With the big and small budget films, there is a huge difference in the actual films themselves. The small budget films take under the name of an Independent Film, whereas the big budget films have a name called the Mainstream Films.
Independent
The Independent films have a budget of under £25 million, as the production of the film costs a lot less. This is in fact a lot of money, yet when it comes to producing a film, it is not a lot of money. These films tend to make the audience think more and ask questions, and they have an art/cultural expression to it. Independent films also have limited distributions as they are not as commonly liked as much as mainstream films are, therefore they are rarely shown at multiplex cinemas and are hard to look for. In a stereotypical view of the audience they attract, they tend to target an older age of men and women, as the films may have more traditional views and concepts to it, rather than modern more up to date story lines.
An example of an independent film is Biutiful. Below is the film poster of the film including the star rating, the actors involved and an image. The genre of this film is Social Realism and it is a Mexican/Spanish production, created in 2010 and directed by Alejandro Innaritu.
There are a number of key features that make this film independent, one being there is no non-diegetic sound with frequent periods of silence. It was felt by the audience that the camera was hand held whilst filming many scenes of the film. It had a complex narrative, as the audience had to think about what was going on during the film, there are many more features but the main ones have already been displayed above,
Mainstream
With the Mainstream films, they don't actually have a budget, as it tends to excel over the limit placed anyway, they also have a hue budget as the production value is a lot higher than independent films. These Mainstream films make you laugh, cry and are also associated with commercial success. These films attract mass audiences and different mainstream films have different target groups who attract to different films. Historically and commercially, the film industry is controlled by Hollywood and the Big Six; who tend to produce mainstream films for mass audiences. The majority of the time, mainstream films have huge stars in them who most people want to go and see, therefore this makes it more entertaining and attracts the youth.
An example of a very well-known Mainstream film is the James Bond film Casino Royale. Below is the film poster of the film, including the actors names and an image of the famous Daniel Craig. The genre of this film is Action Adventure and it was made in 2006. This film was distributed by MGM and Columbia Pictures.
There are a number of key features that made this film mainstream, one including the production values were so high due to the multiple camera technology that was being used. There was a glossy mise-en-scene, studio and location shooting. Its key focus was on the entertainment values, making sure it would appeal to all types of mass audiences, also having to live up to its reputation of being a Bond film.
