MEST1 Section B: The British film industry

1) What qualifies a film as British is if it's set in the UK, the lead characters are British citizens or residents or the film is based on British subject matter or underlying matter. 

2) Hollywood films productions are made by Hollywood studios which means they have very high budgets and there's a heavy reliance on celebrity involvement in both cast and crew members. However, British film productions doesn't depend on the production cost or celebrity involvement, it's more about the way the film reflects British culture.  

3) The James Bond franchise started in the 1960s which saw a greater involvement of American talent and money as well as a shift and mixing of cultures. Increase in popularity for films about drama and action led to the making of the James Bond. 

4) British films started involving censorship and in the 1970s, it was dominated by the subject of censorship that went on to be banned in the 1980s, as a result there was decline in American investment that didn't increase until the 1990s. 

5) One group particularly focused on is young people. An example of this is in the film A Clockwork Orange made by Stanley Kubrick in the 1970s and the focus was on violence, anti-establishment and it was mostly based on anarchy. Another example of young people being represented is in the more recent film, Attack the Block which tried to show a more deeper and more realistic portrayal of youth that challenges the stereotype of  violence and anarchism. However, one group being represented in an unfaithful manner would be the woman as they are either stereotyped as a virgin, a child bearer or the whore. Although in the 1960s women were treated more fairly and reflected realistic social portrayal.  

6) It can be difficult to label a film as British but the films that are labelled as British are so because of the focus on British culture content. The main features that can be identified as appealing to a British audience would include the actors because British actors tend to clearly be identifiable as British for example Hugh Grant having a strong association with British romantic films. British films tend of use locations such as London because London is mostly associated with Britain. There is a rise in popularity of towns and city in the North because of the nature and aesthetics. Old and new British films are full of socially conscious narrative and character. For example, in the 1950s films about post-war Britain emerged and in the 1990s films like Brassed Off were introduced which dealt with situations like post-Thatcherite Britain.