Difference between Indepenent and Mainstream Film Openings

The difference between mainstream and independent companies is that, firstly, mainstream companies target a mass audience which is a large group of people whereas independent companies target a niche audience which is a small group of people therefore they both target different audiences. Mainstream companies will therefore create a film which will target that mass of people by not having a specific genre in order to satisfy the wide audience they want to attract. However, independent companies will have a more specific genre which will be less generalised as they are targeting a niche audience therefore it will be a small audience and they want to make their film specific to their needs.

When producing a film there a many aspects you have to think about e.g. production, marketing, distribution and exhibition. Mainstream companies tend to be a lot bigger and have a lot more money compared to independent companies who have a limited budget to play with. Mainstream can afford to hire the best cast as they have the money to do so whereas independent will have to get the best possible people with the budget they are given. Moreover, when it comes to distribution, this is where independent and mainstream companies are separated as due to the lack of budget independent companies cannot afford to distribute their film to as many countries as mainstream companies therefore they cannot make their film as big as they hope. An example of a mainstream company would be Warner Bros and mostly all the films they produce will become successful as they are such a large successful company.

 

Mainstream

On the left is a mainstream film called Fast and Furious 6 which was produced by Universal Pictures. It was released in order to attract a mass market of people. It was released in a number of cinemas  around the globe. It was also released on Netflix, DVD. Mainstream films are also advertised on a variety forms of social media such as twitter, Facebook and Instagram. They also advertise on YouTube, they would pay the person who makes the film to put s small 30second advertisement before the video. The genre of this film is action as they are lots of scenes that contain a lot of action pact film. Mainstream films usually hire a cast that are rather famous within the film industry, in this film they have Paul Walker, Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. This would attract a large audience due to the popularity of the cast.  In a number of mainstream films some of the scenes have locations that are recognisable to the audience. This is good as it allows the audience to feel as if they are related to the film in some way.

Independent

Below is the film opening of 'A walk among the tombstone', it was produced by a number of different companies but one company that is well known is Universal Pictures. It was released to attract a wide audience but in fact was the biggest independent film of 2014. It was also released in the cinema, Netflix and DVD. Independent film companies tend to advertise their film using social media as it is a free version of marketing and will give the film a bigger marketing campaign. The genre of this film is action as it contains a lot of fighting/gun scenes. Independent films do nor normally have a well known cast as they can not usually afford it but in this film they are lucky enough to have Liam Neeson. This would attract a wide audience as the popularity of Liam Neeson will make people want to watch it. However, in this film they have not filmed in locations that are well known whereas in the film above they have. This could mean that the audience do not feel as involved in the film compared to the one above.