British Cinema Research

Films that are showing this week in GREENWICH ODEON;

HUGO - USA

IMMORTALS - USA

50/50 - USA

A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR CHRISTMAS - USA

DESI BOYZ - INDIA

NEW YEARS EVE - USA

IN TIME - USA

THE BIG YEAR - USA

THE HELP - USA/INDIA/UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

THE THING - USA/CANADA

LADIES VS. RICKY BAHL - INDIA

HAPPY FEET 2 - AUSTRALIA

ARTHUR CHRISTMAS - UK/USA

PUSS IN BOOTS - USA

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN PT 1 - USA

     Out of 15 films, 13 of them are from or are involved in co-production with the USA. These are all films being currently shown in the UK but only one is partly produced by the UK itself in a standard multiplex cinema.

The majority of films targeted for a younger audience (certificate 'U') do reinforce contemporary western culture in a positive way. For example, Arthur Christmas reinforces the ideology of a typical Christianity involved christmas. Also, the ideas of greed, happiness and positivity in reinforced all throughout the film.



"Arthur Christmas" film poster



In New Years Eve, the idea of wealth and happiness is shown throughout the film. It shows a American capitalist society, there are no poverty stricken or people with unfortunate backgrounds and upbringings.

"New Year's Eve" film poster

I found that the majority of films shown in the cinemas are from the USA. I believe this is because American companies are more likely to be making films that are likeable by a majority of audiences - English, American and any other.

This also may because of the time of year, as we are coming up to Christmas and the American companies are not only planning christmas films for a long time, they're are expected to release films around these times by the audiences. There is a lot of competition around this time too. This results in people eager to see what companies have to offer this year and who are going to do best.

I think that these films are more popular with an audience because these are the ones that have proved to be better in previous times. Although English films do well, American films always tend to do better and get the better recognition, but they're expected to do so. When an English film does well, often there is alot of banter in the media because it is so unlikely.

When targeting a british audience, British films may have trouble with drawing the attention to themselves and away from American films. They may also have problems with breaking the stereotypes of their films being bad, and not very good reviews from Media Critics.

Production Issues For The King's Speech & See-Saw.

Genre: Drama

Target Audience: 45 years+, mostly females of upper/middle class.

Niche or Mainstream? I believe The King's Speech began as a  Niche film but surprising 

Director? Tom Hooper. He is a british film director & began making mini films at at the age of 13. He has also directed popular programmes like Eastenders, Byker Grove and Cold Feet.



Casting: The cast includes well-known names such as Geoffery Rush, Colin Firth & Jennifer Ehle.
Budget: £8 Million/$15 Million
Producers: Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin.
Script Writer: David Seidler.

The Kings Speech.

Newspaper & Magazine Reviews.

As soon as you begin to search for  newspaper reviews for 'The Kings Speech' the type of newspapers that immediately appear are those of a more intelectual opinion. Tabloid papers are not initially apparent though well-known names such as 'The Guardian' and 'The Observer' are first to appear.

Surprisingly the comments on the Guardian review (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jan/06/the-kings-speech-review) are mainly those of a negative nature although the film is highly praised in other areas, it seems as though the many (stereotypically) middle class readers were not impressed with what they had read but despite the negativity, some users of the site did say they would go on to see the film.

Box Office Statistics.

On the opening weekend of 'The Kings Speech' it made $355,450. The worldwide gross came to the total of $405,518,661.

(info taken from Boxoffice.com - http://www.boxoffice.com/statistics/movies/the-kings-speech-2010)

Social Networking Sites.

Social Networking sites play a major part of promotion for films like this. Official 'like' pages and groups were made on Facebook in honor of the film in the days running up to the release date, informing potentional target audiences on upcoming dates and exclusive information.

Youtube Posts & Comments.

A two minute official trailer on youtube for the film has recieved 1,074,223 views and 1,755 comments in response. The top comment is one of a very positive nature which reads 'great movie for people with real taste!!'  

The trailer also has a whopping 1,852 'likes' in comparison to the 62 dislikes. Youtube is a way for fans & potential target audiences to voice their opinions in different forms. The is also an option to post a video response to the clip.

Certificate.

Initially, 'The Kings Speech' was given a 12 from the BBFC. Although, it was then rated a 15, due the amount of swearing from Colin Firth. Critics to this decision argued that the swearing was not used in a aggressive way but in a theraputic manner, so the film went back to its original rating - 12.

I am a Princess :)

yay me! :D