WHAT IS A FEATURE FILM? (In the Entertainment industry.)

Feature Films / Photo Credit: Christos Karamanis

WHAT IS A FEATURE FILM? (In the Entertainment industry.)

 

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WHAT IS A FEATURE FILM?

The term feature film came into use to refer to the main film presented in a cinema and the one which was promoted or advertised. The term was used to distinguish the longer film from the short films (referred to as shorts) typically presented before the main film, such as newsreels, serials, animated cartoons, live-action comedies, and documentaries. There was no sudden increase in the running times of films to the present-day definitions of feature-length; the "featured" film on a film program in the early 1910s gradually expanded from two to three to four reels.

A ‘feature’ is a full-length film that fills the programme; it’s the feature presentation, the main event! Largely defined by its screen time the BFI (British Film Institute) and AFI (American Film Institute) state that a feature is anything over 40 minutes, while the SAG (Screen Actors Guild) prefer 80 minutes. Currently, the average running time is 2 hours for many 12 and over age rated films, with features spanning animation, drama or documentary.

Studio Features:

The term studio feature refers to the major Hollywood film studios in the US, notably Universal, 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Warner Brothers, Sony, and Disney. They are filmmaking powerhouses who produce some 452 films a year. The studios themselves have diversified to include home entertainment, theme parks (popular films get their own attractions or become the subject of a film such as Pirates of the Caribbean) publishing subsidiaries and video games. The studios run their own studio production facilities, but are mainly involved in finance, development, marketing and distribution, leaving the filmmaking to their subsidiary production companies.

The type of films we associate with a studio film are the big budget tent pole movies (Marvel, Star Wars), seasonal blockbuster releases (Frozen, The Santa Clause), and franchise films which hail multiple sequels (Fast and Furious, Transformers). Due to the status of the studios as multinational corporations, with arms stretching across a variety of platforms if the budget is big, and the cast boast a string of A-listers, more often than not it will be a studio production.

Independent Film:

What has classed a film as independent or an ‘indie’ has been down to how the film is funded. If a film is financed without the backing of one of the big studios, and distributed via an independent distributor, it can be called an independent film. The average budget of an independent film, can be from a few dollars up to millions of dollars. Traditionally most independent films were also classified by their look, feel and subject matter. Being able to work outside the system gave filmmakers a chance to experiment with their cinematic style and storytelling, regardless of mass marketability.

Today the world of the independent film is slightly more complex. The studios began to create their own independent production subsidiaries, creating the type of character-driven films that are more associated with independent cinema. Independent production companies such as the Weinstein company, Lionsgate, and DreamWorks sign short term deals with the studio distribution arms, so the financial criteria for assessing if a production is independent or not is much less relevant. Filmmakers have approached this conundrum in a variety of ways; the consensus would be that an independent film is associated with the freedom of the filmmaker to tell the story, this can be shot on a shoestring or tied up with a distribution deal with the big six, and it’s the type of story that counts. 

Low Budget:

As production costs have become cheaper due to the advent of digital cinematography, it’s become increasingly possible to shoot a feature film for very little money and keep production value high. Many independent films will be low budget productions, some will find a distributor and get a small theatrical release if marketable, and some will go straight to DVD, VOD or destined to reside in the great vault in the sky. 

On average, a low budget is regarded as a film made for under 2 million dollars, which is still a significant sum of money. There have been many low budget films that have gone one to critical acclaim and box office rewards such as The Blair Witch Project ($60K Budget…Box Office $248M), Napoleon Dynamite ($400K Budget… box office $46M), and Paranormal ($15K Budget…box office $193M) to name but a few. However, sadly most are not commercial successes. But audience targeting and marketing can bring in a profit. Many are used for tax write offs.

Micro-Budget:

Micro-budget features are often the work of first-time directors and producers who have managed to get together enough funding to shoot a feature film. Micro-budgets are widely classified as anything with a budget under 150 thousand dollars, some features have been shot for a lot less. It takes a great deal of determination to make a feature film, and if you're working with an extremely tight budget, the schedule will reflect that. The crew can be working some long days to get the most out of the hired in kit and locations. Feature films classed as ‘micro-budget’ have launched big careers for filmmakers such as Kevin Smith (Clerks), George Lucas (American Graffiti), and Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) to name but a few.

Sources, References & Credits: Google, Wikipedia, Wikihow, WikiBooks, Pinterest, IMDB, Linked In, Indie Wire, Film Making Stuff, Hiive, Film Daily, New York Film Academy, The Balance, Careers Hub, The Numbers, Film Maker, TV Guide Magazine, Blurb, Media Match, Quora, Creative Skill Set, Chron, Investopedia, Variety, No Film School, How Stuff Works, WGA, BBC, Daily Variety, The Film Agency, Best Sample Resume, How Stuff Works, Bright Hub, Career Trend, Producer's Code of Credits, Truity, Production Hub, Producers Guild of America, Film Connection, Variety, Wolf Crow, Get In Media, Production Beast, Sony Pictures, Warner Bros, UCAS, Frankenbite, Realty 101, Liberty Me, Careers Hub, Sokanu, Raindance, Film Connection, My Job Search, Prospects,

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Feature Films / Photo Credit: Christos Karamanis