The British Film industry: blog tasks

 Use our brilliant Media Factsheet archive on the M: drive Media Shared (M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets) to find Media Factsheet #132 on British Film. You can find it online here - you'll need to log in using your Greenford Google login. Read the whole of Factsheet and answer the following questions:

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

What makes a film British is the idea of the people making the film are British as well as the funding of the film is within Britain.

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

Hollywood production context is the idea of the films having high budgets and have reliance on the use of star power both in cast and crew. Whereas, production context of a British film can either be have a low or high budgets. Also, the production context of British films have the characteristics of a British culture.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The James Bond franchise started in the 1960s as well as a greater involvement of American money and talent. 

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 of British Films of sexual content both the act of sex and sex linked to violence with films like A Clockwork Orange, coming under a lot of scrutiny. The 1980s sees the rise of videos and 'video nasty's scare where filmmaking was becoming more accessible and more extreme content was being created and finding its way to Britain. 

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

The groups that oten represented in British film are representation of youth, especially in the British Horror films such as Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, focusing on violence. There are also contemporary representation of the youth in films such as the Attack the Block. Also, there's representations of women, stereotyping of wome as either, the virgin, the mother or the whore.

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

The factsheet might suggest that audiences might appeal to British films due to the actors used, the British locations and the social themes. These are the British film narratives that focus on class, social strife, education and more, this could be due to a range of people personally identifying themselves in the narrative through the chracters.

Factsheet #100: British film industry

To complete our introduction to the British film industry, we need a little more background to the industries context.

Find Media Factsheet #100 on the British film industry. You can find it on the same link as above. Read the whole of the Factsheet and answer the following questions:

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

The cultural test is a test for films in order to be defined as British. The cultural test is divided into four sections, where the film has to at least get 16 points out of a possible 31 points.

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.

-The film Attack the Block was able to surpass the required 18 points required due to it having a strong UK creative team, showing the British diversity and talent. Finance = $11-$13 million 

-The film The King's speech was also able to surpass the 18 points required due to its use of strong British cast (Colin Firth and Helena Bonham Carter). It's also about the British heritage/story and filmed in the UK. Finance = $414 million worlwide

-The Skyfall film was also able to surpass the 18 points required due to extensive UK filming, VFX, British cast/crewa and its strong British cultural themes. Finance = over $1.1 billion worldwide

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

The main problem for British film industry is 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 distibution company.

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

The three strengths of the British film industry are:

• Britain has had a film industry since well before World War I and several important film studios are British, such as Ealing Studios and Pinewood Studios.
• 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.
• 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?

The two options for the future of the British film industry are: to rely to the co-production with American studios to keep the industry afloat and to attempt to make low budget films targeted at a niche, British audience.

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

In my opinion, I think the best option would be to attempt to make low budget films that are targeted at a niche, British audience. This is due to the idea that in Britain the population of audiences are increasing, which means that the rate of niche, British audience are also increasing. Also, more audiences can personally relate to some of the low budget 'indie' films such as I, Daniel Blake which could allow the British film industry to still be successful.