A2 Examination - Q1(a) definitions

What are media conventions?
Media conventions are the established ways of creating meaning in media texts.  These can be technical (camera, editing, sound and mise-en-scene) or symbolic (see Barthes' codes).  Some things that you might think of in your own product are:

• Camera - shots, movement and angles, e.g a canted angle in a horror
• Editing - e.g. the fast pace of an action movie or flashbacks in a sci-fi film about past events
• Sound - e.g. creepy piano music in a horror or the sounds of battle in a war film (NB don't forget dialogue)
• Mise-en-scene - e.g. in a horror film you might have an isolated house, low-key lighting and a knife glinting in the moonlight (iconography)
• Characters - e.g. vulnerable, attractive female in horror; tough, maverick in action films
• Narrative - e.g. thrillers will provide lots of enigmas and unexpected twists; sci-fi will often involve some sort of major disruption, such as the outbreak of a virus or an invasion by aliens
• Representation - archetypes, stereotypes, typical locations, social groups, national stereotypes etc.
• Genre - all of the above help to establish genre through film language

Also think about the conventions of form (e.g. film opening, trailer, short film).  All of these forms have their own conventions relating to structure.  A film opening will try to create a setup (see here for further info http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Narrative), a trailer will try to create enigmas by showing key extracts from the film and using narrative devices (see here http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Trailers and here http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/a2-examination-q1b-narrative-devices.html) and a short film will try to put across a key message in a short space of time, often using a small number of influential characters.

What is creativity?
"Creativity is just connecting things." (Steve Jobs)
“There is no doubt that creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.” (Edward de Bono)

“Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.” (Mary Lou Cook)

A question on creativity can be related to creative use of research and planning, creative production techniques (e.g. camera, mise-en-scene, sound) and creative post production (e.g. editing and sound effects).  Creativity does not have to be innovative.  As Jobs suggests in the quotation above, it could be simply how you saw a convention in a similar product and used technology to recreate it in your own media product.  A creativity question is often linked to technology.

A2 Examination: Q1(b) definitions

What is film language?

"The cinema is quite simply becoming a means of expression..."  "By language, I mean a form in which and by which any artist can express his thoughts..."  (Asturic 1948)

"Film may not have a grammar, but it does have a system of 'codes'.  It does not, strictly speaking, have a vocabulary but it does have a system of signs and codes of a number of other communication systems."  (Monaco 2000)  NB - see Barthes below

• Film language refers to how meaning is created (stories, characters etc.)
• Film language includes: cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing, sound and dialogue, special effects, genre, narrative and representation.
• Film language is a system of signs - Roland Barthes: enigma code (puzzle to be solved); action code (a code from which we expect to see certain consequences based on other similar films we have seen); semantic code (the connotative meaning of characters, objects or settings, such as the villain dressed all in black); symbolic code (oppositions such as good/evil, light/dark, innocent/corrupt); cultural code (the world outside the film that is referred to, such as the world of adolescent young men in The Inbetweeners Movie)
• Film language is not definitive; it depends on the viewer (spectator) and reception (see Stuart Hall's Reception Theory).
• Also see Michael Wohl.

The media audience 

"There is no stable entity which we can isolate and identify as the media audience, no single object that is unproblematically ‘there’ for us to observe and analyze. … It becomes harder to specify exactly where media audiences begin and end. The conditions and boundaries of audiencehood are inherently unstable."  (Shaun Moores)

1 Who would be your target audience?

In North America (US and Canada), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) carries out research into movie audiences.   They classify audiences as:

• frequent moviegoers (once a month or more)
• occasional (less than once a month)
• infrequent (once in 12 months)
• non-moviegoers (no visits in the last 12 months)

(Don't forget that films can be distributed in a number of other ways (e.g. DVD, Netflix, Youtube, film festivals) and your audience might not access the film in the cinema.)

Frequent moviegoers buy 50% of all tickets sold.

In terms of age groups, the MPAA use the following audience segments:

• 2-11
• 12-17
• 18-24
• 25-39
• 40-49
• 50-59
• 60+

The most frequent moviegoers are the 25-39 age group (about a quarter of all tickets sold) with the 18-24 group in second place. Traditionally, the movie industry chased viewers between the ages of 15-24 because they were considered to have the highest disposable income but movie audiences have been getting older. The gender split for moviegoers is almost 50/50.  Action, fantasy and animation dominate the top 20 box office movies.

In the UK, the British Film Institute (BFI) gather statistics on audiences.  They segment age groups as follows:

• 7-14 (14%)
• 15-24 (33%)
• 25-34 (19%)
• 35-44 (16%)
• 45-54 and 55+ (18%)

Percentage of UK cinema admissions for 2014 in brackets.

The BFI note that animations are particularly popular in the 7-14 group and that comedy and action are very popular with 15-24 year olds.  Action is also very popular with the 25-34 group. Animation is also a genre widely viewed by 35-44s (perhaps because many are mothers and fathers, what we call a secondary audience).  Drama is a genre favoured by 45-54 year olds.  Fantasy is universally popular across the 15-54 age range.  Males prefer action, thriller and comedies while females enjoy a broader range of genres.

You might also consider your audience in terms of demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, family status), geography (residence location, work location, place of birth, choice of recreation area), usage/behaviour  (frequent/infrequent, subscriber/single ticket, plan-ahead/impulse), stated intentions (plan to come more/less/the same, will/will not renew), attitude/belief/opinion (likes/dislikes, preferences, values).

2 How would an audience respond to your product?

• Hypodermic needle theory - this suggests that audiences passively receive the media and rarely use their critical faculties, accepting and absorbing the messages contained within the text.  Theories that argue that audiences are passive are sometimes called manipulative models.
• Theories that argue that audience responses are varied and unpredictable are sometimes called pluralist models.
• Uses and gratifications theory - this suggested that audiences choose their media for a variety of different needs: 1. to escape everyday life; 2. to gain information; 3. because the consumer identifies with characters and/or situations; 4. to interact and discuss what they have consumed with family and friends.  
• Coding and encoding - Stuart Hall argued that audiences readings are determined by their gender, social and ideological positions.  Messages may be encoded with a preferred reading but audiences may have different and alternative interpretations. Hall identified three reception codes: dominant, negotiated and oppositional.  See here for more information: http://www.slideshare.net/dphillips4363/reception-theory-presentation-833299  http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=audience
• Fandom - some consumers have a very close relationship with a product and a high level of interest and devotion.  These fans develop interpretive communities and often have a participatory culture (see Henry Jenkins); in other words, they are very active.
• Spectatorship - film theory is often concerned with the notion of the spectator. Spectatorship is influenced by: where you watch; when you watch; who you watch with; why you are watching; genre; your previous experience; values; morals; beliefs; your ability to suspend disbelief; how questioning (critical) you are; interaction; emotion; cultural/ethnic background; understanding; technology; mood; distractions; prior knowledge (e.g. reviews); expectations; fandom; interpretive reading; attraction; problem-solving; and the impact of the film after it has ended.  
• Audience positioning - how did you as a film-maker position your viewer?  This is the relationship created between your product and the viewer and how you address and communicate with them via film language.  For example, you might want the viewer to sympathise or identify with a particular character and so you might have privileged that character with more shots, perhaps using close-ups and music that helped to develop your desired emotional response.
• Don't forget about your audience feedback.

3 How might content influence who might be able to see your film?

• themes
• offensive language
• violence
• imitable techniques
• horror
• drugs

See the BBFC's guidelines http://www.bbfc.co.uk/what-classification/guidelines

What is genre?

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevel.php?pageID=filmgenre
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/chandler_genre_theory.pdf
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/
http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/intgenre/intgenre5.html

What is narrative?
A narrative is some kind of retelling of something that happened (a story). The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story. While a story is just a sequence of events, a narrative recounts those events, perhaps leaving some occurrences out because they are from some perspective insignificant, and perhaps emphasizing others. In a series of events, a car crash takes a split second. A narrative account, however, might be almost entirely about the crash itself and the few seconds leading up to it. 

David Bordwell  in his essay, Three Dimensions of Narrative, splits the 'narrative' into three areas:

1. "...the story world: its agents, circumstances and surroundings..."
2. "...plot structure, the arrangement of the parts of the narrative..."
3. "...narration, the moment-by-moment flow of information about the story world."

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=narrative
http://www.slideshare.net/petefrasers/narrative-theory-hand-out-copy
http://www.davidbordwell.net/blog/2014/01/12/understanding-film-narrative-the-trailer/

What is representation?
"The meaning of an event...does not exist until it has been represented...We’re talking about the fact that it has no fixed meaning, no real meaning in the obvious sense, until it has been represented. And the representations – since they’re likely to be very different as you move from one person to another, one group or another, one part of society or another, one historical moment and another – just as those forms of representation will change, so the meaning of the event will change."  (Stuart Hall)

http://www.mediaknowall.com/as_alevel/alevkeyconcepts/alevelkeycon.php?pageID=represent

• Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci – Marxist perspectives

Karl Marx was interested in power.  He did a lot of work thinking about how societies are structured and how they are unfair.  His main idea was that the masses (he called them the proletariat) were controlled or dominated by the elite (the bourgeoisie).  The powerful elite (bourgeoisie) own the means of production and therefore they have power over the workers (proletariat).  This unfair social dominance serves the elite but it is exploitative of the workers and society is kept like this because it suits those at the top.  The main way this is done is through the superstructure of society (the way people are influenced) namely religion, education, law, politics.  He called all this stuff the ‘ideological state apparatus’.  If this didn’t work, then the bourgeoisie would crush their working classes using the military state apparatus like the army and the police.

Although print and cinema were around when Marx was writing, the media was less prolific than it is now and lifestyle advertising was not in full swing – he doesn’t focus on the media all that much although he does consider propaganda.  Gramsci took his ideas on in the 1920s and the Birmingham School (Hall and Williams) took them on again in the 70s and 80s… These Marxist media theorists applied some of Marx’s key ideas to the mass media – especially ideas about ideological influence (HEGEMONY).

This idea of Hegemony is very important to representation theory because the way people and groups are represented and the messages and ideology we receive as the mass audience could influence public opinion.  For example, in some right wing news media (such as the daily mail) we often see pretty negative representations of immigrants… Shows like ’24’ produced by Fox (part of News Corp International) often depict asian and muslim people as potential terrorists.  It is important to interrogate how such ideologies serve the elite and influence the masses.

Let’s have a look at Top Boy (produced for Channel 4).  What do we know about Channel 4?  In what what can a Marxist reading of this text help us understand it in a fuller and enriched way?

• The Male Gaze – Laura Mulvey – Feminist Theory – Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema – Written in 1975

The cinema apparatus of Hollywood cinema puts the audience in a masculine subject position with the woman on the screen seen as an object of desire. Film and cinematography are structures upon ideas. Protagonists tended to be men. Mulvey suggests two distinct modes of male gaze – “voueuristic (women as whores) and fetishistic – women as unreachable madonnas”.  (Also narcissistic – women watching film see themselves reflected on the screen).  (Film texts:  Alien, Jackie Brown vs Foxy Brown…).

Here are some clips from a variety of media texts. Try applying Mulvey’s theory to these clips…

People who criticise her ideas say that she is ignoring the fact that all genders – male and female want to feel dominated and overwhelmed by the cinema experience.  Also, she ignores the fact that men are capable of ‘metaphoric transvestism’ whereby they are able to view the film from the perspective of a woman. (Thelma and Louise, The Piano, Knocked Up, Brick Lane).

• Lacan – Psychoanalysis and ‘The Mirror’

Lacan’s theory of ‘the mirror’ is an idea around the idea of identity.  He considers the point at which a person develops a sense of self and conscious identity.  He considers the point at which a child recognises their own reflection and begin to consider how others peceive them, modifying their appearence to satisfy their perceptions of how others see them.  Mulvey extends this idea when she writes about ‘the silver screen’ which she suggest operates like a metaphorical mirror; reflecting back to the female viewer representations of female identity, but these representations are not genuine reflections of the viewer but rather male perceptions of idealised femininity.

• Queer Theory – Judith Butler

Emerging out of field of Gender studies (the study of males and female roles historically, politically, socially etc).  Queer theory challenges the idea that gender – being male or female – is part of the essential self, that it is fixed, immovable – in other words Queer theory suggest that our male or female gender does not control all aspects of our identity or how we perceive other peoples identity.  In other other words gender, particularly as it is represented in performance – on TV, Film etc, is fluid, flexible depending on the context in which it is seen.   For example an audience can see Tom Cruise playing a “straight” pilot in The Right Stuff and interpret his gender, although male, as having very “queer” or “gay” attributes.   The theory developed as a way of combating negative representations of gay sexuality in the Media.  It combats the idea that people should be divided and categorised, indeed marginalised, due to their sexual orientation or practice and that a persons identity should not be limited to their sexual preference.  It asks us to consider how the media constructs gay representation. (Apply to representation of gay sexuality in Knocked up…any others? What about Graham Norton? Alan Carr? Does Post Modern Irony regarding representation of gay characters relieve the audience of burden of moral responsibility regarding evolving attitudes a more flexible idea of gender?)

• Subculture – Representation of Groups – Dick Hebdidge

In his book, Subculture and The Meaning of Style, Dick Hebdidge said that a subculture is a group pf like minded individuals who feel neglected by societal standards and who develop a sense of identity which differs to the dominant on to which they belong.  Ken Gelder lists 6 ways in which a subculture can be recognised: 1) Often have negative relationship to work 2) Negative or ambivalent relationship to class 3) Through their associuations with territory ( The street, the hood, the club) rather than property  4) Through their stylistic ties to excess 5) Through their movement out of home into non-domestic forms of belonging (social groups as opposed to family)  6) Through their refusal to engage with they might see as the ‘banalities’ of life.
Other ways of recognising a subculture might be symbolism attached to clothes, music, visual affectations  like tattoos etc.  (Examples – Ben and his friends in Knocked up representing a subculture some of the values of which Alison and as such the America she initially represents might benefit from).   Subcultural values often associated with being ‘cool’.

• Anthony Giddens – Traditionalist vs Post Traditionalist views of society

Media representations of society can be seen as traditional or post traditionalist.  Traditional societies are ones in which individual choice was limited by its dominant customs and traditions.  Whereas post traditionalist societies are one where the ideas set by previous generations are less important that those of individuals.  Post traditional societies are no longer feel so depenwere limited to time and place.  Giddens says, we are living in a post traditional society where we are much less concerned with precedents sest by previous generations and that our options are only limited by what the  law and public opinion allows.  We have replaced seen/discreet systems  with remote ‘expert’ systems, institutions and corporations.

• Bell Hooks:  Interconnectivity of race, class and gender.

Pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins.  First major work “Ain’t I a woman? Lack, women and feminity” written in 1981.  Focused on the perpetuation of systems of oppression and domination in the media paying particular attention to the devaluation of black womanhood. The idea of ‘lack’ or ‘otherness’ refers to the way that women and ethnic minorities are usually represented as ‘other’.  Their primary purpose is simply to be other than the norm (usually a white male hero).  They are therefore known more by the context of lack than by a realised or complex identity.  This theory can be linked to ideas of the monstrous feminine found in feminist analysis of literature and art.

___________________________________________________________________________

Representation of youth and teenagers

Considering Quadrophenia.

This film is great for thinking about subculture. The film looks and mods and their ‘interaction’ with the rockers. Think about how fashion, music, language, drugs and sex are used symbolically to make meaning and represent values like rebellion , anger and disillusion. Dick Hebdige said that subcultures use style to represent their resistance to the dominant ideologies of a corrupt society. They take symbols like the smart clothes or mopeds and modify or customise them to show their alternative values. Watch the film again and see if you can identify these symbols and what they represent.

Can this theory be applied to more recent films depicting youth? Watch 8Mile and think about the urban music / hip hop rap subculture. Can the symbols of this subculture be analysed in a similar way to Quadrophenia?

A2 Examination: Q1(a) and Q1(b) key lessons from examiners' comments

Opening paragraph

• State your task(s) and the aims and context of your product(s).
• Define the concept you are being asked about - e.g. 'research and planning' for Q1(a) and 'audience' for Q1(b).
• Show that you understand what the question is asking you to do.

Examples (4-5)

• Use clear and specific examples from your production(s) that have good relevance to the question.
• Analyse your examples with explicit reference to the concept you are being asked about.
• For Q1(b), analyse your examples with reference to media theory/ theorists.
• For Q1(b) you can use quotations from the theorists.
• You may be able to use theorists for more than one concept.
• Use media terminology where appropriate and state the names of any software you used.
• For Q1(a), you must write about your skills development across the two years.
• Be reflective - explain how you made choices and how those choices influenced outcomes. You can use audience feedback in assessing success (don't just use your own opinion).

Conclusion

• For Q1(a), briefly summarise your skills development.  For Q1(b) you should summarise the success of your product in terms of the concept you are being asked about.
• Return to the original question by 'name-checking' it.

How to use 'The Dark Knight' (2007) and 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012) as case studies

Audience

The character of Batman is an established property that originated in comic books.  There is an equally well-established fan base with fans of the comics, the franchise and additional Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale fans. Devoted fans indulge in a culture of fandom which might involve sharing their interest with other fans on forums and message boards.  These groups are called communities. These fans are sometimes called 'fanbois' or fan boys.  There are also fan girls too.  The marketing departments like to get these fanbois talking because their conversations create online word of mouth and an internet buzz which is very useful in creating awareness of a film.

TDK and TDKR targeted the dedicated fans and got them immersed in a 'Batman Universe' through cross-media storytelling (or transmedia storytelling). Fans were encouraged to participate and interact in an unprecedented way.  A content marketing campaign drip-fed them teasing material that they shared, discussed and interacted with.  Fans were given puzzles or enigmas to problem-solve (often collaboratively) and were rewarded with images, trailers or other new content.  A highly immersive campaign by 42 Entertainment created an alternate reality where fans could suspend their disbelief and live the fantasy of Gotham City.

The infinite possibilities of the worldwide web allowed 42 Entertainment to develop a complex narrative that branched off in numerous directions and hooked fans so that they desired to find out more and more, almost like a media addiction.  Fans could browse micro sites and read, watch and listen to Batman material that was detailed and coordinated (synergy). Fans could interact with characters, go on scavenge hunts, create their own content (user generated content) and even take collective action (e.g. Dentmobiles).

Viral marketing and social networking combined to spread the word.  The campaign created a blurring between the real world and the fantasy world of Gotham City where artefacts (such as The Gotham Times and the Joker Phone) from the fantasy world seemed to find their way into the real world.  Some fans even role-played the parts of characters and sent photos or videos of themselves to be uploaded to official sites.  Intertextuality between the pre-release campaign and the movie itself, enabled fans to spot connections between the marketing content and related content in the movie.


Technology, marketing and audience

TDK and TDKR used official sites (e.g. thedarkknightrises.com) for the normal film viewer and micro sites (e.g. whysoserious.com and ibelieveinharveydent.com) for the devoted fans.  The micro sites did not give traditional movie website information like cast and crew; these sites seemed to be from the alternate reality of Gotham City and therefore tried to disguise themselves as non-fictional websites.  Characters like Harvey Dent and The Joker also seemed to become real and even interacted with fans by telephone and email after fans supplied contact details. Fans could align themselves with a particular character and show their support by following instructions and taking action in the real world.  More than ten million people from around the globe became participants in the campaign.

The websites did far more than reveal important information about characters and plot.  They mirrored our own world with seemingly trivial content like advertisements for Gotham City businesses.  Often though, the seemingly trivial detail actually held something of interest for the fan willing to look closely and were intertextual.  Games on the sites enabled participants to unlock new material.  However, The Joker seemed to be carrying out his own cyber war on the websites, creating alternate sites (e.g. ibelieveinharveydentoo.com) and vandalising ('Jokerizing') other people's.

The marketing campaign was multi-channel (web, print, telephone, text, email, video, audio etc) and multi-platform (PC, smart phone, TV, games console etc).  New media technologies allowed fans to engage in 2 way interaction with the alternate reality, increasing immersion. Old media technologies (cinema trailers, TV spots, billboard posters, magazine advertisements etc) still operated and helped to raise awareness among more casual cinema goers.  Promotional partners and merchandise tie-ins also helped to target potential viewers who did not fit into the marketing demographic of the fanboi.


Jenkins on transmedia storytelling (cross-media storytelling)

1 Each medium (e.g. print or web) makes its own unique contribution to the storytelling process.

2 Consolidation - Time Warner will try to spread its Batman franchise across as many media platforms (e.g. movie, comic, TV show) as possible.

3 It is a process of world building.

4 The movie story can be extended.

5 New audience segments can be targeted.

6 Ideally, each new part of the story should be accessible on its own (this isn't the case with TDK).

7 Coordination or synergy is desirable to ensure the different parts of the story match up.

8 Our modern social structures where we converse, share and collaborate freely are ideal for transmedia storytelling.

9 We can physically involve ourselves in the story - e.g. role play.

10 We can 'fill in the gaps' ourselves - e.g fan fiction.


Jenkins on types of convergence

Technological - the digitisation of media content allows it to be found in one place; on the web. This content can be accessed using a variety of different platforms (devices).

Economic - the horizontal integration of Time Warner means that it has media interests in film, television, print, games, internet and so on.  This allows the corporation to use transmedia storytelling and synergy.

Social - the devices that we use that can access media content have increased (e.g. PC, smart phone, tablet, games console etc.) allowing consumers to multi-task.  This means that a Batman fan could be accessing several different parts of the TDK campaign at once, either on the same device (e.g. multiple pages open on Windows) or on several devices.  As producers become more skilled at transmedia storytelling they will use the most effective media channel to communicate each strand of the narrative.

Cultural - modern devices are tools that allow consumers to be creative (e.g. you can film on a smartphone and upload the video to youtube).  This meant that Batman fans could interact with the campaigns and upload their own material to 42 Entertainment's website, thus becoming part of the transmedia story.

Global - Time Warner is an international company and can adapt its marketing material for a variety of international markets at very low additional cost (e.g. changing the text on a trailer into different languages or over dubbing the actors' voices).  The themes of the Batman films are universal and appeal to a wide global audience.


Ownership

For an ownership question you can always consider how 42 Entertainment marketed the films. Warner Bros funded (TDK budget $185m, TDKR budget $230m) and distributed the films - how does being a major film studio make film funding easier than in the UK?  How does a major distributor market a film compared to an independent UK distributor?

The co-producers of the films were Legendary Pictures (USA), DC Entertainment (USA) and director Christopher Nolan's own company, Syncopy (UK).  Don't forget that these films can be classified as a US/UK co-productions and that Christopher Nolan is English as is Michael Caine. Christian Bale is Welsh.  Other cast and crew are also from the UK.  Why are co-productions beneficial for the US and UK film industries?  http://howardschoolmedia.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/how-does-film-qualify-as-british.html

Simultaneous Release - convergence in distribution

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simultaneous_release
http://www.moviescopemag.com/market-news/featured-editorial/breaking-windows-why-traditional-theatrical-release-windows-need-to-be-broken/
https://www.the-newshub.com/film-and-tv/simultaneous-re
http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/field-england-marks-uk-distribution-first
http://www.quora.com/What-would-happen-if-a-movie-is-released-on-all-platforms-possible-simultaneous-or-with-little-time-between-them
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2012/nov/26/films-tvs-global-piracy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4691218.stm
http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/reel-time-the-incredible-shrinking-window-for-movie-releases/
http://www.screendaily.com/news/wheatley-id-repeat-simultaneous-release/5058585.article
http://spicyip.com/2013/03/film-release-strategies-and-anti.html

Female character types

http://www.overthinkingit.com/2010/10/11/female-character-flowchart/

How does a film qualify as 'British'?

A 'British' film will be eligible for UK film tax relief and possibly lottery funding too.

To qualify as 'British', a film has to pass a Cultural Test. This involves satisfying a number of criteria, such as:

Does the story contain UK elements?
Are UK locations used?
Has the film been made with a UK audience in mind?
Were UK companies and citizens involved in making the film? (e.g. institutions, director, cast, crew etc.)
The Harry Potter films are financed by Warner Bros but satisfy the Cultural Test because the books were written by a British woman; are about British characters; are set in the UK; are popular with UK audiences; have a UK production company (Heyday Films); (usually) have British directors; have mainly British casts; and British crew.


The number of films satisfying the Cultural Test has risen steadily since 2009.

International co-production agreements also exist with countries such as Australia, Canada, France, India, New Zealand and South Africa (but not the US). These co-productions do not need to satisfy the cultural test to receive tax relief and/or funding. These co-productions may qualify for public funding from each country that is contributing to making the film. An example of such a film is Africa United (2010) which was a co-production between Pathe Productions(France), Footprint Films (UK), Link Media Productions (Rwanda), Out of Africa Entertainment (South Africa) and BBC Films (UK). Co-productions made up 15% of the feature films made wholly or partly in the UK during 2011. However, co-productions have declined since 2007 when tax 'breaks' were reduced.