Factsheet

132: British Film

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

A film is defined as British if the people making it are British, and if it's funded using British money and the cast are British. 

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

Hollywood production context means that films made by Hollywood studios would usually have high budgets, a major dependency on celebrities for both the cast and crew .
 British films can be large budget, high concept films such as Harry Potter and Skyfall or they can be character driven, small budgeted films such as Kill List or attack the block. 

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?

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. Also, during the 1980s, the inequality between men and women became a lot more apparent and films were started to show that they acknowledged this and started showing it more in films. 

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

• Young adults - the inbetweeners movie
• Youth - Attack the block 
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6) What does the Factsheet suggest might be the audience appeal of British film?

The British audience has a keen interest in British films that focus on class, social life, education and many other things, this is mainly because the audience is familiar to these aspects of life and the representations they have in the media right now.

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 (Cultural Context, Cultural Contribution, Cultural Hubs and Cultural Practitioners). A film must score at least 16 out of a possible 31 points to be classified as British."

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

The Sweeney: 

Attack The Block:

The Kings Speech:

We Need to Talk About Kevin:

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

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

• British films take up to 5% of the worlds box-office takings
• We have outstanding creative skills of the practitioners (directors create movies such as Love Actually and Harry Potter)
• 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 first option would be to rely on and co-produce with American studios. The problem with this is that a lot of what makes he film British would be lost. Because some dialect and language won't make sense to a non-British audience, it is unlikely that an American company would approve. 

The second option would be to make low-budget films directed at a niche, but British audience. Though the production costs will have to be lower and box-office taking and profits will necessarily be lower too, the filmmakers will be able to retain what it is thatmakes British films so distinctive without compromise.
6) In your opinion, which of these two options would best safeguard the future of the British film industry?

In my opinion, the second option works a lot