Monster's Essay

How has the film “Monsters” been marketed and distributed?
You should consider;
• Budget and production,
• Locations,
• Marketing methods,
• Other films released at similar times,
• Critics reviews,
• The role of vertigo,
• Box office profit.

The film was developed, storyboarded and directed by Gareth Edwards, who also worked as the visual effects artist Allan Niblo and James Richardson of Vertigo Films work as producers on the production. The filming equipment cost approximately $15,000, with the budget coming in at under $500,000. The film was able to be made on such a low budget due to the use of prosumer cameras to capture digital video rather than the more expensive 35mm film, Any settings featured in the film were real locations often used without permission asked in advance, and the extras were just people who happened to be there at the time. “Monsters” was released in 2010 and received mixed reviews from critics. Many critics found that the film wasn’t very successful; but others found it amazing as the director had a small budget to work with. One review implies that the critic didn’t enjoy the movie, ‘“Monsters’’ is a genuine curio: a moody, low-budget road-movie romance that takes place against a background of alien invasion.” The use of the word curio, suggests that it was an awful film. Not all reviews of “Monsters” were bad as we learn from the next review which was written by Future Movies UK which said “Monsters looks and feels like a major studio film, and Edwards is clearly a talent to watch.”
“Monsters” was a low budget film which made a substantial profit at the box office, overall, the film made $4,100,000 approx. To help out with their low budget, the producers decided to buy digital cameras instead of spending a vast amount of money on high-tech cameras. One of the most successful low-budget films was 1999's The Blair Witch Project. It had a budget of around $60,000 but grossed almost $249 million worldwide. Vertigo which was the company that helped produce “Monsters”. It enlisted the help of digital agency Think Jam and cinema chains Cineworld and Vue, and came up with a social media campaign for “Monsters” across Twitter, Facebook and Foursquare. As part of the campaign, which was financed through the UKFC’s fund for digital innovation in film distribution, audiences were given the chance to get involved in the story theme of the film and ‘infect’ five of each cinema operator’s major city locations. The audience was encouraged to seek out “infected zones” across the UK, such as bars or shops, in return for being able to gain access to exclusive clips and prizes as well as discounted entry to the film. This was a very clever marketing strategy. Almost all of the film was shot on location in Mexico, which is probably where most of the money went. The location presented beautiful scenery which was portraying throughout the movie.
One other movie that was released at the same time as “Mosters” was “The Tourist” starring Johnny Depp. This movie had a budget of $100,000,000 and made a gross profit of $287,000,000. Although the movie had a massive profit and made a substantial profit, critics didn’t enjoy the movie. Different countries made different reviews of the movie. In America the movie wasn’t well liked by critics and according to Wikipedia “The Tourist received mostly negative reviews, with a 20% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 158 reviews. Its critical consensus states: "The scenery and the stars are undeniably beautiful, but they can't make up for The Tourist's slow, muddled plot, or the lack of chemistry between Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie." The movie received a different response in the UK and leading newspaper Daily Mail, gave it 5 out of 5 stars, calling the film "a glossy, sophisticated, gloriously improbable romp — escapist fun for these austere times"
Allan Niblo was the producer of the film. He has produced over 15 films to date including 2010's Oscar nominated Ajami and Monsters which received a phenomenal reception at this year's Cannes, Europe's first 3D film StreetDance which was No.1 at the UK Box Office on release, and a big screen version of the hugely successful kids TV series Horrid Henry. Allan was one of the founders of Vertigo in 2002. Monsters was nominated for six British independent film awards, including best picture, best director, and best actor, and eventually won the best director, best technical achievement, and best achievement in production awards. At the 2011 BAFTAs, Monsters was nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Director, but ultimately lost to Four Lions. Overall the film was a huge success as it worked with such a low budget and made the film as good as it possibly could have been.