British Cinema Past and Present

The provided content explores the themes of film, drama, and national identity in Britain from past to present. It delves into the historical context of British cinema, touching on topics such as Thatcherism, social realism, heritage films, and representations of class, race, and gender. The texts also examine the role of television in shaping British culture and society, including the representation of Black and Asian characters on screen. The collection features a range of theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches to understanding the complexities of British cinema.

Running Head: CINEMATOGRAPHY
EXTENDED ESSAY
The development and operation of the film and television
industries of Great Britain
Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Art (Honors) Film and Television
Production

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Abstract
This essay examines the operation and the development of the film and television
industries of Great Britain to understand the realism of the society and the working class
representation in the contemporary cinema of Britain. Further, the essential works of the
television and the film production will be discussed along with the historical
development of the aesthetic forms and traditions, genres. Then, the development of
the television and the film industry will be discussed along with the professional
constraints and the requirements, framework of regulations, global scope, practices of
business, audience and their consumption patterns. Furthermore, the present debates
in relation to the processes of narration along with the representation modes in the text
of culture and media will be analyzed and evaluated. Then, the products in the
television and the film industry in the professional, global and historical context will be
analyzed. Also, sustained research of media in the practice of television and film will be
realized and developed. Moreover, it is being observed that the social realism can
enhance the film’s objectivity or through integrating with the aesthetic of art-cinema. The
realism should be considered to reflect and capture the factors of the social political
frameworks which further creates the society.
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Extended Essay
“The development and operation of the film and television industries of Great
Britain”
The UK might fall underneath the shadow of the counterpart of Hollywood, but the
workers of British television and the film industry are the hot property and further
revered across the globe with the various blockbusters which are being produced by the
film makers of Britain and are backed by the finance of US. Furthermore, it has been
observed that the demand for the abilities and the skills of people working in this
particular sector, the average income in the UK’s sector of production is approximately a
third greater than the average income of the UK (Ashby, J., & Higson, A. 2013).
Moreover, it is observed that the Riff Raff was a featured film which was produced in
1990 for the Channel 4's film on four and was established with the aim of investing in
the independent films of the Britain along with the theatrical segregation after the
broadcasting on television. It was located on a site of construction in London which
featured casual workers transforming the building of hospital into the luxurious
apartments which was set in British’s Thatcher. It further created the references to the
politics of government along with the rise in the market of entrepreneurial. The film
showed that how the society of Britain is shifting from a welfare state to the economy
which is money driven (Blandford, S. 2007). Further, Loach came with another featured
film in 1994 i.e. Ladybird-Ladybird which combined the less particular environment with
the structure of narration which was drawn on the melodrama. This featured film gave
the sense to the audience about the docudrama by narrating a story based on a true
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incident and also talked about the later life of the Jorge and Maggie. The other film was
featured in the year 2004 i.e. Ae Fond Kiss which explored the politics of the simple life
which is being directed towards the conflict and the difference of the religions after the
9/11 and further it took the form a love story among Pakistani Muslim entrepreneur and
the catholic Irish teacher.
According to the analysis of the Christopher Williams, the history of the cinema of
Britain shows the various reputations along with the issue which has been featured in
the cinema of Britain. Further, the first reputation is being relied on the article of Satyajit
Ray, 1976, which compared the nature of cinema as a medium along with the nature of
British. An absence of engagement in the style of visualization or the elaboration which
further can be perceived as the inhibition of emotions (Brunsdon, C. 2007). The other
reputation is about realism, and it has been observed that the realism is being
discussed several times along with the many attitudes. For example, in 1950 realism
was being favored and in the year 1980, the realism was being dammed. The other
reputation is about is about quality which accused the cinema of Britain for the failure in
order to attain the sustainability. Moreover, the other reputation is about the social
attribute of the cinema of Britain as a whole which further expresses various themes
depending on the context of socialization. In the formation of the absence of
engagement in the subjectivity or the individuality. Further, these aspects can be
observed in the history of social realism of Britain.
The movement of documentation the year 1930 created realism and the social attribute
of the British cinema. Grierson used the approach of modernization for the making of
films by claiming it as an expression of personalization (Chibnall, S., & Murphy, R.
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2009). Further, Wollen stated that the major drift of the project of the Grierson was in
order to subordinate the modernism to the realism along with the propaganda of
nationalization as well. The realism of poetic in the new wave of Britain expressed the
director’s vision mainly within the shots of the northern cities and “That long shot of our
town from that hill” made a high-quality film making period and it was not sustainable
without the constant support of the finances from the industry. Furthermore, Peter
blossomed the art cinema of Britain in the year 1980. Derek and Peter created distinct
and incredible films of modernization. Both the directors delved the strong expression of
visualization which is being inspired by the modernist theater and painting (Cooke, L.
2015). For example, Caravaggio (1986), the pillow book (1995), the contract of
Draughtsman (1982), etc. showed the emphasized usage of the composition some
showed minimally and the some showed excessively. The usage of the music and
sound adopted the techniques of theater and the unique usage of the imagery cinema
was created under the name of an auteur. Delinquent the emergence of the cinema
which is being conscious about the art, there is an essential aspect of the creation of the
channel four. This channel had the unique and creative policy on the Four’s program
film which further comprised the backup of finances for the many independent makers
of the film.
Moreover, the films were made for the channel four which were co-financed by the
various institutions like the screen of Britain, along with the various other companies of
television both international and British, independent companies of the film and the
British institute of the film (Dave, P. 2006). The expansion of the production of the film
was reinforced, and it increased the collaboration among the film industry of Britain and
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the circuit of the. Furthermore, it was being pointed that the transformation in the
structure of the industry enabled the emergence of the social art of the cinema which
possesses aesthetic forms and traditions by maintaining a political and the social
statement of the Britain’s contemporary. The issue which is being raised is that since
the end of the WWII, the cinema of Britain is being caught among the Europe and
Hollywood, and also failed to sustain and create an identity along with the formation of
the national cinema which are being opposed to the art cinema of Europe and defeated
by the products of Hollywood which partake the language and further dominate the
market internationally (Dixon, W. W., & Friedman, L. D. 1993). The cinema of Britain
was being bound through the reputations which were bounded by the situation of “in
between Europe and Hollywood” and was released in 1980. Along with the cinema of
social art, the other essential concept in order to understand the complications and the
issues of the cinema of Britain since the "Sarah Street," the film of hybrid which was
produced by the channel four.
The concept is concerned through a formative film style and is being utilized for the
films by dealing with the contemporary and the recent issues in an overt way. The
issues relied on the films encompasses various generic aspects from the thriller to
comedy. For example, the crying game, beautiful launderette which dealt with the issue
of IRA through a love story, Britannia hospital which included the format of horror comic
film, etc. The notion of the cinema of social art expands the discourse on the realist
films of the society from 1980 (Hall, S. 1997). Furthermore, after the year 1990, there
were emerges in the regional engagement in the critics of the films, it was being claimed
that the rugged tradition of the cinema of Scotland along with the art cinema of Europe
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developed the works of the Peter Mulla (1997) and Ramsey (1999) and the Thomas one
life (2000). Further. Such varieties of the work demonstrate an impact on the classic art
cinema of the Europe. For example, Bunuel's surrealism, the Fellini's energy, the
realism of magic, etc.
Moreover, it is being observed that some people call the realism in the cinema of Britain
as the perpetual tradition. The relationship is being described as the eternal relationship
with the cinema of Britain. Since the cinema's medium created, the social realism has
been treated as the interest and if we talk about the case of the cinema of British, since
the movement of the documentation in 1930, the British cinema along with the social
interest which searches for the expression of realism, is being discussed all the time. It
has been observed that the concept of realism is complicated and it is not similar to a
genre that has collaborative attributes on the mode and the style of narration, and it is
being treated individually (Higson, A. 1996). Further, along with the particular subject
(lives of working class), treatment of the films (naturalism), the orientation of the politics
and the iconography (leftist, estates of the council, etc. The attributes clench a film’s
range together in the name of realism. But, it is controversial as it is not being defined
clearly that the how many attributes a film must have in order to be categorized as the
social realism film which will influence the audience and also impact them positively.
Also, it is being observed that there is a zone of broad gray around the concept and the
concept attracted the critics, academics and the makers of the films. Some of the films
and the television series were appeared that pushed forward the boundaries of the
formation of realism through integrating the pop culture and the music in the films
(Leigh, J. 2002). The presentation of the identity in a society of multicultural becomes
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hybrid through the emergence of the Black makers of the film who tried to capture the
voice in their style. Furthermore, the left politics expanded between the students of the
universities. The directors of the new and unique wave of Britain are not exceptional.
The emphasis is being placed on the significance of the critical adhesion in the making
of the films, and the criticism is being done in the article i.e. Stand up! Furthermore, the
attitudes of the makers of the film and the critics are same in some of the cases. For
example, Bazin worked as the critic of the film, and the founder developed the site for
the young makers of the film’s communication and the discussion. The assemblage of
the short duration documentaries showed the significance of the innovative
interpretation of the expression and the society of the director’s view point. Moreover, it
is being observed that the film of the underclass in the year 1990 demonstrated the
tendencies like the gender apprehension of the males and the politics of labor for the
rebranding of the UK (Monk, C., & Sargeant, A. 2015). Post elections, the project is
being announced the name of the UK's rebranding in order to change the image from
the cricket, beer and the queen to the name i.e. cool Britannia to further describe the
Britain’s culture of youth and the innovative industry. Further, the arts of the theater,
films, music, series, fashion, etc. all comprise in the single body of the art industry of the
UK, and the images of the coolness were fledged as the transformed Britain. In
extension to the admiration for the films of the Britain in the festivals of the films of
Europe, the year 1990 viewed the development in the relation with the film production of
the Europe on the basis of distribution and the production. Further, the films of art barrel
with the various problems in relation to the identity of the individuals, frequently with the
dimension of the sexuality and also intend to the overt complications of the psychology
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(Monk, C. 2015). Furthermore, the society is being considered as an essential aspect
rather than the individual aspect and the trends of the society are represented on the
basis of alienation or the anomie, from a viewpoint that has more in common along with
the consciousness of the doubting and the unsatisfied individual.
Moreover, it is more concerned with the character rather than the plot of the story which
further helps in keeping it concerned with the anomie which can be enabled to follow
and drift one another loosely stated fashion of the episode. Further, it inclines to
interiorize the conflicts dramatically in a sense to provide the feeling which is occurring
within the mind of the protagonist. The pretension is at the distinct, the intentional
sentiment of the ambiguity, with the unsolved ending and all these things, lacks the
resolution which is being valued for the likeness of the life along with the pro-activeness.
Further, at the similar time, as the external derision of the subjectivity through which it is
being concerned thematically. The television and the film industry is supposed to bear
the derision of the distinct style of visualization that might be associated with the
director’s authorship individually.
In the year 1970, the Black films of the British were being created by the directors who
were Black or through the involvement of the writers who were Black, in the form of the
features of landmark, for example, the private enterprise which was written by Hiro,
Black Joy was written by Simmons in the year 1977 which was relied on the play on the
experience of the British-Black Light nights and the Dark days and the first film was
featured by the pressure of the Black director in the year 1975 along with the various
films of the short duration (Sarita, M. 2002). That period proved to be an essential
breakthrough for the British Black makers of the film, not simply in recessing the barriers
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of the representation of stereotypes of the culture and the characters of Black but,
identifying their voice in order to debate and express the problems impacting the
communities of Black from the perception of the Blacks. Further, in the year 1980
various developments were being made in the industry of film and the television. For
example, the festival of Black film of the year 1982, film program of the anti-racism, etc.
It has been observed that the post-1980, the audience of the UK was created for the
films and the television series for the Blacks (Chibnall, S., & Murphy, R. 2005). Further,
the climate of receptiveness enhanced numerous of independent companies of
production in order to emerge, which further included the productions of Kumba, films of
Anacy, productions of Penumbra, etc. That period also faced the creation of the Asian
and the Black video and the film workshops, especially Ceddo, Sankofa, etc. which
further played a role in establishing the ground for the making of Black films in the
Britain (Seino, T. 2010).
Moreover, beneath the funding and the structure of the organization, some people
emphasized an essential aspect in order to boost the drift. Furthermore, the creation of
the channel four in the year 1982 was being formed and licensed along with the explicit
abate to demonstrate the diversity of the culture of British and also project the minorities
voice. The year 1980 viewed the growth of the films of Black British as the independent
workshops and the productions which offered the environment for the young Black
makers of the films in order to develop and establish their own work (Chapman, J.
2005). Further, the issue which was surrounded by the cinematic activity of the Blacks
started in the year 1970 and was being created in the year 1990 as the tradition and the
formation of aesthetics, new and unique paradigms, agendas and languages which are
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might be formed by the diasporic art of the Blacks from an initial point as they adopted
the modern technique for the documentation. Furthermore, it is being observed that the
debate on the Blacks is still existed in the UK and the differentiation is being made
among the Blacks and the Whites to some extent in the television and the film industry.
As stated, the Free Cinema demonstrates the impact from the movement of the film
documentation in the year 1930. The unique wave of the British films also shared the
shooting and the subject related technique for the production of the documentation. In
extension to the subject related technique on the screens of the British films, the
attributes lied on the shooting location which further opposed the convention of shooting
within the mainstream episodes and the films (Griffiths, R. 2006). Furthermore, the
shooting location is the adaptation of the technique of documentation in the featured
making of the films that enables the films in order to attain an authenticity sense in
projecting the people of working class on the big screens. Further, the points of the view
are noticeably different from the leading characters and further reveal the stare of the
existence. For example, the outsider is being looked downwards on the town through a
far place (Purcell, K. W. 2001). The point of view reminds the philanthropic and the
observational attitude of the movement of documentation. Also, it has been examined
insightfully that the place in the new wave of Britain shows something which is even
more than the motivation of narration and further leads to the other significant
discussion of the viewpoint’s incoherence (Wayne, M. 2006). Further, a new wave of
Britain did not last long, and the various films also failed to attain the success financially
along with the sustainability. It has been observed that the difficulty occurred for the
films because of the system of the films of Britain which was created on the monopoly in
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exhibition and distribution by the various companies of the industry such as ABC, Rank,
etc. and the unwillingness in order to invest in the realistic films as the audience didn’t
want the dramas which were called as dreary sink-kitchen (Ryall, T. 2002). Moreover,
after the new wave of Britain, the directors of the films were shifted to the Hollywood
and also considered the medium of the demonstration and also shifted to the television
in the year 1970 mainly in the BBC drama of television, and after the year 1974, the
BBC2 was being created. The plot of thriller was being developed as a women’s story of
vengeance. The attention of her to the cinema’s medium, the device of screen and
camera, enables her in order to apply the problem of CCTV as the essential element of
the criticism of society by using such system as the essential device of narration . We
can clearly observe and understand that the transformation in the film of a realism
setting to the device which creates the subjectivity of the various characters of the film.
In extension to the admiration for the films of British in the film festivals of the Europe,
the year 1990 viewed the development in the relation with the production of the films of
Europe on the basis of distribution and the production. The co-operative funds of the
films which were made on the low budgets became common after the Film and the
Channel Four (Lay, S. 2007). Furthermore, it is being observed that after the year 1990
various organizations of funding, for example, MEDIA, Eurimages, etc. encouraged and
supported various films of Britain which were recognized internationally for example,
Secret and Lies, The pillow book, etc. Furthermore, in the UK, the environment of the
production of films had improved and is being improved after the establishments of the
funds of the lottery in the film and the television industry in the year 1995 (Leggott, J.
2008). The Council of the film was created in the year 2003 in order to develop the
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environment of sustainability for the film and the television industry with various
organizations, for example, finance of British screen, BFI's department of production,
the commission of the British film, etc. The success of the funds of the lottery was the
Shooting Fish which further led to the outburst of various cultural films of the youth of
Britain internationally (Prime, R. 2005). The productions of the film were strengthened
through awarding the finance of production for even the more than the period of six
years to the four companies, Pictures of Pathe, the consortium of the films and the films
of DNA in order to develop a competitive and the stable system of distribution in the UK.
Furthermore, the funding of such companies represented the concern for the Britain in
order to utilize its position economically, culturally, and geographically among the US
and the Europe. The creation of the co-production of the European-UK represents
another dimension of the year 1990 and this was being raised as the question in relation
to the nationality in the films of Britain (McLoone, M. 2001). The funding of Europe
reinforced the impact of the UK’s devolution as the films awareness towards the
nationalism and the regionalism. Initially, it widened and consolidated the cinema which
withered after the year 1960 as it disappeared to the television. After the devolution of
the Wales, Scotland, Ireland in the year 1997, the approach to the cinema of Britain
moved to the cinema of nationalization even more than the cohesive cinema of Britain.
Moreover, it is being stated as the reflection of the complicated identities which exist
between and within the areas, and their affect explored the relationship among the
Britishness and the Englishness (Martin-Jones, D. 2004). Further, the working class of
the white male was represented as they changed the hope through regaining economic
and the political power to restoring the communities of the homo-society by performing
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the arts. The unemployment of the youth and the addiction towards drugs is being
mixed along with the pop music and further becomes the culture of style (Martin-Jones,
D. 2004). The matter of subject of realism was transformed and absorbed into the
commodity of culture within a market at the global level (Giles, P. 1993). Also, it was
being found that the diversity and the identity along with the devolution created the term
i.e. cinema of Britain which is currently not cohesive. The closure of the renaissance of
realism was being announced in the year 2005 and it was also stated that the upcoming
movement in the industry was moving away from the drama of “miserablist" to the
genre, for example, realistic making of the films and comedy as they are surviving
through the various other genres in search of a frontier of the society of Britain.
In the end, personally, I would like to summarize that the realism in the cinema of Britain
is still alive and it remains complicated as always. The realism of the society is being
defined as the concept of cinema which doesn't show a different conventions or the
style. Rather, it is something which appears on the film’s surface as an additional layer
of the texture (Lay, S. 2007). Furthermore, an emphasize being placed on the objectivity
in the narration and the formation of the film and the television industry and sometimes
it is being integrated among the film’s texture in order to stress the subjectivity. The
importance of the realism is the ability in order to add it to the films an immediacy’s
sense along with the sense of now and here. The different aspects and the matters are
being raised and discussed every time in the history of film and the television industries
which reflected the historical present situation which the directors wish to emulate, and
it impacts the audience to a great extent.
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Also, I have personally observed that we have various options to work in the industries
of film and the television. For example, we can be the script writers which will help us in
developing the creativity and we will be able to barrel with the criticism and we will be
able to take the rejections more frequently along with the composure’s degree. Further,
we can be the designers of the production by attending the programs of design of
computer aided like the vector works and the sketch up. We can also be the member of
camera crew which will help in improving the expertise level and we can also be skilled
in the process of digitization of the photo-chemical. Also, we have the option to be the
makers of the films and we can get the experience by working on the locations and the
experience can be gained in the budgeting and the planning to a great extent.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
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Higson, A. (1996). The heritage film and British cinema. Dissolving Views: Key Writings
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Ryall, T. (2002). „New Labour and the Cinema‟. Journal of Popular British Cinema, (5),
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Sarita, M. (2002). Representing Black Briton: Black and Asian Images on Television.
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Student Name: Sering Secka
Student Number: 14052617