for Hollywood) Changed the shape of film because it was the decade that saw the 'rise of the blockbuster' as Hollywood dominated the market with special-effect driven Sci-fi, action and horror films
• Also 1980s - home media technology changed, most households not only had a coloured TV they also had a VCR (although videocassette recorders were developed in the late 1950s, they did not really hit the market until the 1980s). Cut budget of films
• 1990-2010 - in the early 1990s editing software was developed that made it possible for British film makers to use non-linear editing methods to create films that could gross a profit through VCR sales.
• 1995 - VHS was replaced by DVDs (the image quality is better, tapes are linear DVDs are digital - meaning they are interactive,  they do not wear out as quickly as tapes and they take up less space.)
• Late 1990s-2005 - the internet. more and more people in the USA and UK started to have home internet access which meant distributors could use the internet to target their audiences and audiences could watch films on their computers changing the face of exhibition. Has become more useful to helping cut back costs of marketing.

British and Hollywood Case Studies: Distribution

DISTRIBUTION	Hollywood Film: Dawn of the Dead	Brit Film: Shaun of the Dead
Distribution company USA/UK	Universal Pictures (American)	Universal Pictures (American)
Marketing budget	$10 million	$1-2 million
Test screening information		Edgar Wright, writer and director of Shaun of the Dead, said in an interview that in test screenings done before the film's special effects were completed, audiences remarked that the ending was "a bit abrupt" and "lame". After being given a low budget and two days to finish shooting, the filmmakers added a "15 second" ending, which follow up press screening audiences liked, leading to one reviewer changing his earlier bad review, giving "an extra star.
Release pattern	•  USA: 10 March 2004 (premiere) •  Canada: 19 March 2004 •  Germany: 19 March 2004 (Berlin Nacht der 1000 Schreie) •  USA: 19 March 2004 •  Germany: 20 March 2004 (Hamburg Nacht der 1000 Schreie) •  UK: 26 March 2004 •  Ireland: 26 March 2004 •  Mexico: 31 March 2004 •  Germany: 2 April 2004 (Frankfurt Nacht der 1000 Schreie) •  Iceland:2 April 2004 •  Thailand: 9 April 2004 •  Turkey: 9 April 2004 •  Netherlands: 14 April 2004 (Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival) •  Germany: 15 April 2004 •  Hong Kong: 15 April 2004 •  Russia: 15 April 2004 •  Austria: 16 April 2004 •  Argentina: 22 April 2004 •  Portugal: 22 April 2004 •  Singapore: 22 April 2004 •  Brazil: 23 April 2004 •  Spain: 23 April 2004 •  Italy: 23 April 2004 •  Taiwan: 23 April 2004 •  Croatia: 29 April 2004 (Zagreb) •  Netherlands: 29 April 2004 •  United Arab Emirates: 5 May 2004 •  South Korea: 14 May 2004 •  France: 15 May 2004 (Cannes Film Festival) •  Japan: 15 May 2004 •  Singapore: 27 May 2004 (uncut version) •  Egypt: 2 June 2004 •  Panama: 4 June 2004 •  Finland: 5 June 2004 (Night Visions Film Festival) •  Philippines: 9 June 2004 (Manila) •  Australia: 10 June 2004 •  Switzerland: 10 June 2004 (German speaking region) •  Bulgaria: 11 June 2004 •  Poland: 11 June 2004 •  Czech Republic: 17 June 2004 •  Slovakia: 17 June 2004 •  Greece: 18 June 2004 •  Uruguay: 18 June 2004 •  Norway: 25 June 2004 •  Sweden: 25 June 2004 •  Belgium: 30 June 2004 •  Bahrain: 30 June 2004 •  Switzerland: 30 June 2004 (French speaking region) •  Denmark: 30 June 2004 •  France: 30 June 2004 •  Philippines: 30 June 2004 (Davao) •  Israel: 1 July 2004 •  Chile: 8 July 2004 •  Croatia: 8 July 2004 •  Hungary: 15 July 2004 •  Finland: 30 July 2004 •  USA: 23 October 2004 (Screamfest Film Festival)	•     UK: 29 March 2004 (London premiere) •     UK: 9 April 2004 •     Ireland: 9 April 2004 •     Iceland: 30 July 2004 •     Belgium: 11 August 2004 •     Netherlands: 12 August 2004 •     Norway: 3 September 2004 •     USA: 24 September 2004 •     Australia: 7 October 2004 •     United Arab Emirates: 13 October 2004 •     Spain: 29 October 2004 •     Poland: 29 October 2004 •     Czech Republic: 2 November 2004 •     Hungary: 16 November 2004 (DVD premiere) •     Argentina: 17 November 2004 (video premiere) •     Bahrain: 24 November 2004 •     Finland: 15 December 2004 (DVD premiere) •     Sweden: 15 December 2004 (DVD premiere) •     Japan: 22 December 2004 (DVD premiere) •     Germany: 30 December 2004 •     France: 27 July 2005 •     Italy: 31 August 2005 (DVD premiere) •     Sweden: 25 September 2010 (Lund Fantastisk Film Festival) •     Canada: 5 February 2012 (Digital Film Festival) •     Spain: 4 January 2013 (Madrid re-release) •     Sweden: 9 October 2013 (limited re-release) •     Finland: 2 November 2013 (Night Visions Film Festival)
Examples of marketing	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--IIwV_Y6VU	https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMitSKT-u_k UIP planned a campaign across a diverse selection of media, including posters, press and ambient spots in pubs. Media was selected with the young male focus in mind - radio stations Xfm, Kerrang!, Virgin and talkSPORT, as well as press ads in Zoo Weekly, Nuts, Bizarre and NME. Viral emails launched two days after the premiere. This coincided with online ads on sites including thesun.co.uk and FHM.com.
Examples of other media it is available on		The film was released on DVD shortly after its theatrical run in the US, with a DVD release around December 2004 in the US. Features included several audio commentaries, EPK featurettes about the film's production, pre-production video diaries and concept videos, photo galleries, bloopers, and more. The film also saw release on the HD DVD format in July 2007, with a Blu-ray Disc release following in September 2009.
Any other info. E.g. difficulty getting a distributor?		Was originally scheduled to be released the same week as Dawn of the Dead, so Shaun of the Dead got pushed back two weeks.