British Influence in Modern Film Industry

2. Films co-funded with money from Britain & foreign investment, but majority of finance, cultural content & personnel are British. Films with mostly foreign money (but non-USA) investment and a small British input, either financially or creatively. How British is a film?

4. Exhibition

5. EXHIBITION – things to consider… • HOW DO PEOPLE CONSUME FILM: • Cinema • DVD and Blue Ray - • TV – VOD • Internet • Pirates • Illegal downloads Do you and your friends buy pirates or illegally download? • Here are some key facts about illegal downloading and pirates • The film industry (according to experts) loses around £500- £700m a year to piracy • The revenue gained from pirate DVD’s alone is approximately £278m pounds a year.

6. Digital Distribution Pros & Cons • The Digital Screen Network project is the Film Council's attempt to provide cinemas with digital projection facilities, and it is hoped (but by no means guaranteed) that more small-scale independent films will get seen this way. • digital technology has made life a lot better for low budget film makers and distributor • Digital film has the advantage of offering identical versions of the film to each viewer, and this will without doubt save billions of pounds at the distribution phase. • Despite the 'hype' over piracy and the digital enabling of this illegal activity, industry commentators believe that one advantage of digital distribution will be control and security, as most piracy is the result of a cinema-goer with a hidden camera • So the question is—will cinema always survive technological change?

7. Synergy An example of synergy from Working Title Films…. Synergies – benefits in funding through various media outlets during film promotion such as TV, radio, magazines, internet etc. When different companies work together to promote a range of related products. E.g. High School Musical the film will enable spin-offs like Happy Meals, Easter Eggs, & a % of the profits will go back to the distributor. DVD

8. Cross Media Convergence • In film looks at ownership issues & companies coming together to benefit. • So Working Title make use of its parent company Universal to gain access to bigger stars and a better distribution network for their films.

9. TechnologicalConvergence This is how internet, film & TV are converging with PC’s, gadgets, Iphones etc & crosses over with PROLIFERATION

10. Proliferation Spread of film genres, CGI, new cameras, editing techniques etc (the spread of the new!) The growing interactive use of digital technology in the film industry and media which enables people to share, consume and produce media that was difficult or impossible just a few years earlier. It affects: Production Distribution Exhibition • use of new software to add special effects in editing; the use of blue-screen. • Using new types of digital cameras like the one Danny Boyle used in “Slumdog Millionaire” (The Silicon Imaging Camera to shoot high quality film in tight spaces) • Internet to download a film rather than go see it in the cinema • watch it on YouTube; • special editing programs like Final Cut Pro to edit bits of a film • give it new soundtrack and upload it on YouTube; • produce illegal, pirate copies on DVDs from downloads and by converting the film’s format; • Blue Ray DVDs with greater compression which allows superior viewing and more features on the DVD; • distributors can use digital software to create high concept posters; • cinemas can download films to their projection screens and do not have to depend on a van dropping off the film!