From Script to Screen: The differences between a mainstream and independent film

Mainstream films are very different from Independent films in many ways. One of the main differences is that independent films are generally produced by an individual or a small company, whereas mainstream films tend to me made by bigger companies such as Universal Pictures or Fox. Mainstream films need more money to be produced, so are generally made by successful, well-known film companies.

            Mainstream films tend to involve an award winning director. For example: Richard Curtis who directed Love Actually or Christopher Nolan who directed Batman. The directors of independent films are often not well known, or even heard of. The production of mainstream films also differs from the way that independent films are produced. The locations in mainstream are often well known places that would involve a lot of money to film in the certain areas. For example, in Love Actually most of the film was shot in London, in sites such as: Trafalgar Square, Somerset house, Grosvenor Chapel and many more. Places like these would be very difficult for independent films to use because of the money issue, and the equipment needed to block around the site.

Another noticeable difference between the types of films is how mainstream films are able to use special effects of unrealistic storylines. The effects are so well produced that it is difficult to point out any drawbacks as they look so realistic. A good example of this is Avatar. Avatar is a fairly new release which includes new technology that took years to produce the film. The animated film development began in 1994 and after the release grossed at $2,740,405,721. This is completely different to independent films as they generally don’t include any special effects and stick to simple storylines, so that no effects are needed to be added. This keeps the budget of the film as low as possible.

Mainstream marketing includes adverts such as trailers in cinemas and TV, posters, internet advertising on websites that are commonly viewed in order to get people’s attention. Because the companies have the money to market their films in this way, more people are able to hear of it. An example of main screen marketing is the film The Boat That Rocked, created by Universal Pictures. Many different posters were created during the making of the film which included bright colours that looked very 60s. Which was when the film was set. The poster also included ratings from a newspaper to increase the publicity of the film in order to get more recognition. Generally, the marketing of independent films is characterized by limited release designed to build word-of-mouth or to reach small specialty audiences. Some independent market their films by the internet by discussing it on Internet forums or others attend independent film festivals or attend other small filmmakers premiere events.

The company’s film distributor is the one that releases the movie to public either theatrically or for home-viewing. Mainstream distribnution is usually are distributed at cinemas all around the world. Independent films don’t often appear in the cinema. When the film has been produced sometimes it will appear at a film festival or on a website. This contrasts with the mainstream distribution which are shown internationally.