The British film industry: blog tasks

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

-I think that a British film is one that is made with Britain's money and funds, despite the fact that's its cast may or may not be British.

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, a heavy reliance on celebrities both in the cast and crew and spectacle driven stories. The British film production context does not have as many clearly defined characteristics. British films can be large budget and high concept.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

-1960s

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

-In the 1970s, British movies often dealt with censorship, which continued into the 1980s with the banning of "video nasties." In recent decades, the BBFC has worked to connect more with the public by making its guidelines easy to understand and involving people in the review process.

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

-class, politics, social change and education

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

-This is the first step towards targeting and appealing to a British audience as with any film made by a country  for its own populace. 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.

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. A - Cultural Context, B - Cultural Contribution, C - Cultural Hubs, D - Cultural Practitioners.

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 King’s Speech (dir. Hooper, 2012) 4 4 4 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1=25

-The Sweeney (dir. Love, 2012) 4 4 4 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1=24

-Attack the Block (dir. Cornish, 2011) 4 4 4 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1=24

-All three of them have scores more than 16/31, and therefore count as a British.

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

-The issue is, to show their film, filmmakers have to sell it to a distribution company, and once they do that, they lose all the money from cinema screenings, DVD and Blu-ray sales, and selling it to TV channels.

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

-Outstanding creative skills of practitioners

-The Innovation Fund

-The Prints and Advertising Fund

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

-One option is to team up with American studios, but it might mean losing some British elements that wouldn't make sense to non-British viewers. The other choice is to make low-budget films for a specific British audience, keeping the uniqueness of British films intact. Even though profits might be lower, smart distribution rights sales could help support the UK film industry.

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

-I think option one is better for the future of British films, but I personally like option two, even though it's riskier. Making movies for a specific audience might not be well-known at first, but sometimes these films become popular and make a lot of money, especially when they focus more on the story than on big budgets.