British Film Industry Qs

The Film Industry – Part 3 British Film Industry

Q1. Why do you think 3D takings went down when the number and variety of 3D films increased in 2011?

• certain films didn't particularly work as 3D and so had worse reviews meaning less people went to see it as a 3D film
• not everyone is a fan of 3D and so there's a possibility that because more and more films were being released in 2011, a lot more people began to realise that they preferred 2D, lowering 3D takings

Q2. Where do you think these films end up being shown?

• multiplex cinemas such as 'Cineworld', giving people the opportunity to choose between 2D and 3D 
• 3D also works better on a larger screen with more expensive speakers etc. so its most likely that these 3D versions would have to be shown at popular, successful cinemas rather than small art house ones
• films that are made into films tend to be popular blockbusters so it would be unlikely that they would be shown in smaller art house cinemas and more likely, very mainstream cinemas

Q3. Why do you think there are more people going to the cinema mid-week? Who are more likely to attend the cinema outside of opening weekends?

• firstly, because film companies make the most money on opening weekends, they generally tend to charge more for weekend tickets to the cinema than tickets during the week. This means that more people are willing to pay less for their tickets and go at a less leisurely time rather than pay more on the weekend
• secondly, more companies are beginning to offer cinema deals throughout the week for example Orange Wednesday - 2 for 1 deals
• the people who are most likely going to turn up at opening weekends are people who are huge fans of that particular film or actor. Also many people such as critics will turn up on the first weekend to see the film first.

Q4. Why do you think there has been a decline in DVD sales in the last few years?

• there has been a bigger increase of ‘On Demand’ TV websites such as 4oD, BBC iPlayer, ITVPlayer etc. where you are able to watch full seasons of TV programmes without having to buy the box set.
•  Bigger increase of On Demand film services such as Sky TV, Lovefilm, Apple TV meaning that people are more likely to rent films online to watch immediately rather than go out to buy a DVD and then watch it.
• Illegal online streaming and downloading websites have also become more available meaning that people are more inclined to watch films for free online rather than spend money on DVDs

Q5. Summarise what has remained the same about the UK film market over the last ten years and what has changed dramatically?

Q6. How does film production in the UK seem to be very different from the Hollywood model of large powerful studios?

• 1997 - £92 million was put into funding three film production companies in Britain - Pathe, The Film Consortium and DNA Films. Although Pathe did/still does produce reasonably successful films, the funding tactic failed as both The Film Consortium and DNA films did not do as well as hoped
• Now British production companies tend to create alliances with other companies from across Britain to fund new projects for example, BBC and Film 4.
• Some film productions also receive investment money from Europe such as Bend It Like Beckham which had help from the Hamburg Film Fund.

Q7. What is the benefit to a film producer of their film being branded as British? What is it about ‘Britishness’ that is attractive to investors from outside the UK? What is it about ‘Britishness’ that makes it easy for Hollywood to dominate our film market?

• Films are branded as being 'British' if they pass the UK Cultural Test, meaning that they show aspects of UK within them, e.g characters, setting, story elements, who the film was made for and by whom
• British films now are becoming more and more popular meaning that if your film is branded as British, you will more likely have a bigger budget and so therefore a better film and then better feedback and takings in the cinema
• However, this still means that Hollywood can dominate our film market as to pass the UK Cultural Test, the production company only has to be British. However, this company could still be owned by a larger American Company in Hollywood and so therefore the Hollywood company can still make the money without necessarily having to fund it as if it is classed as British, its funded within the UK.

Q8. How many of these could be considered British films? How many of them are co-productions where the majority of the money leaves the country? What does this say about the scale of the UK film industry?

• All 20 of these films can be considered British has they have some input into the production whether working with Hollywood or foreign countries
• However, out of all 20, 16 of theme are co-productions meaning that the majority of the money is not contained in the UK and is sent abroad. This shows that although the UK film industry has managed to spread across the continents, it still means that it is not economically strong enough to be stable on its own and so relies on co-productions with other companies.

Q9. Which one of these two films recently released in the UK do you think is a BBC co-production and why?

• I think 'My Week with Marilyn' would most likely be a co-production due to the British influence of characters and setting within the film
• The film is based on the romance between an Englishman working in the film business and Marilyn Monroe when she comes to England to film. Many of the cast are also famous English actors, for example Eddie Redmayne, Emma Watson, Judi Dench and Kenneth Branagh
• 'The Boy with the Striped Pajamas' has no British reference within it at all so I would assume that it would not be a co-production with the BBC

W.H.