British Film Industry Factsheet

 Factsheet #132: British Film

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

Fitting into British culture and appeal.

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

Hollywood production have more budgets to spend on different type of productions. For example on heavy CGI, Equipment. British production contains more story and character driven. Unlike Hollywood movies where the sort of have a code withing all of the movies. Which there is hero, there is a villain, and a goal must be achieved.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

In 1962 with the movie Dr.No

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.

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

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, especially in the British Horror Film. 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. This is echoed through British Cinema and into current films such as Eden Lake (Rollercoaster Films, 2008), where we see a similar, (if not less fantastical) set of values being given to the youthful antagonists of the film.

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. Factsheet #100: British film industry

Media Factsheet #100

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

The cultural test can be split into four different parts: cultural context, cultural contributions, cultural hubs and cultural practitioners. This helps to support the idea of a British Film

2) Complete the task on the Factsheet, researching the films listed and finding 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 Sweeney - 24/31

Attack the block - 29/31

The king speech - 25/31

We need to talk about Kevin - 13/31

Skyfall - 26/31

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

The British film industry has been production led rather than distribution led UK made films have to sacrifice the distribution rights by selling the film to a distribution company, in order to get the film exhibited. As a result  all revenue from cinema screenings, DVD and Blu-ray sales, sales to television companies are lost.

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

Creative skills of practitioners

Outstanding facilites

Film Fund

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

The two options that the British film industry have is either rely on coproduction's with American studios or to attempt to make low budget movies for niche audiences 

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

I think the best option is to make low budget movies for niche audiences. Low budget movies can be runned and produced by studios that doesn't have that much funding. Which it can produce more creative, expressive and meaningful movies without the cost of disappointing investors.