The British Film Industry

 Factsheet #132: British Film 

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

In order to be defined as ‘British’, a film needs to do more than simply feature British characters or

represent a British way of life.

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

The Hollywood and British production contexts have many differences and can produce very different films.  There are a number of factors that affect the relationship between production contexts and films and these include finance, technology, social and political issues and use of stars.  The Hollywood production context has changed a great deal since the ‘Golden Age’ when all the studios were vertically integrated and the ‘Big 5’ had full control and dominance over the production, distribution and exhibition of films.  Now there are a greater number of studios in Hollywood that are producing films such as DreamWorks and Sony Pictures Studio as well as Paramount and Warner Brothers and others that survived from the ‘Golden Age’.

3) When did the James Bond franchise start?

The James Bond franchise started in the 1960s, with the first cinema adaptation of an Ian Fleming novel, Dr. No, featuring Sean Connery as 007 in 1962.

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. 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.

Young people are often represented in British films, in films such as A clockwork orange and Eden Lake, typically playing into the stereotype that youth are rule breaking rebels that have violent tendencies, usually with little character depth.

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. 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

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

The  'cultural test' is a list of criteria, each with points allocated to certain criteria, and if a film scores at least 16 of the 31 points it is then 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.

The Sweeney (dir. Love, 2012)

• Financing - £3 million budget/ $7.7 million profit
• Cultural test - 18

Attack the Block (dir. Cornish, 2011)

• Financing - £8 million budget/ £4.1 million profit
• Cultural test - 27 

The King’s Speech (dir. Hooper, 2012)

• Financing - $15 million budget/ $414.3 million profit
• Cultural test - 29

We Need to Talk About Kevin (dir. Ramsay, 2011)

• Financing - $7 million budget / $10.8 million profit
• cultural test -  16

Skyfall (dir. Mendes, 2012)

• Financing - $150-200 million budget / $1.109 profit
• cultural test - 24

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

The majority of British films are largely production focused rather distribution focus, which can lead to a film breaking even or losing profits at the box office, in terms of distribution both nationally and internationally. 

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

Positive global perception/reputation

film artisians

excellent facilities

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

create low budget films

targeted at niche audiences

rely upon co-productions with American studios 

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

Both of these options have their own downfalls, as low budget movies targeted at niche audiences can easily result in sub par movies being produced, and while not appealing to a mainstream audience, movies could easily fail to return a profit ; In contrast, relying upon co- productions with American studios could easily see the American influence being increased in British films, causing them to become increasingly less British, with each of these outcomes being less than desirable. However, I believe that the best option to safeguard the future of British film would be to rely upon co-productions with american studios, as in recent years there have been a number of successful British films that have been funded by American money which have still seemed essentially British, such as the King's speech. In addition to this, the movie industries of Britain and America are already inextricably intertwined, that relying on co production wouldn't be such a large change for British studios.