Case Study - The King's Speech.

The King's Speech is a British film about King George VI who reluctantly becomes King after his brother abdicated the throne. King George has a stammer and is consider unfit to be King, with the help of an unorthodox speech therapist, Lionel Logue, George is able to find his voice and lead Britain through the war.

Britishness
What makes a film British?
According to government in 2003 -
"Most people would define a ‘British’ film with reference to obvious cultural elements such as: a setting in the UK or a focus on British people abroad; a predominantly British cast; a
storyline about some aspect of British life (past, present or future) or notably by/based on a work by, a British author. The nationalities of scriptwriter, producer, director and, perhaps
especially, the ‘investment’ seem less obviously significant. However, both artistic and financial considerations serve to complicate this issue."

Things have changed since then, as now a British film does not have to be based on British culture or focus on British people e.g Slumdog Millionaire. What classes as a British film would have a predominantly British class but may have actors of other nationalities starring. The main body of the crew - producers, director would be British. Some of the production companies would be British however they might get the bulk of the budget from international production companies.

Surprising Box Office hit
It exceeded Momentum Picture's expectations when it gained £3.52 million on the opening weekend which is almost double the opening gross of Slumdog Millionaire at £1.83m, Atonement at £1.63m and Pride and Prejudice at £2.53m. 

It's appeal to a wider audience
The King's Speech is a very British film - it is about the royal family near the beginning of the Second World War - a time where the class system, that Britain is so well known for, was starting to break down and there was a bigger sense of national unity. The film represents this through the friendship George VI makes with a "commoner", Lionel Logue. The film has an appeal, not only to a British audience because it shows a story where the royal family are seen in private and are humanised by their troubles, but also to an international audience - members of the old British colonies in particular - because it shows a story where a "commoner" from the colonies develops a friendship with the King. This draws in a large audience from American who like their connection to the British monarchy and the idea that someone like them from a colony country could develop a friendship with a member of the royal family.

Reviews and the film's reception
Philip French of the Guardian gave it high praise and said that The King's Speech was "the work of highly talented artists who might be regarded as British realists" - the crew was made up of talented, experienced professionals that have worked in many other successful productions. He praises the film of not being triumphalist or sentimental and says that the film follows themes of courage, responsibility and duty over personal contentment - like popular films Casablanca and High Noon. He also says that it is more significant and ambitious than The Queen.

However, The Times says although it is great work there is still flaws to the film. "Hooper's framing and shot composition leave something to be desired" and that "Guy Pearce (who plays Edward VIII) is too young for the part and doesn't sound English at all. Timothy Spall as Churchill resembles a distended bulldog who's been chewing wasps, and that the characters of Helena Bonham Carter and Jennifer Ehle are under-used." However he does comment that although it is not as deep as it could be, it was enjoyable in seeing royalty humanised as in The Queen and The Young Victoria.

Other more critical reviews have criticised The King's Speech for making errors about the historical accuracy of some aspects of the film. For example the font used for the text in the BBC broadcasting room not being a font that was available til the 50's. The fact some women were shown wearing seamless stockings when they did not appear until later. Other continuity and editing errors were also pointed out where the King was shown throwing his speech then shown holding it in his hand the next shot.

Other than small criticisms of accuracy errors the film has mostly received praise and good reviews.

Award nominations and Oscars
It received nominations for 12 Oscars including best picture, best director, best supporting actor and actress, best screenplay, best editing, best art direction and costume. It won 4 Oscars for best picture, best director, best Actor (Colin Firth) and best original screenplay. It was also nominated for 14 BAFTAs of which it won 7. Mark Kemode comments that Oscar and BAFTA nominations and awards are often expected when playing a monarch for example with Judy Dench - Shakespeare in Love Helen Mirren - The Queen etc. and especially when the story is about humanising the monarchy.

Production Issues
The King's Speech is an excellent example of an indie film that can receive major global success without the help of a major Hollywood studio. See-Saw, a British/Australian company, financed and produced the film by getting deals with key distribution partners - The Weinstein Company (USA) Momentum Pictures (UK) Transmission (Australia) and Alliance Film (Canada).
See-Saw faced a big decision when Fox Searchlight showed an interest in The King's Speech but they wanted worldwide rights to the film. This meant they would have to cut other partners See-Saw chose to turn down Fox Searchlight and keep the original partners to keep the control in their hands.  
The Finance
Prescience saw the film's potential early on and became the key financier of the film. The Weinstein Company and Momentum Pictures were also large investors for the film. The UK Film Council gave See-Saw £1 million for the production. Together they created the budget of $12 million. 

Distribution and Marketing Issues

 
These posters use large bold text with simple messages to draw in the viewer. The poster with Geoffrey Rush uses words from reviews from various different sources. They used words have British connotations and link to the monarchy. "Majestic" and "Exquisite" suggests a royal, grand film. The poster directly addresses the audience when it says "fills you with joy" which encourages the viewer to go and see it. The Colin Firth poster is simpler - it uses God Save The King. The font and style is similar to the famous "Keep Calm and Carry On" poster which was first used around the time the film is set - which shows the context and attitude of period. The main information about the film's cast, release date and companies involved are placed at the bottom. The large image and text would draw the viewer in. The images of the characters are close up to make the viewer feel connected to the characters.

From the trailer the audience can understand more about the film genre and it's appeal.
The international trailer for The King's Speech:



The UK trailer:



The trailers differ slightly. The UK version shows Colin Firth's character more and shows the journey and struggle over coming his stammer but also his family troubles and concerns about the war with Germany. Whereas the US trailer focuses more on Geoffrey Rush's character and how he helps him overcome his speech problems. In both they use famous London landmarks e.g. St Paul's and Tower Bridge, also landmarks that are linked to royalty e.g. the Queen Victoria memorial statue. The UK trailer uses a well known quote from Shakespeare "some men are born great, others have greatness thrust upon them" this adds to the sense of Britishness in the trailer. In the Us trailer Helen Bonham Carter's character calls her husband the King rather than the Duke of York which is what she says in the UK trailer. The word King might mean more and give an international audience more understanding of his importance if they did not understand the monarchy/nobility system.

The various posters, trailer and film's synopsis all play an important part in the marketing of the film. The posters were placed everywhere; the sides of buses, billboards, bus stops etc. The idea of the posters is to grab people's attention, having them everywhere means people can't avoid them, which makes them want to watch the trailer and find out more about the film. The trailer then aims draw the audience in completely and to get them to see it. The film synopsis tells the audience enough about the film for them to understand what it is about but not too much to leave the audience wanting to find out more about the story and experience it themselves.

Major issues facing British Film Makers
According to King's Speech director, Tom Hooper, there has been a revolution in British film making due to the rise in digital technology. When he was younger digital technology was not available so he had to use film and could not afford to add sound so his films were silent. Today gadgets like iPhones etc have the ability to film in HD with sound so everyone has the opportunity to make a film. Digital is a lot cheaper way of film making however there hasn't been a reduced cost of marketing a film to the public. E.g. from The King's Speech budget of $15 million dollars it takes $25/30 million has to be spent marketing it to the US. Tom Hooper says that there is still a restriction to who can make a film that will reach everyone because even if you manage to make a film for nothing you still have to have millions of dollars to market it.

So despite the revolution the digital technology makes to the actual production of the film it has had little impact to the cost. He also mentions that the use of big name stars is a large part of the appeal to films and that also is very expensive. So although the digital revolution has change and given the British film industry opportunities film makers are still restricted by costs of marketing and distribution, and also the ability to make a film with wide appeal with blockbuster stars.

Kidulthood - the effects of camera angles and editing techniques.

The mid-to-long shot and over-the-shoulder shots of the parents show the distance between them physically and the lack of communication in their relationship. The mid shot of the Dad where he is closer to the audience and the Mum is out of focus behind him suggests that he doesn't really listen to her and that he gets the last say, which is proved when he ends the conversation "There you go, she's fine" and walks off. The camera then pans round to show the expression on the Mum's face. She then looks at the ceiling which cuts to shot of Katie in her room. The diegetic sound of the music becomes louder when it cuts to a shot of Katie. The camera moves around the room with Katie she walks towards the desk, there is then a jump cut to her sitting down so that the audience don't have to see every action. The high-angle shot of her at the desk makes her seem small and powerless to the audience. The shot also shows a bit of her room, there is a photo of her family on her desk. The camera then moves to an over-the-shoulder shot of her looking at herself in the mirror, this shows the audience Katie from her point of view, and shows her expression - she looks miserable and is shaking which could suggest that she is scared. It also implies that she is lonely and has feels that she has no-one to turn to.

There is then a cross-cutting transition to show the other characters. This implies that there is other action going on at the same time and the cutting makes the action seem simultaneous. The long shot of Becky in a crowded setting contrasts with Katie alone in her room which suggests that Katie is more isolated and lonely than Becky. The shot then dissolves into a the mid-long shot of Alisa in the toilet, which again is an empty room which suggests the character is isolated. The dissolving transition between the characters suggests that Katie is more cut off from the other characters and that the others are closer together. The fact that the montage shows the characters separately suggests that they lead separate lives.

The canted shot of Katie shows her distress and that she is not thinking straight. The shot then moves into a wipe shot montage of the other characters. The song is non-diegetic sound and becomes the sound bridge between the shots. The lyrics of the song "Just keep positive" relates to the story and the characters. The montage adds suspension and shows that time has passed since she went up to her room.

The jump shots of Katie in different areas of her room suggests that she is pacing up and down, that and the variety of different shots and quick cuts adds to the tension. The canted shot of Katie curled up on the floor is a high angle shot which makes her look helpless. It's a long shot which distances the audience from her which makes her seem even more helpless. This contrasts from the other characters because they are in close-up or mid shots which makes them seem less isolated.

The wipe shot montage starts again with a two shot of Becky and a unknown man. The man has his back to the audience which makes him seem dangerous or suspicious. It is obvious that he is older because he is not in uniform and she is, also he is towering above her which shows he has power over her. Shot then wipes to a close up of Alisa which allows the audience to see the emotion. The audience presume that the baby is Trife's because of an earlier conversation and the wipe shot then moves to him. The montage ends with Moony throwing his controller and cuts to a over-the-shoulder shot of Katie writing a letter suggests to the audience suggests that the other characters' problems are trivial compared to Kaite's. The amount of shots of Katie writing suggests she is putting thought into it, it could also suggest that she is unsure about her decision.

A close up shot of Alisa looking away from the pregnancy test shows her emotion and suggest that she is actually pregnant.

Katie indicates that she has come to a decision when she looks up at the ceiling, the cut to a shot of her family downstairs suggests that something bad is about to happen. The soundtrack also implies this because the lyrics aren't heard anymore but the repetitive melody carries on and becomes quite ominous.

The mid-shot of the Dad on the laptop makes the rest of the room look out of focus and distant which suggests that he is distant and uninterested in his family. This is also shown when Lenny refuses to tell his sister to turn the music off, which shows he has a good relationship with is sister because he doesn't jump at the opportunity to tell her off. The high-angle shot of the Mum looking up the stairs makes her seem powerless in this situation and shows that the audience have a better understanding than she does. The cut to the living room increases the suspension and shows that the family are oblivious to what is going on.

The shot of Katie's room from the inside implies that Katie is dead and lets the audience know before the characters however the shot is a low angle shot which makes the audience feel helpless in the situation. When Dad and Lenny burst through the door the camera zooms out to show Katie's feet hanging in mid air. The Dad and Lenny look up at Katie which makes them seem powerless and small but the audience are looking up at them which makes the audience feel even smaller.

There is a pause in the action where there is a blank shot so that the audience can take in what has happened. It also implies that time has passed, the next shot is light which suggests it is the morning after.

A panning shot shows the audience that the action is happening in a different setting - before it was in a relatively large house at night, now they are in an urban area with council flats. The different setting suggests that the story has moved on to a different character rather than continuing with Katie and her family.

The shot pans to Jay knocking on a flat door, the non-diegetic sound of the radio acts as a sound bridge from the outdoor shots to the indoor shot where the audience presume the radio is on in the kitchen where Trife's mum is cleaning. The shot pans round to the door where Trife opens the door for Jay, this allows the audience to see that the flat is quite small compared to Katie's house.