Research and Analysis of British Film Idea Essays

Research and Analysis of British Film Idea Essays Research and Analysis of British Film Idea Essay Research and Analysis of British Film Idea Essay The first question I asked myself was what makes a British film? I found out that British films tend to be set in British locations, for instance, Bend it like Beckham and Love Actually were set around London, because it represents Great Britain. Also, these films tend to not include Hollywood actors, but British stars, with English accents, to help determine that these are British films and not American ones. Therefore, my film will also contain British locations and British actors. I found out the difference between a British and an American film is mainly the budget and the narrative codes. American studios are several times larger than British ones, especially due to Fox, Universal and Warner Brothers. Their production value looks more polished, due to the millions of dollars that are put into one film. However, British films rely on Independent film companies, which tend to have low budgets and are sometimes seen as being artistic and edgy, centring serious themes. As money is an issue for British films, I looked at the current trend of UK audiences who go to the cinema. With this information, I can base my film idea to suit the target audience who visit the cinema more frequently, as this would then hopefully increase profits for my film. The graph below shows that even 20 years ago, there was a greater percentage of 15-24 year olds who went to the cinema, and throughout the years, this age range has still been the most frequent visitors. Due to this information, I decided that I would like to work in the Romance/Coming-of-Age genre, as this targets the 15-24 audience range and they will be able to relate to the film, making the film appeal to them. As a result of this, I will be looking at different romantic films, from romcoms to romantic dramas. Therefore, it will help me create my own romantic film idea, as I can develop the same narrative codes from those films into mine. Next, I asked myself what type of audience watch romantic films? I researched by watching popular romantic films, such as, Notting Hill, The Notebook and Twilight. My research showed me that these films are targeted mainly at women, as these films portray a strong representation of women and the genre tends to be very emotive, which is known as a tearjerker and women are known to be more sensitive than men. As well as this, a lot of romantic films are also targeted at couples, as the conflicts normally revolve around relationships and dealing with its issues. Therefore, I will target my film at couples and women, as they will be able to identify with the film. I will have to make sure that my British film is successful aboard too. For instance, Notting Hill is a British film and it was extremely popular in America, as it totalled over $27.7 million on its opening weekend, breaking American box office records. Therefore, I asked myself was what kind of British films have been successful in the UK and aboard recently? The answer is Slumdog Millionaire, as it made over 25 times the amount of money it cost to make the film and won 8 Academy Awards. So why was it so popular? Its because it showed realistic elements of everyday life and contained nail biting drama, with elements of romance, which proves that romance is still a popular genre amongst audiences. With all this research, I have finally created a synopsis, which contains elements of everyday life and romance. My story will follow a teenage girl (Olivia Collette), who is studying her first year of BTech Art ; Design, in College. Her ambition is to make it as an artist, however, her parents dont consider her chosen course to be a suitable enough subject and they dont have any faith in her. She feels shes loosing hope and isnt going to succeed, until she meets a teenage boy (Cameron Fisher), who supports and guides her in the right direction. My film idea follows Vladimir Propps theory about characters, as I have included a princess (Olivia), a hero (Cameron) and villains (Olivias parents). This will help to make my film more interesting, as there will be conflicts/drama between the princess and the villains. This then follows Tzvetan Todorovs theory about equilibrium and disruptions in the narrative. The film will be called Broken Seams, as its a metaphor of how the female protagonist feels before she meets her love interest and the one line pitch is A young artist with no faith in herself, meets an ordinary boy who shows her the meaning of belief. In conclusion, with all my research and findings, this hopefully shows that my British, romantic/coming-of-age drama will be a success in the UK and aboard.