EX_MACHINA 

Ex machina is a sci-fi film directed by Alex Garland and, despite its low budget , gained a lot of success. The original ideas for ex machina were formed when Alex was 11 or 12, and enjoyed coding on his computer. He remembers feeling as if it has a mind of its own and later on in life was in conversation with a friend who was interested in neuroscience that told him computers cannot be sentient. He started reading books to do with this and became engrossed in the idea. This led him to create a film on his ideas that have formed over the years.

Producer - The producers who worked on the film were: Andrew Macdonald and Allon Reich. Andrew Macdonald in the past had collaborated with Danny Boyle working on 'Trainspotting', '28 days later', and 'The Beach'  The production companies were Film4 and DNA films.


Distributor - Universal Pictures

Cast - 

• Alicia Vikander as Ava                                 
• Domhnall Gleeson as Caleb Smith
• Oscar Isaac as Nathan Bateman
• Sonoya Mizuno as Kyoko
• Symara A. Templeman as Jasmine
• Elina Alminas as Amber
• Gana Bayarsaikhan as Jade
• Tiffany Pisani as Katya
• Claire Selby as Lily
• Corey Johnson as Jay the helicopter pilot

Budget - $15 million.


Locations - Filmed for 4 weeks at Pinewood studios, and 2 weeks at 'Juvet Landscape Hotel' In Norway.

Technology - The shot was shot like ordinary live action, there were no special effects whilst filming, all effects were added during post-production. Parts of Vikander the team wanted to keep visible were rotoscoped out, whilst the rest was digitally painted out. Camera and body tracking systems transferred the actors movements to the CGI robots movements.

Number of screen: opening weekend -

$5,349,500 (USA) (24 April 2015) (1,255 Screens)
$250,000 (USA) (12 April 2015) (4 Screens)
€251,000 (Italy) (3 August 2015)
€38,500 (Netherlands) (3 May 2015) (8 Screens)
$30,733 (Portugal) (23 April 2015) (22 Screens)

No. of screens peak - (1,255 Screens) USA

Box office figures - 36.9 million USD

7 key areas

1 - Firstly the production companies , Film4 and DNA films, are smaller companies. This raises the fear of not being able to break through and get distributed by bigger film companies. They also might not have access to as much technology and material like a bigger film company would. This ultimately does effect some quality aspects to the film.
2 - Cross convergence in marketing and distribution is very important, Universal pictures distributed the film and this is significant as both production and distribution teams would have to have worked together to get the movie out there. Universal pictures is a very big distributor of movies, and would've greatly helped the recognition of the film if it has a big name behind it. People know universal pictures so trust that the film is good quality as its as well respected name/company.
3 - New technology definitely changed the way this film was made, body tracking systems and digital painting are only two of the many fairly new technologies that were used in the film. The introduction of these things allow very realistic effects and help immerse the viewer with effects and CGI that's a very high quality. The way we 'buy' movies has changed dramatically, so the distribution team would have to take this into account when promoting and selling the film. Digital copies are more common now so that would be considered, Netflix and other online viewing sites would be considered as they're a very common way of viewing films in the modern day.
4 - A really good example of how marketing has adapted to technology is how the film was released to the public to start with. The dating app called 'Tinder' was used, an account with an image of the actor for the AI was used, once she matched with people they were messaged and led onto the instagram handle that was promoting the film. By doing this many more young people were reached, and it is a great example of how companies have altered the way they work in order to keep up with changing viewing habits and technology;

5 - Netflix etc. have defiantly helped the film industry, as more people are interested in viewing films since they've been highlighted as an important part of culture due to Netflix and other sites being created. Many films can get known whereas before they were hard to find in physical copies, so online downloads help them out and get them recognition.

6 - Ex machine only stretched out to the US and UK, so marketing was used only in these countries. Basic adverts and billboards were used to attract viewers, and the tinder situation helped bring in younger viewers.
7 - I think the developments are a positive thing, defiantly the online part of things as it helps many people to view films easily, rather than having to go out and buy a physical copy of a film. Adverts and responses to the film can also be reached easily which really helps out recognition and helps people to decide whether or not they want to watch a film.