Warp X Research Task

1. Warp X and Warp Films are different in the respect that Warp X makes films which they want to reach cinema audiences across the globe, whereas Warp Films tends to concentrate more on the British audience. Warp X was set up manage and co-produce for the low budget feature scheme which is linked to the UK Film Council and Film Four.

2. Warp Films was set up in 2002, Warp X was set up in 2005.

3. Warp Films have made the following films:
Submarine (2010)
Curtains (2009)
Le Donk & Scor-zay-zee (2009)
The Taxidermist (2009) Budget- £22,000
Four Lions (2009)
Arctic Monkeys at the Apollo (2008)
Crack Willow (2008)
Fur TV (2008)
The Archivist (2008)
Exhibit A (2007)
Dog Altogether (2007)
Grow Your Own (2007)
Dog's Mercury (2006)
This Is England (2006) Budget- £1,500,000
Scummy Man (2006) Budget- £60,000
Rubber Johnny (2005)
Dead Man's Shoes (2004)
My Wrong 8245-8249 and 117 (2002) Budget- £100,000

Warp X have made the following films:
Bunny and the Bull (2009)
She, A Chinese (2009)
All Tomorrow's Parties (2009)
Hush (2009) Budget- £1,000,000
Donkey Punch (2008) Budget- £3,000,000, Top Gross £295,141
A Complete History of My Sexual Failures (2008)

4. Warp X is allied to Warp Films and Warp Records, some of the key financial backers are EM Media and Screen Yorkshire. A good example of production credits is on the Donkey Punch trailer it shows a production company called Magnet.

5. UKFC is the United Kingdom Film Council, and it set up the low budget feature film project in association with Film Four and Warp X has been chosen as the company to run it, in association with it's financiers EM Media nd Screen Yorkshire. They think they will focus on directing, producing and writing and sourcing a diverse range of talent. Also to encourage filmakers to explore unusual issues like disability or ethnic diversity.

6. Donkey Punch was filmed in three weeks and most of the filming took place on a boat, and that almost all of the budget was spent on hiring out the boat for filming, as they used pretty much relatively unknown actors and no major special effects.

7. This Is England was not percieved as well in the United States as it was in the United Kingdom, in the opening weekend it made $18,430 in revenue and there was only one screening, whereas in the UK it made £207,676 and there were 62 screenings, this seems to hint that American audiences were not that interested in this film compared to people in the UK.
Many Americans would not undersatnd the film as it is a complete countertype of what Americans generally see the British or more so English, this portrays lower class skinheads and very nasty areas of the North of England, but Americans prefer to watch films about middle-upper class southern English people that show landmarks like "Buck House" or "the Palace of Westminster".

8. There is a Warp X website and it features a brief bit of information about how the company was formed and how you can get in touch with them and if you want to send in a script for a film however at the moment it says they are currently not accepting submissions. It also shows you there releases however does not give you any information about budget or box office which is irritating as it's something I would want on a film company's website!

9. There is also a Warp Films website which is a little too complex and not overly straight forward, there is biogrpahy of the company currently in progress but there is some information about the history of the company and it's current situation. It is also connected with Warp Records on the website. It is also talks about upcoming events and new releases. There is also quite a bit of multimedia on it!

10. Warp seems to be a typical British film production company in the respect that it makes films which generally are most suitable for a UK/British Isles audience and that certainly they are likely to understand.
In This Is England it shows clips of famous scenes of Britain in the 1980's which foreigners are unlikely to see as much as they have a very glamourous idea of Britain which is arguably not the case within the country.
It is quite low budget and doens't really have any special effects, and has verisimilatude as it seems quite close to reality, in the way it is filmed, the dialect, clothes, music, background, etc.

11. I supposed Warp's equivalent of Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant in their films would perhaps be actor Paddy Considine as he has appeared in quite a few of their films. And as a director Shane Meadows and also a writer!