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UK Film Industry Information

If I was trying to define UK film I would immediately get into confusion due to they’re not being any clear definition of it. There are many things to consider when defining a UK film. 

There are films which in many aspects could be British for being set in the UK - Bridget Jones diary.

Focus on British people abroad - 4.3.2.1

Predominantly British Cast - Harry Potter and The Philosophers Stone

Storyline about an aspect of British life - Kidulthood, The Kings Speech

Based on work by a British author - Atonement by Ian McEwan

British Director - Slumdog Millionaire by Danny Boyle

Based on a British person - The Queen

UK Film Industry

There are three things that the UK film industry do, They are as follows 1. (Most lucrative)- Provision of resources for Hollywood films, talent/facilities/tax regime, so American studios come over to Britain. 2.Makes indigenous films about British life shot in the UK. 3. Makes films shot abroad under co-production, which means that they have the idea but then get the backing from the US an example of a film made in this way would be Scott Pilgrim Vs The World.

My definition of the UK film industry

The film must be made by a company in the UK.

70% of the production cost of the film must be spent on film making activity in the UK.

70% of the total cost must have been paid to citizens of the commonwealth.,

75% of the total labour cost must have been paid to citizens of the commonwealth.

No more than 10% must not be comprised of another film makers work.

UK Films Worldwide

The UK film industry hit it's prime in the 1940's With J Arthur Rank, he produced some of the finest films ever made in the UK with the likes of Carry-Ons, The Red Shoes, Henry V and A Matter of Life and Death. 
The UK has created some of the biggest actors and directors examples would be Sean Connery, Lawrence Oliver, Alfred Hitchcock and Charlie Chaplin.
Harry Potter and James Bond are two of the highest grossing film-franchises of all time and they were constructed in the UK film industry.
Hollywood films also contain many British actors and actresses, to name a few; Hugh Grant, Simon Pegg, Kate Winslet, Colin Firth and Michael Caine.
Many events and stories of British history are used in films for example, Titanic, The Queen and The Kings Speech.
In 2009 British films grossed 2 billion worldwide market share was 7% globally and 17% in the UK. The UK film industry employ 36,000 people in the UK and 63,000 indirectly(employing a business not individual people. For example, Caterers). Contributes on average 1.6 billion into UK GDP. UK box office stats for 2009 were £ 944 million - 173 million admissions.


Case Study on UK Film Slumdog Millionaire
The rags to riches theme in Slumdog Millionaire makes the film appeal to both UK and Bollywood audiences, It is a staple of of UK and Bollywood. A common convention of Bollywood films is a fantasy sequence an example of this in Slumdog Millionaire would be when the boys jump off the train and are 7 years older. Slumdog was made Independently so the big 5 were not involved in producing the film, The big five consist of 20th Century Fox, RKO Pictures, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.  It topped the weekend box office charts for four weeks in 2009 more than any other film in 2009. Slumdog Millionaire was also the highest grossing UK independent film as it earned over £31 million.

Slumdog Millionaire is based on the book q&a by Vikas Swarup. Simon Beaufoy was the screen writer and British production companies Celador and Film4 invited Danny Boyle read the script, he was hesitant due to the fact that Celador made 'Who wants to be a millionaire' in the UK. Warner Independent Pictures who are USA based paid five million dollars to have distribution rights in America. For Boyle to create Slumdog Millionaire he watched many Bollywood films as research.

Marketing
Pathe is a French businesses founded and originally run by the Pathé Brothers of France. It was founded in  Paris, France on 28 September 1896, it focuses on digital marketing as an effective way to raise awareness of the film. For Slumdog the target audience is Danny Boyle enthusiasts and Bollywood movie goer.


Distribution
In August 2007 Warner Independent Pictures acquired the north american rights distribution in August 2007,  Pathe  got the international rights to distribute Slumdog Millionaire. In May 2008, Warner Independent Pictures was shut down and all of its projects being transferred to Warner Bros,  Which is its parent studio Warner Bros doubted the commercial prospects of Slumdog Millionaire and suggested that it would go straight to DVD without a US Cinema release. In August 2008, the studio began searching for buyers for various products, to relieve its overload of end of the year films.
Halfway through the month, Warner Bros entered into a pact with Fox Searchlight buying 50% of Warner interest in the movie and handling US distribution. Following the films box office (barring North America) it grossed $16 million from 34 markets in the week following the academy awards. Worldwide, the film has currently grossed over $377 million.

Exhibition
Slumdog Millionaire was realeased on 9th January 2009 as an art house film.  It soon became a mainstream film. This was because of the amount of viewers wanting to see the film. In the opening weekend Slumdog made £2 million in the UK and was shown in 324 screens over the UK.
 

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Reviewing UK Films

Slumdog Millionaire
Slumdog Millionaire is a British romantic drama film directed by Danny Boyle. Loveleen Tandan co-directed the when the scenes where shot in India, Simon Beaufoy is the screen write. The main actor is Dav Patel and Freida Pinto and the story is about a boy who goes from rags to riches. The story starts with Jamal playing ' Who Wants to be a Millionaire' for every question he gets right there is a flashback of his childhood and teenage years and so tells a story of how he knew all the answers to the questions. Slumdog is based on the book Q&A by Vikas Swarup

The conventions of this type of film are going from rags to riches and it ending up all good in the end. Jamal goes from being a Slumdog to a millionaire and he finds the love of his life against all odds. This is common to UK films for example Billy Elliot, wanting to be a dancer but his father wouldn't allow it in the end his dad turns up to one of his dancing competitions and is allowed to carry on dancing.
 

The flashbacks to tell the story of Jamal's journey to be a millionaire, make the film more interesting and keep us interested. The film uses two times one where he is sitting in a room being interrogated and one were he is growing up to his present age. This doesn't give a clear time of when narrative is used to tell the story. Jamal playing to win a million and the story of his childhood. Danny Boyle used actors from Bollywood because they had experience in the type of film he wanted to make, so they could help him with their insight and experience  and because they were not Hollywood actors they would not bring along the baggage of a big personality therefore he could work with them without any trouble and demands. He did not want to make a typical blockbuster film and so none of the actors were particularly well known and Danny Boyle could focus on what he wanted to do.  

Celador produced the film and Danny Boyle wasn't sure whether to get involved as they also made 'Who wants to be a Millionaire' and Danny Boyle didn't think they had the experience or ideas that he did and wanted someone he would get involved with to have. He was impressed with the script from Simon Beaufoy and so decided to put he could work with it. Danny Boyle is known for making interesting stories that are unusual and gripping and Slumdog Millionare is no different to this. Simon Beaufoy visited India in order to write the script Latika, Jamal and Samil are represented as having a bond that brings them together despite the fact that they often break up thoughout the film and at one point Jamal hates his brother. Near the end of the film Salim makes a sacrifice which shows the bond they all share.

In my opinion Slumdog millionaire is a good British Film this is because I think that it has drama, tension and the fairytale happy ending that I like to see and many others do too. I believe that the audience would not be disappointed by this Danny Boyle film as they know from his previous films to expect a bit of grit, drama and humour with a magical feel to it. This film would not disappoint as it fulfills all of the typical Boyle characteristics.



Moon
Moon is a film by Duncan Jones who co-wrote the script with Nathan Parker and stars Sam Rockwell. It is a different type of film as there is only one character throughout the film. There are a couple of voice overs from actors. It is about a man who goes to the moon when he nears the end of a three-year solitary stint another version of him turns up they both beieve that the otherone is a clone. Sam Rockwell was used because he could act like two completely different people which was essential to the persona of each clone. It follows the conventions of a Sci-Fi film in that the use of technology, out of the ordinary concepts and ideas. Moon was filmed in 33 days.

The film is seen from the viewpoint of Sam Rockwell and it follows his story in every scene. The two clones are characterised quite differently, one has spent 3 years on the moon and is in denys that anything stange could be going on and the other is quick to fiqure it out that something is not quite as it appears. Conflict and climax is used to reveal all the other clones. Moon was made on a relatively cheap budget of $5 million as the moon base was made out of wood in a studio. CGI was also used to tint the walls with detail and models of cars were used with fish wire to pull them along. Duncan James grew up watching sci-fi films and wanted to make a sci-fi film of his own.

Duncan Jones started his career by making adverts in a short space of time and on a small budget. This made him suitable for making film on a small budget. He has also worked on mindgame films, which showed in the film Moon. He took a degree in Philosophy and this may have influenced him to make a film that highlighted the moral issue of cloning. Big corporate companies are being portrayed as cold and aviscious. I liked the film and think that it would appeal to the target audience of sci-film lovers. Because of it being an art house film it can be as unusual and as interesting as it likes and this makes it more than your typical sci-fi film. The deeper and complicated storyline would give the film an appeal to non sci-fi enthusiasts. I personally enjoyed this film and would definitely watch it again.

 

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Film Treatment

I plan for my film to be a documentary following the rise to fame of British boy band, ‘The Wanted’ rather than a fictional film. I think that it would sell extremely well as they have a huge fan base, also known as The TWFanmily.  They are not only popular in the UK but places such as Singapore, Germany and Japan. Their first and second singles, All Time Low and Heart Vacancy charted at Number 1 and 2 in the UK, they are going from strength to strength as their fan base grows bigger and bigger on a daily basis. A week after the second single came the release of their first album titled ‘The Wanted’ which got to number 4 in the UK album chart.  For a relatively unknown band this is quite an achievement. Their first single, ‘All Time Low,’ now has almost 10 million views on YouTube.

The Boys are from England and Ireland. The eldest two of The WANTED are from the North-West of England both Tom and Max are from Greater Manchester, Bolton and Salford to be precise. Jay is from Nottingham in the East Midlands; Nathan is the only one from the South West region of England as he is from Gloucester. Siva is the Irish band member as he is from Dublin. They are from normal working class backgrounds, and Siva was the only one making a break but not in music, he was a model with his twin brother Kumar. You might recognise Max from the boy band Avenue who made it to the live shows of X Factor(British Talent Contest) but then got kicked off for having a manager.

The final 10 people that had been whittled down from 5000 people included two of Siva’s brothers. They were formed in 2009 and it was Jayne Collins who put them together from a mass audition process, she is the lady who is known for singing ‘No turning back’, she starred on Baywatch and also put massive girl group The Saturdays together. They soon started to gel as soon as they heard All Time Low as that was the sound they wanted to make not that of your typical boy band where the whole album sounds the same, they wrote about 50% of their album and then people such as Taio Cruz, Guy Chambers and Steve Mac also wrote and produced some of the tracks. Ed Drewett, the man who sang on Professor Green’s I Need You Tonight co-wrote All Time Low with Steve Mac and Wayne Hector.

Geffen the boys record label took a big chance on the boys recording their album before even releasing a song, but there was a lot of belief in the 5 young lads and they have since delivered so therefore Geffen’s Faith in them paid off. In February 2011they confirmed they had been chosen to do the 2011 official comic relief single ‘Gold Forever’ which charted at number 1 on downloads and number 3 on physical copies that is a huge success and for such an amazing cause. They now have a staggering 27 million upload views on YouTube and growing likes on Facebook and follows on Twitter both as a group and individual ones. 

I think that with them being chosen to release the single for the cause has helped me choose Richard Curtis as the director as he is British and is one of the founders of comic relief, he is the man who directed Love Actually and he wrote Bridget Jones’s Diary and Notting Hill, these films are all funded Working Title who are a British production company so they have worked together with Curtis before. He tends to do comedies so with The WANTED’s typical boyish charms and from watching their WantedWednesday flip video’s they upload each Wednesday they all seem to be very genuine down to earth funny lads with a good sense of humour, laughing at each other and themselves. They seem to fit hand and hand with Richard Curtis.

I think that the film should start with early archive footage that their parents have taken, not too much being brief by showing pictures and clips just to get a drift of what sort of background they are from and what sort of avenues they grew up on. In this part of the film I would have more of an interview with their parent/parents than archive footage as I can only use 5% of that. I have researched that some of them don’t have contact with a parent as they have passed away, so just the necessary most important people that have brought them up. From there I would have a big jump in age some bigger than others and carry on with an interview with them about Secondary school and have siblings talking as they all have at least one brother or sister.

The way I would like the middle of the documentary to go would be from the Audition process to them on the road to their first release and in that I would have recorded them at shows like This Morning and GMTV. On the radio tour they did I would have filmed them at relevant cities on there like Manchester, Bolton, Gloucester and Nottingham to see how their home towns reacted to there new found fame.

The end will start with them arriving at radio one at 6 o’clock on Sunday evening the 1st of August 2010 when they had done all that was physically possibly to get them into at least the top 10. Nathan thought that they had been set up and they were number 41 and was going to get sent home at 7pm being told sorry lads you didn’t make the top 40. They were at BBC studio and they were on webcam to many girls with there fingers crossed, and they did it they got to number 1 and they went absolutely mental in the studio. Girls flooded social networking sites as not only the boys dreams had come true but the TWFanmily had began to make a movement with the boys. The next bit of the film could include interviews with the hardcore ‘The WANTED’ fans who age from 8 to 28 as there are the little cuties that like them to the older girls who shouldn’t like them but they are a guilty pleasure or not so guilty in many fans cases! There is even a twitter account called The Wanted Cougars for the older generation of The WANTED fans. Then there was the release of their book The Wanted: Our story, Our Way which sold off the shelves like hot cakes, showing one or two of the signings with  Fans screaming and shouting for their favourite member.

The penultimate bit could jump 6 months to them being told that their single has been chosen to be the Comic relief official single and performing it on the night, With the film right at the end there could be a shot of the boys families together saying how proud of the boys they are just going to start there first headline tour. The final scene can be of The WANTED’s thank you to there friends, family and fanmily.

       
I believe that my film is a UK Film as it has British Actors, British Director and Set in Britain just to name a few things.

Budget

Microphone rental - £420 a day

Camera rental - £550 a day

Light rental - £95 a day

DV tape stock - £100

Wardrobe - I would like them to wear stuff they would every day to give a homely relaxed feel to the film.

Makeup - £200 a day

Catering - contacted company for a qoute

Toilets - £200 a day

Cabins - contacted company for a qoute

Petty cash £750

Transport for equipment and personnel £90,000
DV tape stock £100
Props (Sofa, Table, Chairs) - £1500

Time Consumption for:
Filming
Interviews - 6 days
Gigs and Festivals - 3 days
Radio 1, magazines and papers- 2 days
Planning for tour and deciding songs - 4 days
Touring - 2 days (so if one day goes wrong the next is for back up, preferably in Manchester as there will be 2 nights at the same place and 2 of the members are from there.)

Editing
Editing should only take 2 weeks as I want it to be as natural as possible.

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Presenting ideas and evaluations

I presented my ideas to a focus group of girls aged between 11 and 25 years old who i felt would fall within the target audience of the band. The majority of the feedback that they gave me was positive. From what they said the film will appeal to the vast majority of young females who either like their music or have a crush on a band member. It may also have an appeal to music fans in general and even guys who like the group.  The band are very popular at the moment and have just finished their first headline tour at very prestigious venues and so have a huge following. With the success they are enjoying at the moment, I am certain that this film would appeal to a wide audience and make them want to go and see it. The film may also appeal to people who are not necessarily fans of the band as the 'rags to riches' story of the five band members may be of interest to them and inspire them to follow their dreams. 

I think that my film would be interesting to watch as it would be very tense and exciting from the outset as the film starts with the latter stages of the auditions for places in the band. We follow the forming of the band and the road to success.

With regards to  feasibility of making the film, I do not think that the film would be too costly to make as I feel that although they are enjoying huge success at the moment, they are not too 'big' and still have their feet firmly on the ground. They are down to earth guys who reply to fans on Twitter on a daily basis and I think this is helped by their working class backgrounds. They do not take their success for granted and appreciate that their fans got them where they are today and so I think that they would be happy and not too demanding in helping to make my film. My focus group and client believe that the biggest problem that I might have is getting interviews with the band itself as they have a very busy schedule, The Client and myself had a discussion about this and decided that it wouldn't be as big of a problem with it being over such a long period of time. Another comment that the focus group mentioned was my idea of including some of the flips, (they would be chosen by a poll on the website) because they have been seen many times before the fans but I personally feel that the inclusion of these is not an issue as the fans enjoy watching them over and over again. The only other thing which was brought up was would enough males buy the DVD when released but again I think we could overcome that by including a extra's on the DVD with a how to learn the guitar, as Tom and Siva play the guitar. The client wants me to change the director from Richard Curtis to someone who has directed one of their music videos.

With JLS releasing a film I think that there would be a greater rivalry between The Wanted and JLS, The Wanted always thank JLS for bringing boy bands back. But The Wanted didn't have to go on a show like X Factor to start a hype, I think people prefer it when groups make it through working hard instead of going on a talent show which gives them instant fame and people get sucked in by the hype which is X Factor. They don't necessarily like the group for their music but because it's the 'in' thing to do. Saying that The Wanted are completely different band to JLS, JLS are more pop/RnB and The Wanted are pop/rock/indie but like everything there is always comparisons made. I think if we were to release them at the same time or like a week apart it would work better as then neither of their fans could argue and say well such and such copied us it save that argument.

In conclusion I think that I should change the director to Nigel Dick the man who directed The Wanted's Lose My Mind, Band Aid  Do They Know It's Christmas and Oasis' Wonderwall. I also believe that watching Don't Look Back the documentary on Bob Dylan might give me more ideas and I should watch that and more music documentaries.