A Field in England secondary case study

100 word summary

The article goes on to talk about the original distribution schedule and how it led to the success of the film. It also goes on to compare itself to much larger Hollywood's' "staggered" distribution methods and whether that would be an effective way to make money in the future as the digital age is on the rise as more and more different media texts are being streamed illegally online. Big time distributors such as Paramount and Warner Bros. will need to change there ways in the future and offer something like A field in England does with its simultaneous release. 

1.How was a field in England release different to others?

A Field in England had what is called a "simultaneous release" strategy which involved releasing the film across all platforms on the same day. For example, the film was released on TV, DVD, Cinema and on demand in mid July. This strategy is different to that of a Hollywood distribution schedule, as distributors such as Paramount use more a staggered method which involves releasing the film on different platforms over a different period of time, for example they could release a film at the start of a year but not release it on DVD till the other half of the year. Josephs work

2. Advantages of releasing a film across all platforms on the same day?

In this case, as the film in question is an Art house production we can assume that the films intentions were not to make a large profit but to give there specific audience what they want or to provide a narrative/something unique. As a result of this, using a simultaneous release strategy could have been used to raise more awareness of the film so that it peaks media attention and makes for sales in the short terms than it ever would in the long term. Also, a simultaneous release means it would be aired on TV which means it can reach the widest audience possible and possibly thoose who were not in its intended target market. Josephs work

3. Disadvantages to this approach?

A Field in England cost approximately three hundred thousand pounds to make so by releasing it across all platforms all at once makes it less likely to recover all of the cots and maybe unable to generate a maximum revenue that they could have gained from using a staggered release strategy. The strategy may also be seen as experimental so may not attract investors to provide them with a one off advertising campaign.

Josephs work

4. Target audience?

For a Field in England I think that a target audience for it may be a typical art house audience which is usually middle aged people around 40-60, however due to the film being a psychedelic thriller and including montages it is uncertain that this may fit into the generic category as it may be more appealing to people in the age group 30-40. A psychographic group suitable for this film would be explorers as this is a very adventurous film. It is also good to mention what the socio economic group would be like as it would probably be the same as a generic art house audience being people in the group AB and possibly C1 as they would have more income than people in the C2, D and E groups.

5. Will all films in the future be released simultaneously?

In my opinion i think that some distribution companies will have to result to changing the way they distribute their films as revenue would be hard to generate if everyone is streaming and downloading the films illegally online so these large companies may have to get their product out their as soon as possible in order to achieve maximum sales, however  i do believe offering the film on all platforms such as TV and DVD on the same day may not prove beneficial for most companies, especially large Hollywood blockbusters as these are probably the least expensive and least used options so they would be loosing out on a lot of possible sales if they do not build up a lot of demand first through on demand sales and cinema tickets. Josephs work