The British Film Industry

 


Factsheet #132: British Film

1) Write a one-sentence definition of what makes a film British.

A film set in Britain, made by British crew or represents British views and culture. 

2) What is the difference between a Hollywood production context and production context of a British film?

Hollywood produce movies with an extremally high budget and rely on the cast on crew. British films are made with much lower budgets and rely on the word of mouth to promote their films.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The James Bond franchise started in 1962 with Dr. No.

4) In terms of film censorship and graphic content, what began to change in British film in the 1970s and 1980s?

Film censorship and classification regulation had started due to the sexual content and filmmaking was becoming easily accessible (video nasty's) which produced extreme content.

5) What groups are often represented in British film? Give examples of films these groups feature in.

  • Youth - the youth are presented as violent and associated with anti-social behavior e.g. A Clockwork Orange.
  • Women - the women were/are often sexualised and objectified or seen as the domestic goddess e.g. Tomb Raider. 

6) What does the Factsheet suggest might be the audience appeal of British film?

  • Set it in Britain - this attracts audiences as it is relatable for the audience.
  • Having British actors - as they are easily identifiable and associated with a specific genre. 
  • Humour and comedy.
  • Basing narratives from social and political concern.

Factsheet #100: British film industry

1) What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British?

The 'cultural test' is used to test whether a film counts as British. This is test is split into 4 categories: 

  • Cultural Context - if its set an represent Britain - each sub-category worth 4 points
  • Cultural Contribution - British values and culture - each sub-category worth 4 points
  • Cultural Hubs - Studios used in Britain - each sub-category worth 2 & 1 points
  • Cultural Practitioners - British cast and crews - each sub-category worth 1 point.
2) Complete the task on the Factsheet - choose three of the films listed and research them to work out what they score on the cultural test: The Sweeney (2012), Attack The Block, The King's Speech, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Skyfall.

  • Attack the block - Financed by Film4 and the UK film council with a budget of $13 million. 21/31 points on cultural test. 
  • The Kings Speech - Financed by the UK film council and the UK post-production company 'Molinare' which rounded out the $12 million budget. 29/31 points on the cultural test.
  • Skyfall - Financed by Sony and and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for $200 million. 25/31 points on the cultural test.
3) What is the main problem for the British film industry?

The British film industry has generally been production led than distribution led, which puts the industry in a position where they have to sell their films to distribution companies, which gives them a loss in money.  

4) What are three of the strengths of the British film industry?
  • Outstanding practitioners - They have top directors which have grossed billions of dollars (e.g. Dir. Richard Curtis - Love Actually (2003)).
  • Excellent facilities - The studios and camera equipment etc. attracts filmmakers from around the world
  • Funding - The industry has many resources to get finance from to produce their films.

5) What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?

  1. They could rely on the co-production with American studios to keep the industry 'afloat'. However this could result in losses for the British film's due to the accents and some political references, which only the British audience would understand, so an American company would be less likely to be involved and approve of them.
  2. To make low budget films with the target audience of British niche audience. Even thought the box office would produce low profit, the filmmakers can still keep this. 

6) In your opinion, which of these two options would best safeguard the future of the British film industry?

I think the the British film industry should make low budget films for their niche British target audience as this allows them to maximise their profits and doesn't allow any other party to claim money from them by helping them produce it.

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