Arthouse and Multiplex Cinemas

EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ARTHOUSE AND MULTIPLEX CINEMAS IN THE UK

Firstly, what is the difference between the two?

Arthouse cinemas screen independent films which are aimed at a small niche market as oppose to Multiplex cinemas which screen the latest blockbuster/ Hollywood films that appeal to a mass market audience. 

What is the difference between the type of films they screen?

The films shown in Arthouse cinemas are often created by those who are much smaller figures in the film industry and want to put themselves forward to become better known film-makers. They are less concerned about commercial profit and instead make films for aesthetic reasons and the main factors which make independent films what they are include: content which is packed with meaning and is highly symbolic, strong character development which focuses on the characters thoughts and dreams, the embedded sub-genre of social realism and the film-makers will often explore new narrative techniques or film-making conventions.  

Examples of independent films:

What Richard Did: This is a good example of an independent film that would be shown at an Arthouse cinema. It was directed by Lenny Abrahamson and produced in 2012 with Element Pictures and the Irish Film Board. It was distributed in the UK by Artificial Eye which is the biggest distributor for Curzon Films, also known for distributing The Selfish Giant, Wuthering Heights and Winter's Bone. What Richard Did explores the life of alpha-male, Richard Karlsen (Jack Reynor) who has to confront the gap between who he thought he was and who he proves to be after making a huge mistake one night. His character is slowly and steadily developed throughout and the audience are given a true insight into his emotions and how the people that surround him affect his life. It made $488,327 in the box office and it targets an audience of both males and females aged 15-35. 

Short Term 12: This film was directed by Destin Daniel Cretton and it was produced in 2013 with Animal Kingdom and Traction Media. The film is set in a foster-care facility and the narrative revolves around Grace (Brie Larson), a young councellor who has to manage the troubling and traumatic lives of the children she looks after and at the same time, has to keep her own life on track as she readies for marriage. Every child has their own back story, some more developed than others however, their unique and individual personalities come across clearly in the film and the audience feel a very strong, emotional attachment with some of the characters, especially Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever) who is going through child abuse. These sensitive topics mean Short Term 12 targets a similar audience to What Richard Did, who are mature enough to respect and understand the film. The film has a budget under $1 million and it gained $1.6 million in the box office. 



On the contrast, Multiplex cinemas show films that are a lot less deeper in meaning and instead, present a clear goal-driven story. Commonly seen aspects and factors involved in blockbuster/Hollywood films are: large production budgets, expensive special effects, costly celebrity actors and huge advertising campaigns. 

Examples of blockbuster/Hollywood films:

Get Hard: Directed by Etan Cohen and produced in 2015 with Warner Bros. and Gary Sanchez Productions, Warner Bros distributed the film in the UK. It is your typical Hollywood movie with well known actors/celebrities such as Will Ferrell and Kevin Hart and a simple, easy to understand narrative: millionaire James King (Will Ferrell) is jailed for fraud so in order to prepare himself for prison, he turns to Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart) to train him in the promise of money. It was a high budget film of $40 million and has already made over double that in the box office at $86.8 million. It is likely to attract an audience of aspirer's, both male and female from the ages of 15-25 as it is quite immature with a lot of crude humour embedded within it.  



Furious 7: Directed by James Wan and produced in 2015 with Universal Pictures and Universal Pictures International distributed the film in the UK. Again, it stars well known actors and actresses such as: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jason Statham and Michelle Rodriguez. It was released on the 3rd April, 2015 in the UK and already it has a box office of $1.001 billion which is absolutely incredible and the film-makers and production companies must have known the film was going to do extremely well because it had a budget of $190 million. 



Any other differences or similarities? 

Multiplex cinemas first came about in the UK in 1985 when AMC Cinemas opened a ten-screen cinema at The Point in Milton Keynes. This was greatly responsible for the incline of the UK cinema industry after it had previously had a decline and this success led to a further expansion by AMC in the UK to Newcastle, Dudley, Telford, Warrington and by royal appointment to London. Art films are known to have begun between 1910-1920's with films such as Intolerance (directed by D.W Griffith in 1916) and Battleship Potemkin (directed by Sergei Eisenstein in 1925). 

Arthouse cinemas tend to be more expensive than Multiplex cinemas with tickets costing about £11 or £12 compared to prices between £6 and £10 at Multiplex cinemas. However, food and drink is very commonly overpriced at Multiplex cinemas, sometimes double the price they would cost at a local supermarket whereas the prices are more fair at Arthouse cinemas and they even have their own bars. 

Examples of Arthouse and Multiplex cinemas... 

Arthouse:

• The Curzon (25 screens) 
• Genesis (5 screens) 
• The Prince Charles (2 screens) 
• BFI Southbank (4 screens) 
• The Rex (1 screen) 

Multiplex:

• Odeon (114 screens) 
• Cineworld (over 800 screens)
• Vue (755 screens) 
• Empire (164) 
• Showcase (over 950) 

As you can see from these statistics, Multiplex cinemas have an incredibly greater amount of screens when compared to Arthouse cinemas and even when comparing The Curzon and Odeon, there is a difference of 89 screens. 

Production Companies

Vertigo Films 




Vertigo Films is a British film production and distribution company which is based in London. It was first founded in 2002 by Allan Niblo and James Richardson. Allan Niblo is known for producing Monsters (2010) and Bronson (2008), Monsters was very successful and gained $4.2 million in the box office after having a budget of only $500,000 and Bronson made $2.2 million in the box office after having a much smaller budget of $230,000. Then in 2003, Rupert Preston (also known for Monsters and Bronson) and Nick Love (known for The Football Factory and The Sweeney) joined and became partners. Vertigo Films owns a post production company in Berlin called 'The Post Republic' and it is a partner in a sales company called Protagonist Pictures. Their website quotes that "it aims to create a distribute commercially driven independent cinema and since inception it has produced 28 films and distributed a further 35." 

Vertigo Films include: Monsters, Monsters: Dark Continent, Walking on Sunshine, The Sweeney, Ajami, Spring Breakers and Bronson. They produce mainly actions, sci-fi's, horrors and crimes. Here are two of their films with mixed reviews surrounding them: 

• Streetdance 3D- Rated 5.9 on IMDb and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes with 59% of people that liked it. It did very well in the box office with £11 million after having a budget of £3.5 million. Its audience are those who are into street dancing so this may include younger people both male and female as the main cast includes a mixture of both genders. Top critic, Leslie Felperin from Variety said "deeply unoriginal yet utterly entrancing" and audience members had mixed responses ranging from "this has definitely set a mark in the dance genre" to "awful film with a cliche story...I was left disappointed." 
• The Football Factory- Rated 6.9 on IMDb and only 20% on Rotten Tomatoes but with a high audience score of 84%. It made £623,138 in the box office and its audience are those into football and dominantly males because the protagonists are all males and fit into aspects of our dominant ideology and there is a large amount of violence within it. Critic, Dragan Antulov from Draxblog Movie Reviews said "excellent performers can't compensate for the film's biggest problem- lack of originality" and audience comments ranged from "it is one of my top 10" to "Did not enjoy this at all. It was boring...lacks the direction and writing." 

Working Title Films 

Working Title films is a British film production company based in London and owned by Universal Studios. It was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983 and since 1992, it has been co-chaired by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner. Tim Bevan is known for The Big Lebowski (1998), Fargo (1996), Shaun of the Dead (2004) and Les Miserables (2012) which were all very successful and gained 8.0 or above on IMDb with the exception of Les Mis which was awarded 7.7. Eric Fellner is known for the same films and when totalled together, they made $578.5 million with the biggest contributer being Les Miserables at $441.8 million. Woking Title has collaborated with film makers such as: Coen Brothers, Richard Curtis and Joe Wright and with actors such as: Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson and Emma Thompson. It has made over 100 films that have grossed almost $6 billion worldwide and they have won 10 Academy Awards and 35 BAFTA's. 

Working Title productions include: The Theory of Everything, Trash, About Time, Les Miserables, Johnny English, Johnny English Reborn, Bridget Jones Diary, Bridget Jones Diary: The Edge of Reason, Four Weddings and a Funeral, both Nanny McPhee films, Hot Fuzz, Love Actually, About a Boy and Notting Hill. Here are two of their films and the production elements and reception surrounding them: 

• The Theory of Everything (2014)- It was given 7.8 from IMDb and 79% from Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 84%. It did very well in the box office with $119.1 million after having a budget of $15 million. It is about the relationship between Stephen Hawking, a famous physicist, and his wife so the audience are likely to be emotionally vulnerable due to this being a touching story about Hawkings battle with Motor Neuron disease. Furthermore, this will attract a mature, older audience due to the sensitive and important topic and it is likely to be female dominated due to the genre of romance which most often appeals to that gender. Critic, Martin Roberts from Fan The Fire said: "A very convincing and affecting portrayal of an important figure in modern science" and audience reviews ranged from "the film felt very dry...not extraordinary or ground-breaking" to "I love Eddie Redmayne, and he ostensibly stepped into the role of Stephen Hawking both mentally and physically." 
• Bridget Jones Diary (2001)- It was rated 6.7 on IMDb and 81% on Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 81%. It had a budget of $26 million and a very successful box office of $281, 929, 795. Bridget Jones is a middle class woman, looking for love as she tries her hardest to improve her way of living so it is therefore designed for a working class audience of females who can relate strongly to her character, rather than being given a sexualised woman to idolise. Top critic, Anna Smith from Film4 said: "a cheerfully frothy romantic comedy that benefits from sharp writing, lively performances and touching characterisation" and audience responses included: "lacking in originality, invention and laughs" and "a pleasant romantic comedy, with a great script and an impressive direction from Sharon Maguire." 

DNA Films 

DNA is a British film production company based in London, founded by Andrew Macdonald and Duncan Kenworthy and it is now run by Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. They are both known for 28 Weeks Later (2007) and The Last King of Scotland (2006) and these recieved 7.0 and above on IMDb and when put together, they made $131 million in the box office. DNA Films is one of the UK's most successful production companies and their films include: 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting, The Beach, The Last King of Scotland, Sunshine and Ex Machina. 

• 28 Days Later- It was rated 7.6 by IMDb and 87% by Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 85%. The film had a budget of $8 million and in the box office, made $82.7 million. It is in the genre of horror and the narrative revolves around a mysterious virus that spreads around the UK, leaving a group of survivors to find sanctuary. This will appeal to an audience who are already fans of zombie films and those in the horror genre so this is likely to be older teenagers of both genders due to both males and females being shown as protagonists in the film. Top critic, Kim Newman from Empire Magazine said: "the best purely British horror/science-fiction film in decades. And the first great apocalypse movie of the new millennium" and audience responses include: "it's gruesome, it's gritty, it's absolutely great" and "not exactly original in terms of story."
• Trainspotting- It was rated 8.2 by IMDb and 89% by Rotten Tomatoes with an audience score of 93%. The film did very well in the box office at £48 million after having a budget of £1,550,000. It covers the genres of drama and social realism and the narrative revolves around Renton (Ewan McGregor) and his attempt to give up his heroin habit and how this influences his relationships with family and friends. Due to the theme of drugs, its target audience is more mature and will appeal to people over the age of 16, ranging to adults. I believe the target audience is dominantly males because the protagonists are of that gender so they will be able to relate to them at a greater extent and the female characters appear to be sexualised which will appeal to men more than women. Top Critic, Jon Fortgang from Film4 said: "funny, disturbing, tragic and deeply addictive" and audience reviews ranged from: "very disturbing portrayal of drug addiction. Danny Boyle did a great job with this film. From the style, the characters, and themes, almost everything is perfect" to "this is literally my favourite film of all time...it focuses on the lifestyle and changing mindsets of the addicts themselves." Many audience members said that the film was very hard to criticise and I did not come across any negative reviews.