ex machina g322 case study

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Ex Machina- a typical British film? A Sci-Fi thriller; explores relationships between human and Artificial Intelligence Alex Garland’s first directorial film-not an established director-although was the screenwriter of screenwriter of 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007) Never Let Me Go (2011) and Dredd (2012). Also wrote The Beach. Had a relatively small budget of 15 million what may this information already suggest to us?

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Page 1: Ex machina g322 case study

Ex Machina- a typical British film?A Sci-Fi thriller; explores relationships between human and Artificial Intelligence

Alex Garland’s first directorial film-not an established director-although was the screenwriter of screenwriter of 28 Days Later (2002), Sunshine (2007) Never Let Me Go (2011) and Dredd (2012). Also wrote The Beach.

Had a relatively small budget of 15 million

what may this information already suggest to us?

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Quick quiz

British films can claim 25% tax relief from the government. This means the first 25% of any profit you make cannot be taxed!

To qualify as ‘British’, a film needs to score 18/35 on the Cultural Test for Film

To qualify as British, 3 of the following should be met:•A British Director •A British Producer •A predominantly British cast •A British production company •subject matter that informs on the British experience •British identity defined

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Types of audience• How might the BFI classify audiences?

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BFI film research-are you a film avid?

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Our smaller film study: Ex Machina• https://www.bing.com/videos/search?

q=trailer+ex+machina&&view=detail&mid=3B050D5143721E14B4033B050D5143721E14B403&FORM=VRDGAR

In the mountain retreat of a internet billionaire, Caleb takes part in a strange experiment: testing artificial intelligence in the body of a beautiful robot, Ava. But

the experiment twists into a dark psychological battle, where loyalties are

torn between man and machine

A film for avids/mainstreamers/aficionados?

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Using Tinder• http://mashable.com/2015/03/16/ex-machina-tinder-marketing/#mGbFly5B

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1. How did they utilise Tinder?2. Were there any issues with using Tinder?3. Which festival did this coincide with?4. Was this a successful marketing technique anyway?5. Anything else that is clever about this marketing technique?

Viral marketing is capitalised upon-the controversial nature of this marketing will lead to people discussing-and raising awareness of- the Tinder site, and of course the film!!

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Raising awareness-film festivals• Love-seeking Tinder users at the SXSW festival in

Austin, Texas have found themselves the victim of a sneaky marketing stunt to promote artificial intelligence thriller Ex Machina.• The weekend saw festival goers fall for a 25-year-

old woman called Ava who turned out to have a secret: she’s a robot. Echoing the plot of the film, which premiered at SXSW on Saturday, users who swiped left were then engaged in a conversation with her which served as a form of Turing test.• They’d been botted!

http://www.adweek.com/adfreak/tinder-users-sxsw-are-falling-woman-shes-not-what-she-appears-163486

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The site then links to Instagram- meetava• https://www.instagram.com/meetava/

• Look at Instagram….• Trailers• Review snippets promoting the film• images• Information

How does it market the film?Answers underneath!!

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Marketing techniques to raise awareness• They used avasessions.com- have a go now.• How is it cleverly used?

• asks for your name –interactive –web 2.0• Asks if you’d vote for it t o win award- free feedback• Asks if you would like an award• Takes a picture of you and then allows you to share it• Also touches on the film’s themes-identity and AI/human barrier merging• enigma

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Using digital technology to promote Ex_Machina• At a London event last week, Double Negative, the technologists behind

Ex_Machina and winners of two Oscars for its visual effects and computer animation work on Inception and Interstellar, went one step further.

• Its 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 specialised Android Oculus playback app.

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Which audience do you think Ex Machina’s promoters are trying to market here?1. Content/themes

2. genre

3. Marketing methods and chosen platforms to promote the film

Any technological convergence?

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Major roles• Who are they?• Previous filmography (roles)• Why have they been chosen?• Are they obvious star vehicles?• Do they have obvious Hollywood appeal and repute?

• Any other interesting info relevant to the exam?

What is their impact upon the film?

Domhnall GleesonAlicia VikanderOscar Isaac

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Distributed (shared) by Universal• What does this tell us?

• Do you thin it would have achieved the same level of fame without Universal?

• What does this tell us about media conglomerates like Universal?

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Two film locations• Pinewood Studios, Bucks• A Norwegian hotel for a fortnight

• So again-nothing too extravagant but still reaches success!

“Artfully spartan in its use of digital effects, Ex Machina looks great, forging a strong visual aesthetic

from a limited budget. All glass walls and stripped pine, Nathan’s remote mountain retreat is

elegantly sketched out as a modernist, minimalist holiday cabin perched atop a high-security subterranean bunker. Interiors are clinical and sparse, with muted colours and

discreetly embedded technology. With Norway standing in for Alaska, the landscape framing the action is elemental

and vast, awesome in scale but chillingly devoid of human life. It could be prehistoric, or even post apocalyptic.”

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Filmed digitally-why?• Benefits?

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Was it successful?• Ex Machina was the big winner at the December British Independent

Film Awards-four awards:• Best British Independent Film• Best Director Alex Garland• Best Screenplay Alex Garland • Outstanding Achievement in Craft for its Visual Effects, by Andrew

Whitehurst.

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technology• Worked with UK company Double Negative, rather than drawing on

support from a bigger film conglomerate

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.

Saves money on dig editing

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Interview of Double Negative’s Andrew Whitehurst-Production of Ex Machinahttp://cinefex.com/blog/ex-machina/

• What do we find out from this interview?

Another linkhttp://www.theverge.com/2015/5/8/8572317/ex-machina-movie-visual-effects-interview-robot-ava

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Academy award nominees for Visual effects

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How much did it gross worldwide?a) £3b) 3 millionc) $33 milliond) 333 millione) 3 billion

Answer: 33 million

Is this comparable to Star Wars and

its grossing figures?

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Any cross media convergence?• http://www.soundtrack.net/album/ex-machina/• Can we find other examples?

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Any differences between E_M and Star Wars?• Production• Distribution• exhibition

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Ex Machina doesn’t contain traditional British content

• Is this surprising for a British film, considering that British films are often famed for reflecting British cultural heritage/values?

• Why has it been successful-in your opinion?

ImbdThe film is a modern retelling of William Shakespeare's last complete

play "The Tempest," featuring a "magical" master of his domain, a beautiful pseudo-daughter who has never met another man, and a

young man with whom she is smitten.

Links to Frankenstein-creator and creation parallel