A Field In England: blog tasks

Read the Media Magazine feature on A Field In England in Issue 47 and create a blogpost called 'A Field In England case study'. You'll find the article in our Media Magazine archive - click on MM47 and go to page 19.

1) Write a 100 word summary of the Media Magazine article.

On Friday July 5th 2013, a low-budget, black and white, art-house film by emerging auteur, Ben Wheatley,
A Field in England, tried to break the Hollywood model of distribution by becoming the first film in the UK to launch simultaneously across all platforms e.g. Cinema, TV, VOD, DVD & Blu-ray. The main aim was to gain large amounts of media coverage to maximise their revenues and profits but was that the best. Ben Wheatley believed that this approach would lead to greater success for the film as it challenged the normal conventions linked to British culture.

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.  


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


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

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

This films distribution strategy was different to that of other films due to the fact that it was released on multiple platforms, instead of the tradition method of cinema, to DVD/VoD, then top be displayed on TV subscription channels, and eventually, it will be free to air on TV.

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

An advantage of releasing the film on all available platforms on the same day is that the distributor will have multiple platforms to generate revenue from, meaning that the film overall will gain more money

5) What are the disadvantages to this approach?

A disadvantage to this approach is that if there isn't a wide enough audience, then the film may flop as you can watch it anywhere for less, therefore, the release of the film will be a flop as it may not have made as much money being released on multiple platforms simultaneously, compared to a traditional distribution method.

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

This film would be aimed at a reformer, who is interested in art house cinema and accept the complexity of different idea. Which arguable most arthouse films try to chieve as they are more tailored to the niche, educated, middle class audience. It can also be argues that this kind of audience really take something away fromm these kinds of films, they see the deeper message.

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 strongly disagree with the idea that all films will/should be distributed all at once, just like "A Field in England," due to how high risk it i, potentially blocking off on of your main souces of revenue when releasing a film, being your ticket sales at cinemas. I thinkt aht technology will play a part in the long term part of a films distribution as the film created would most likley be taken off of screens in cinemas and be aired on the screens in our pockets, i.e. our phones and various fdevices through streaming services such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. These platforms allow for a whole new audience to see and view the film.
8) Why was Chicken unable to use such a release and distribution strategy when it was made in 2014? 

Chicken was unable to utilize thi distribution startegy due to the fact that it was a micro-budget film, meaning that it was most likley more difficult to find these platforms that were willing to ti aur  a film with such themes that was considered an arthouse film, meaning it wouldn't appeal to a mainstream audience, unlike superhero films for example.