Ex Machina Essay

Why Did Ex Machina Succeed At The Box Office?

Calab Smith, a programmer, wins a competition to spend a week at the private mountain estate of the company's brilliant and reclusive CEO (Chief Executive Officer), Nathan Bateman. What he doesn't know is that he has been selected to participate in a once in a life time experiment in which he must interact with artificial intelligence and evaluate the human qualities of the beautiful robot Ava. 

Alex Garland wrote and directed this sci-fi film, which is an example of an Independent British film. Garland wrote the screenplay for the 2010 film 'Never Let Me Go' as well as other, however he made his directorial debut with 'Ex Machina'. 'Ex Machina' stars Domhnall Gleeson as Calab, Oscar Isaac as Nathan and Alicia Vikander as Ava. Domhnall Gleeson has been in popular films, for example 'About Time' and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part Two'. However none of the main characters were that well known which made people wonder how the film did so well at the box office. The film was produced by 'DNA Films' and 'Film4' productions. Both of these film production companies are very successful and have produced many successful films. 'DNA Films' has produced 'Never Let Me Go' and 'Love Actually' for example and 'Film4' has produced 'The Inbetweeners Movie' and '12 Years a slave' which are both very popular. This could demonstrate that the production for 'Ex Machina' could be one of the reasons for its success at the box office. 

The budget for the film was estimated at $15,000,000, which is a lot less that other films that succeed highly at the box office. However it sill took $250,000 (USA) in the opening weekend and made a gross of $25,440,971 (USA) showing that it was very popular from the beginning. The budget for 'Ex Machina' was a significant amount lower than other films which are successful. This made its success at the box office very surprising.
A24 only released 'Ex Machina' in select theaters in New York and Los Angeles to begin with, including: Regal Union Square Theater, AMC Lincoln Scquare Theater, The Arclight Hollywood and The Landmark.The film managed to open as the most successful limited release of the year, with an $250,000 made already in just the first three days. The film was later released fully on 24th April. 
The project had a six-week schedule. The film was shot over four weeks in 2013 at Pinewood Studios and two weeks at Juvet Landscape Hotel in Valldalen, Norway. It was shot like ordinary live action which means that no animation was used. No special effects, greenscreens or tracking markers were used during the filming process. This was all done in the post-production stage. To create Ava and her robotic actions, they filmed the scenes with and without Alicia Vikander. This allowed them to capture the picture behind her but then rotoscope (an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by frame, for use in live-action and animated films) the parts that they wanted to keep, such as hands and face, while the rest was digitally painted out and the background behind her restored.Camera- and body-tracking systems transferred Vikander's performance to the CGI robot's movements. In total there were about 800 VFX shots, of which 350 or so were robot shots. A lot of hard work and effort would have been put in to complete this to the standard that it has been. This shows that this would have contributed to the success of the film. Later in the film Ava 'dresses' like a human to make the audience feel that she is humanoid and realistic.

Availability of CGI software and increased computer speeds have allowed individual artists and small companies to produce professional-grade films. This means even if a film had a significantly smaller budget compared to other successful films, it would still able to create the same standard of film due to the evolution of technology. However no CGI was used in 'Ex Machina' which could be seen as a negative aspect of the film. On the other hand, the use of no CGI might be seen as a positive as it is different to other films which makes 'Ex Machina' more individual and realistic.

Location was a challenge due to the the style of the film - it  was not intended to be an action adventure, but a more intimate piece. This meant that location and camera angles were very important to portray this in the best way possible. They filmed with the Sony F-65 with anamorphic lenses, which would ultimately make for challenging plate tracking. “We did have one or two witness cams,” notes Whitehurst. The key scenes during the film involved seeing Calab and Ava's relationship grow and develop. However this needed to be done subtly which was coveyed by lens choices, the reflections and the soft, naturalistic lighting. They used long, single, 10-minute takes while the camera moved. Special lights were built which could emphasise certain reflections. These examples demonstate how careful and precise the filming process was. Everything down to the lighting and camera positioning was done to portray the characters, plot and genre in the correct and best way possible. 

The post-production stage of making a film could be argued as being the most important. This stage involves the marketing and distribution. This means that it is there to get the viewers. The distributor for the film was Universal Studios and the company A24 Films has acquired U.S. rights. A24 set an April 10 release but it was fully released on April 24. It was released on January 21 2015 in the UK. A24 explores fresh marketing ideas in support of independent projects. It has found success with films like “The Spectacular Now” and “Spring Breakers,” However it also has run into the predictable indie road hazards — films that have instantly disappeared. 

Different ways of marketing 'Ex Machina' were used. The marketing team cleverly chose to use the popular dating app 'Tinder' to raise awareness about the sci-fi thriller. They created a profile for Ava and chose SXSW as a launching place viral marketing campaign. This again was very clever as the type of people who would view this type of film would have been there. 'Ex Machina' is not a four quadrant film, which is another reason why marketing would have been so important. In general the film would attract a mainly male audience who enjoy science fiction films. However, for example 'Avatar' and 'Star Wars' are both very popular and successful sci-fi films which indicates that there must be a bigger target audience than just 18-25 year old males. However the film has a certificate of 15 which restricts audiences slightly. This could be because during the film there are aspects of danger, death, discrimination and sex references. This could link to the fact about it not being a four quadrant film. 

Overall the worldwide box office took $38,128,313  and the total domestic video sales equalled to $6,714,992. I personally think that 'Ex Machina' is an enjoyable and very clever film which deserves its success at the box office. I think its success was surprising as there is little action and had such a small budget. However I think its success was due to a mixture of the careful choices, the precise filming and the smart marketing.