Warp Films Research

Warp Films:
Is an independent film production company based in sheffield & London in the Uk with a further affiliated company Warp Films Australia based in Melbourne, Australia. 

Warp films was established by Warp Records founding partners Rob Mitchell and Steve Beckett and it was initially created with financial support from NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts). And had a remit to produce a number of short films.

After the death of Rob Mitchell in 2001 Steve Beckett decided to hire the expertise of Mark Herbert who was also his friend to run the company. (Mark Herbert had just produced the critically acclaimed first series of Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights for channel 4)

The first film, Chris Morris' My Wrongs#8245-8249 & 117, was shot in 2002. It won the award for Best Short Film at the 2003 BAFTA Film Awards and became the first short film DVD single in the UK market.

Through the star of My Wrongs, Paddy Considine, Herbert met director Shane Meadows and asked them to generate an idea for a film. Herbert raised the funding and the result was Warp Films debut feature, Dead Man's Shoes, directed by Shane Meadows in 2004.

Shot in 22 days on a tight budget, and produced from Warp Films’ Sheffield office (at that time a shed in Herbert’s garden), it earned a BAFTA nomination, was nominated for a record eight British Independent Film Awards, won the Hitchcock D’or at the Dinard Festival, and won the Southbank award for Best Film. It received strong critical acclaim and has been hailed as a landmark in British cinema. It was ranked #27 in Empire magazines list of the best British films ever.

In 2005, Warp Films produced Rubber Johnny, an experimental short and 42-page book by director Chris Cunningham, featuring music by Warp Records artist Aphex Twin. To this day it continues to shock and amaze audiences.

Warp Films breakout success came with Shane Meadows’ This Is England, the story of Shaun, a boy who is adopted by a local skinhead gang after his father is killed in the Falklands war. Since its release in early 2007 it has gained many awards including the Best Film at the British Independent Films Awards, the Special Jury Prize at the Rome Film Festival and Best British Film at the BAFTAs.

At the same ceremony, Warp Films received its third BAFTA as Paddy Considine’s directorial debut Dog Altogether won the Best Short Film award.

Film	Year	Director	Notes
My Wrongs #8245–8249 & 117	2002	Chris Morris	Short film
Dead Man's Shoes	2004	Shane Meadows
Rubber Johnny	2005	Chris Cunningham	Short film
Scummy Man	2006	Paul Fraser	Short film/Music video
This Is England	2006	Shane Meadows
Grow Your Own	2007	Richard Laxton
Dog Altogether	2007	Paddy Considine	Short film
Fur TV	2008	Chris Waitt
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures	2008	Chris Waitt
Arctic Monkeys At the Apollo	2008	Richard Ayoade
Donkey Punch	2008	Oliver Blackburn
The Mighty Boosh Live: Future Sailors Tour	2009	Paul King
Curtains	2009	Julian Barratt	Short film
Hush	2009	Mark Tonderai
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee	2009	Shane Meadows
Bunny and the Bull	2009	Paul King
All Tomorrow's Parties	2009	All Tomorrow's People & Jonathan Caouette
Four Lions	2010	Chris Morris
This Is England 86	2010	Shane Meadows & Tom Harper	TV
Submarine	2010	Richard Ayoade
Tyrannosaur	2011	Paddy Considine
Kill List	2011	Ben Wheatley
This is England '88	2011	Shane Meadows	TV
The Organ Grinders Monkey	2011	Jake & Dinos Chapman	Short film
Snowtown	2011	Justin Kurzel	Warp Films Australia
The Minor Character	2012	Richard Curson Smith	TV
The Snipist	2012	Matthew Holness	TV
Care	2012	Amanda Boyle	TV
Swimmer	2012	Lynne Ramsay	Short film
The Midnight Beast	2012	Ben Gregor	TV series
Berberian Sound Studio	2012	Peter Strickland

7 Areas Of Repersentation

the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice; (how does who owns a media company influence the type of film made and its potential success? For example do BIG companies make BIG films and therefore make all the money? Is it possible for small companies to succeed?) The Companies the produced Kick Ass were 'Marv Film' and 'Plan B Entertainment', ' Plan B Entertainment' are an americain company who was founded by big actors - Brad Pitt, Brad Grey and Jennifer Aniston - and is owend by Brad Pitt but they have a release deal with 'Paramount pictures', 'Warner Bros.' and '20th Century Fox'. 'Plan B Entertainment' is a private companie not allowint the public to hold shares and also it only has a small amount of share holders.

the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and marketing; (how do companies work together to produce, distribute and publicize a film? How can Disney use their size to promote and publicise a film? How can small companies work together to promote their business' when making and promoting a film?)
They can do this by coming together to make a product or advert that involves the two companies, for instance- Harry Potter joined up with lego to make Lego Harry Potter to promote their film and gain money from that product too.

the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production, distribution, marketing and exchange; (how has the introduction of digital film, 3D, DVD, Blue Ray, internet streaming, downloadable content, home cinema influenced the types of films made, the way we watch them and the way we 'buy' them?)
Technologie has a big influence when making films because you can now show them in 3D, Blue-Ray and Download them off of the internet. If the producers decide to also show the film in 3D they will be able to charge you more for seeing it in 3D than in 2D because it costs more to make but they know people will pay that little bit extra to watch it in 3D so it is good for marketing. Now films come on blue-ray (HD) too which allows the company to also charge more for people to buy the dvd because it is better quality than a normal dvd player. this is also good because people like to see things in HD. Now for Films can also be downloaded and rented from the internet i creates a large and easier way of buying and renting films from home instead of making a journey to the shops and also more people are downloading content these days so it makes it easier for people and it is a good way of being able for you to rent the move and not having the problem of forgetting to take it back after the time period has expired.

the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences; (how and why have film companies had to alter the way they work now everyone has web enabled phones, PC's, consoles etc? How have audiences changed their viewing habits now we no longer need to go to the cinema to watch a film) 
They have had to change they way they work because they want as many people to watch the film and see the posters and information about the film as possible so they would have to make websites for the film and internet adverts in order from a wide range of people to see the trailers and information about the film. Audiences have changed the way thy view films because they wont go to the cinema to see it unless they really want to and have time because they can just wait for it to be downloadable and then whatch it at home with friends or family.

the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences; (can you think of examples of how different technologies have come together to help the film industry?)  
One of the big technological Convergence's games because mostly everyone from the age 7+ is playing some type of video game and if the company that has produced and made the film makes a game out of it more people are going to buy the game and want to see the film. Games are one of the best ways of selling your film to younger people if they are your target age range.

the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions; (how do film companies try and attract their audience? Do they do different things in different countries?) 
Some companies will have teamed up with an american company to help fund the film which means that their would be advertising in america as well as the other country and this means it has a wider range of advertisement and is more likely to be seen and spoke about. Mostly americans will think of creative ways to advertise films like an easter egg hunt but for the film with different clues and information that reveals things about the film and gets the audience excited. 

the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour. (what is your opinion on the above? Do you see the developments as a good or bad thing?)
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