THE WOMAN IN BLACK

Case Study

History of the Company

Hammer Films

Hammer Film Productions is a film production company based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic "Hammer Horror" films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Hammer also produced science fiction, thrillers, film noir and comedies and in later years, television series. During its most successful years, Hammer dominated the horror film market, enjoying worldwide distribution and considerable financial success. This success was due, in part, to distribution partnerships with major United States studios, such as Warner Bros. A hugely successful run of Gothic monster movies cemented the company's reputation as 'Hammer House of Horror', and deals with Universal Studios and Columbia kept the production base at Bray Studios busy with an incredible volume of films produced during this period. Half-way through the 1960s deals were struck with Seven Arts and Twentieth Century Fox, which led to further horror classics including The Plague Of The Zombies, Quatermass And The Pit, and The Devil Rides Out in addition to successful adventure films including One Million Years B.C. The 1960s also saw Hammer's first move into television production with Journey To The Unknown and in 1968 the company received the Queen's Award for Industry. The 1970s saw a clutch of vampire movies and some lucrative movie spin-offs from British sitcoms. To The Devil A Daughter was the last Hammer horror feature in 1976, but production continued into the 1980s with two influential and well-loved TV anthology series: Hammer House Of Horror and Hammer House Of Mystery And Suspense. Hammer's return to horror was heralded by interactive web serial Beyond The Rave, which was broadcast by MySpace in 13 territories in 2008. Let Me In, Hammer's first theatrical feature of the millennium, was released worldwide late 2010 to widespread critical acclaim. Today, Hammer has an active development slate across diverse genres sourced out of both Europe and the United States.

Timeline of Hammer films

Hinds formed Hammer Productions in November 1934; In 1935 William Hinds' son Anthony Hinds was also destined to be a major figure in the success of the company. Before the Second World War Hammer Productions made several films, of which. Exclusive continued to distribute films and, because of the close links between the two companies, many films around this era are incorrectly believed to be Hammer films. With a growing demand for Britishproduced supporting movies after the Second World War, Hammer was reformed in 1947 as a production subsidiary of Exclusive. It was registered as a separate company, Hammer Film Productions Limited, in February 1949. It was business as usual for Exclusive/Hammer productions producing a supply of support drama and documentaries. Hammer then began to coproduce with US producer enabling development in North American market and cast US stars. 20th Century Fox bought Liobbart leading to produce more horror films such as the famous Dracula and Frankenstein spin offs.

1930 s

1960 s

1940 s

With the global success of 'Hammer Horror', the major Hollywood studios began to court Hammer, seeking distribution and production deals. As the decade commenced, the company's ongoing deals with Universal and Columbia were keeping Bray Studios busy. The remarkable volume of product financed by Columbia was not always consistent in quality, but the smaller series of films made with Universal contained some of the gothic gems, The move towards American distributors eventually led to the winding-down of Exclusive, which was finally liquidated in 1968. Half way through the decade, a new financial deal with long-time Hammer partners Seven Arts, Hollywood's Twentieth Century Fox, and Britain's ABPC allowed another burst of gothic creativity The 1960s saw a rich mix of genres, though, including the successful adventure films She and One Million Years BC and a whole series of psychological thrillers in the Hitchcock tradition, largely from the pen of Jimmy Sangster. The decade also saw production of the company's first television series; in 1968 the company received the Queen's Award for Industry, thanks to three years of financial success which raised over .5 million in revenues.

1950 s

Timeline of Hammer films

British film industry was already beginning to suffer financially as the arrival of colour television contributed to a sharp decline in box office revenues. Hammer was far from booming in 1971, despite what its prolific output might suggest. After more than a decade reaping the rewards of the world's appetite for gothic horror, the company's formula was becoming tired. The company began to seek novel ways to spice up its output. Undaunted, Michael Carreras still tried to get new films off the ground, including Vampirella, based on the Warren comic book character. But by the middle of the decade the game was up. Gothic horror was out of fashion, and Hammer couldn't find backers for production. To the Devil A Daughter, the company's last horror film of the 20th century.

1970 s

Although no longer a force in horror cinema, Hammer discovered another outlet for horror product - television. Three years later, Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense couldn't live up to its predecessor. The company was unable to build on this TV production base.

The 1990s would prove to be one of the most frustrating periods in the company's history. In the mid-1990s Hammer were involved in various projects, including a major coproduction deal with Warner Bros., which ultimately came to nothing.

2000 s

1980 s

January 2000 marked a major change for the company as it entered the 21st century. Chairman Roy Skeggs, (who had been with the company since the 1960s) resigned and handed the business over to a private investment consortium which included advertising guru Charles Saatchi. Over the next few years the company set about a new slate of proposed co-productions, and the first steps towards realising the potential of the Hammer brand in licensed merchandising. In early 2007 the company changed hands again; this time to a European consortium, headed by Dutch based Cyrte Investments BV. Backed by a $50million investment Hammer soon announced its return with Beyond the Rave, a co-production with MySpace, unleashed via the internet in April 2008. This was swiftly followed up with the announcement of Hammer's first films for over 30 years - The Resident (co-starring veteran Hammer actor Christopher Lee) and a remake of Swedish vampire film Let the Right One In.

1990 s

Timeline of Hammer films

Having not released a feature for over thirty years, Hammer returned with gusto in 2010. Following on from the DVD release of online serial Beyond the Rave, Hammer released its first theatrical feature of the 21st century in October 2010 with Let Me In, the eagerly-anticipated and criticallyacclaimed adaptation of Swedish vampire tale Let the Right One In. The Resident and Wake Wood followed early 2011, with an adaptation of internationally-lauded ghost story The Woman in Black starring Harry Potter's Daniel Radcliffe due for international theatrical release from February 2012.

2010 s

The Woman in Black is also in association with Alliance Films (presents) UK Film Council (presents) Cross Creek Pictures (in association with) Talisman Productions (as Talisman) Exclusive Media Group (in association with) Film i Vst (as Film i Vast) (in co-production with) Filmgate (in co-production with) Distributors.

Production

Development of the film was announced in 2009, with Jane Goldman as screenwriter and later James Watkins as director. Daniel Radcliffe was announced as the actor playing the part of Arthur Kipps on 19 July 2010.Two months later, it was announced that Harry Potter co-star Ciarn Hinds would join Radcliffe along with Janet McTeer as Mr and Mrs Daily respectively. Before filming, Radcliffe saw a psychologist so he could better understand his character. The part of Joseph Kipps was played by Misha Handley, who is Radcliffe's real life godson. Filming the film was planned to be shot in 3D, but that plan was later scrapped. Principal photography officially started on 26 September 2010. The next day, Radcliffe was pictured in costume just outside Peterborough, England. In early October the crew was filming in Layer Marney Tower[16] Filming officially ended on 4 December 2010. Post-production at the Kapow! Comic Con in London during April 2011, director James Watkins confirmed filming had been completed in December 2010 and post production would go on until June 2011. For its UK release, several changes were made in order to qualify for a 12A certificate: Momentum Theatrical, the distributor, arranged to have six seconds cut and for changes to other shots, with some scenes darkened and the sound level reduced on some others.

Basic Plot

The basic premise is that Arthur Kipps, a young solicitor (lawyer) from London in the early 20th century, is sent by his firm to a distant seaside village to the north in order to settle the estate and review the papers of a recently deceased client, an elderly widow who lived in a large house out in the middle of a sea marsh; the causeway out to her house is only passable at certain times of the day, due to the tides, and even then it can be tricky, due to thick sea mists that come up quickly. The local villagers react in a strange way when they find out why hes there, except for one man, a wealthy local land baron, Sam. As Kipps goes about his duties, he begins to see a woman dressed all in black in different places, a woman who stares back at him. And then he begins to hear strange noises at the widows house.

Cast : Sophie Stuckey ... Stella Kipps Daniel Radcliffe ... Arthur Kipps

Ciarn Hinds ... Daily

Daniel Cerqueira ... Keckwick Liz White ... Jennet

Distribution
The distribution companies varied in different countries but the main distributor was Canada's alliance films. Many of the distributors were also theatrical companies. Release Date: - USA 3 February 2012 - UK 10 February 2012 Other methods of marketing The Woman in Black were as follows: - Competitions to raise awareness - Lots of TV and media related press, such as interviews, tasters and trailers. - Magazine and Internet reviews, using the method of word of mouth - Hammer's website also did a page dedicated as an exclusive; called the Vault. the page included special features and behind the scenes article. http://www.hammerfilms.com/thewomaninblack-vault/page the password is : acumen wolf - Conventionally; posters, flyers and TV trailers were also used.

Exhibition

On 10 April 2011, during the Kapow! Comic Con in London, the first official teaser trailer was unveiled. The official UK teaser poster was released on 24 August 2011.The full UK trailer was released on 14 October 2011. CBS Films released a one minute teaser at Spike TV's Scream Awards on 18 October 2011, and a day later released a teaser poster. On 11 January 2012, Momentum Pictures released the official theatrical poster, while on 12 January, MTV released a minute clip of the film. As The Woman in Black is a new film exhibition of the film includes the public screening. However the exhibition of the film will soon extend to be shown on airplanes, independent cinemas and also film festivals such as: Summer Nights Festival in Derby. It is also inevitable that the film will be bought out onto DVD and BluRays and other forms of media. Another possibility will be apps and games based on the film will arise. There are also lots of social media around this film, for example there are Facebook fan pages and dedicated hammer horror Twitter feeds. Budget $17,000,000 Gross $35,258,145

Audience

The target audience of The Woman in Black would be thrill seekers who like horrors. Primarily as it is a horror it is aimed at young adults upwards seeking adrenaline. However because it is a 12A it could be misinterpreted as a family movie. There are lots of spooky moments in the film which would appeal to thrill seekers but it substitutes for stereotypical 'in your face' scares and gore which some horror watches would be expecting. Also due to the production company being 'Hammer Horror' the fans would be expecting a gothic experience which many reviews have stated. Which makes the film more appealing to the fans of Hammer and the fans of Radcliff (being from Harry Potter). The budget is also relatively high for a British film which creates high expectations from regular film go-ers to be a high quality.

Synergy & Convergence

In the film synergy is used between Kipps' battle with his own personal demons that drives the story in The Woman in Black with the synergy between the supernatural occurrences at the house and Kipps' fragmented psyche providing essential dramatic ground to do battle back and forth while viewers look on. Synergy of actors, scriptwriters, directors, principle photography and sound scaping is essential to creating the movie.

As The Woman in Black is a hot topic convergence is used in the combinations of technologies, such as applications such as androids to promote the film. Another example of convergence is the combination of sound and special effects in the movie to achieve the thrilling atmosphere for the film.

Technologies Used
In the woman in black uses technology in many different ways; - Production: During the production of the film they conventionally use the film setting and crews, special lightening and effects were created by Filmgate visual effects. - Promotion: Was done on social networking sites, internet, phone applications. To broaden and make the audience aware of the film.