working title case study

Working Title

 

Working title are important to the British film industry because they have a global market because they are owned by universal – who are one of the big five media conglomerates. Despite this they have creative autonomy (control), they have this because they were successful before universal brought them, and they continue to be successful. For example The Theory of Everything had a budget of $15 million and has gone on to make $82.10 million.Their key distributor is Focus Features who are also owned by universal. This is important because it means a percentage of the money these two company makes gets put back into them by universal.

·         They are also important because they are a British film industry, this means they:

·         Have British talent, this includes actors, writers and directors etc.

·         Use British locations for filming

·         Use British narration

·         And post production is done in the UK

 

While the films they do represent Britain in a stereotypical light the films they do are “British” because they have some if not all of the things that make a film British. These things are:

·         Settings (often London)

·         Idyllic/countryside – a key promotion of British heritage

·         Race/disability representation

·         Belief in true love

·         Stars/actors are British

·         Class development

·         Humour

·         Heritage

·         Fantasy/escapism

·         Happy ending

·         Sentimentality

·         Romantic comedies

·         History

·         Literary adaptations, e.g. pride and prejudice and the theory of everything

·         Buildings that are typically British e.g. cottages

·         Sense of grandeur

·         Sense of power

·         Sense of elite

 

Two of the films by working titles that show these things are The Theory of Everything and Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

 

The Theory of Everything:

This is based on the memoire by Stephen Hawkins wife Jane
(Travelling to infinity: my life with Stephen) and focuses firmly on their relationship and his disease. The location is an iconic British location which is exclusive as only the best go there so it gives the viewer a sense of power and a sense of the elite, it also gives the viewer a sense of wealth and the stereotypical idea that only the upper class or well off middle class go there. This idea is reinforced by the opening of the trailer where we see the Hawkins at a party where all the ladies are wearing dresses and the men are wearing expensive looking suits. The countryside and clothes used in the trailer also give a sense of heritage. For example later on in the trailer Hawkins wears cricket sport, cricket is a traditional British sport. This also gives a sense of heritage through customs. It has a sentimentality and belief in true love because all the way through you see that Hawkins’s wife never gives up on him despite the odds. It also gives a sense of privilege and while there is only one race shown (White British) there is a representation of race, however there is a much stronger representation of disability. There is also iconic British star vehicles Eddie Redmayne (les miserable, my week with Marilyn) and Felicity Jones (the invisible woman and breathe in) star as Joan Wilde and Stephen Hawkins, other cast members include Emma Watson, Simon McBurney, Harry Lloyd, Charlie Cox and David Thewlis. It was directed by British director James Marsh (previously directed Man on a wire 2008), produced by British producers Tim Beaven and Eric Fellner (previously produced 4 weddings and a funeral).

 


 

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

This film is about Queen Elizabeth the first and her life, the conspiracies to over throw her and replace her with Mary Stuart and Elizabeth’s attraction to Sir Walter Raleigh, it focuses mostly on heritage, history, Elizabeth’s Power and the Power of England and sentimentality, it also has a sense of duty. It was directed by Shekhar Kapur, researched by Justin Pollard, written by Michael Hirst and William Nicholson and was produced by Tim Beaven and Eric Fellner. It stars Cate Blanchett and Queen Elizabeth the First, Geoffrey Rush as her advisor Sir Francis Walsingham and Clive Owen as her love interest Sir Walter Raleigh. This is a British film because it projects a sense of history, heritage and international appeal and has British talent. It also makes the viewer feel a sense of pride and shows how/why England was an empire for 200 years. It does this by showing the power Elizabeth has and how she unites everyone.