film production case study

Lily Collins, Charlie McDowell and Alex Orlovsky Launch Case Study Films

By Matt Donnelly

Matt Donnelly

Senior Film Writer

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Lily Collins , filmmaker Charlie McDowell and notable indie producer Alex Orlovsky have formally established a production entity called Case Study Films .

The trio previously collaborated on the 2021 film “Windfall,” a pot-boiler with socioeconomic undertones starring Collins, Jesse Plemons and Jason Segel, which sold to Netflix. Case Study will build film and series content financed in partnership with High Frequency Entertainment.

Popular on Variety

Orlovsky has an impressive resume and a knack for breaking urgent indie voices, including Derek Cianfrance, Fleck and Boden, Eliza Hittman and McDowell himself. The latter’s credits include the acclaimed indie “The One That I Love” and Segel’s futuristic “The Discovery.”

Collins, who stars in the Netflix blockbuster “Emily in Paris,” is represented by CAA, LBI Entertainment, Definition Entertainment, Sloane, Offer, Weber& Dern LLP and the Lede Company. McDowell is represented by CAA, LBI Entertainment, Black Bear Management and Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman, Newman, Warren, Richman, Rush, Kaller, Gellman, Meigs and Fox.

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Film production

Film production London

Working on short film production is a particularly exciting area of my wide variety of project commissions. As an independent producer, filmmaker and editor, I support many small production companies and freelance film and documentary producers with their short-form productions.

Film production case study

Pamela Roberts, Director of Black Oxford Untold Stories , recently commissioned my production skills and creative services to assist her with creating her film production. This film was part of a continuation of Pamela’s project to communicate Christian Frederick Cole’s untold story. As the author of ‘Black Oxford Untold Stories’ and the organiser of events such as ‘re-imagining Cole’, she planned to bring his story to life on film and had obtained some funding for its commission.  In this case study, I briefly outline how we worked together on the films production.

Pre-production planning

Once we had reached an agreement on the possibility of creating such a film within a limited budget, we began the pre-production process with many long discussions to pool our ideas for the format from our different perspectives. Pamela sent me a copy of the draft script outline she had written together with some suggestions on how the story could be structured. I then emailed her with various creative and technical questions from my filmmakers’ point of view. With more details of the project and a sense of what might be possible, we reached an understanding of how we could co-ordinate our knowledge to proceed with this historical film production.

Filming location recces

Pamela had secured permission to film at the three historic locations which Christian Cole’s story revolved around: University Oxford, Inner Temple (one of the four Inns of Court in London) and the Old Bailey in London. To assess these locations before filming began, Pamela and I first met at the Inner Temple in London for a location recce. I walked around the site and filmed some test shots to capture the historically accurate period details that would help tell the story.  We then drove to the Old Bailey, where we met their accommodating team and where I also filmed some test shots in the Great Hall and Courtrooms. The following week, we went on a second recce to Oxford University to visit and photograph the planned historical filming locations and meet the people who would be involved there.

Period costume hire

Pamela had recruited two actors to carry out the roles of the young Cole and the later Cole. To give the film more authenticity, we researched what type of clothes he would have worn at that time. I learned what costumes could be best for the actors’ parts, where we could obtain them and the cost to hire. We eventually sourced our costumes and props from the great team at National Theatre Costume and Prop hire in London.

Film production development

Gradually, during the following weeks of planning and frequent communications, Pamela developed and adapted the script as we co-ordinated our ideas for the film’s production. Pamela liaised with her contacts to confirm the filming days when we would have free access to the chosen locations. We then created a list of suitable historically accurate shots to film for each of the filming days in Oxford and London. The days leading up to the filming were quite hectic as we were both occupied with many different roles in addition to sourcing props and final costumes for the locations and actors.

Film music production

As the film editor on this project, it was important to me that the music chosen for this film needed to convey the right atmosphere and tone. Fortunately, my sister Jacqueline Langham is a very creative music composer and kindly agreed to compose this film’s music. To brief Jacqueline about the Christian Cole film story, I sent her Pamela’s proposed draft script, and we discussed some ideas for the potential music.  After filming, I sent her an edit of the whole film script, which had been read to the camera by the actor Prince Plockey. Jacqueline soon composed a beautiful selection of varied and unique music. It proved to be a perfect match for the story and was of great help to me during the editing process when selecting the right music for the changing situations in the Christian Cole story.

Production filming days

We had two days of filming scheduled for this historical film production – one day in Oxford and one day in London. Both filming days were long but very enjoyable – creative and rewarding. Luckily, we had dry weather and sunshine for both. For each filming day, I had secured one assistant’s support and very much appreciated the help they gave me with everything, which included moving a lot of filming kit. For the Oxford filming day, I was assisted by the helpful and talented ex-Goldsmiths student  Silvio Ugarelli Lima who also filmed with a second camera. For the London day of filming, the very multiskilled artist, prop maker Marko Waschke helped with the actor’s costume dressing and as a stagehand.

Director of Photography

For both filming days, I set up the lighting required and worked as the Director of Photography, directing and filming the shots.  I worked with actors Moses Alexander and Prince Plockey to film the scripted lines and shot list to illustrate the story as best as possible, given the tight time constraints we were meeting. The significant advantage of working in larger crews is that people have specific roles that enable more eyes-on set. A larger team helps to realise your creative vision within the timeframe you have. However, this short film’s tight budget did not allow for a large crew and additional assistance with all the tasks involved. As a London based freelance filmmaker , I have a wide range of film production equipment and so had all that was required to film and light the single actor scenes. For this film production, I also carried out the role of sound recordist.

Film post-production

With the two days’ filming complete, I began the process of the film’s post-production. Post-production is all the additional work required after the production phase to create the finished film. Examples include editing, colour grading, final sound mixing etc. My priority in any post-production process is to make sure all the filmed media files are securely backed-up and stored safely. Once all the media files were secured, I then transcoded all the filmed UHD media into a suitable file format for editing. During the next few weeks, I edited this short historical documentary film together. As the edit progressed, I added the beautiful music composed for this film. Once I was happy with the film, I sent a link for Pamela to watch and offer her feedback. I was delighted to hear that she loved the edit, as did both of the actors who re-enacted the Cole life story.

Historical film production

This short film has now titled after the person that it’s all about – Christian Frederick Cole. Christian Frederick Cole, originally from Sierra Leone (then a British Colony), was Britain’s first Black African to graduate at University-Oxford and went on to become Britain’s first Black African barrister to practise Law in the English High Court. This short historical film production brings his unique story back to life to inspire a new audience and a new generation, also to recognise this vital part of black history in Britain.

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Julian Langham Producer Cameraman Editor for Video Production in the UK and abroad.

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Online Film Production in China Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts pp 183–269 Cite as

Live Film Production Case Study: The Last Race

• Patrice Poujol 3  
• First Online: 05 March 2019

1053 Accesses

Part of the book series: International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology ((ISCEMT))

In this chapter, I analyse the interactions of value, reward, and power structures as previously discussed in Chap. 2 through the onsite participant observation of the film entitled The Last Race ([ 终极胜利 , Zhōngjí shènglì]) (2016) co-directed by Stephen Shin and Michael Parker in China. In Chap. 2, I discussed theoretically the changing nature of IP, of audience contribution as creators of content and the implications of creative peer-productions on these aspects. While the centrality of IP is redefined, a wave of young online creators is emerging.

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The film is a biopic about Eric Liddell, one of the main and real-life protagonists of The Chariots of Fire, who returns to his birthplace, China in the midst of the Japanese invasion.

And my previous work with them.

The promotion efforts were observed through textual material such as the film promotional trailers and inter-textual elements such as trade magazines, media articles and audience discussions on social networks.

As seen in Chaps. 4 and 5 .

I sometimes had to anonymise the names of the respondents and interviewees to avoid potential legal litigations. This is particularly true for the individuals who had signed a non-disclosure agreement with the production. Additionally, respondents generally feared to be blacklisted in the industry if they spoke out in regard to certain issues, therefore some of their testimonies were provided in confidence. The interviews were mostly organised informally as I was not allowed to record them with any type of device when meeting them one on one. This challenges the very notions of transparency, equality and freedom discussed in Chap. 2 , particularly after a film has been made and released: film industry professionals operate self-censorship at an individual level.

In terms of the biases which may have influenced my ethnographic research, I must inform the reader that I am a white male in my early 40s, with no extreme political or religious views. My previous experiences in film have been mostly as a writer, a Director and a Producer, so this may have influenced my views. I was initially placed in a position of observer in regard to the subject of study. However, as detailed in the next sections, I became increasingly active in my participation and interactions with it. Therefore, as a participant observer, I may in turn have been somewhat influenced by the subject of study.

Discussed in Chaps. 9 and 10 .

Morning Paris reached the pre-production phase but was never produced.

The total budget of The Last Race was less than half the budget of Outcast for example.

As seen in Chaps. 3 and 4 .

Also unlike with The Last Race , I did not observe the process from start to finish with these films and sometimes information was not available first hand.

Seen in Chap. 2 , Sect. 2.1.2.

http://www.absolutesurrendermovie.com/#filmmakers

This is not a coincidence as all these productions, including The Last Race (In Mr. Shin’s own words and intent) were trying to ‘connect with worldwide audiences ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics’ in Brazil. The 2016 Olympics appeared to be a good vehicle to get international exposure.

The Producers eventually understood that the working title The Great Conqueror’s Concubine was not going to have the expected appeal on the international markets.

See Chap. 4 for details about the rapid developments of the Chinese media industry.

One of the four largest talent agencies in the US.

Producer on Ghost in The Shell .

Mr. Parker’s spouse is from Hong Kong. He also understands and speaks Cantonese.

Correspondent for The Independent , Empire Magazine and The Scottish Sun in China.

Comparable at this level to movies such as Children of Huang Shi [黄石的孩子] (Spottiswoode 2008 ) or Flowers of War [金陵十三钗] (Zhang 2011 ).

As the film production was taking place and China was about to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Nanjing massacre, ghosts were also still floating in Japan for the 70th commemoration of the atomic bombs dropping (This is a theme covered by Akira Kurosawa in his film Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams (Kurosawa 1990 ) in the section entitled ‘The Tunnel’, a short film about World War II closure and the ghosts of the war).

As seen in Chaps. 2 and 3 .

The production had to pay US$10,000 to a casting agent for Mr. McGregor to read the script. The script was turned down.

Guanxi [关系] is a Chinese term, which literally means ‘relationship’ and is commonly associated with the idea of network or circle of influence. While scholars have emphasized the importance of guanxi in China (Bell 2008), it is worth noting that these circles of influence also exist in other cultures worldwide.

Which is a fairly high budget considering that the average independent production budget in the US was around US$15 million and the European average fluctuated between EUR5million and EUR10 million at the time (European Commission 2014 , 6). In comparison, the Chinese average has ranged from US$20 million to US$61 million over the past 3 years with significant discrepancies year-on-year (Numbers 2016 ).

The film certificate or Lixiang necessary to film a co-production in China is easier to obtain through a government controlled production company such as Sil-Metropole. It was also potentially good for the production to be associated with such a government company for the promotion and the release of the film.

Aymerick Pilarski, Director of Photography who has worked on several Chinese productions and co-productions has confirmed that a lot of producers and directors in China rely sometimes on unskilled, free or incentivised help from friends or family.

Key organisational issues will be discussed in detail later in the production section (Sect. 6.3.3 ).

These were the only nominations that the film obtained.

As mentioned by Stephen Shin in April 2015.

This is not uncommon in China, for instance, the film Morning Paris had to be stopped 2 weeks before the production phase due to the lack of professionalism and the unreliability of one of its investor groups.

This was confirmed during a meeting in Hong Kong by producer Tan Kyle Cheo, CEO of Star Entertainment Co. on the 21st of July 2016.

http://www.mgk-int.com/about.html now renamed King David Inc.

The pre-production had already started 2 weeks prior to this date with location scouting.

For an undisclosed amount c. CNY1.5 million (US$180,000) according to several of the directorial crew members.

I had to rely on the help of informal translators to be able to understand most of the meetings contents and assess the overall situation. I also developed a good rapport with the Hong Kong crew who could convey key information to me in English in a timely manner. I was relaying this information to the other foreigners as fast as I could.

This team formed the basis for a group of emerging filmmakers who I have regularly interviewed and conversed with (Chap. 9 ) to elaborate the participatory production model proposed in Chap.  10 .

As explained later by Mr. Shin (this will be explored in more details under Sect. 6.3 : Production).

Typically, a shooting period of 6–8 weeks of filming.

MPC were the lead driver of VFX on this film. They claim that they ‘are involved at every stage of the creative process, from the initial concept art to the final compositing and stereoscopic workflow’ (MPC 2016 ).

Despite claims in The Hollywood Reporter ( THR ) that the competing production Absolute Surrender was more loyal to the Christian faith of the lead character Eric Liddell (Bond 2015 ).

As see in Chap. 3 , in China the political supersedes the commercial and the cultural domains which are seen as vehicles to promote the earlier: more will be discussed about this topic in the following chapter relative to YT.

As seen in Chap. 3 , the newly merged SAPPRFT reports directly to the Chinese Government DOP.

As seen in Chap. 3 .

Before the real estate giant, Wanda Group, started investing in the media sector, many Hong Kong-based companies had already pursued this model such as conglomerate Emperor Group. Some of these groups were thought to be closely associated with the triads and using film and the theatrical circuit to launder money from their other illegal businesses (Dannen 1997 ).

VPNs were legal at the time of the shoot.

As seen in Chaps. 2 and 4 .

Sections 6.4.1 and 6.4.2 .

The Panoptic Society described by Foucault and Deleuze mentioned in Chaps. 2 and 3 .

With the authorisation of the film co-Directors.

See Chap. 5 .

This task was given to Ms. Xu, which empowered here further within the production.

In Mr. Shin’s own words.

The longest shooting day on the production was a record 27-h non-stop shoot earlier in July when the cast and crew saw the sun rise twice without having taken a break.

As seen in Chap. 2 .

This professional had already worked on the famous Monster Hunt (R. [许诚毅] Hui 2015 ).

This was confirmed to me by one of the wardrobe Managers and one of the ADs.

The quality of the film is addressed in details under Sects. 6.4.2 and 6.4.3 about distribution and circulation.

Around 20 women for 200 men, none of the heads of the key departments were women except the hair and makeup department.

As a co-producer, he had the authority to so.

This was later reported by Mr. Shin.

Although many of them were merely staying in the office doing little. Some just acted their presence, pretending to be busy while working on their own personal activities.

After the film was released one of the crew member and Mr. Shin explained that Ms. Xu, who Mr. Shin had trusted since the beginning of the production by giving her signing authority on the accounts and giving her access to the Mainland operations in her name, had rallied one of the production assistants to her cause, took control of Mr. Shin’s Mainland company branch, and fled with a significant part of the production money.

Also unanimously nicknamed ‘Si Mao’ or ‘dead cat’ by the crew members for his legendary scream on set which was believed to be able to kill cats instantly when they heard it.

A model that would benefit investors, creative talent as well as audiences.

As seen in the previous section.

Mr. Teare told me that his salary was four to eight times lower than what he would normally take, but he took it for the experience.

A role, which does not exist on a film, because drama and actors are the direct responsibility of Directors.

This was later confirmed by Mr. Fiennes himself during a conversation with Mr. Teare.

Mr. Teare had trained as drama coach at the renowned drama school Jacques LeCoq in Paris.

Field Manager: This is another role which does not exist in a regular film crew. Yang Yang effectively occupied the role of 1st AD.

This specific point is developed further in Sect. 6.4.2 under ‘Distribution.’

Section 6.2.3 .

Under Communication Sect. 6.3.3.3 .

Wild Bunch had views over cooperation with China and created the Europe-China Film Fund for US$120 million (100 million Euros equivalent) in January 2016.

It was re-cut into the film in the US version at the demand of the US producers.

This part will be developed in the promotion Sect. 6.4.1.3 .

Please refer to Appendix 6 for a few selected press articles regarding The Last Race .

See Appendix 5: English and Chinese versions.

This material is compiled into an Electronic Press Kit (EPK) that is then distributed consistently to all media and film festivals. This method is extremely cost efficient as it avoids work duplication and focuses the message to be delivered to all media outlets. However, the EPK only became available in March 2016, which cost the PR teams a lot of time and energy being wasted and missed opportunities with the media.

Also commonly called ‘wrap’ in the film industry.

This operation was orchestrated in agreement with the two co-Directors who saw an interest in this opportunity.

The Scottish Sun had agreed to give a double central page to the film.

Ms. Xu had a great part of responsibility for the unfolding of this crisis: she had not arranged for Mr. Fiennes’ family to come and visit him on set as specified in the contract.

Few of the smaller supporting roles and none of the agents and background actors were invited to it.

The production joined forces with a local charity organisation and in Hong Kong on 3 March.

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/fp/en_US/web/fpo/programmes/2011rt3/film74.html and http://www.youth.gov.hk/en/event-calendar/detail.htm?content=1119096&cat=ec1

This will be explained in further details in the following Sect. 6.4.2 under Distribution

Which any film can enter provided the production has the budget to fly their lead cast, to buy promotional space, and book screening time on the market.

Less than during the on-set promotion campaign.

Please see Appendix 6 under ‘Cannes Promotion.’

Although a very good piece of work.

Which is traditionally packaged with Macau in distribution territories.

The venue was connected to some of the real estate investors.

Mr. Shin made this comment in a private conversation. Solvil & Titus’ reaction was a direct consequence of the production and promotion flaws illustrated previously.

Alexandra Sun, CEO of The Film Library, an experienced producer and distributor, with over 20 years of experience in film, mentioned that two journalists formed the group in 2015. This was confirmed by the company’s presentation on Cinando’s website which mentions the former name of the company as newsgroup Movie View Media Group (Cinando 2016 ).

Seen in Chaps. 2 and 4 .

http://movie.mtime.com/225946/ . Despite the deal with Sony, it will be relatively hard for the film to eventually recoup its initial investment.

http://movie.mtime.com/225946/details.html

The Great Wall , which was a rather unsuccessful film commercially and critically managed to gross over 70 million at the Chinese box office (Rosen 2017 ).

Not scored yet: This showed the little interest that the film has gathered.

http://movie.mtime.com/225946/

US$3,860,000 for China alone and $979,761 in other territories for a total of $4,839,761.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4714896/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1

Note: access to these websites and the brick and mortar illegal DVD/Bluray shops in Beijing was solely motivated by the requirements of this research which is for educational purposes and therefore by presenting ‘fair use’, it does not infringe any copyright laws.

http://putlocker.io/watch/qva8Wkd3-on-wings-of-eagles.html

http://www.razzies.com /

I will develop these aspects further in Chaps. 8 and 9 .

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Poujol, P. (2019). Live Film Production Case Study: The Last Race . In: Online Film Production in China Using Blockchain and Smart Contracts. International Series on Computer Entertainment and Media Technology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02468-0_6

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How to Read a Film Case Study in the New Normal

April 21, 2020

This past month, Science has collided with every industry on the planet, and as people look to scientists for answers, certain politicians and media have perhaps become less trusted than ever.

As The Film Collaborative readies a slew of real-world case studies on film distribution that we have been working on for months, it behooves us to re-examine and contextualize what we mean by the “real-world.” We have been covering COVID-19’s impact on film festivals and festival distribution (our core specialty) and you can read that blog series here . The case studies we are publishing presently are all on films released in the last year or two, so their lessons are fresh and relevant, notwithstanding the fact that festival distribution has collapsed and may not return to normal for months—if it ever reverts to what it was.

Science has many ways of looking at what went wrong—and what went right. So, before we ask what filmmakers are supposed to glean from a case study, it seems especially appropriate (and even maybe a bit refreshing) to look at what science does. And then we’ll swing back and suggest ways that filmmakers can get the most out of these case studies as they read them.

What role do Case Studies play in a scientific environment?

In the medical industry, a case study is a research strategy and an empirical inquiry that investigates a phenomenon within its real-life context. Case studies are based on an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, or event to explore the causes of underlying principles.

What can one learn from a case study? Because it only focuses on a single case, it’s not the gold standard. That honor is given to a “randomized control trial”—the highest level of research—and usually requires a wide sample size. Its aim is to separate what is anecdotal from what is based on collected data. And if you don’t have a wide sample, you need to list limitations of the study. After that, there is a meta-analysis, with peer reviews that form a consensus, which in turn leads to best practices.

So, what does science say one can learn from a single individual’s experience? Even on that front, a case study does not occupy the highest level of inquiry. When a sentinel event occurs, i.e. one that could potentially (or actually did) cause harm where the entire staff involved in that patient’s care and the higher-ups are all present. The meeting is used to identify the factors of what went wrong, with the purpose of improvement in the future, and to keep the same mistake from happing again. If someone or something performed poorly, they identify whether it was a performance error, or a systems error…in other words, a deep dive into the root cause of the problem.

A case study, by contrast, also applies to a single case, but it is not actually a strong level of evidence. It is educational, and functions as a teaching tool in order to give the audience a better appreciation of how a certain process works, like how a disease functions or progresses.

How can we apply this to film distribution?

Scientists are trained not to confuse factual with anecdotal evidence, but in the arena of film distribution, the lines become somewhat blurred.

When it comes to sharing data, we have a long way to go. We certainly do not have enough reporting and transparency to come close to the level of study that takes place in a randomized clinical trial. The Sundance Institute partnered with a few organizations a few years ago with its Transparency Project (which The Film Collaborative participated in), in an attempt to come up with some larger findings, but they couldn’t make it work because it seems there was not enough data to extrapolate from in a way that would produce something useful.

Of course, we could never create a methodology that could produce an entire set of best practices for film distribution, simply because the world, like the stock market, never has been, and is never going to be, predictable. The Film Collaborative produced two books over the years (“Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul” and another focusing on VOD outside the U.S.), and while they are not completely irrelevant, much of the information and players have changed to the point that they are not as useful as they once were. But even at their most useful point, it’s important to remember that they never functioned as a road map, and the same is still true: one cannot simply do the same things that Tom Huang (our first case study filmmaker) did and reproduce his success with Find Me .

How to read a film case study…

• Find the ones for you . We are attempting to really cover the gamut in diverse case studies with respect to: [1] independent film genre; [2] diversity of filmmakers; [3] premiere status (so-called A-list festival, not A-list festival, non-festival premiere), [4] niche appeal; [5] traditional sales and distribution vs. DIY vs. hybrid models; and [6] successful releases by the filmmaker’s standards, and not disappointing ones. While reading each one would probably be useful in some way for many filmmakers, one can also analogize and utilize some more than others—the ones that are more fitting based on your film, goals, possibilities, etc.
• Look for the similarities rather than the differences . If someone tells you about their experience, a natural initial human reaction is to see that person’s experience as fundamentally different from yours and to make a premeditated decision to get nothing out of hearing about it. But if you listen more closely, you can begin to find a lot of similarities in other people’s experiences. If you distance yourself, you set up your own prejudice systems—and learn nothing. So, when you read a case study, even if the substantive elements are different, look at the techniques that are employed and see if you might be able to use them to inform your process.
• Learn to separate anecdotal evidence from best practices , including your own. If you made your last film three years ago, don’t assume that everything you think you know still applies. And, of course, you must re-think everything you thought you knew back in in February 2020, too.
• Ask whether the filmmaker knew who their film was for , and if that filmmaker succeeded in identifying a path to reach that audience . Ask yourself the same question about your project. If you your answer is, “I can reach my audience if I had a studio-level marketing campaign,” you need to re-define your demographic to the point where you can reach them for a relatively small amount of money, or even using what we call “sweat equity,” and maybe marketing / media / organizational partnerships that can help.
• Make a list of the practical ideas and advice that you can glean regarding how to market your film, to try and think about different trailer lengths, how much money to spend on ads, how to figure out if your ads are working, vendors to look into, etc.
• Improve your self-awareness and critical thinking . Some of the drafts of the case studies we are getting underscore the reasons why TFC’s educational tools are so important in the first place. We had asked our filmmaker authors to be as transparent and honest as they wanted to be, yet are finding that even these drafts themselves reveal the filmmakers’ mistaken or unrealistic expectations, or place blame on third parties that do not deserve to bear the sole burden of the many systemic problems in the industry regarding distribution. We have working closely with these filmmakers (many of whom did not even realize they may have been wronged — or actually not wronged, depending on the example —until we pointed it out to them) to help them offer a more constructive presentation on some of the more difficult aspects of their projects’ journeys. The questions that arose from that exercise are useful in showing that not everything should be taken at face value.
• What success and failure look like. We have not cherry picked the success stories, but rather have encouraged filmmakers to be more transparent about failures/stats/earnings in addition to successes, so that if strategies or partners do not produce desired outcomes, others can make different choices. And being clear about one’s goals and motivations will help put into perspective what success looks like (it’s not the same for everyone). And if there’s one thing that we hope you take away from these case studies, it is that not everything is possible for every film in terms of distribution.
• Real numbers . When possible, we ask the filmmakers to be as transparent as they feel comfortable with in general, but also in terms of the fact that in some cases they have signed NDAs, or have other parties that they need to be accountable to.

In today’s climate only relatively few filmmakers who are offered a lucrative (or at least professionally advantageous) distribution deal from a distributor or digital platform get to walk away from the obligations and work of actually distributing their films. The rest must set aside their director’s chair and take on new roles surrounding the distribution of their film that they traditionally may not have ever planned to assume. TFC has seen many filmmakers who do not possess enough knowledge about how distribution works to make informed decisions as to distribution deals, such as whether to accept an offer from a distributor with little or no minimum guarantee / license fee and not-great terms and conditions, to try to go it alone and distribute their film by themselves, or to split rights with chosen partners. So, we hope that these case studies help to improve that, and we of course welcome any feedback or comments to [email protected] .

Over the next several months, we will be releasing case studies on films of different genres, subject matter, and levels of success, and covering topics from sales agents, distributors and self-distribution to reaching an online audience, creating impact campaigns with calls-to-action, and being pigeonholed in one’s film niche. We hope you find them useful, inspiring and enjoyable!

Acknowledgements

• Illustration
• Processes and Tools

Case Study Illustration

Case Study: Moonworkers. Digital Illustrations on Film Production

The design case study about creating a series of illustrations for the digital products and marketing needs of the company involved in the movie industry..

Illustrations proved themselves as an effective and multifunctional element of design for business, marketing, customer experience, and interactions. Our today’s case study is unveiling the project of that kind. Read about using the power of digital art for visual brand storytelling across various channels of communication. The illustrator behind the project was Yaroslava Yatsuba, who earlier shared with you the tips on  creating illustrations  and developing a  personal artistic style .

Creating a series of illustrations for the digital products and marketing needs of the company involved in the movie industry.

Due to its beauty and creative flexibility, illustration rockets with a constantly growing number of  websites  and  mobile apps  as one of the ways to enhance usability, aesthetic, emotional and visual appeal of the interface. What’s more, artworks subordinate to the particular goal work well to set the storytelling for a company, brand, digital product, or specific marketing campaign. The Moonworkers project was about activating all the mentioned points.

Developing the brand and its presence on the web, the company operating in the industry of movie production and talent acquisition for it, turned to us with the task of creating a set of original illustrations that would present the features, benefits, and nature of the services.

The important issues to consider for the illustrations were the following:

• consistent style
• inclusion of the references to famous films and cartoons
• clear visual presentation of the particular points and benefits (for example, secure payments, team management, etc.)

After the market research and creative search of the general style, the designer worked on the color choice that had to keep consistent for all the series. The color search resulted in an eye-pleasing palette harmonically combining warm and cold shades. The next step was to integrate prompts from known movies into the business-like artworks to make the experience feel fun as well as connect the users to the movie industry via recognizable details and characters.

Let’s check the result of that creative process.

Illustrations

Here are the final illustrations to be used for UX and marketing goals. Dynamic, often irregular composition, multilayered perception from the core element to tiny details integrated into the image, emotional characters, visual prompts on film production and positive color combinations all together set the needed effect. The artworks were designed to be applied to the web or mobile interfaces, banners, social media marketing, and other goals. Welcome to review the set of final illustrations. Have you guessed all the movies coded in them?

The illustration visualizing the process of searching for the candidates to participate in a particular movie.

The artwork imitating the process of casting potential actors.

The illustration showing the atmosphere of actors’ casting and hiring process.

The illustration devoted to the topic of creative team management.

The artwork featuring the details of the video production process.

Another illustration unveiling some details and processes typical for the movie production process.

 The elegant digital illustration featuring the process of user profile creation.

One more illustration sharing the atmosphere of creating a user profile for the talent in the film production industry.

The illustration that transfers the idea of easy communication.

The digital artwork that reflects a deep concentration on the creative process.

The artwork transferring the idea of payment security.

Another illustration of payment theme, this one sharing the idea of payment success.

Cheerful characters in the picture devoted to free transactions.

Cute vintage TV-set in the illustration for the website 404 pages

The Moonworkers was a great creative challenge for the artist: she had to keep all the series of artworks consistent not only visually but also emotionally, and at the same time she needed to combine it with the diversity of characters and ideas. Stay tuned, new cases on digital illustrations are coming soon.

Case Studies on Graphic Design and Illustration

Quisine. Branding Design for Food Delivery Service

Dicey. Logo and Mascot Design for Party Game

MYWONY. Storytelling with Brand Intro Design

Florence App. Illustrations for Healthcare Service

Tubik in Paris. Design Process for Narrative Illustration

Winter Olympics Illustration. Step-by-Step Process

Real Racing. Graphic Design for Mobile Game

24 Elaborate Flat Illustrations for Your Inspiration

26 Digital Artworks About Design Process

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Welcome to check designs by Tubik on Dribbble and Behance ; explore the gallery of 2D and 3D art by Tubik Arts on Dribbble

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Home Sweet Home. Strategies of Home Page Design

The article devoted to strategies of home page design boosting usability and making interaction with a website easy and fast.

How to Create Original Flat Illustrations: Designer’s Tips

The article shares helpful tips from Tubik graphic designer about creating original flat illustrations and best practices on developing artistic style and manner.

Case Study: Cuteen. UI/UX Design for Mobile Photo Editor

The case study presents the design process of a mobile photo editing app for teens and young women: smart UX and UI development with a custom set of icons.

20 Wise Thoughts by Typography Master Erik Spiekermann

The collection of expert quotes and video speeches, this time with professional and life tips from famous graphic designer and a typography guru Erik Spiekermann.

More articles by themes

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• Film TV Production Services Europe
• Film and TV production case studies

We save TV, Film and Corporate producers time and money when shooting in Europe

Here are just a few of the projects that we’ve assisted over the years.

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Call +44 20 3137 6898, mail us, or fill out the enquiry form for your free quote.

Streetdance II – feature film in Paris

When the production team at Vertigo needed production support in Paris, we stepped in at the very last minute to make their shoot happen.

“Thanks again for all the hard work” Charles Salmon – line producer

Our flexible team, lots of hard work, and some great weather made the shoot a real success .

Rubinrot – Feature Film in London

Working over a six month period from script, to locations and then a full local line production, we helped bring this adaptation of a best-selling teen fiction to the screen. Launch date is March 2013.

Principal photography was taking place in Germany and we had to help with lots of extra things to make sure that the transition was seamless between shots.

Shooting in famous London landmarks including the milennium bridge, Tate Modern, Camden and a helicopter, we supplied full local line production to the film.

Twenty8k – feature fim in Paris

We helped Formosa films bring a UK crime thriller to the screens with production support in Paris.

Kevin Hart – Let Me Explain

We had a great time helping the production team filming Kevin Hart’s epoch making tour in London.

We supplied crew and location services in London both for a location shoot and the massive gig in the o2 in London with 20,000 people in attendance.

The Dancers

TF1 primetime reality show the dancers came to London and we helped make their shoot easy with help at all stages of production.

From locations and permits to logistics and translation, we were there to help the team from Paris.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

The legendary US series came to Amsterdam and our local team helped make a memorable episode in Holland.

Organising permits and happenings both conventional and distinctly left field as well as full logistical support and local crew where needed.

Dynamo – Magician Impossible

Magician to the stars, Dynamo came to Paris for an episode in the fourth series of this top rated show.

We worked with the team from the very earliest stages, through getting permits and negotiating with local landmarks through to keeping the logistics of the shoot running to plan.

James May’s Toy Stories

Top Gear legend James May came to Paris to film an episode of the popular series about toys of yesteryear and the stories behind them.

We helped the team every step of the way during their shoot in France.

The gadget man team wanted to film an episode in the south of France and we helped them make it happen.

Helping with permits, finding contributors and making sure the project ran smoothly was all part of the job for our location manager.

The Barefoot Contessa

We have helped a great many cookery shows over the years and we were delighted to help Pacific, makers of hit shows including Nigella and Lorraine Pascale with an episode of this culinary staple.

Our location manager smoothed progress and sorted things out for the visiting team that were filming Ina Gartner a.k.a The Barefoot Contessa.

Idris Elba’s Story of Now

A-list star Idris Elba came to Paris and filmed content for the BBC relating to a cool science related project.

We organised the studio, crew, kit, props and made sure things proceeded to order with an ambitious schedule and limited time with the ever charming Idris. Ask Melissa about the project!

Ralph Lauren

We have helped our good friends at TVC of London with many shoots for Ralph Lauren.

Covering stories as diverse as the St Germain store opening to Mr Lauren’s car collection show at the Louvre in Paris.

We’ve worked on shoots for many other luxury and quality brands including Rolex in Paris and Geneva, Mont Blanc in Monaco, Grey Goose and Ellen von Unsworth, Camus Cognac, Gucci, Range Rover, Nespresso and Peninsular Hotels.

Nissan Juke in Paris and Rome

We supported and researched some great content that involved up and coming bands for the launch of the Nissan Juke in Paris and Rome.

We’ve done quite a lot of automotive related projects over the years helping Land Rover, Range Rover, Lotus, Avis, Aston Martin, Honda and Renault.

Most of the team here is obsessed with cars, so we welcome anything to do with them.

Rebel Sports with Sébastien Chabal

We line produced a series of comic commercials shot in Paris for eponymous Kiwi/Aussie sports retailer, Rebel sports.

Featuring the rugby legend, Sébastien Chabal who is a charming fellow (unless he’s running towards you at speed on a rugby pitch we guess!) we shot on a series of night shoots in Paris where we mocked a store to look like a Rebel Sports one down under.

We’ve worked on commercials and corporates for a host of other consumer and retail brands including Sekerbank, Heineken, Nokia, Sony Experia and many more.

Keeping up with the Kardashians

We made life easier for Bunim Murray of the USA when they needed production support for iconic reality hit, the Kardashians.

Reality is something we’ve done a lot of and we’ve also helped Make me a Supermodel, Britain’s next Top Model, Who do you Think you are, and the Bachelor.

Travel Channel shows Street Eats and Fast Foods Gone Global

When you need one firm that can help you on your multi-stop European shoot, look no further.

We helped Tremedous of the USA with production support and Crew for their shows in London, Paris, Marakkesh and Moscow.

We’ve also worked with RTE, the BBC, Mimis Café and many others on a raft of food and lifestyle related content.

Eastenders shoot in Normandy, France

Eastenders has been one of the UK’s top-rating shows since it was first shown.

The team needed top class support from locations, to research, casting and logistics when they shot a landmark episode in Normandy.

We worked with the team, french local authorities and local suppliers to make the shoot a success.

We helped several seasons of the BBC’s prime time cookery contest when they needed production support.

Shooting in Paris, Reims and the Ritz, as well as many other places, we helped the team get what they needed within the tight schedules they worked within.

Global Mag – Arte France

Recherche décors, autorisations, producteur sur place et logistique pour magazine TV pour arte.

Ports D’Attache – TV5 Canada

Recherche décors, autorisations, et logistique pour documentaire pour la chaîne TV5 Canada.

Simon Schama’s Power of Art

We researched, arranged permits and supplied a local producer and a driver to the team from the BBC when they shot an episode about the Guernica tapestry.

If you need to get access for something in France, we’re past master at getting doors open and things happening.

Helping Honda Live Every Litre

We worked on different elements on this multi faceted projects for Grey London on behalf of clients Honda for their Live Every Litre project in Barcelona and elsewhere in Spain.

Shooting in Cannes, we helped the team shoot an episode in the south of France.

Working with the Producers, we organised all the fun items in the show.

Un Souvenir – Film pour France2

Production Executif au Douvres et Kent pour un film long métrage avec Danièl Prévost.

Avis Promises advertisement

We made it easy for Avis to show that they’ll go to almost any lengths to deliver your hire car.

High jinks on Lake Garda for Honda

One of the most amusing storoes we’ve set up concerned a group that were sent by Honda to put a bar-room bet into action…

They wanted to sail a Bouncy Castle across Lake Garda, as you do.

Our local producer made this happen and the resulting film made the morning papers in the UK and elsewhere.

Nissan Juke in Rome

We helped Nissan make a film about the Nissan Juke in Rome featuring an up and coming Italian band.

We organised the locations and local logistics for the team, and a good time was had by all.

Lotus got great shots in Stelvio

Locations, permits and research for some great shots of the Lotus Europa around the Stelvio pass.

We don’t only do car related content, and can help with your documentaries, fashion projects and corporate shoots.

Lotus Advertising Film

Shooting in Munich, we gave Lotus a great production for their Elise film that premiered at the Paris Motorshow.

We handled everything from locations, casting to equipment hire and crew and logistics.

Working with Advance of Copenhagen

We worked for the leading Danish Marketing and Ad agency, Advance for a range of films for a pharmaceutical client.

We offered local production services including translation and research services.

Vogue – The Editors Eye for HBO in Paris and London

We helped World of Wonder of Los Angeles shoot this landmark documentary, the idea of Anna Wintour herself, in Paris and London.

We supplied crew and logisitcal support and made life easier for the crew when they met and interviewed luminaries of the fashion world including Marc Jacobs, Stella Mc Cartney, Hamish Bowles and William Klein.

MFS Investments

We’ve had the great pleasure to work with MFS Investments of Boston and Lunchpail productions for a while now.

Shooting in London, Milan, Madrid and outside of Europe via our ACrew4U service, we have greatly enjoyed working on these shoots.

Made in Chelsea

We helped the team of Made in Chelsea in a european city , helping to make their progress effortless.

We were the London exectuive producer for the forthcoming Rober LePage film

Let’s get started !

Get your shoot in Europe started.

We’ve got a new site with more up to date info.

Check out our new site at www.acrew4u.com.

This site is not being updated any more so we look forward to seeing you in our new home.

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How to produce a film case study

What is a case study?

A case study is a look at a particular subject or topic of interest which describes, explores, explains or analyses activities or events, groups or individuals. Case studies can be a good way to tell a story or share information and help other people to learn, understand and be inspired.

You can use this guidance alongside our case study template which shares information on how to structure a case study and the type of information and style that we aim for.

Why use film?

Film can be a good way to reach people as it’s easy to share and social media sites are set up so that watching and sharing films is easy. Film has an immediate quality – depending on who you are trying to reach, some people might be more likely to watch a three minute film than they are to read a few pages of text.

Telling the story

Although your case study might focus on one particular area, it’s important to set the scene so people understand the story around your case study. For example, if you’re talking about an activity in your Big Local area, remember to introduce briefly what Big Local is and how your activity fits in with what you’re doing in your area more widely. If the people in your case study mention something which only a few people might know about, remember to explain in a sentence or two what they are talking about. For example, if you mention a group by name, say what the group is, maybe why they’re called that name, what they do and when they meet.

Before you start making your film case study, work out what you want to include and how you are going to cover these things. If your case study is to discover things you don’t already know, you can outline the questions you want to ask and what you’d like to find out. Some people decide to set out storyboards as a quick cartoon.

The location of where you do your filming is important and will help you to tell your story. For example, if your case study is about a particular street, you probably want to do quite a lot of filming on that street. If you interview a shop owner, filming the interview in or just outside the shop is all part of helping to tell the story. Where this isn’t possible, you can try to use photos.

Sound is a big part of the film watching experience and you will need to prepare in advance so that your sound quality is good. If your film is hard to listen to then people are less likely to watch it through or share it with others.

Try and use a microphone to get the best results. Using a microphone will minimise the amount of background noise that gets picked up and is particularly useful if you’re outside.

If you don’t have an external microphone try to avoid filming outside or on a windy day (as wind sounds very loud through the camera’s microphone!) and avoid places with strong echoes (such as sports halls).

Doing a sound check means that you record a little to listen and watch back to check the quality.

Length of film

The length of your film case study will depend on what is suitable for your content and the story you are telling. You might have recorded quite a lot and part of the challenge will be about making a decision about what is important to include and knowing what to leave out and when you might be repeating yourself.

Think about how much time you might give to watching a film online. It’s probably not very long!

As a guide, a case study covering one story or one activity should be approximately 2-5 minutes. For example, you can watch these case studies of Star People award winners. If your case study has a number of different parts to it and is about describing a bigger story, it should be approximately 6-12 minutes.

Applying styles

Styles are effects that you might apply to your film. For example special effects in between different film clips or photos that move around. For accessibility reasons we suggest not applying styles or effects as they can be hard to watch and are distracting. Your film will look much ‘cleaner’ if kept simple.

If you use text on your film, use a simple font which is easy to read. Local Trust use the font Arial. You should check that the text you display can be read against the background (for example white text against a dark background reads well, white text against a light background is hard to read). You also need to check that the length of time the text appears is enough for all of the text to be read easily. If you have a large amount of text, think about breaking it up into smaller parts.

Participants and agreement

Once you have filmed and edited your film, you should check with the people who took part that they are happy with it and feel it is an accurate description. If people are pleased with a film they’re in, they are more likely to want to share it and show it to more people.

If your film includes children you should get consent first from their parent or guardian. You can use this photo and video consent form for children or vulnerable adults. We also have a photo and video consent form for adults.

Logos and branding

By using the Big Lottery Fund logos people can see that Lottery money has supported your work and is being spent in your community. For people in Big Local areas, you can download the Lottery logos on the Big Lottery Fund website. We also encourage people to use the

Local Trust | Big Local logo so that people can see that the work you are doing locally is part of an England wide programme. You can download these from our website. If you have your own branding you should of course use this too!

It’s a good idea to have an introduction to your film where you give a title and short description to your case study and use these logos. This helps people to know what they’re about to watch. The end of your film is a good place to share where people can go to for more information.

Sharing your film with Local Trust and others

Once your film is ready you can upload it online to make it available for people to see and share. Some of the websites you can upload your film too include YouTube and Facebook. Local Trust uses YouTube. If you email us with a link to your film we can ‘like it’ and share it on our YouTube channel, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

You may want to copy some onto DVDs too for people that don’t have access to the internet or want to watch it on a TV. Some Big Local areas have organised small film screenings to get people together to watch their film and talk about it.

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