I, Daniel Blake 2

Question 1

I, Daniel Blake addresses…

Answer 1

contemporary British social issues such as poverty, the welfare system, and the work capability assessment. The film portrays a group of traditionally underrepresented characters in Newcastle struggling in poverty to gain benefits and support. I, Daniel Blake conveys a clear left-wing political message and criticises specific government policies.

Question 2

What is some of Ken Loach’s previous work?

Answer 2

Much of Ken loach’s work has addressed similar issues, such as in films ‘Cathy come home’ and ‘raining stones’.

Question 3

who was the film directed by?

Answer 3

I Daniel, Blake was directed by renowned filmmaker, Ken Loach, who works for a company named ‘Sixteen films’ (which is a small, independent production company)

Question 4

what companies partnered for the production of the film?

Answer 4

For the movie, the company ‘Sixteen films’ partnered with a French company called ‘Why not productions’- however the movie couldn’t be distributed by these companies as neither of them are vertically integrated- they are only production companies,not distribution companies

Question 5

who was the movie distributed and marketed by?

Answer 5

eOne productions

Question 6

who is Ken Loach and what was the benefit of him being the director for the film?

Answer 6

Ken Loach is a famous director who focuses on genre realism- having him on board was a unique selling point for the film and attracted several companies and people to work on the film as well. For example, Why Not productions agreed to work with Sixteenfilms to produce the film because they knew Ken loach was on board.

Ken Loach is used as a unique selling point in the marketing materials, such as in the film poster as well as the advertisement for the film- his name will attract his pre-sold audience/fans of his other work

Question 7

what is Ken Loach known for? (politically)

Answer 7

Ken Loach is well known for being very-left wing, liberal and anti-conservative, and usually explores the problems in Britain caused by the government policies in his films- his political views are clearly reflected in the film as well as it’s marketing materials. I, Daniel Blake is clearly very anti-conservative and is very much a social commentary about the problems that have been caused by conservative austerity measures.

Question 8

what did people argue about Ken Loach directing the film?

Answer 8

However, many people argued that because Ken Loach was directing the film, that might make the film seem more mainstream as he is well known and has won several awards- perhaps it makes the film feel more popular and open to a wider audience than if it had been an unknown social realism director.

Question 9

what did being funded by the BBC and BFI mean for the film?

Answer 9

Getting funding for the film for the BFI and BBC meant that they had to fulfil certain obligations in order to get that money- the BBC and BFI like to fund projects which are: Innately British, niche/alternative, culturally significant, educational, and show british culture to the world which might not necessarily be shown.
The funding may have had a great impact on I, Daniel Blake the film because it shows regional areas of Britain as well as niche story lines

Question 10

what did the low budget of the film mean?

Answer 10

The low budget of I, Daniel Blake meant that the production had to be very specific- they couldn’t afford extravagant sets or famous actors- for example, the film is filmed in recognisable areas in Newcastle and isn’t filmed in studio settings

Question 11

what is the BBC and what is its remit?

Answer 11

The BBC also funded the film- the BBC is a public service broadcaster and gets its funding through public licence fees and part of their remit as a broadcaster is to; be informative or educational as well as entertaining, showcase diversity, and showcase new talent- for example, in the film there is a diverse range of people represented in the film

Question 12

How does I, Daniel Blake fufill the BBC’s remit?

Answer 12

The film I, Daniel Blake fulfils the BBC’s remit- it is educational and very hard hitting, and is there to educate audiences on the grim realities of the benefit system within Britain and what is it like living in poverty and trying to claim benefits

Question 13

why is the film considered niche and alternative?

Answer 13

The film is considered quite niche and alternative as it is set in a regional area of Britain- Newcastle which narrows the audience down. It is also incredibly hard to sell a film that is set in a regional area of Britain to a global audience, particularly due to the heavy regional accents in the film- global audiences will only know Britain in terms of London

Question 14

why was there limited global appeal of I, Daniel Blake?

Answer 14

The niche nature of the film, along with its limited global appeal, might explain why the film had a limited distribution to just a handful of countries- other countries such as France could watch the film with subtitles, however some countries were expected to watch the film in it’s native language, such as in America, wouldn’t understand the heavy regional accents- this might be why the film wasn’t distributed globally or particularly successful in countries such as America

Question 15

what were the traditional marketing techniques used and why were they used?

Answer 15

The film used quite a few traditional marketing techniques such as printed newspapers, magazines, trailers and posters- the use of traditional methods of marketing might relate to the target audience- the target audience for the film was a little bit older, which meant that they might be more familiar with traditional methods of marketing and they might not necessarily us online media as much as younger audiences.

Question 16

what newspaper did eOne productions use and why?

Answer 16

The daily mirror was used by eOne productions- they put several articles inside the daily mirror as though it was Daniel Blake himself writing, as though he was a real person- this engaged audiences through the use of enigma and related to the social realism genre of the film. The Daily mirror was chosen as a key marketing tool , not only because an older demographic read print newspapers, but also because the newspaper is known to have a left wing political stance and anti-conservative audience- the ideologies of the newspaper fit with the ideologies of the film and target audience

Question 17

why does the trailer and poster feature Ken Loach’s name so much?

Answer 17

The posters and the trailers heavily feature Ken Loach’s name as a way to engage the target audience. The posters and trailers also feature mentions of the fact that they have been nominated for and won several awards, such as the Palme d’or award ( an award that is given at the Cannes film festival each year)

Question 18

because the film had a low budget, what happened?

Answer 18

Because the film had a reasonably low budget, when eOne productions did the distribution and marketing for I, Daniel Blake they used a range of methods that might have been reasonably inexpensive and that would have had high impact- Guerilla marketing strategies which could be controversial. For example, eOne projected quotes from the film onto buildings in London such as the Houses of Parliament. This was a clever marketing strategy as it encouraged audiences to share these images on social media, and this would also appear in newspapers. These guerilla marketing strategies were also clever as they specifically targeted a British audience.

Question 19

what were the benefits of the light projections in London?

Answer 19

The light projections in London were a good way of targeting British audiences, but also global audiences (through tourists and it being shared online) whilst also making the political messages of the film very clear as these projections were shown on political buildings such as the houses of Parliament.

Question 20

what is guerilla marketing?

Answer 20

Guerilla marketing is a form of marketing techniques which are low budget but have a high impact

Question 21

what did eOne productions also do to promote the film?

Answer 21

eOne productions also advertised for a regional marketing officer based up north, their jobs were to market the film in ways by contacting regional people and regional buildings and workplaces (hospitals, council offices, police forces, and schools) and talking to people about the film working in public services. There jobs were to also attend local cinema screenings of I, Daniel Blake and protest outside with placards about the conservative government and austerity, as well as put up fly posters. ( which can often be illegal in many places)
Regional marketing officers hired by eOne were used in Northern counties to drum up publicity for the film in low budget ways in local communities- this helped to target a British religional audience.

Question 22

why were northern audiences targeted?

Answer 22

Northern audiences were targeted specifically because they were more likely to live in poverty, and more likely to be anti-conservative due to political issues from the 80s.

Question 23

There were very few…

Answer 23

‘new technologies’ used in the production of the film. For example, there was no use of 3D, IMAX, CGI, etc. this was due to the genre of the film (social realist film) and the low budget. There was also a lack of social media used in the marketing of the film- partly due to the target audience
The film did have a twitter and facebook page for the film, but these were fairly basic and much of the marketing was done using traditional forms of marketing.

Question 24

information about the premiere:

Answer 24

The premiere of I, Danile Blake took place in Newcastle, despite the fact that many films usually hold a premiere in London- this was again to target a Northern audience, who feel that they can relate to the film due to the representations shown, and reflect the film’s alternative nature. Jeremy Corbyn was also invited to the premiere and attended, later tweeting and writing an article for the daily mirror about the film. Inviting Jeremy Corbyn to the premiere was a good way of targeting and engaging left wing, anti-conservative audiences, as well as gaining more publicity for the film because of his status.

Question 25

what is the Curran and Seaton profit and power theory and how is it relevant to I, Daniel Blake?

Answer 25

Curran and Seaton profit and power theory- Curran and Seaton suggest that the media is controlled by a small number of conglomerates primarily driven by the logic or profit and power- I, Danile Blake doesn’t follow the profit and power theory as it is produced by a small, independent production company rather than a conglomerate. I, Daniel Blake also isn’t entirely produced for profit- it has educational purposes as well.