Independent Film: I, Daniel Blake

An independent film is a film with a much smaller budget than mainstream films and makes you  ask questions about the plot as its usually ambiguous due to the characters or plot unlike mainstream films where it is very straight forward with its characters and plot as they don't create stereotypical characters by creating a stereotypical hero and villain. Independent films is usually more for cultural expression and art to express themselves whereas mainstream film is usually for escapism entertainment as mainstream films are more linked to commercial success and making a lot of money and dominate the film market as these films are advertised to a wide range of people unlike independent films where it has a much more niche target audience.

A good example of an independent film is I, Daniel Blake which was directed by Ken Loach who is a left wing socialist and consists of a widowed man who has a heart attack and is not allowed back to work through his cardiologist, however he is deemed fit to work after a work capability assessment and is frustrated to learn that his doctor was not informed about this decision, and applies of an appeal a process and struggles with his benefits. Ken Loach who is known for making drama films about ordinary people with no extravagant plot or exotic characters as he believes that working people's struggles are inherently dramatic as many of his films are about working class people.with his plots having underlying themes of politics which has had a negative effect on his films as they have been shelved because of this. Loach's films usually take place in the United Kingdom and focus on the working class and their struggles as his 2007 drama called It's a Free World which consists of an ambitious working class British woman try to improve her lot by making her own business.Ken Loach's target audience is high brow middle class older audiences which is shown in the trailer as it begins with the Palme d'Or film festival award winner this is shown before showing anything else and shows who help fund the film which is the British Film Institute and other funding from France and shows that independent British film making is a lot harder because British film companies cannot shell out million on films like Hollywood. Also this film was funded by the publics money as it shows the British Film Institute logo and the partnering of the National Lottery and the BBC film logo and these two companies would only fund a film if it was very important to society if it was released and the BBC's slogan is Inform , Educate and entertain. however the film would usually have a low budget due to it being an independent film and the location of filming also the actors as the main actors have very little experience with acting and a lot of characters in the film are just ordinary people as Ken Loach did this to make the film feel as realistic as possible as having a well known actor would ruin the realistic dramatic atmosphere he is trying to create for example the two main characters Dave Johns who plays Daniel Blake is a stand up comedian and Hayley Squires who plays Katie is an actress who is usually on TV and has rarely had any film roles at that point.

The trailer for the film quickly presents the intended target audience of middle class high brow older film fans due to the slow steady editing with a non diegetic soundtrack of slow classical music to help build a dramatic atmosphere as the trailer begins to slowly fade between clips of the film and reviews from film magazines like sight & sound which reinforces the target audience being high brow middle class film fans as that magazine is intended for this niche audience. However the trailer begins to pick up the pace of the editing as the fades between film clips get quicker as the music becomes louder to build a bigger dramatic effect to show the audience the genre of the film and to attract a younger audience due to the message of the film being about the struggle of working class people and having an older and younger main characters having the same struggles representing the young and the old people therefore creating a wider range for an audience. Also the film has a more left wing leaning political view as the director is a left wing socialist and he expresses his political views in his films causing backlash as his films have been shelved due to these left leaning political themes within his films and usually right wing reviews of his films are usually poorly rated.