We are now studying contemporary British cinema in media.
In Today's media lesson we made a mini presentation on British film production companies, Film 4 and Working title. we just found some background information, about start dates and founders etc.. then what sort of film they produce, i.e. blockbusters or art house film etc... We also looked at what films they had made, and if they were classified as British.
Working Title made - Love actually and Notting hill, which Georgia and myself both decided were very British, but they also made Bridget Jone's diary, which we were unsure about.
Film 4 made - Clueless, I Robot, This is England and many more lower budget art house films, we had quite alot of trouble, as i gather you can see, deciding if these were British film or not, as even though they have British funding, there very Americanised. (if that's a real word)
And that was our Media lesson!
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Hi Danni,
ReplyDeleteIt's great to see you posting more regularly now.
The whole issue of defining a national cinematic culture, when so much funding these days is international in its nature, is a fascinating area.
Can we make defintions regarding national cinema based on content, style, the technicians and other creatives wotking behind the scenes, or other criteria?
Taking Bridget Jones as an example, although the story is British and the film is set in Britain, I find myself feeling uneasy about the fact the role is played by an American actress, rather than a British one. That's not to say that Rene Zellwegger does a bad job, but if we're looking for authenticity and the promotion of cinema that's directly tied to a sense of modern British life (although the film deals with universal themes of angst ridden 30 somethings in urban society), is it reasonable to assume that no British actress was either available or good enough for the role?
Keep on thinking, reading, listening to Mrs F and questioning. I'll ask you what you think again in a couple of weeks' time! S