Attack the Block Research Task

How it was produced
Joe Cornish made the film with Big Talk Productions (makers of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz) and Film4, The UK Film Council, and StudioCanal. The film was shot across London from March to May 2010, with 6 weeks of night shoots.

What it was based on
Attack the Block was inspired by Joe Cornish's favourite films whilst growing up in the 90's, such as E.T, Gremlins, Critters, Predator, Warriors, Streets of Fire, Rumble Fish, and the idea of films that combined fantasy and suburban reality (the type of neighbourhood that he lived in, throughout his childhood years).
The creatures were based on Joe Cornish's cat, the illustration on the old Space Invaders arcade cabient and are influenced by rotascope techniques (an animation technique in which animators trace over footage, frame by fame, for use in live-action and animated films).

Any problems that arose in making the film
Joe Cornish was dealing with first time actors, which would be difficult and increase the pressure that he was under (especially the fact that they were 11 kids). He had to use special effects, stunts, explosions, fight scenes, and they were shooting at night. Therefore they had a lot to achieve by the date of which they were to deliver the film, which is a lot to handle on a small budget British film.

The directors views on the British film Industry

 Joe Cornish feels that the British film industry's film-makers passion is matched by that of the audience, especially bloggers."They take their role of championing films very seriously, and they're led by the heart. If they dislike something, they won't write about it, unless they really feel it violates one of their principles. But in Britain you get a lot of ho-humming and boiled sweet sucking and here you get commitment and passion, which I think is really cool." As well as this, Cornish thinks that being a relatively unknown film director helps a great deal in the British film industry as he says  "People don't come with any preconceptions. You can tell why some British film-makers who started in television enjoy working in America because people are a bit more accepting of you trying something different. This audience are able just to take this film as a film and not to have preconceptions of what Joe of Adam and Joe might do, not weighed down by any of that baggage. And they really dig it, you know. It's kind of really nice to talk to them as if I'm a film-maker. People here are really excited to have stuff in their town. In London, we're quite haughty. We feel we deserve them to come to us."

How they saved money, the technology used
They didn't have the budget to do 3D, CGI creatures so they used practical effects, old school effects, and a little bit of CG to remove detail rather than add it.

Any issues with film rating, any controversy surrounding the film
The majority of the people who went to see Attack the Block stressed that the film rating was an issue. Parents of children said things such as "This is a smart but violent alien invasion movie, with heavy gore." another issue that arised around the film's rating was that the language is strong, and pot-smoking is a major event in the characters' lives - with some of the teens spending the whole movie stoned. To exagerrate this, critics also slated the fact that the kids hang out with a drug dealer who keeps a special room filled with pot plants. However, some people said that there are positive messages sent through to kids who watch the film, about working together as a team. Therefore, there was a lot of controversy around the film's rating of a 15.

The film's promotion
Attack the Block used film trailers and posters for their promotion methods, as well as Joe Cornish taking part in exclusive interviews before the release of the film, for example, his interview with Film4. There was also a premiere for Attack the Block on May 4th, 5 days before the film was to be released in the UK. Due to this, reviews were written on well known websites such as the BBC Film section, and interviews were filmed to be seen by the potential audience.

The soundtrack (Include information on the soundtrack creator and the types of music they referenced in their work)
The soundtrack for the film was an original score composed by Simon Ratcliffe and Felix Buxton of the popular electronic dance music group Basement Jaxx, and Steven Price except for the song played during the end credits ("Youths Dem Cold" by Richie Spice).

1. "The Block"
2. "Sam is Mugged"
3. "Round Two Bruv"
4. "It’s Raining Gollums"
5. "Tooling Up"
6. "Moses is Arrested"
7. "Tell Me I’m Dreaming"
8. "Throat Ripper"
9. "Rooftops"
10. "Moses - Ninja"
11. "Just Another Day"
12. "They Want Moses"
13. "Actions Have Consequences"
14. "Eat My Hat"
15. "They Fell Out of the Sky"
16. "I Need to Finish What I Started"
17. "Turn the Gas Up"
18. "Moses vs. The Monsters"
19. "Moses the Hero"
20. "The Ends" - Basement Jaxx