The British Film Industry

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

You can spot British Films quiet easily, this is because they follow basic factors, which instantly give viewers the impression that its a British film. For example; if it was funded from within Britain or if the main cast is British or if the film evolves around British cultures and British typical lifestyles.

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

     

British films and Hollywood production tend to differ a lot. British films use scenes      which immediately gives away the films plot and each individual characters story and involvement. Also, they utilize the social media and Video-sharing websites to get across to their audiences. Linking to this British productions tend to use low-budget to create their films.

Hollywood productions, however, use high budgets to finally create their production. Furthermore, they tend to focus on certain celebrities, which her loved by many people to catch peoples attention and get more viewers.

3)  When did the James Bond franchise start?
The James Bond franchise started in the 1960s

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

Sexual content was more present in films. As well as more extreme content that would be seen as having to have influenced teenagers to cause riots as well as an uprising of the Mods and Rockers. 

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

Groups, for example, the adolescent and lady are regularly spoken to in British movies. For instance, Attack the Block intends to demonstrate a more profound and more practical depiction of youth that difficulties the prevailing generalization of their danger or disobedience.

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

A British actor usually appeals to the audience and the focus on British culture is usually successful when promoting a British film. Class, social strife and education is also something that attracts the audience. 

The Britsih Film Industry: Institituational Conext

1)

The cultural test is a test taken by all films in order to qualify as a Bristish Film. This test involves four different parts, which are; cultural context, contribution, hubs and practitioners.

In order to pass the film test, the film must get a minimum of 16 out of 31 points, so it can be classified as British film.

2)

Attack the Block

Financing: Budget £8 million; box office $5.8 million 

Cultural Test: Set in London = 4 points 

                       Lead characters are British = 4 points 

                        English dialogue = 6 points 

                       British creativity/ diversity = 4 points 

                     

                  Cultural practitioners = 7

                       27/31 

The King's Speech 

Financing: Budget $15 million; box office $414.2 million 

Cultural Test: Set in London = 4 points

                       Based on British subject matter = 4 points 

                       English dialogue = 6 point

                       British creativity/ diversity = 4 points 

                       Cultural Hubs = 2 

                       Cultural practitioners = 7

                       27/31 ]

The Sweeney 

Financing: Budget £3 million 

Cultural Test: Set in London = 4 points 

                       Lead characters are British = 4 points 

                       Based on British subject matter = 4 points 

                       English dialogue = 6 points 

                       British creativity/ diversity = 4 points 

                       Cultural Hubs = 2 

                       Cultural practitioners = 7

                       31/31

                                                                               Skyfall 

Financing: Budget $150 - 200 million; box office $1. 109 billion 

Cultural Test: Set in London = 4 points 

                       Lead characters are British = 4 points 

                       Film based on British subject matter = 4 points 

                       English dialogue = 6 points 

                       British heritage = 4 points 

                       Cultural practitioners = 5 points 

                       27/31

What is the fundamental issue for the British film industry?

The issues confronted by the British film industry is that all together for a film to be shown, producers need to yield their appropriation rights by offering their film to a conveyance organization. Once the film is sold, all cash that the film makes is lost and along these lines the film does not profit. The British film industry is frequently depicted as a 'house industry' as it is little scale.

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

• outstanding creative skills from directions
• involved in the production of a very financially successful and loyal franchise. 
• real life 

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

• co-productions with American studios
• make low budget films which are targeted at a British audience

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

• I personally think a better option will be relying on a co-productions with American industry because they will have better experience and lead to a more succesfull films. 

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

• Several important British Film studios, e.g. Pinewood studios
• Third biggest film industry in the world

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

•  co productions with American companies as they don't have the finances
• To make low budget films targeted at a niche audience where the film-maker is able to retain all profits.

Film Trailer

film Trailer analysis 


1)

Institutional information - actor/director names/studio/production companies

Title, release date and tagline

Narrative - Todorov's equilibrium and Propp's character archetypes

Action sequences/dramatic moments - action and enigma codes (Barthes)

Voiceover/text on screen/dialogue

Music - non-diegetic

Promotional info - websites/hashtag/social media

Review quotes

2)


Trailers are distributed  mainly through online such as; social media , YouTube, film sites and video sharing sites. While they still are distributed in cinemas, however the perhaps find the internet as being the most fundamental way of achieving more viewers because nowadays mostly everyone uses the internet daily.

3)

The are many uses of typical codes and conventions of film trailers used in 'iLL Manors' film trailer. For example; the use of the release date of the film, which has been shown towards the end of the trailer. After the films release date is shown, immediately the films title is shown as one of he last things. This is significant because it creates excitement within the audience, as they only find out the films name at the end. However, in the actual film I presume the films title is shown at the beginning, this is so the audience know the film they going to watch. Also, another convention of film trailers that was present in this trailer was the use of quotes. Employing quotes in this film trailer is really effective, this is because it allows the audience to see what other people have thought of this film, so this makes more people want to watch it. For example; at

' 0:52' the quote  "Brilliant....Brutal....Powerful"  has been used, this instantly makes the film more appealing if other people have thought of as being brilliant and powerful. Furthermore; another key convention of trailers that has been utilized here is text-on-screen, this has been mainly perhaps been used to support the audience to understand the plot more. For example; "every action has a reaction" this is immediately puts forward the idea that there are many action based scenes which are followed up by consequences.

the film trailer uses highly rated scenes from the final film production. This is most important and effective in film trailer, this is because majority of the trailer is about certain clips extracted from the film itself. The use of highly rated scenes in fil trailer is so that it persuades the audience to watch it. It is a common way to appeal to their audience from the start. For example; at ' 1:30' of the clip we see a short clip of the main protagonist holding a gun, this immediately creates tension and excitement within the audience because they're curious of what might happen next. Also, that exact shot is effective because in the final film production the main protagonist is only holding the gun at a mirror pretending to shoot someone and the audience wouldn't know that until they watch the film.

4)

The target audience for Ill Manors is 15 plus, follows the genres of Crime and Drama.
We can note that watching this trailer allows you to immediately pick up that its aimed at ages of 15 plus. This is because there's use of violent scenes, prostitutes and plenty foul language. I personally see this trailer as a quick montage of a typical teenager living in the hoods and so therefore this appeals to them very much. Linking to this point is that they'll understand as they'll have a lot to relate to. Furthermore, this brings to surface the idea of stereotype of black teenagers. As shown evident in this trailer, we witness black teenagers holding guns, selling drugs and fighting. However, 'Ed' isn't shown as positive character. In the film trailer we witness 'Ed' taking part in drugs and holding gun but in the actual film 'Ed' puts his life forward for a baby. This is both emotional and a positive impact but that wasn't shown in the film trailer. The film trailer doesn't fully explain the films narrative and i think that what's most effective about trailers, they're not meant to give away the whole narrative. But from this trailer I think audience would understand what film evolves around.

5)

The genre of the film is Crime and Drama and this has become clear through the trailer. For example; we see many shots of people cutting up drug bags, shots of people with guns and shots of violence and this all links mainly to the genre of crime. Also, there are shots of people arguing and trying to come an agreement, there are shots of ladies running and this links mainly to the genre of drama. So yes, I think the selected film genres have been portrayed effectively in the film trailer.

2) Make notes on the lecture: focus on Plan B/Ben Drew's views on the opportunities for young people in London and how these inspired Ill Manors.

3) What are Plan B's beliefs/politics? What are his values/ideologies? Explain your answers.

4) Who is the target audience of the TEDx lecture? Demographics? Psychographics? How do you know? How does this compare to the audience for his music/films?

5) What does Plan B say about the media? Explain how this can be linked to Cohen's media theory of moral panics? Read this summary of moral panics and the definition from Wikipedia and use them in your answer.


Notes on the lecture-

Plan B had released a album so more people can recognise his new film. After the album release many people were willing to fund him but he had already the decision to make the film by then, so had a small budget to make Ill Manors.

Quote: " I only had small budget to make this production"

Ill Manors Review Table

1) 

film Director:

Ben Drew is the films director

2)

Main stars:

The main star who is recognised from other film productions is Riz ahmed. Who starred in Four Lions. Also, Ed Sherin. Lee allen known for the film production 'Run'

3)

Plot-

The film explorers the live styles of 4 drug dealers and a user. Also, explores the lives of teenagers in the hoods. Chris, a drug lord, gets his sister shot and he makes it his mission to find the murder, to avenge his sister. Then goes on a mission to find who took the gun he killed the murders with.

characters-  The main charcters who have been starred in this film were as follows:

Main characters;

·         Ed Skrein(Ed)

·         Riz Ahmed (Aaron)

·         Anouska Mond (Michelle)

·         Natalie Press (Katya)

·         Nick Sagar (marcel)

·         Lee Allen (chris)

·         Keith Coggins (Kirby)

·         Jo Hartley (carol)

·         Neil Large (Terry)

·         Lee Whitelock (vince)

j    

  4)

  Genre: 

  Crime and Drama 

   For example; the actor 'Ed' makes money from forcing a lady to have sex with many different fish bar owners. Also, he contributes to selling drugs and selling babies to bar owners. In addition, girls going school, wanting to try out drugs and a mother leaving her baby on a train, to avoid any chances of the baby getting hurt. This are few examples which proves this film has successfully made their production fit perfectly to their genre

5) 

   Sound Track- 
   This films soundtrack was from the famous musician 'Plan B'. He created a rap song just for the film as it has huge link. 
  

Ill Manors Film Review

Ill Manors Film Review

Ill Manors was released in 6th of June 2012, in the UK. This film follows the typical London films genre, Crime and Drama. These genres have been perfectly portrayed in the film production, as it covers many crime scenes as well as lots of drama. For example; the actor 'Ed' makes money from forcing a lady to have sex with many different fish bar owners. Also, he contributes to selling drugs and selling babies to bar owners. In addition, girls going school, wanting to try out drugs and a mother leaving her baby on a train, to avoid any chances of the baby getting hurt. This are few examples which proves this film has successfully made their production fit perfectly to their genre. This film was filmed in England, London, Manor Park. The films plot fits perfectly with the filming location. This film explores the lives of 4 drug dealers, 2 users and 2 prostitutes. Explorers the typical life style of people living in the hoods, so filming it in London street would give the viewers a strong understanding. Linking to that particular idea, i see this film as being stereotypical. This is because in the media black teenagers are shown to be violent and main suspects to most street crimes. In this film the black teenagers are portrayed in the same way. For example; in the film we see a black kid persuading a kid to fight, then we see black kid beating up another kid. Also, we see Chris, one of the drug lords of the area, killing people. These are all things which supports the typical stereotypes of black people. In the film trailer it uses highly rated scenes from the final film production. This is most important and effective in film trailer, this is because majority of the trailer is about certain clips extracted from the film itself. The use of highly rated scenes in fil trailer is so that it persuades the audience to watch it. It is a common way to appeal to their audience from the start. For example; at ' 1:30' of the clip we see a short clip of the main protagonist holding a gun, this immediately creates tension and excitement within the audience because they're curious of what might happen next. Also, that exact shot is effective because in the final film production the main protagonist is only holding the gun at a mirror pretending to shoot someone and the audience wouldn't know that until they watch the film. The target audience for Ill Manors is 15 plus, follows the genres of Crime and Drama. We can note that watching this trailer allows you to immediately pick up that its aimed at ages of 15 plus. This is because there's use of violent scenes, prostitutes and plenty foul language. I personally see this trailer as a quick montage of a typical teenager living in the hoods and so therefore this appeals to them very much. Linking to this point is that they'll understand as they'll have a lot to relate to. Furthermore, this brings to surface the idea of stereotype of black teenagers. As shown evident in this trailer, we witness black teenagers holding guns, selling drugs and fighting. However, 'Ed' isn't shown as positive character. In the film trailer we witness 'Ed' taking part in drugs and holding gun but in the actual film 'Ed' puts his life forward for a baby. This is both emotional and a positive impact but that wasn't shown in the film trailer. The film trailer doesn't fully explain the films narrative and i think that what's most effective about trailers, they're not meant to give away the whole narrative. But from this trailer I think audience would understand what film evolves around. The genre of the film is Crime and Drama and this has become clear through the trailer. For example; we see many shots of people cutting up drug bags, shots of people with guns and shots of violence and this all links mainly to the genre of crime. Also, there are shots of people arguing and trying to come an agreement, there are shots of ladies running and this links mainly to the genre of drama. So yes, I think the selected film genres have been portrayed effectively in the film trailer.

Learner Response

Grade: D

Feed-back: 

WWW: Excellent use of points and there many things which shows you have a rough understanding of analysing the clips. 

EBI: However, you need to link you answers highly to the question. You need to talk about the use of media terminology and equilibrium and disequilibrium. 


Learner response

In this video we can see many things leading up to car crash. In terms of Mise-en-scene, high key lighting is used to make everything too look appealing for the audience. Also, once again there’s a great use of different bright colours to create excitement and fit perfectly to the theme of family as well as crash.

Furthermore, it makes it seem a lot like a theatre act, with lots of movements and actions going on. Also, they are in like a living room of their home, so the location fits well with the chosen narrative. In addition, there was a great use of props. The father and mother were dressed casually like typical parents. The daughter, however, is dressed as a fairy, with pink wings. Also, when the father dropped there were many things such as glitter and toys which flew into the air from the table.

n  As evident in the video, it shows a car crash scenario, where a father is in the car, perhaps distracted by his family and not wearing a seat belt leading him to a crash. To start of with, I personally think the music is classical music, which is calm and gentle. This can be illustrated that it’s both parrell and contrapuntal. This is because its happy and calm at the beginning of the video but closing into the car crash scene the father looks upset and angry. It shows the mother and daughter crying, therefore the classical music doesn’t fit perfectly to what’s happening, and hence it’s contrapuntal.

n  Furthermore, I think that even though it’s a car crash scenes, the video still shows clear evidence of great family values. For example; they are all sitting down together at home, enjoying themselves and not many familieshave that sort of connection. Linking to this, the video has a good and exciting narrative. Due to the change in emotions we witness that creates tension.