Slumdog Millionaire And Its Production Context Film Studies Essay

In this assignment I will be describing the structure and the ownership of the UK film industry and exploring the production, distribution and the exhibition of Slumdog Millionaire. I will be also looking at the relationship between films and their production contexts and the relationship between audiences and films.

Danny Boyle, a British director, directed the film, Slumdog Millionaire. It was about Jamal, who was Dev Patel, grew up in the slums, who then becomes a contestant in ‘Who Becomes a Millionaire.’ The events that happen when he was young becomes back to life, when he is being asked questions in the game show. When people watch the movie everyone will have their own interpretation of what the outcome of the story will be.

The first half of the film, the colour, style, and subject matter felt reminiscent of City of God, but Danny Boyle’s distinct shots choices and humour separates the film above the rest. The second half of the film does slow down a bit and the fairy tale ending makes you feel good inside, but it doesn’t always bring critics accolades. The bit that attracted the viewers the most was the cultural and social issues highlighted throughout the film. The poverty, violence caused by poverty, and religious discrimination was very prevalent throughout the film. Danny Boyle chose certain shots to show the poverty and desperation of the people of India, without any dialogue he kept the social and cultural context all-visual.

Some parts of the film were from a Hollywood style, where they had artists from America, M.I.A. The movie showed some negative aspects of India, where they were slums, poverty, prostitution and robbery.

The young boys resorting to violence for food and shelter becomes at times heroic. Young children finding their way to survive and being forced to mature long before their time. India in the past 10 years has drastically changed the country’s economic standing growing the middle class from the rise of industry. TALK ABOUT BOYS AND GIRLS

The characteristics of Inde Films are: They are largely driven, they relate individual to a wider social/cultural background, narrative are left often, some do/some don’t have closure, there is an emphasis on a documentary style and photography, they deal with real current social issues, narratives can be circular cut up back to front and sometimes simple too, they often deny generic expectation, and independent films tend to have lower budgets, lesser or unknown ‘stars’, and they are shot on location.

The British and the French were the ones who created the equipment that were needed to make a movie. After the World War happened, the British had changed, where they couldn’t make any more movies. The American had a chance to produce quality movies and produce more.

Vertical Integration is a style of management control. It is a process of steps in the production, distribution and exhibition of the movie product that are then owned by a company.

The big 5 were: Warner, MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and R.KO. They are now: Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, Columbia, and Warner Brothers. The five owned their own studios, distribution divisions, and theatres. They also signed contracts with actors, actresses, and other filmmaking personnel. They had the scriptwriting, filming, production, and the distribution of a movie. The Little Three are: Universal Pictures, Columbia, and United Studios. The Little 3 owned few or no theatres, so there was no built in guarantee that the films that they made would be shown. Each of them lacked one of the three elements required in vertical integration owning their own theatres.

The casting of Slumdog Millionaire constructed and targeted towards different audience segments by looking at the most of the famous Bollywood Stars in India, Anil Kapoor who is the Millionaire host in the film. Anil Kapoor is a famous Indian Actor who appears in most famous Bollywood films. Slumdog Millionaire was Anil Kapoors first role in an international film. Frieda Pinto, is another famous Indian actor, she was starred at Latika. Before she was starred in Slumdog Millionaire, she was modelling for a company called Elite Model Management India for two years. Frieda had won eight Oscars for the film. Her life was transformed as she embarked on a promotional tour round the world, staying in five-star hotels and being driven by chauffeurs. Irfan Khan is an Indian Actor in film, television and theatre. In the movie, Slumdog Millionaire, Irfan Khan has a role of being a police inspector, who he investigates if Jamal cheated in the game show or telling the truth. A R Rahman produced mostly all of the Bollywood soundtracks. Slumdog Millionaire at times sounds like a mixture of random pieces that don’t have much to do with each other. The soundtracks were created with specific visuals in mind. The song, O… Saya was one of the two nominated tracks for Best Song at the Oscars, and the other winner being Jai Ho. The past is genuine with rich sounds mirroring the Mumbai cityscape. Jai ho is an essential Rahman track, completed with his favourite vocalist, Sukhvinder Singh. In scene 5 M.I.A make an appearance in Paper Planes, the track is relaxed and carefree. In the first scene A R Rahman uses M.I.A to sing, from Hollywood, distinct an American audience. The soundtrack is really important to India.

Cross Media Ownership is where a company owns different media in press. This is terrible for Democracy, there is no incentive for the reporters to investigate and get the story, since the ownership alone decides what news is and what isn’t and there is no competition for viewers/readers. It is important because it allows the movie and the companies to get more attention by the audiences. If they wanted to watch a movie they would have to spend money to see it, which will give more money to the company.

The slums kids had enjoyed the experience of the movie. The slum kids didn’t have to act, they just had to be natural in front of the camera. The slums lived on the side of the rail tracks, which were made out of plastic sheets with tinned roofs. After their movie had been successful, they were invited to the Oscars where they were being interviewed, meeting Hollywood celebrities and they could walk on the red carpet. The movie was to show the viewers how they were living in such conditions in India.

In conclusion, the audiences were attracted to the Hollywood film style, and weren’t not paying attention to the European film style. The European film style had to be changed so more viewers could watch it. Hollywood was high up in the market, where they could afford to make 3D films.