The British film industry: blog tasks

The British film industry:

Factsheet #132: British Film

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.

The people making the film are British, is it funded from within Britain, are the cast British, is 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?

British film as a production context also tends to be varied but idiosyncratic to the story being told within the film.For instance the Hollywood production context means that most films made by Hollywood studios have high budgets, a heavy reliance on celebrities both in the cast and crew and spectacle driven stories.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The 1960s brought about the start of the James Bond franchise.

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 filmmaking 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.

For example if we look at the way youth is portrayed in a very singular way in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (Warner Bros., 1971), the focus is on violence, anti-establishment and a compulsion to act in an anarchic way.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. Representation of women has gone through similar changes over the years with common stereotyping of women as either, the virgin, the mother or the whore.

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

The main characteristics that can be identified as appealing to a native British audience would include; the actors, British actors tend to be clearly identifiable as British and will often be associated with a particular genre of British film, for example Hugh Grant having an association with British romantic comedies. British locations tend to be a heavily used feature of the film, with London being the most popular, although we have seen a rise in popularity of northern towns and cities being used in many British films. However the overwhelming characteristics that will most appeal to a British audience is the social theme that provides the through line for many British film narratives. The British audience has a keen interest in British films that focus on class, social strife, education and more.

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?

If a film does not qualify as a co-production, it must pass the British Film Institute’s Cultural Test in order to be defined 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.So, a British film can be defined as any film that has been funded according to the bilateral co-production treaty or the European Convention and / or has scored at least 16 points on the Cultural Test.

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.

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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. Once sold, all revenue from cinema screenings, DVD and Blu-ray sales, plus sales to television companies, are lost. Even a highly successful British film is not necessarily making money that will be reinvested in British filmmaking.

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

British films take 5% of world box-office takings, which is extraordinary for such a small nation.

Outstanding creative skills of practitioners. Outstanding facilities.

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

Firstly, British filmmakers could choose to rely upon co-productions with American studios to keep the industry afloat.The UK film industry’s second option is 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?

I believe the first option would best safeguard the future of the British film industry since they will have a secure fallback and do not need to worry about any fallout since the American studios are a main institute when it comes to the film industry.