Background/Context & Production

Every film starts with an idea - in the case of Slumdog Millionaire the idea came from a novel called QandA by Vikas Swarup.

What's interesting to us is how that novel ended up on screen watched by hundreds of millions of people. The story of a film's production can often be as interesting as the film itself.

The research into these strands of research should help you find certain key information:

• Production companies
• Budget of the film
• Crew
• How it came together
• Casting
• Problems whilst making the movie 

The presentation has been split into different activities completed - but none of this is a substitute to doing your own research into the Background and Production.

Here are the three parts of the 'making of' documentary...

Click to watch Part 2

Click to watch Part 3

The videos give a decent insight into some of the problems that Danny Boyle faced whilst shooting the film and all the headaches he had on location in such a busy and lively city.

As he says himself of Mumbai: "It's like the sea; always the same but constantly changing."

It also indicates how Boyle changed equipment away from traditional 35mm cameras which are big, bulky and as he says too 'static' and replaced them with smaller digital cameras which allowed him to make the audience feel as though they are actually in the slums with the kids.

Danny Boyle's personality and energy comes through more than anything though - and all of these factors combine to give us an insight of what the film might be like.

Whilst the Director and the setting & location may have a very direct impact on a movie - the production company must also be a consideration. After all they are the ones who fund the film.

Read this handout on how the film industry works in relation to studios and film financing...

Slumdog Millionaire had a budget of around $14 million (approx £7million) pretty small by today's standards. This was mostly because it was not funded by one of the big studios but by independent production company Film4.

Whilst watching the advert for Film4 see how many films you can recognise but also think about the philosophy and ideology that they promote about themselves and their attitude towards film.

Remember they are an independent film company and will have quite a different outlook towards films from a mainstream big Hollywood studio.

Further research into Film4 allows us to make certain assumptions about Slumdog Millionaire:

• It will have a low budget as they are an independent film company
• It may have a gritty or realistic feel to it
• It may target a youth audience - but not dumb down to them
• Likely to have a British cast or crew - certainly recognisable names to a British audience
• Substance over style

The best way to assess the implications of the production company is to question what the film would have been like if it were made by a different company.

What would Slumdog have looked like in the hands of Disney's Buena Vista or the producers of epic scale movies like Warner Bros or Fox?

The consideration is always about weighing up freedom vs constraint - the big studios have less constraints over money but have a reputation to protect. An independent can be more risky, edgy even arty but obviously has the constraints of a smaller budget.


Here is some more information about the making of the film - all of it is interesting and potentially useful...

When watching the movie, consider all these things - but for now you are ready to answer one of the possible exam questions...

...here it is with a short bullet pointed essay plan to help  you...