By Saima Rashid

What is a British film?

A British film is something that we can perceive as culturally British. This could be

something such as landmarks, history or even something simple like humour.

British films usually focus more on real life , such as people in the working class or with little money . They are usually problematic

and tell life how it is.

What makes a British film?

For a film to classed as British it has to meet at least 3 of the following :

Has a British producerHas a British production team

A British directorA predominately British cast

A subject matter that informs the British experienceA British identity as defined by sight and sound magazine in

the review section

Which then leads it into a category-1. An entirely British film

2. Majority UK funded3. More common co-funding scenario

4. Describes a US film with some creative input from the UK

Case study 1-

Case study 1-

The James Bond series is a commercial and mass market film that focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming.Eon Productions is a British film production company known for producing the James Bond film series. The company is based in London's Piccadilly and also operates from Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom. It is a subsidiary of Danjaq LLC, the holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks to the Bond characters and elements on screen. James bond has British cast members and is financially funded by united artist which is a American film and entertainment company which makes it a majority UK funded film.

Case study 1-

Case study 2-Harry Potter is a commercial film series based on the Harry Potter novels by a British author J. K. Rowling. The series is distributed by Warner Bros. The series was mainly produced by David Heyman and stars three British actors ,Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson as the three leading characters: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Four directors worked on the series: Chris Columbus who is an American film maker. Alfonso Cuarón who is a Mexican film producer,director,editor and screen writer. Mike Newell is a English director and producer of motion pictures for television and film. And David Yates is an English film maker.

Because harry potter has had a number of British producer and strictly British cast members and also based on a British book and filmed in the uk therefore it classifies as a British film however it isn't a entirely British film because of involvement from other countries and funding from America therefore it leads into the category more common co-funding scenario film.

All eight movies had their screenplays written by Steve Kloves who is an American screenwriter, with the exception of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (2007), written by Michael Goldenberg. Production took over ten years to complete, with the main story arc following Harry Potter's quest to overcome his arch-enemy Lord Voldemort. Harry potter had 5 producers over the series , David haymens is an English producer who produced the first 8 instalments. Chris Columbus is an American film maker who produced harry potter and the chamber of secrets. Mark Radcliffe is an American film producer and one of the producers of the first three Harry potter films. David Barron is a British film producer he also had involvement in producing of the fifth sixth seventh and eighth harry potter movies. JK Rowling is a British novelist who also participated in producing the last harry potter movie.

Case study 3-Kidulthood is a 2006 British drama film about the life of several teenagers in Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road area of inner west London. It was directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke, who also stars in the film and directed the sequel, Adulthood. The majority of the characters in the film generally behave in a violent and lawless manner. They are portrayed as being reckless and antisocial young people who commit crimes such as petty theft and serious violence. The film also showcases how the characters engage in recreational drug taking and some sexual behaviour. Directed by Menhaj Huda (born 20 March 1967) is a Bangladesh-born British film and television director and producer. Huda produced as well as directed Kidulthood and won British independent film awards. It was written by Noel Anthony Clarke (born 6 December 1975) is an English actor, screenwriter and director from London. The cast are all mainly British actors and the film is distributed by Revolver Entertainment which is a based in the United Kingdom and the United States, however because the head quarters is in the united kingdom. And therefore this film is entirely British because the cast, the distributor and the director are all British. Kidulthood was produced in by London hip-hop group Arkane who wrote the title track for the film. The film was principally shot in the actual areas in which it is set around west London and therefore this independent movie is demographic and niche and only had a budget of £600,000.