Changing the way you learn

I, Daniel Blake

Product Context
1. I, Daniel Blake is an independent social realist film directed by renowned filmmaker Ken Loach (Kes, Raining Stones, Sweet Sixteen etc.)
2. A UK/French co-production, it received funding from the BFI and BBC Films.
3. It became Ken Loach’s largest grossing film at the box office (taking over $8 million), was highly critically acclaimed and generated much debate due to the contemporary social and political issues addressed in the film.
4. I, Daniel Blake was exhibited at many film festivals, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes, and was nominated for many awards including several BAFTAs.
Social and Political Context
1. I, Daniel Blake addresses contemporary British social issues such as poverty, the welfare system and the Work Capability Assessment.
  1. The film portrays a group of traditionally underrepresented characters in Newcastle struggling in poverty to gain benefits and support.
2. I, Daniel Blake conveys a clear left-wing political message and criticises specific government policies.
3. Consideration of the wider economic context and concept of “austerity” might be useful in exploring how changes to benefit policy had been justified.
4. Much of Ken Loach’s work has addressed similar issues (Cathy Come Home, Raining Stones) and he is a social campaigner, known for his socialist political views.
  1. This is important to consider in terms of film production and maintaining audiences (arguably the intended audience for this film is educated, media literate and socially aware).
Economic factors
1. The funding bodies are the BFI (through National Lottery Funding) and the BBC.
2. Consider the ways in which this film is funded differently from many mainstream films, exploring Public Service Broadcasting and the respective remits of the BBC and the BFI.
3. Discuss why vast financial profits might be less important for practitioners working in this genre of film.
Processes of Production, Distribution and Circulation
1. I, Daniel Blake is a low budget social realist film, funded by the BFI and BBC. It was filmed largely on location (hospital, job centre etc.), features lesser known actors and does not rely on special effects.
2. Things to consider
  1. Where and how are films and their marketing most likely to be consumed by audiences?
  2. How has this consumption changed/ been impacted by the ubiquity of online and social media?
  3. Are audiences now more likely to seek out marketing (e.g. new trailers) online as active consumers?
  4. How does this impact the relationship between audience and product?
3. The I, Daniel Blake website includes links to social media and the trailer offers a hashtag (#idanielblake) suggesting links with Twitter, but it is worth considering the ways in which the marketing might be more likely to be consumed in more traditional ways.
  1. Might an assumed older audience be more likely to see the trailer at the cinema and less likely to search for it on the internet?
Theoretical Perspectives
1. Curran and Seaton Power and Media Industries
  1. Consider the extent to which the trailer is a challenge to ideas set out by Curran and Seaton
  2. The trailer seems to offer an experience that sits outside the logic of profit and power and may arguably also demonstrate a level of variety and creativity that does not reflect Curran and Seaton’s ideas about the impact of media concentration.
  3. Consider whether the trailer is able to offer a more adventurous production due to socially diverse patterns of ownership or (as above) Loach’s own pre-sold audience.

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I, Daniel Blake

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	Created by Harry Barrett about 5 years ago