R30 - Trip To the BFI

On Wednesday 11th of February, we went to the BFI on the South Bank to get more information about the British Film Industry. The day set out to inform us about the different exhibitions of films. We also got the chance to watch the film Belle, and have a Q & A session with the producer, Damian Jones - also producer of The History Boys and Adulthood/Kidulthood.

In the first half of the programme, we were given an introduction to film and the types of films there are. The speaker helped us identify that there were different types of audiences within the audience we were sitting in. For each film we had watched that the speaker said, we would either have to stand if we had watched it, or sit down if we hadn't. All the people that were standing presented a different audience. Some of the audience members were standing for more than 2 of the films which represents a mixed audience signifying that audience do not always have to be 'labelled' as a certain thing.

In the second part of the programme, the speaker played a list of trailers and in the hand outs we had to guess where it would be exhibited. E.g Picture house, art house. We also had to determine the genre of the film for example The Woman in Black starring Daniel Radclyffe was obviously a horror film however there were other films that were less easier to determine. We also received information about small independent film companies such as Warp X - which I can talk about in section B of my exam.

In the last part of the programme we got to watch  a film called Belle (2013); directed by Amma Asante and produced by Damian Hurst. The film is about a young girl called Dido Belle from the West Indies - also the illegitimate mixed race daughter of the nephew of William Murray (1st Earl of Mansfield, the Lord Chief Justice of England). She was found living in poverty by her father and was entrusted to the care of Mansfield and his wife. The film focuses of Dido's relationship as a young woman however to the public, very little is known about her existence due to society measures. The film is inspired by the 1779 painting of Dido Elizabeth Belle beside her cousin Lady Elizabeth Murray and focuses on the equality between Black and White. However meanwhile, the relationship between her and an aspiring lawyer who is White British; it is set at a time of legal significance, as a court case is heard about the Zongmassacre. This was about when slaves were thrown overboard from a slave ship and the owner filed with his insurance company for the losses. Lord Mansfield rules on this case in England's Court of King's Bench in 1786 with a decision that contributes to the abolition of slavery in Britain.

Personally for me, I thought the film was really good. At first, it took me a while to get into however when I started to understand what the film was about, I really enjoyed it, as did my friends. To create a film which was inspired by a significant point in history and then to make a film about it to exhibit not only to a normal audience but to a young audience of students, is a very daring move. Some of the students did not enjoy the film however I thought the film was really well executed. The storyline helped show the lives of people oppressed from inequality and especially as the theme of sexism was portrayed throughout, it interested me more. Overall, I wouldn't mind watching the film again.

In the last part of the programme, we got the meet the producer Damian Hurst, who was also the producer Kidulthood and The History Boys. Je told us about the successes and losses of a film. He shared personal stories about how the films he thought would be successful didn't even make it to the big screens while films like Adulthood which he did not expect to do good at all, became a very successful film for an independent film company. Likewise, even though the film was very small-budgeted, the profit made back was over the 'norm'.

Overall, the day was a very resourceful yet entertaining one. I learnt a whole load of things that I never thought i would need to learn. As well as it being very packed with information, i still enjoyed myself and had a better time than I thought I would. Even though this won't really be able to help with my coursework, i still benefitted as it can help me loads with Section B of my exam and the film industry.