Film Industry

British Industry

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

A film is a British film if it is made in Britain, the people making the film are British, it is funded from with in Britain, the cast is British and/or if the film's subject matter about Britain or British culture.

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

- Most films made by Hollywood studios have high budgets. Similarly the British film production context means that films can be large budget, high concept films such as 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'however they can be character driven, small budgeted films like 'This is England'. What could be considered to be recurring characteristics of the British film production context are that films made within the British production context will in some way reflect British culture. 

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The James Bond franchise started in 1962 and is going on.

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

The 1970s sees a rise in British Films of sexual content, both the act of sex and sex linked to violence with films like A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros, 1971) coming under a lot of scrutiny. The 1980s see the rise of videos and the ‘video nasty’s scare where film making was becoming more accessible and more extreme content was being created and finding its way to Britain. And so a continual evolution of film censorship and classification in this country has happened since the 1980s that sees all films released in the UK to have one of 7 (possibly 8 although the R18 certificate is rarely used) classifications awarded to it.

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

The youth is often represented in British film. In 1950's, the subject of youths became a topic of increasing importance and from the 1950s onwards and has seen an evolution in some parts of the representation as well as a persistent consistency in the way some films portray young people. An example of film these groups feature in is Eden Lake (Rollercoaster Films, 2008). There are contemporary representations of youth in films such as Attack the Block (Studio Canal, 2011) that attempt to show a deeper more realistic portrayal of youth that challenges the stereotype of the threat or the rebel.

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

The factsheet suggests that the audience appeal of British film might be the British culture and lifestyle presented through film, making British films relatable to majority of their audience.

Factsheet 100: British film industry

1) What is the 'cultural test' to see if a film counts as British?The Cultural Test is divided into four sections and a film must score at least 16 out of a possible 31 points to be classified as British. The four sections are: Cultural context, Cultural contribution, Cultural hubs and Cultural practitioners.

2) Complete the task on the Factsheet, researching the films listed and finding out what they score on the cultural test: Attack The Block, The King's Speech, We Need To Talk About Kevin and Skyfall.

Attack The Block: Budget - 13 million 

The King's Speech: Budget - 15,000,000

We Need To Talk About Kevin: Budget - 7,000,000 

Skyfall: Budget - 200,000,000

3) What is the main problem for the British film industry?

Historically, the British film industry has been production led rather than distribution led. This means that many UK films are made but, in order to get the film exhibited, the filmmakers have to sacrifice the distribution rights by selling the film to a distribution company

4) What are the strengths of the British film industry?

• Outstanding creative skills of practitioners: Directors like Richard Curtis have made films, such as Love Actually (2003), which have grossed billions of dollars worldwide and intellectual property, such as J. K Rowling’s Harry Potter books, have also enabled British film production companies to be involved in the production of financially successful franchises.
• Outstanding facilities: British studios, camera companies and digital post-production houses all attract investment from filmmakers around the world, especially the USA.

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

British filmmakers could choose to rely upon co-productions with American studios to keep the industry afloat. However, the drawback would be that much of what makes the film British may be lost, such as regional accents and dialects or cultural and political references. Since these features would make no sense to an audience outside of Britain, it is unlikely that an American company involved in a co-production would approve of them.