Ben Wheatley’s A Field In England (2013) provides an excellent case study for FM2 Section A due to the unusual release strategy:
A Field in England is one of the first films to benefit from the newly created BFI New Model Distribution Fund Strand, which was primarily set up to support experimental film projects in terms of their distribution. As a consequence, A Field in England will be released on a number of different media platforms simultaneously, such as the Picturehouse cinema chain (one of the fiscal backers of the film alongside Film4), the Freeview film channel Film4, and the online Video on Demand (VoD) service, 4DVD. (Cultural Zeitgeist)
Trailer:
Links:
A Field In England official website, including a comprehensive masterclass section.
Kermode Uncut video blog about the success of the distribution
Sight & Sound article on the distribution model.
The Guardian’s main page for the film, article on the distribution model and liveblog of the premiere / broadcast.
The Guardian box office analysis for the weekend it was released.
Considerations:
This got widespread publicity including news websites. If this was the norm for distribution, presumably it would attract less attention.
This model makes more sense for a film with a limited audience – what would happen if a blockbuster was released in this way?
Film Studies - Mr Redrup 