Collective identity & film

1. COLLECTIVE IDENTITYBRITISH CULTURE

2. What is collective identity?
Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group - who and what that specific group defines themselves
as is their identity.
What is British Culture?
Britain has a very defined identity, that of which is a world known stereotype. As a
culture we are associated with a number of things, those of which I agree with and
others which I do not;

3. How do we define a British Film?
• British Director
• British Producer
• Predominantly British cast
• British production company
• Subject matter on British experience
• Co-production with British input i.e British film
British films divide into 5 different categories, as shown below:
CATEGORY A: Films that are made with British money personnel & resources
CATEGORY B: Films which are co-funded with British money and foreign investment - but predominantly, funds are British as well as
culture content.
CATEGORY C: Films with mostly foreign investment (not American) & small British input both financially and creatively
CATEGORY D: Films made in the UK with British content but financed fully or partly by American companies.
CATEGORY E: American films with some British Involvement.

4. CASE STUDIESCOMMERICIAL & INDEPENDENT

5. INDEPENDENT V COMMERCIAL FILMS
Commercial films are generally the big blockbusters and Hollywood films which we see being released in the
cinema. Typical mainstream films are usually released in cinema for a short period of time then commercialized
in order to gain profit from those who would rather watch the film at home.
They have a much larger fan base as well as a grand financial state and a range of facilities which they use to
their advantage in terms of the construction, publishing and the marketing of the product - Commercial films
are extremely well knows for their quality and use of extravagant effects & soundtracks, those of which are not
available to independent films due to their low budget.
In comparison, Independent films are that of a much lower budget and do not have access to showing their
films in majority of cinemas, this is predominantly due to the fact their films are perhaps not well known or do
not have the funds in order to support it, essentially independent films are produced by small teams or
companies who are not funded by large conglomerate institutions.
A key factor of independent films is the fact that they use unknown actors in more urban areas whereas
commercial films show a more upper class side to the UK.

6. INDEPENDENT - ANUVAHOOD
Anuvahood is a 2011 British urban comedy film directed by Adam Deacon, who
also plays the film's lead character.
The film follows Kenneth. He has an ambition of becoming a grime MC, and has
already created his debut mixtape, Feel The Pain. However, nobody has bought a
single copy and Kenneth works, for now, at local supermarket Laimsbury's to help
pay his family's rent. When his boss insults him at work for trying to be a rapper,
he quits and his mother berates him for failing to pay the house rent and his
family is soon threatened by bailiffs. Kenneth cannot take seeing his mother
hassled by the bailiffs, so he begins to sell illegal drugs with his friends Bookie.
The film as an independent shows us the urban lifestyle of many UK youths in
which they are perceived as troublesome and 'hood' - it shows us the collective
identity of the youth in the UK as being drug dealers, wanna-be-rappers &
troublesome, in addition to this it represents the working class of the UK as living
in council flats & more or less perceived as 'chavs'.
Compared to a commercial film which you can see on the next slide we can see
the difference between their budget and the amount of facilities which they have
access to.

7. COMMERCIAL - BRIDGET JONES
Bridget Jones's Diary is a 2001 British romantic comedy film directed by
Sharon Maguire. It is based on Helen Fielding's novel of the same name
which is a reinterpretation of Austen's Pride and Prejudice. The
adaptation stars Renée Zellweger as Bridget, Hugh Grant as the caddish
Daniel Cleaver and Colin Firth as Bridget's "true love", Mark Darcy.
Production began in May 2000 and ended in August 2000, and took
place largely on location in London and the Home Counties. This film,
unlike Anuvahood we see a more upper class style and a comedic
version of a romantic relationship between a British couple.
In comparison, we can clearly see the way in which lifestyle and accent
differentiates between classes - clearly shown between the independent
and commercial film.
This film shows us the stereotypes that many Americans hold in which
we are perceived as 'posh' and snobby.