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.

A British film can be defined with many different parts of the film making process like the cast, funding, people who are making the film or the film's subject matter.

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 and 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?

In the 1960s.

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.

Young people - A Clockwork Orange, Eden Lake

People interested in social issues - Brassed Off, The fully Monty

Older people/ people interested in Britains history - This is England, Pride

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

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 divided into four sections and 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 - 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.

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. 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?

Good creative skills of practitioners, outstanding facilities, British film industry has been well established since before WW1.

5) What are the two options for the future of the British film industry?
1. British filmmakers could choose to rely upon co-productions with American studios to keep the industry afloat.

2. They could attempt to make low budget films targeted at a niche, 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 that makes 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? 

I think the safest is to rely on co-productions however, this means the films may loose parts of the integral 'British parts' of them.