I, Daniel Blake: blog tasks

 I, Daniel Blake: blog tasks:

1) What is independent cinema and how is it different to Hollywood blockbusters?

Niche films that are made outside of Hollywood, they have smaller budgets compared to Hollywood blockbusters and have less recognisable actors.

2) What is I, Daniel Blake about?

I, Daniel Blake is an independent British drama film about Daniel Blake, a 59 year old man that meets a single mother, Katie, and her two young children, Daisy and Dylan. This encounter motivates Daniel to stand up and fight for neglected and struggling working class citizens like Katie.

3) Who directed I, Daniel Blake and why is this important?

Ken Loach, a director of 50 years that has never wanted Hollywood success. Loach centres his films around the idea of social realism, by focusing on themes of unemployment, poverty and addiction, he comments on the lack of support that is available to the suffering working class people and educates his audience on the issues that many people in society face. 

4) How was I, Daniel Blake promoted to an audience? List at least three different methods used by the film's marketing campaign and how they targeted their audience.

• Ken Loach and the writer did interviews with newspapers and magazines to promote the key messages of the film
• A video was released using members of the public and politicians that supported the film’s message. This was highlighted with the hashtag #WeAreAllDanielBlake
• A partnership was set up with Trinity Mirror (Daily Mirror owners) to run a marketing campaign based on the film. The Daily Mirror traditionally supports the Labour Party and left-wing causes so therefore agreed with the main message of the film.

5) What unusual or creative marketing methods were used to get audiences talking about the film?

• Organise free (or ‘pay what you can’) screenings and talks in community centres across the UK to build local enthusiasm for the film’s message.
• ‘I, Daniel Blake’ was projected onto the Houses of Parliament ('guerrilla marketing') and in various cities
• The then Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn attended the London premiere and people that had been denied benefit payments were asked to placard the event.
• Film was premiered not in London, but Newcastle (where the film is set) to gain local support. 
• Loach appeared on BBC Question Time to talk on issue giving the film extra credibility

6) What was the estimated production budget for I, Daniel Blake and how much did it make at the box office?

Production budget= £2 million, Profit= £11 million

7) What were some of the companies involved in funding or producing I, Daniel Blake? 

• NomadiX Media's iProjector
• Trinity Mirror (Daily Mirror owners)
• Secret Cinema, as part of their charitable Secret Youth campaign

8) What is the name of the film regulator in the UK and what was the age rating for I, Daniel Blake?

BBFC (British Board of Film Classifications) awarded I, Daniel Blake with an age rating of 15

9) What aspects of the film contributed to the film's age rating?

• Bad language
• Frightening and intense scenes
• The difficult political and social themes the film explores

10) Finally, considering everything you have learned about I, Daniel Blake, do you think the film was a success? Explain your answer in a well developed paragraph. Try and compare it to Black Widow if you can.

In my opinion, I, Daniel Blake was a massive success due to the fact that even though Black Widow had 100x as much money spent to be produced, I, Daniel Blake grossed £11 million and Black Widow only made $379 million. Also considering the fact that Black Widow was a fail compared to most Marvel films that gross around $1 billion