30 questions

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

The British Film Industry  is responsible for 15% of global box office.

What was this % in 2009?

The figure from 2009 was 6.8%.

What might this change indicate about British film? 

This positive change indicates that the British Film Industry is getting bigger and being more successful.

What films have been responsible for this change? 

The Kings speech is a main film responsible for this and it grossed over 9 times its budget.

What % of the British film industry makes a profit? 

Films with a low budget (under £2 million) have a 4% of making a profit. But films with a bigger budget have more chance of making a profit at 17%.

What % of Hollywood films make a profit? 

Hollywood films have a 17% chance.

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

A smaller film with a £2 million budget has a 4% chance of making a profit and a bigger film with a £10 million budget has a 17% chance of making a profit.

What might we infer from this difference? 

Having  a bigger budget means that there is more chance of having success.

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

18-24 years old.

Why do you think this might be? 

This age group has the most time and disposable income to go to the cinema.

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

3D films have seen a drop.

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

Big family films have seen a drop.

What did Charles Grant put this decline down to? 

Grant put this to 3D films prizes and that families would want to save a little extra money.

Who is Paul Greengrass?

Greengrass is a British director, screenwriter and former journalist.

How did he describe the British film industry?

"British film is on a very positive journey. If you look at the biggest movies in the world, like Star Wars, Gravity – a hugely cutting edge movie - they’re being made in Britain. British technicians are world class and audiences are queuing up to see these films. Distinctive British voices, like Stephen Frears, and all the emerging voices on show here highlight where the industry is. Strong leadership from the British Film Institute helps too. There’s a real vibrancy among British film making and all these elements have been growing for the last 10-15 years and it shows no signs of stopping.”

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

Budget = £2 million
Money taken = £4 million

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

He had an advantage over low budget films because he felt that films with a larger budget have much miore chances to sell the film in different ways.

What is VOD?

Video On Demand.

What % increase did VOD see last year?

VOD had a 50% increase last year.

What impact might VOD have on distributors and Studios?

Because VOD is becoming larger it might outsell distributors and studios.

What impact has it had on Blockbuster rental stores?

It could easily outsell these stores meaning the stores would hardly get any profit.

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

It was unique as it was the first UK film to be released in cinemas, DVD, on TV and through VOD at the same time.

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

He thought the hardest part of making films is "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'?

They have been relaxed because they want more British films to be made so they become more of a success.

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

The use of visual effects have been encouraged to be used because it makes the film more interesting to watch.

Name five of these rules and link them to The Kings Speech, Kill List, The World's End

Keeping a British Theme through culture -Kings Speech
'LAD' like actions and ways about them - Worlds End
British director - The King's Speech
British Cast - Kill List, Worlds End
Location set in Britain - Kill List, Worlds End, King's Speech

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

Films will now only need to spend 10% of their budget within the UK ti qualify for tax relief whereas before they would of had to pay 25%. Tax relief would be applied to 25% of the first £20m of a production and 20% on ant remaining budget regardless of the overall total.

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

James Bond - Skyfall

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

Skyfall took £94.3m in the UK alone and it was opened in 587 cinemas across the UK and Ireland on the 26th of October.

The Kings Speech Case Study

The Kings Speech Case Study

What makes a film British?

A film is made British by the British film industry and this industry has a public policy which has a role to play in strengthening the industry in order to generate substantial economic rewards and important cultural benefits. there are indigenous, usually distinctively British, films shot in the UK. both the Writer and the Director of The Kings Speech were born British so they would have an English view on how to make a film.

Exhibition:

The Kings Speech was a massive success at the box office with a huge £3.53 million opening weekend including modest previews of £227,000. At the box office the film produced a huge amount of money due to its British links, the film made the most money in the UK. i managed to find these statistics of the IMDB film website.

the films reception is that the majority of people really did like the film as it got an overall rating of 94% on the Rotten tomatoes website. this basically shows that most of the people who rated this film came to the conclusion that the film was amazing. some of the quotes said from critics on the website are "The King's Speech is simultaneously cozy and majestic" and "See it, then say it for yourself: The Kings Speech is the best movie of 2010"

the film did get a bit of criticism though of the rotten tomatoes website i found a few quotes from critics who did not like the film at all these quotes were "A conventional over-hyped picture lifted by unconventional fairly-hyped performances. Truly the m - m - most British movie ever made" and "Too ingratiating to resonate deeply". not all the critics found The Kings Speech to be the best film of 2010.

the web 2.0 and exchange for The Kings Speech was that it was publicized all over YouTube with trailers being watched in all different languages from around the globe. the film was publicized in the US on YouTube which allowed the film to gain more profit when  people went to watch the film.

Production Issues:
The Films origin was based on King George VI who was aired to be the king of England but was worried his stammer would get in the way of him becoming a great king. The film follows Bertie (King George VI) as he tries to gain control over his voice and as he meets Lionel Logue who helps him through out the film to gain control over his stammer to lead England while they are at the brink of war.

the finance for the film was a little short to start off with as quite a few high profile production companies turned down the opportunity to back the project and lost out on a huge profit in which the film produced. London's Prescience Film Finance stepped in to provide two thirds of the films £9 million budget using its £25 million Aegis Film Fund.

The film is almost all British as every single filming location was in the UK the majority were in London, the capital of England itself. The film was linked with small production companies such as Bedlam Productions and See-Saw Films both these production companies are British. Another production company that took part in the film was the UK Film Council which was a bigger company that the other two small companies but still gained a lot of profit from the film itself.

Distribution and Marketing Issues:
The Kings Speech had quite a few distribution companies all around the world from Argentina to Germany and even Finland. The film had a few main distributors such as Alliance Films and Momentum Pictures. The film was marketed all over the world with websites in different countries and even different trailers around the world. I don't think there was much marketing issues with this film as it was a successful film and made a huge amount of profit.

The male gaze definitions

Majorie Ferguson

Chocolate box -  half or full-smile, lips together or slightly parted, teeth barely visible, full or three-quarter face to camera. Projected mood: blandly pleasing, warm bath warmth, where uniformity of features in their smooth perfection is devoid of uniqueness or of individuality.

Invitational -  emphasis on the eyes, mouth shut or with only a hint of a smile, head to one side or looking back to camera. Projected mood: suggestive of mischief or mystery, the hint of contact potential rather than sexual promise, the cover equivalent of advertising’s soft sell.

Super Smiler - full face, wide open toothy smile, head thrust forward or chin thrown back, hair often wind-blown.Projected mood: aggressive, ‘look-at-me’ demanding, the hard sell, ‘big come-on’ approach.

Romantic or Sexual - a fourth and more general classification devised to include male and female ‘two-somes’; or the dreamy, heavy-lidded, unsmiling big-heads, or the overtly sensual or sexual. Projected moods: possible ‘available’ and definitely ‘available’.

Trevor Millum

Seductive - similar to the cool/level look in many respects - the eyes are less wide, perhaps shaded, the expression is less reserved but still self-sufficient and confident; milder versions may include a slight smile.

Carefree - nymph-like, active, healthy, gay, vibrant, outdoor girl; long unrestrained outward-flowing hair, more outward-going than the above, often smiling or grinning.

Practical - concentrating, engaged on the business in hand, mouth closed, eyes object-directed, sometimes a slight frown; hair often short or tied back.

Comic - deliberately ridiculous, exaggerated, acting the fool, pulling faces for the benefit of a real or imaginary audience, sometimes close to a sort of archness.

Catalogue - a neutral look as of a dummy, artificial, wax like; features may be in any position, but most likely to be with eyes open wide and a smile, but the look remains vacant and empty; personality has been removed

Selected Video Clip:

forward the video till 1:35 and play till 2:05

The video i have chosen to post is a select scene in the music video 'Amazing' by the signer Inna. 

the video involves the male gaze as it shows males staring at a female singer as she is taking a shower outside on the beach in a bikini.
this select scene shows a seductive approach to the woman as she is showing off her body in public and the woman is both confident and self-sufficient.

the male gaze

Dredd presentation

Dredd essay

Dredd essay

One of the main reasons Dredd failed at the box office is because it was up against 3 other major films starring comic book heroes. These films were The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman and The Avengers. Dredd was released as a rival as it was a UK based film and comic whereas the USA was where originally most comic book heroes would come from. As all three of the films Dredd was up against were USA based it would have to fight really hard to compete against them. Dredd didn’t have any major actors in the films and the comic book series was hardly known around the world. If Dredd has acquired bigger actors to take part in the film would have certainly made more money at the box office. The actors used in Dredd were Karl Urban (Judge Dredd) who isn’t a very famous actor and Olivia Thirby (Anderson) who has only just come into the film business. Because there was no big actors in the film this meant that hardly anybody wanted to go and watch the film which caused the film to lose money at the box office.

Pete Travis is a director who is very inexperienced in the film making industry as he had only made two other films before directing Dredd. The other two films in which he directed were Endgame which only grossed $9,600 at the box office and the other film he directed was Vantage Point which almost doubled its profit at the box office making around $72,200,000. Karl Urban turned to one of the producers (Alex Garland) for direction instead of Pete Travis the director, this shows that even Karl Urban thought Pete Travis wasn’t a good director as he turned to someone else for direction.

Dredd is an Action/Crime/Sci-Fi film which is a problem as only certain people like Sci-Fi films as it only really fits to a certain crowd of people. Dredd is seen as a cult film and hasn’t really got a wide audience but tailors to the ones it has. Most of the people who would of gone to see Dredd would have been comic book lovers as they would have read the comic books about Dredd (2000AD) and would have wanted to see the film version of the comic. The film is also a certificate 18 which means only people aged 18 and over could go to watch the film. This is where they lost views at the box office because other comic book films such as The Amazing Spiderman, The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers Assemble were all 12A meaning younger people who would want to watch these films could go to the cinema and watch the film with their parents. If Dredd had been a 12A film meaning it had lost all its gore and violence it maybe would have gained more viewers at the box office allowing the film to gross more money and to have maybe made a profit.

Lionsgate was one of the top distributers of Dredd and one of its partners was Alliance as it also distributed Dredd. There were a few production companies that were linked with Dredd such as DNA Films, IM Global, Peach Trees and Rena Films. These production companies are not the biggest production companies in the world meaning because they are quite unknown Dredd didn’t get as much appeal as it would have done with a bigger production company.

The box office figures that Dredd produced were not the best of figures as it had a budget of $35,000,000 and in its opening week at the box office it made around $6,300,000 and its gross was roughly $ 13,400,000. These figures show that Dredd lost money at the box office and flopped as a film.

The marketing of the film was one of the main reasons that the film flopped at the box office. The marketing scheme used for Dredd was terrible as they set up a website to allow the public to read the latest happenings in the production of the film and a comic book tie in was released as a prequel of the film showing the past life of Ma-Ma and her life as a prostitute before she became the clan leader. 

The filming that took place in Dredd was filmed in Cape Town because it was cheap and they didn’t want to spend money on building sets and it was the first time Pete Travis had filmed using 3D cameras. The cinematographer was Anthony Dod Mantle and for the filming of Dredd they used red mysterium x cameras. The mysterium x camera shoots 14 megapixel. This camera shoots 120 frames per second at 5k or 300 frames per second at 3k. One of the reasons why Dredd flopped at the box office was because its run time was only 95 minutes long whereas Amazing Spiderman had a run time of 136 minutes and The Dark Knight Rises had a run time of 165 minutes.

The distributors of Dredd wanted it to be shown in 3D as they denied the 2D requests around the world. In north America 2506 cinemas showed Dredd in their movie screen allowing the film to gain $6,300,000 at the opening weekend and in the UK only 415 cinemas decided to show Dredd allowing the film to gain $1,700,000 at the opening weekend. North America stopped showing Dredd after 42 days of it being in the cinemas.

Dredd was not set out to be a four quadrant movie as it didn’t attract all types of people the main people the film attracted were male viewers over the age of 25. Dredd didn’t appeal to women around the world and it didn’t even appeal to most people under the age of 25. This is one of the reasons why it lost money at the box office as it didn’t appeal to all markets. 69% of viewers were over 25 and 75% of viewers were male. 

Dredd Reaserch

Dredd Reaserch

Dredd is based on a British comic strip which tells of his stories in mega city 1 which is a section of America that is blocked off to the rest of the world or the cursed earth as it is known in the comics. Judge Joseph Dredd is a law enforcer who is the most famous of the street judges and he instantly convicts and executes criminals. 2000 AD is an anthology of comics based on Dredd and it was published by IPC Magazines in 1977. In December 1975 Kevin Gosnell who was a sub-editor at IPC Magazines read an article talking about science fiction films. He suggested the company should get involved and create a science fiction comic. IPC asked Pat Mills who was a freelance writer and editor to develop the idea. John Wagner got involved as script adviser and the pair went to work coming up with the title 2000 AD as they thought the comics wouldn't last that long. The film was produced by Pete Travis and he produced other films such as Hangman, Legacy and Vantage point. He was not the actual producer of Dredd until 2010 which was late in the production and the film was given the green light in 2008 with a $45 million dollar budget and made even less by grossing $36 million at the box office. This was unexpected at the films was produced in 3D. It was filmed mainly in Cape Town and took 13 weeks. It was shot primarily in 3D using a range of cameras but some scenes were shot it 2D then converted to 3D. As for some of the scenes though a slow motion camera was used to capture more detail.
The marketing used in this film were awful as they only produced posters and a website for the film and the website didn't do to well. One of the mail problems was that the film was marketed in 3D and not many cinemas showed the film in actual 3D. 
A comic book was released at the time of the film and the comic was used as a prequel to the film allowing the readers to know about Ma-Ma's life before Dredd and how slo-mo was created.
The Critics gave Dredd a mixture of ratings giving it a overall rating of 59%. Some critics said the film was a great sci-fi action film and others said the film dragged and wasn't very good.

My opinion of Dredd is that the film is an amazing sci-fi action film as it involves some great scenes such as the workers being chucked of the top of the building while on slo-mo. I like how they have made the film modern and how it has come a long way since the comic strips such as 2000 AD. Karl Urban played Judge Dredd very well even though you didn’t get to actually see his face throughout the film he stayed in character and his facial expressions helped him with being the perfect Dredd. The violence and gore added to the film made it more enjoyable. The use of a made up drug such as slo-mo made the film spectacular as the scenes where people used slo-mo you could see every single detail.