From Script to Screen: the Differences between a mainstream and independent film

There are many differences between mainstream and independent films, from how they are produced, to the marketing for the film, who distributes them and finally how they are exhibited.
Straight away on viewing the film, you can tell whether it is mainstream or independent by many different factors. The name of the actor is one of the most important things in a mainstream film and the directors always try and get a very well known actor or actress to gain publicity for the film as many people associate different actors with different genre of films, or the quality of the film. For example, I always associate Katherine Heigl with feel-good romantic comedies, and that if the main actor is Tom Hanks, it automatically makes it an amazing film. Independent films however, do not have ‘big’, well- known actors in their films, as they simply can not afford it, this sometimes goes for them though, as it gives mystery to the film they are going to see and the actors have worked hard to get where they are and that part in the film. Another main difference in production is the location and special effects with mainstream films being able to afford to set up ‘locations’ with many different props and special effects to give the feel of a real place, however it tends to be very exaggerated to keep the audience hooked on the film, an example of this being ‘Saving Private Ryan’ by Stephen Spielberg. In contrast, independent films use locations that already exist and that the audience will be able to relate to, such as ‘This is England’, which is set in Nottingham. It costs nothing to shoot there and the locations often set the mood of the film, like in ‘This is England’ shows an area in which there is a fair bit of poverty.
Secondly, the ways in which the films are marketed are different. Mainstream films have a massive budget to increase the amount of people that go and see the film. They make trailers for the television, longer trailers shown in cinemas, adverts in newspapers- magazines, bus posters and massive billboards all of which are targeted to different target audiences to gain publicity, for example, billboards and bus posters are aimed to attract commuters to work as they see the same route every day, these normally have one iconic moment from the film containing the main actor or actress so straight away you can see you is in the film, and usually you can tell the genre too. They also utilise the best review given to the film and usually show how many ‘stars’ the film has received at its preview. Mainstream films are also released onto DVD very quickly (12 weeks) so that the viewers do not forget about the film and also want to buy the ‘latest release’. Independent films are marketed much differently as they do not have the funding to promote their films with extravagant trailers. Yet smart filmmakers know that a film’s marketing is crucial to its success or failure—and doing it well requires an enormous amount of time and effort. They use the determination and what drove them to make films in the first place to create posters, generate buzz, start an online viral campaign, and do whatever else is necessary to get their work in front of audiences. These types of films also rely a lot of ‘word of mouth’ such as ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ for example.
Distribution is very important for films as the companies gain a lot of publicity for the movie. Mainstream film directors use well-known distributors such as Unviersal Pictures, 20th Century Fox and Pathe whereas independent films use companies such as the ‘UK films council’ or ‘Warner Independent’- the company that went into administration nearly causing Slumdog Millionaire to never make it to cinemas.
Mainstream films are often exhibited through large multiplex cinemas such as The Odeon or Vue. This is because they can afford to sell their films to these cinemas and they know that this is where a vast majority of people go to watch films. Large cinemas such as these show new films several times throughout the day in order to capture a wide audience and allow for people who have jobs, they also often show films much more during the school holidays as students and children are the main viewers of films. Independent films however are often shown at smaller, independent cinemas such as Cinema City.