The British Film Industry 30 Questions

 

The British Film Industry 30 Questions

What % of global box office was the British film industry responsible for?

The British Film Institute said UK film releases took £3.45bn in 2012 which is a 15.3% share of the world market.

What was this % in 2009?

The British Film Institute said UK film owned 6.8% share of the world market.

What might this change indicate about British film?

This change presents that British films are becoming more dominated within the film production box office as proven in a double change since 2009.

What films have been responsible for this change?

The higher market share in 2011 can be partially attributed to the success of the final Harry Potter film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, and Oscar-winning hit The King's Speech

What % of the British film industry makes a profit?

According to the figures revealed by the British Film Institute (BFI) only 7% of films made in the UK turn over a profit.  

What % of Hollywood films makes a profit?

Greengrass told the BBC that 17% of higher budget films are profitability in Hollywood.

How does that % differ between £2m and £10m budget British films?

4%

What might we infer from this difference?

This indicates that film production at box office dropped

Which age group makes up the largest % of UK cinema goers?

The age group that most frequently visits the cinema is 25 – 39 year olds which is a 24% of the cinema viewers according to 2012 figures 

 

 

 

 

Why do you think this might be?

This is the age where people are often in secure employment and are willing to spend their disposable income on leisure activities.

Which 'type' of film has seen an 18% drop in attendance?

The type of film which has seen a drop in attendance is 3D within the UK as shown on the BBC website - A total of 43 3D films were released, down from 47 in 2011, but the figures continue a slight downward trend.

Within that 'type' which genre has seen the biggest fall?

Mr Stolze on the BBC website said that the big family films have seen the biggest fall - "On the big family films there seems to be a lower proportion of people opting to choose 3D. There were very successful films like Madagascar 3 and Brave, and only about a third of their total revenue came from 3D ticket sales."

What did Charles Grant put this decline down to?

Film reviewer Charles Gant said the 3D attendance at films like Madagascar 3 and Brave could be down to families' need to economize, and that prices mounted when the 3D premium is taken into account alongside the need for several tickets and parking.

Who is Paul Greengrass?

Paul is a director, writer and producer; he started his filmmaking career with a super 8 camera he found in his art room in secondary school. Those short movies were animation horror films he made using old dolls, artist dummies, and the general art room clutter. He has directed the Bourne Ultimatum, Captain Phillips and The Bourne Supremacy.

How did he describe the British film industry?

Speaking at the British Independent Film Awards (BIFA), he described the British film industry as a "success story" and predicted it would continue to see international growth; especially in China. Greengrass told the BBC on Sunday night the 17% figure for higher budget films was approximately the same rate of profitability as Hollywood.

What did a BFI spokesperson say was the point of less profitable low budget British films?

"tiny budget films that, while commercial success is always hoped for, are successful and beneficial to the industry for other reasons like skills and training development and for artistic and cultural importance"

What was the budget for Filth and how much money did it take?

BUDGET: $5,000,000 (estimated)

BOX OFFICE: £247,860 (UK) (29 September 2013) (38 Screens)

What advantage did James McEvoy feel £100m films have over low budget films?

"An independent film managed to get people to come and see it without a studio and without hundreds of millions of dollars of advertising money. That's remarkable - it means British film can do it on its own." "He said $100m (£61m) movies that "sometimes aren't very good" had an advantage over smaller films because they had a massive budget to sell the film."

What is VOD?

Video on Demand

What % increase did VOD see last year?

50% Increase

What impact might VOD have on distributers and Studios?

"Maybe VOD [video-on-demand] is going to change everything because the distributor and the studio might become less important."

What impact has it had on Blockbuster rental stores?

It has forced the company to go bust because everybody nowadays uses VOD which means that nobody uses the video shops anymore.

What was unique about Ben Wheatleys 'A Field in England'?

In July this year, Ben Wheatley's film A Field in England was the first UK film to be released simultaneously in cinemas, on DVD, on TV and through video-on-demand. Wheatley's "psychedelic trip", set during the English Civil War, took more than £21,000 at the box office on the same weekend it was available free of charge on Film 4. It also sold more then 2,000 copies on DVD over the same period. The film was made on a modest budget of £300,000.

What does director of The Machine Caradog James think is the toughest part of film making?

"The toughest thing is you make a good film but can you get it to reach an audience? It's events like this and individuals who champion independent cinema that give us a profile and any chance of a mass audience."

Why have rules been relaxed on what makes a film 'British'?

Anna Mansi (the BFI's head of certification) told the BBC "This puts us on a level playing field with our creative content tests and other European culture tests, the increase in visual effects points will also be very beneficial to the effects industry."

 How has the use of visual effects in films been encouraged?

Alex Hope of visual effects company Double Negative said he was "delighted" with the tax changes, hoping foreign productions filming in the UK would hire British effects companies rather than taking the work back overseas. "Today's measures target productions that would not otherwise qualify for tax relief and incentive them to bring VFX or production business to the UK," he said.

Name five of these rules and link them to The Kings Speech, Kill List, The World's End, Film set in the UK - all three films are set in different parts of the UK.

Lead characters British citizens or residents - the main characters are all of British descent (Colin Firth - The King's Speech, Simon Pegg - The World's End, Neil Maskell - Kill List). Film based on British subject matter or underlying material - The King's Speech is about our English monarchy, The World's End is about traditional English pubs in a traditional English town (with a twist), and Kill List is about two hitmen in the North, traditionally this can be seen as quite an American subject matter however the strong dialect and British twist to the film makes it qualify as this. Original dialogue recorded mainly in English language - all the films were filmed in English. Represents/reflects diverse British culture, heritage or creativity - The King's Speech is more upper class society, The World's End is more middle class and Kill List is working class.

What rules has chancellor George Osbourne announced for tax on British films?

"George Osborne also announced tax relief would be increased from 20% to 25% on the first £20m of qualifying production expenditure. Productions will also only have to spend 10% of their budgets on UK expenditure to qualify - down from 25% - to help more independent production companies and make the UK a more attractive co-production partner. Mr Osborne will also announced a £5m investment in the National Film and Television School's Digital Village, to create a training centre for the UK's digital and creative industries."

What is the highest grossing film in UK box office history?

Skyfall (To date, the 23rd Bond adventure has earned £94.3m in the UK, beating the previous record holder, Avatar, which grossed £94m in 11 months).

How much has it taken and how many screens was it available on?

£20,180,369 (UK) (28 October 2012)(587 Screens)

Mr Nicolle Homework about ethnicity representation

Ethnicity Representation

Definition:

The definition of Ethnicity is relating to or characteristic of a human group having racial, religious, linguistic, and certain other traits in common

Stereotypes:

One stereo type which is associated with ethnicity is a simplified and often misleading representation of an ethnic group, composed of what are thought to be typical characteristics of members of a given ethnic group. These images of a particular group are used to communicate underlying messages about status, society and cultural norms.

TV Programs and presenting ethnicity:

There are many different kinds of shows on television today and these are able to present different kinds of images. Some shows present news and current affairs stories, trying to report on actual events in a realistic way. Other shows will create fictional drama or comedy situations that are designed to reflect real life. Commercials are made to sell products to specific groups or target audiences in society.

The Kings Speech Research

The Kings Speech

The King's Speech is a British film about King George VI who becomes King after his brother having a change in mind of wanting to be on the throne. King George has a stammer and is consider unfit to be King, with the help of an un-certificated speech therapist, Lionel Logue, George is able to find his voice and lead Britain through the Second World War.

Britishness:

What Makes a Film British:

The movie was filmed in the UK; it contained well-known British actors such as: Colin Firth & Helena Bonham Carter. It was also filmed in English language which also contains some old referenced speech such as: Chap, referring to a gentleman. The film reflects British culture of the times it was made about: 1925 – 1939, which includes the announcement of World War 2, there is also the actors wearing costumes from what would have been worn in this time period and the houses Mise en scene is set to fit the time period. The music and effects used in the film were created in the UK which also reflects on the Britishness of the film. The director Tom Hooper is also British, as is the writer of the story David Seidler. Some of the production companies were British such as The UK Film Council, Momentum Pictures, Aegis Film Fund, Molinare Investment, See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions. But the film did accept money from the further national production companies: Weinstein Company (US) and Film Nation Entertainment (US).

Exhibition

Box Office in the UK:

It exceeded Momentum Picture's expectations when it gained £3.52 million on the opening weekend which is almost double the opening gross of Slumdog Millionaire at £1.83m and the gross profit to date of The King’s Speech was £44,407,313 in box office in the UK.

The Films Reception & Criticism of the film:

Phillip French from the guardian highly rated The King’s Speech and said that “the film is a major achievement, with Firth presenting us with a great profile in courage, a portrait of that recurrent figure, the stammer as hero.” However he did also say that “The film is not without its odd faults, the truly annoying one being the representation of Winston Churchill”. Other more critical reviews have criticised The King's Speech for making errors about the historical accuracy in the film. Other editing errors were pointed out where the king throws his speech and is then shown holding it in his hand in the next scene. The King’s Speech mainly received praise and good reviews.

This is a Canadian member of the audience who outlined the movie as ‘Brilliant’ on the website IMDb. “This is a powerful, hilarious and deeply moving story, told against the backdrop of a critical juncture in modern history, of the emergence of a deep friendship out of a professional relationship between two men who would otherwise never have socially interacted. The screenplay, written by David Seidler (who also wrote Tucker: The Man and his Dream), is excellent.”

Some critical reviews have criticised The King's Speech for making errors about the historical accuracy of some aspects of the film. For example the font used for the text in the BBC broadcasting room not being a font that was available till the 50's. The fact some women were shown wearing seamless stockings when they did not appear until later. Other continuity and editing errors were also pointed out where the King was shown throwing his speech then shown holding it in his hand the next shot.

Award nominations and Oscars:

It received nominations for 12 Oscars including best picture, best director, best supporting actor and actress, best screenplay, best editing, best art direction and costume. It won 4 Oscars for best picture, best director, best Actor (Colin Firth) and best original screenplay. It was also nominated for 14 BAFTAs of which it won 7. Mark Kemode comments that Oscar and BAFTA nominations and awards are often expected when playing a monarch for example with Judy Dench - Shakespeare in Love Helen Mirren - The Queen etc. and especially when the story is about humanising the monarchy.
Web 2.0 and Exchange:

The film itself had its own Facebook that advertised the film, posting posters and trailers as well as director comments and actors comments to attract a wider audience that are available on social networking sites. The film had a number of YouTube clips posted about it like people giving reviews and expectations of the film, for example a YouTube clip by beyond the trailer got 70,102 views. There were reviews and comments on the film in newspapers such as in the guardian by Phillip French and in the telegraph by Sukhdev Sandhu.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GBS1QUOMMU&feature=related

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/filmreviews/8244121/The-Kings-Speech-review.html

Production Issues

The film's origins:

David Seidler the writer read about George VI's life after overcoming a stuttering condition he endured during his youth. He started writing about the relationship between the monarch and his therapist as early as the 1980s, but at the request of the King's widow, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, postponed work until her death in 2002. He later rewrote his screenplay for the stage to focus on the essential relationship between the two protagonists. Nine weeks before filming began, Logue's notebooks were discovered and quotations from them were incorporated into the script. Therefore this film originated from a true, real life story about an event that happened within the royal family.

The finance:

Prescience saw the film's potential early on and became the key financier of the film. The Weinstein Company and Momentum Pictures were also large investors for the film. The UK Film Council gave See-Saw £1 million for the production. Together they created the budget of $15,000,000

The production companies:

The production companies of the film were Weinstein Company, The UK Film Council, Momentum Pictures, See-Saw Films as well as other companies. See-Saw, a British/Australian company, financed and produced the film but by getting deals with key distribution partners such as The Weinstein Company (USA) Momentum Pictures (UK) Transmission (Australia) and Alliance Film (Canada). This is a good example of a film that can receive a huge global success and without the help of huge Hollywood studios.

Distribution and Marketing Issues:

The trailers used for the UK and US differ, as the UK trailer shows more of Colin Firths character and his personal journey, overcoming his stammer and becoming King. But the US trailer shows more of Geoffrey Rush’s character and how he plays a huge part in helping George overcome his struggle with speech. In the US trailer Helen Bonham Carter’s character refers to her husband as the King rather than the Duke of York which is what she calls him in the UK trailer, which makes the US trailer want to seem more British to attract the American audience that love the British Royals so much. The UK trailer as well uses a well-known British quote from Shakespeare "some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them" this adds to the sense of Britishness in the UK trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq2IT299EKo UK Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzI4D6dyp_o  US Trailer

Major Issues Facing British Film Makers:

“It's clear that British cinema has been weathering the global recession well” said UK Film Council chief executive John Woodward. He said the sectors of production, distribution and exhibition were "firing on all cylinders". But he said the marketplace for financing smaller, independently-produced British films has become more difficult. This was partly as a result of the overall economic slowdown and partly down to "the increasingly tough transition from the analogue to the digital age". However, it has been a record of couple of years at the UK box office overall from 2009-2012, with takings of £944m and the highest admissions since 2002 (173.5 million) thanks to films like Kings Speech, Slum dog millionaire and Avatar.

 

Dredd 2012 Presentation