Ex_Machina Research

Ex_Machina (2015)

•Producer- Ex_Machina was produced by DNA Films and Film4 Productions

•Director- Alex Garland

•Distributor- Universal Studios

•Cast- Alicia Vikander, Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson and Sonoya Mizuno

•Budget- $15 million USD

•Locations-

Norway:  - Juvet Landscape Hotel, Alstad, Valldal (Nathan's mountain retreat)
                 - Sognefjord
                 - Valldal
                 - Briksdalen, Jostealsbreen National Park (Vertical panning shot before waterfall hike)
UK: - Bloomberg offices, Finsbury square, broadgate, London
        - Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire

•Technology- No special effects were used and any included in the film were done in post-production. However, the Ex_Machina’s Virtual Reality team created a VR experience by using a custom built digital spherical stereo camera designed for use with its 3D rendering software. The result allowed the viewer, wearing the Samsung Gear VR headset, to look around the entire hi-res environment and to ‘meet’ Ava using a specialized Android Oculus playback app.

•Number of screen - opening weekend- 17 screens

$9,571 (USA) (2 August 2015) (17 Screens)

•Number of screens - peak number- $3,510,000 (USA) (10 May 2015) (2,004 Screens)

•Box office figures- $33 million USD

Screens shown on- Ex-Machina was released in the UK on the 21^st of January 2015. The film screened on the 14^th of March the same year at the South by Southwest festival before the theatrical release in the US on the 10^th of April.

Box office Figures-

The box office figures were $36.9 million.
$25,440,971 (USA) (30 August 2015)
$25,434,333 (USA) (23 August 2015)
$25,405,058 (USA) (2 August 2015)
$25,361,484 (USA) (19 July 2015)
$25,233,155 (USA) (9 July 2015)
$24,954,673 (USA) (21 June 2015)
$24,330,000 (USA) (7 June 2015)
$23,587,000 (USA) (31 May 2015)
$21,947,000 (USA) (24 May 2015)
$19,566,000 (USA) (17 May 2015)
$16,705,000 (USA) (15 May 2015)
$15,762,000 (USA) (10 May 2015)
$10,924,000 (USA) (3 May 2015)
$6,827,930 (USA) (26 April 2015)
$250,000 (USA) (12 April 2015)
$36,659,611 (Worldwide) (9 July 2015)
$26,187,268 (Worldwide) (15 May 2015)
€89,727 (Netherlands) (6 May 2015)
$29,501 (Portugal) (15 May 2015)

Music (Composer of score)- The musical score was composed by Ben Salisbury and Geoff Barrow, who previously work with Andrew Garland (producer). A soundtrack album was released digitally on the 20^th of January 2015, with a compact disc release in February 2015, by Invada Records.

SFX (Technology used)- There were no special effects, greenscreen or tracking markers used during the entire filming of Ex-Machina. All effects were done post-production, to create ‘Ava’s’ robotic feautures, they filmed the scenes both with and without the actress, which allowed to capture the background her. Her main features they wanted to keep were her hands and face, were rotoscoped (essentially drawn on) while the rest was digitally painted out.  The Ex_Machina’s Virtual Reality team created a VR experience by using a custom built digital spherical stereo camera designed for use with its 3D rendering software. The result allowed the viewer, wearing the Samsung Gear VR headset, to look around the entire hi-res environment and to ‘meet’ Ava using a specialized Android Oculus playback app. It was filmed in digital at 4K resolution. 15,000 mini-tungsten pea bulb lights were installed into the sets to avoid the fluorescent light often used in science fiction films. The film was shot like ordinary live action. There were no special effects, greenscreen, or tracking markers used during filming. All effects were done in post-production. To create Ava's robotic features, they filmed the scenes both with and without actress Alicia Vikander's presence, which allowed them to capture the background behind her. The parts they wanted to keep, especially her hands and face, were then rotoscoped while the rest was digitally painted out and the background behind her restored. Camera and body tracking systems transferred Vikander's performance to the CGI robot's movements. In total, there were about 800 VFX shots, of which 350 or so were robot shots. Other visual effects were Ava's clothes seen through the transparent areas of her body, Nathan's blood after being stabbed and the interior of the artificial brains.

 

Apply each of the seven areas from the specification to each film:

Issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice

Film4 and DNA Films were responsible for the making of the film. Both of them are small companies especially when compared to other film companies e.g. 20th Century Fox. This can impact on the quality and number of resources and technology the companies have access to. Film4 is a British company owned by Channel 4 Television Corporation . DNA Films is also a British company and one of the most successful production companies located in the UK. Both of the companies are successful in their own way and have been behind some big and successful films e.g. DNA Films was involved with the production of the 2003 film Love Actually. Neither of them are global companies or successful worldwide which makes them a smaller company but they are good at what they do. The film only had a small budget as well, it makes more sense to have smaller production companies who are more used to working with a lower budget as it's more likely they would be able to manage it effectively and cover what they need. Sometimes people prefer working with smaller production companies if they have a certain vision for the film, as sometimes the work of bigger companies can affect the overall look of the film.

The importance of cross media convergence for institutions and audiences

The film was distributed by Universal Pictures, they are able to use their name and power to get the word out there about the film and get it on as many screens as possible. They were behind the advertising for the film and released the trailers for the film in order to spread the word and get their audience interested. Both Film4 and DNA Films are small production companies, if they worked with a small distributor then the film wouldn't get anywhere and it wouldn't be as successful as it was. By working with a big distributor like Universal Pictures it is more likely that the film will be more widespread and generate a bigger audience than it would with a small distributor. Universal Pictures have an advanced understanding about the film industry and what audiences like and don't like. In order to minimise the risk of a loss, they will be careful with how many screens they choose to show the film on. Universal helped finance the film in exchange for worldwide sale rights. However, after the film was finished, Universal decided that the film was too quirky for a big studio release. They knew that it wouldn't work in the way they thought it would so tried to sell the rights to somebody else. Eventually the distributor A24, known for working with indie films, picked it up and put it in cinemas in the US. Initially the film was only shown on 4 screens but just a week later that number had raised to 2,050. This is a clear example of how successful the film was in the US box office as it made such a significant jump.

 The technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange

Ex-Machina only had a small budget so they couldn't spend a lot of money on special effects and green screens during production. Also, they were working with small production companies who just didn't have the access to high quality technology like some other bigger production companies would. All of the special effects were added in post-production. This meant that they had to prepare for this during production knowing that they would have to edit it later to create the effect they wanted. An example of this is the appearance of Alicia Vikander's character who is a robot with a transparent middle section. In order to add in this transparent effect later on the production team filmed the scenes both with and without her to capture the background behind her. When it got to the stage of post-production they rotoscoped her hands and face, the main features they wanted to keep, then digitally painted the rest of her body and restored the background. This then completed the final look of her with features of both the scenes with her, without her and the post-production effects that digitally painted the rest of her body on. They didn't use any tracking markers during filming, they just relied on camera and body tracking systems to transfer to the robot's CGI movements. The entire film was filmed in digital, which is a cheaper way to film especially for distribution of the film because most cinemas have the technology for digital films instead as that is the format most companies film on.

The significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences

To make the film available further after the film has been released in the cinema the distributors have to work to find ways for the film to be released that fit in with what modern audiences want. Modern audiences are more likely to stream a film online or through an app with an online subscription than actually going out and buying the film. Films are still released on DVD as there are still audiences that buy them in this format and there are some people who won't use streaming services. If they don't use services and formats that fit nearly everyone then they are at risk of losing a chunk of their market. The film is available on Blu-Ray, DVD, Amazon Video, iTunes, Google Play, Playstation Video and Youtube. They have ensured that the film is available on a number of different services so that nearly anyone could go access to the film if they wanted to. The internet helps both conglomerates and independents to distribute their films. Viral marketing is free and creates good synergy around a film. e.g. Ex_Machina synergy with social media websites. Relied on viral marketing with the Ava sessions. However, the internet could negatively affect independents and conglomerates. Internet piracy is common and we can easily download new films from the internet. Conglomerates tend to budget for piracy, but independents are affected much more.  Mobile phones, have affected the film industry as we can in theory create and edit films on our own devices. We can also download films on them and watch them on there or an IPad or tablet. And because conglomerates are horizontally and vertically integrated they can engage with every new piece of technology as soon as it comes available on their market.

The importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences

The main marketing campaign that the promotional team ran was on Tinder. They created a profile for Ava, the robot in the film, using pictures of Alicia Vikander. The campaign was launched at the South by Southwest Festival where the film was screened. Ava was matched with other Tinder users who could get to the festival. In the conversation she would send them to the Instagram handle that they thought was hers but was actually promoting the film. The idea behind this was to engage with a younger audience by using an app they may have and interacting with them directly. It was important for the team to reach out to their audience with a medium that suited their target audience.

The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions

The promotion team had an issue with the big marketing campaign they launched on Tinder. The campaign was met with mixed responses, it did well and proved to be effective but most people had more negative views of it. Many people described it as being 'counter-productive', 'an invasion of privacy', 'trolling' and 'trickery'. Even though it was effective it didn't get the best response from the audience they were targeting which doesn't make it a very successful campaign on the whole. Another issue with this is that it only targets audience members who were in that area, which is only a small area, so even though the campaign may have been successful in general it wouldn't have targeted a large audience on a national basis.

The ways in which the candidates' own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour

I think it's a definite fact that audiences, specifically younger audiences, are more likely to watch a film streamed online than they are to go and see it at the cinema. Often there are a lot of films that we may be interested in but not enough to pay to go and see it at the cinema or maybe it isn't on at a cinema near us and we don't want to travel. The thing that audiences like most about streaming services is having the ability to watch on the go or from the comfort of their own home, they are able to watch it on their phone/laptop without having to use their TV. I think it's important to ensure films are readily available online, as this is where modern audiences are more likely to watch it especially if the film is shown on a limited number of screens.