Filming Process

'For Danny Boyle, the challenge was to capture the light and dark contrasts of the city with fresh eyes...'
Danny Boyle pulled this off by using a range of high quality digital cameras; most popular the innovative SI-2K digital. Many of the chase scenes and the game show set were filmed using this camera and were developed by silicon imaging. The silicon imaging had a very dramatic under tone to it and captured a very real-life feel to the film. As the film progressed in filming Danny Boyle decided to shoot more and more of the scenes using the SI-2K as he was very pleased with the performance and it allowed him to shoot more for a similar budget as the other previous chosen cameras.
“The film uses dazzling cinematography, breathless editing, driving music and headlong momentum to explode with narrative force, stirring in a romance at the same time”
Boyle had previously decided he did not want to bring big 35mm cameras into the slums and was determined to use smaller digital cameras with more flexibility to ensure a smoother capture of the natural flow and the community. Boyle wanted to feel a part of their community and not just an observer.
Slumdog Millionaire was filmed in many parts of India which added to the success of the film. Even though the film started off very risky, as it had a high budget and not a very popular genre to it. However it was a great success and still is.

Production issues for Slumdog millionaire.

Film four was launched november 1st 1998 and became Channel four's second channel. Film four started out slow but has since made many award winning films.

One of Film four's most well-known films is Slumdog millionaire. Slumdog millionaire was produced in 2008. It has been awarded eight academy awards and also won seven BAFTA awards. Even before the awards Slumdog millionaire was give many good reviews; "Danny Boyle couldn’t have timed his resurrection as a populist director much better than this."

Slumdog millionaire appeals to a wide audience as it has a variety of genres, such as; Romance, crime and drama. The target audience could include anyone from around the ages of twelve or thirteen upwards. It isn't a film that is very suitable for younger children as there is a lot of crime and violence, however it has had great praise from all who have watched it.

At first it wasn't certain if the film would hit. There was the fact that the casting had consisted of mainly young actors who were not well known to the audience. However that was the outcome.

Slumdog Millionaire

Slumdog Millionaire is a 2008 film directed by Danny Boyle and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. Slumdog Millionaire was produced by Channel four/Film four and certificated a 15 in the UK. 120 mintues. It is an adaption of the novel Q&A (2005) by Indian author Vikas swarup. It was set and filmed in India.

Slumdog Millionaire is about a young man called Jamal Malik from the slums of Mumbai. He appears in the indian version of 'Who wants to be a millionaire?' Jamal does much better than anyone believes he would, because of this the game show host and law enforcement officials become suspicious. It is a dramatic tale of one young mans struggles through life and love.

The film was released in the United Kingdom on 9th January 2009 and in the United States on the 23rd January 2009. Since then Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for ten academy awards and won eight, the most for any film of 2008.

Channel four's, Film four:

Film four is available for anyone with a digital Tv to watch for free. It is a film channel that guarantees their audience a wide variety of film choices to please everyone. Film four showcases many different titles, such as; the best of British film-making, US independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, mainstream drama and comedy, foreign films and cult cinema. There are special features, in-depth interviews and exclusive programming.

However Film four also make their own films. Film four is the feature commissioning production company owned by channel four. Channel four/ Film four develop and co-finance smart and distinctive films like the academy award winning film Slumdog Millionaire, Happy go lucky and This is England.

Film four started off as a thriving film company, however a few years down the line and film four hit a wall and started losing profits, though in 2008 they got back on track and started to rediscover some of their early success. Though it took Film four a long time to get back on track, it is because they do not rush their projects into production. "Our priority has been development. We develop a huge amount over a long period of time." For example their first idea for Slumdog Millionaire cam to them over Four and half years ago.

Film four have worked with some great producers and still continue too, such as; Danny Boyle, Shane Meadows and Kevin MacDonald.

Channel four productions:

Channel four is a UK television broadcaster which started it’s work on 2nd November 1982. The company is commercially self-funded they ended up publicly owned. Originally owned by the independent broadcasting authority, however now it is owned and operated by the channel four television corporation, a public body that was established in 1990.

Channel four was established to provide a fourth channel for the television service. It was made for the UK, to stop the duopoly of BBC and ITV. Before channel four, both BBC and ITV were the only two major television companies that people had to watch. Whereas when channel four was made it stopped that and broke up the license fee-funded establishments.

Over the years channel four have built up the numbers of their channels; they now have channel four, E4, E4+1, more 4, film 4 and 4 music. Channel has expanded largely since when it first began. One of its highest rating areas is Film four. Channel four have produced many successful films which they have promoted through film four.

Some of their well known films include The madness of king George, The crying game, Four weddings and a funeral and one of their most recent, which has turned into an academy award winning film, Slumdog millionaire.

Analysis of shrooms poster:

Shrooms is a thriller brought out by Vertigo Films in 2007. This poster is the main cinematic poster. It contains information about the production personnel and the distributors down at the bottom of the poster, in small print. At the top of the poster there are two names of the actors. The actors that are named are the two main characters.

Clearly the title of the film is ‘shrooms’. The title is shown as slightly blurred and fuzzy, this links in well to the way your perception is altered when taking shrooms. This shows us this will be a big part of the film. There are two actors named ‘Lindsey Haun’ and ‘Jack Huston’. The fact that these actors are named could that they are the main characters and they could become more well known for being on the poster. The names have been placed at the top of the poster, one in each corner. 

The main images are of a full moon, shrooms and a thick form of hedge around the sides of the poster. 

The shape of the shrooms against the moon show a sort of skull shape. The mushrooms make the shape of eyes and a nose, the paleness of the moon then makes it look like a skull. This portrays the fact that it is a thriller and so would draw in an audience as it is eye catching and bright. This would also include the theme of death as it doesn’t show a head but a skull which is more morbid. The hedge is slightly enclosed around it, which makes it look mysterious and gloomy; this also adds to idea of the thriller genre. If you look closely at the scenery it looks as if it is a sort of field or a hill, this could signify the place in which the film will take place. 

The fact the film is clearly about shrooms presents us with the fact that it will more than likely be about teenagers. As shrooms are a drug that teenagers or young adults, are more likely to try rather than other age groups. This film will then be targeted at a teenage audience and onwards. 

There are not any specific characters shown on this poster. However the sort of gives us an idea that there may be a villain because there is a mysterious face in the moon.

Production Issues for Vertigo films-Shrooms.

Vertigo films have produced many films of a good quality that have become major hits in the last few years. In 2006 they had a very busy and successful year. It started off with Dirty Sanchez and continued with other films such as London to Brighton. Not all of their films are well known; however their films have all gotten good reviews and are all best sellers.  Whereas 2007 was not as good, Vertigo films released ‘Shrooms’ which did not turn out to be the success they 

hoped for. 

When choosing the cast in filming, Vertigo films have been known to use new young fresh faced characters, in their filming. Many of the actors they use are from different origins which adds to the variety and different in their choices. 

Vertigo films have used numerous different producers in their filming. One of the producers they have used is Rob Walpole; Walpole is one of Ireland’s leading independent feature film producers. His credits include ‘i went down’ and ‘man about dog’, indie hits that were two of Ireland’s profitable movies ever. Another film of his is Shrooms. Rob Walpole would be known to some independent film goers. 

 

Shrooms, bought out in 2007, was not a very big hit. In fact many people did not enjoy it. It opened to many negative reviews. It only had a 24% approval rate and was de

scribed as “A shake-'n'-bake slash

er movie that shows just how difficult it is to do effective, modestly budgeted horror", by Variety magazine. Not getting very much good attention at all this clearly wasn’t one of Rob Walpole’s best achievements. 

When producing Shrooms, Rob Walpole used writer Pearse Elliott. He got his idea from when he was younger and was taking mushrooms with his friends. Elliott decided it would be interesting to make a horror movie, specifying a part of some youths growing up. It was decided the most important aspect of the Director was that he must be very technically skilled in producing horror movies and so Paddy Breathnach was chosen as he obtains all of these qualities. Whilst Shrooms was in pre-production the crew faced a problem, at the time of their filming horror movies were going out of fashion; however everyone continued to do their best.

The cast of Shrooms is a mixture or American, Irish and English actors, all of which are beginning to make an impact in Hollywood and are becoming bigger stars. The fact a young cast was chosen helps them to play college characters easily. Walpole uses a mix of backgrounds with these actors, so as to deliver to a mass audience. The youth of the actors would appeal to young audiences who still get a thrill from horror films. The actors did a good job in this film as all of them worked their hardest and did all they were asked of.

Shrooms was produced in a period of seven weeks. During the seven weeks the cast and crew worked their hardest through any weather. They were located; largely in Rossmore Park in Monaghan, Ireland and also in Gosford Forest Park, Markethill, Northern Ireland. This was a new angle for Vertigo films as they are an English filming production company and so most of their films are filmed in England. However this bought a wider audience to view this film.

The Vertigo film company has bought out a number of profitable films. Most of which have been positively reviewed, of course they have bought out a few films that have been negatively reviewed due to the public’s views at the time. Overall however I feel that Vertigo film production company who maintain a good selection of films.