Film Studies

FM2 is divided into 3 sections. Each will be concerned with a different section of British or American film.

• Section A - is about producers and audiences.

• Section B - is about British film (Working Title)

• Section C - is about American film (comparative study)

American film

Why are American films so successful?

·         Genre

·         Franchises

·         Big Budget, stars, special effects, action scenes, simple stories, happy endings.

·         Populist, escapist entetainment. 

Case studies - The Dark Knight, Harry Potter, Pulp Fiction

Other examples - The Avengers, Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Avatar, Titanic.  

Audience - Entertainment and escape.

Producers - Profit and easy marketing. 

British Film

Why are British films comparitivley unsuccessful?

·         Difficult to characterise

·         Low budgets, no stars, few special effects, few action scenes, complex stories, unusual charaters.

·         Critially acclaimend, but less successful internationaly at the box office.

·         Odd characters, odd premisis. 

Case studies - Submarine, trainspotting

Other Examples - This is England, Bridget Jones' Diary, The full Monty, Hot Fuzz.

Cinemas - Mainstream and Arthouse 

Mainstream - Odeon, cineworld, Vue, Showcase.

·         Popular entertainment

·         Example - The Avengers

·         Marketing - All forms of media, merchandising (ancillary marketing)

Arthouse - Chapter, curzon, watershed.

·         Art/films for a select audience

·         Example - Submarine, the tree of life, the big lebowski, melancholia, buffalo 66

·         Marketing - Internet, viral marketing

New Technology

What has been the impact of new technology in cinema?

·         CGI (computer generated imagery)

·         Digital photography (48 frames per second) - sharper image

·         3D

·         Motion capture - more realistic movements

·         IMAX - bigger screen (Shot to size)

·         Downloadable films.

Case studies - The Dark Knight (IMAX), Harry Potter (CGI) Avatar (3D), The Hobbit (Digital photography) 

Audiences - New experience

Producers - Bigger Profit 

Working Title

• Founded in 1982 by Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner.
• Early success in 1984 - My Beautiful laundrette 
• Other successful films - Bridget Jones, Love actually, Notting Hill. 

Case studies - four weddings and a funeral, shaun of the dead

British Values

• Sense of humour - Cynicism, Irony, Sarcasm, Self-deprecation, wit
• Stoicism - stiff upper lip
• Emotional repression - Detachement
• Obsession with social class
• tradition
• modesty
• fairplay - tollerance
• Sophistication/refinement
• Prudishness
• Pessimism