Flipped classroom lesson 3 - the british film industry
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BTEC level 3 media film and television flipped classroom learning experience focused on the British film industry.
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- The British Film Industry What you need to know
- British film industry What youll learn in this flipped
classroom lesson: Brief history of British film British film as
cottage industry Hollywood versus Britain how do we compete?
Funding in Britain What we expect you to show us for the first
lesson of this unit: British cinema timeline Notes on key players
in British industry Answers to the box office questions Notes
(maybe a mind-map) about the different funding avenues available
for UK film-makers
- Brief history of British film Screen online is the BFIs
educational hub. Check our their timeline of British cinema. Create
your own timeline on A3 paper which includes: When major film
studios set up and closed their doors. Why did they stop producing
films? Significant film releases in each decade Major changes
regarding censorship, tax and funding. What are the five most
interesting things you learned from this timeline that you didnt
know before about British film?
- Review your notes, have you mentioned the following key points:
Primitives and pioneers of British Cinema Check your learning Key
early studios: British Mutoscope and Biography Company, and The
Gaumont Company (both set up in late 1890s) Cecil Hepworth key
player in early British film published first manual of
cinematography. He set up a lab and production house in
Walton-on-Thames, Surrey. G.A.Smith and Charles Urban patented
Kinemacolor in 1906 which allowed them to make the first natural
colour films. Turbulent modern era Decline in cinema attendance as
television licences increase 1975 introduction of Dolby Stereo
optical sound 1907 Balham Empire became the first theatre dedicated
entirely to film screenings. Goldcrest Pictures formed 1909
Cinematography Films Act gives local authorities censorship control
over screenings in their area. 1981: Rank closes 29 cinemas 1912
the British Board of Film Censors established (now called the
British Board of Film Classification) 80s video nasty moral panic
as horror films become available on video Several film studios,
including Twickenham and Elstree are set up in the mid- 1910s 1982-
Film Four set up 1984 introduction of the Video Recordings Act
Palace Pictures begins production Thatcher abolishes the Eady Levy
British Screen Finance Consortium set up with 2 million government
funding to support industry Historical epic Revolution (1985) is a
massive flop putting Goldcrest at risk 1992 The Crying Game is
released despite the bankruptcy of Palace Pictures during
production Finance (No 2) Act introduction to accelerate tax relief
Palace group goes into receivership 1995 Lottery Film Found
established 1997- DVD introduced FilmFour Ltd becomes a separate
company focusing on higher budget films Launch of UK Film Council
2000 2002 massive cuts to FilmFour 2010 abolishment of UK Film
Council BFI take over UK Film Councils responsibilities 1920s
Cinematography Act establishes quota for film exhibitors Alfred
Hitchcock releases the first British sound feature Blackmail (1929)
1930s BBFC introduces the H certificate for Horror J.Arthur Rank
(key player in British Cinema) forms British National Films
1940s-1960s 1947 Government decrees 75% tax on US film profits
Hammer Horror set up Nitrate film begins to disappear with the
introduction of Eastman Color positive and negative Eady Plan
imposes levies on box office takings to support British film
production Introduction of the X certificate for adults Obscene
Publications Act revised introduces a defence of artistic merit.
British New Wave Kitchen Sink Dramas and documentaries Release of
several large-scale projects such as Ben Hur (196) and Lawrence of
Arabia (1962) James Bond franchise begins
- Key players in Britain Check out the profiles of these key
players in British cinema. Why did some of these studios close down
whilst others survived? Make notes from the links provided. MGM
British Studios Palace Pictures FilmFour The Rank Organisation BBC
Film Working Title Films
- Who are the UKs main competitor? Check out the all-time most
successful films at the UK box office How many of the films are
British? How many of these films were co-productions? Which country
dominates the UK box office?
- Should we really be saying hooray for Hollywood? Hollywood
dominates the international film market. Why? There are six major
studios who are owned by international mass media conglomerates.
Sony own Columbia Pictures Time Warner own Warner Bros. Pictures
The Walt Disney Company own Walt Disney Pictures Comcast and
NBCUniversal own Universal News Corporation own 20th Century Fox
Viacom own Paramount Pictures There are several mini-majors who are
also owned by conglomerates. The conglomerates own a number of
different organisations in different industries across the world.
They are vertically and horizontally integrated (meaning they have
several companies in production, distribution and exhibition) which
allows films guaranteed distribution and exhibition internationally
and opens doors for lots of cross-media projects and synergy to
increase profit.
- Hollywood versus Britain how do we compete? Hollywood Britain
When British studios have tried to Hollywood film studios are owned
by compete with Hollywood with highlarge global media budget
productions they have conglomerates. These are big companies who
own lots of smaller often failed causing studios to go (or
subsidiary) companies in bust. different industries. The best way
for Britain to compete is This enables Hollywood film studios to to
offer something different. benefit from vertical and horizontal
Therefore we focus on indigenous integration. They also benefit
from productions with specifically synergy because they can make
British themes. These may lots of other media products as emphasise
minority voices or spin-offs of their films. regionality. The
majors tend to produce highbudget, high concept films. They British
producers have to find tend not to invest in risky independent
distributors for their projects, preferring safe films because they
are productions which can easily be independent therefore cannot
marketed to a global audience. Feeling adventurous? Read more here
benefit from vertical and horizontal integration. Social realism,
heritage films (great exports), romcoms and British
- Key terms Not sure what some of the words in this PowerPoint
mean? Check them out in the industries glossary on Moodle
- British film as cottage industry British film is a small-scale
industry in comparison to Hollywood. It is a localised industry
which tends to target British audiences primarily. Its very easy to
think of British cinema in very one dimensional ways though. See
how different these examples are: Colin (2008) was made for 45. The
producers advertise for zombie extras in the national press. The
independent production was picked up by a distributor and shown at
Cannes Film Festival in 2009 and made $798 in the opening weekend
in one screen in the UK. This is England (2006) is a film focusing
on 80s skinheads in the Midlands region. It was a coproduction
between several companies and was a likely contender for national
and regional funding schemes because it focused on an
under-represented British region and was directed by a British
auteur. The regional funding body Screen Yorkshire; the national
funding body UK Film Council and private regional funding body EM
Media all invested in the film. It was also supported by Channel 4s
film subsidiary FilmFour and the spin-off series was screened on
the television channel. Warp Films was also involved in the film,
an independent production house who originally focused on music and
music videos but have gone on to produce highly successful UK
films, including This is England, Four Lions and Tyrannosaur. Harry
Potter (2001- ) it can be difficult to think of the Harry Potter
series as British because they have all the trademarks of Hollywood
high concept films. However, all of the films feature a large
British cast and crew, and were filmed in the UK. While the
productions were supported by Warner Brothers, the Hollywood major
worked in co-production with British company Heyday films (set up
by ex-Warner Brothers employee David Heyman) and American
production company 1492 Pictures. For large scale productions like
this, Britain often has to turn to the US for collateral, but it
pays off. Harry Potter has brought enormous tourism and employment
to the UK.
- Funding in Britain 1) One of the main sources of government
funding (through the lottery fund) was the UK Film Council. Their
funding schemes now exist in new formats through the British Film
Institute. 2) There are also a number of regional screens which
support filming in local areas. Screen Yorkshire and Film London
are examples of these. 3) European Councils MEDIA programme
supports European productions and co-productions between companies
in different European countries 4) British television channels BBC
and Channel Four have film subsidaries as we have seen 5)
Co-productions with Hollywood studios can help large scale projects
get off the ground. Working Titles relationship with Universal
means the British production house is perhaps our most successful.
6) Raindance support independent filmmakers with support, training,
funding and an annual film festival. 7) Creative Skillset are the
first port of call for most producers looking for advice and
training. 8) Filmmakers can also raise money through private
investment and crowdsourcing websites like indiegogo. Click on the
links above and make notes about the different funding sche
available to British filmmakers.