In the 1940's, Film in America consisted of Comedy's, Dramas and westerns. The biggest movie in America at the time was Rebecca Directed by Alfred Hitchcock and this film made $6 million and in its day was very popular. However, the decade as a whole for America was dark following the attack on the u.s Pearl Harbour. Which evoked a spark in the film industry to create films that would boost moral in the war. In Britain in 1940, it was a different story. The British industry was making films to create false sense of what was going on over in Europe at the time. Again the budget for these would have been low because of the war and the fact that the films themselves would not have been that expensive to produce and make back then, because the lack of technology to produce the films that we do today.
In the 1960's, American studios returned back to financially supporting the British film industry. they supported those that especially used and capitalised the term, 'Swinging London' which was propagated by time magazine in 1966. Films like, ' the knack and how to get it' and 'Darling' (both in 1965) explored the term, Swinging London. Another event to mark film history in the U.K would be films like, ' women in love ' and ' Alfie ' using female and male full-frontal nudity in mainstream movies for the first time. Meanwhile in America, (1965) The sound of music was released boosting the industry into the 1970s.
The 1970 opened with a financial slump for America but in 1975, the film industry was boosted once again with films like Jaws, Star wars and close encounters. All of which were ground breaking in their approach to film. Star wars was the first of many and it invented the merchandise that we have today, like figurines.However in Britain, the film industry was struggling because America had stopped funding british films because of the recession. However, they still were making films like the Battle Of Britain.
The 1980's began with a huge recession that effected the film industry in Britain. Only 31 U.K films were made. this was down 50% from the previous year. The start of this decade also saw the emergence of self-financed British films. This was very different because when a film was made in the U.K, they were either American financed or had American director/producers. However, the 80's soon turned itself around in the film industry when the companies, like Channel 4 and Gold crest, started to make gritty comedies that were hugely popular in the U.K and internationally. To conrast this, America was Thriving in the film industry. They were making huge films like, Airplane and Riders of the lost Ark (which made 389.9 million US dollars in box office.)
At the start of the 1990's the British film industry was on a low once again because of the lack of interest in the cinemas for British made films. However, once again, they had managed to turn this around when the film, Four Weddings and a Funeral was made. The film started a new trend in british film to make British set comedies, like Notting Hill and Bridget Jones. Both were as successful as Four Weddings. In America, cinema attendance was up mostly in multi screen complexes throughout the country. Altough the budget for a film in 1998 was $53.million, the films cost over $100.million to produce. This called for better stories and plots throughout the hollywood scene. This also lead to James Cameron's Titanic. (1997)
The 2000s hadn't had a huge impact on British film history because of the government not funding the British films. However this changed when Harry Potter was made. J.K Rowling did not sell all of the rights making the film British, which boost the film industry greatly. However in America, they finished the decade with the revolutionary Avatar ( 2009- James Cameron.) which broke the record of the highest grossing film world wide. Which was previously James Cameron's own Titanic.
In the 1960's, American studios returned back to financially supporting the British film industry. they supported those that especially used and capitalised the term, 'Swinging London' which was propagated by time magazine in 1966. Films like, ' the knack and how to get it' and 'Darling' (both in 1965) explored the term, Swinging London. Another event to mark film history in the U.K would be films like, ' women in love ' and ' Alfie ' using female and male full-frontal nudity in mainstream movies for the first time. Meanwhile in America, (1965) The sound of music was released boosting the industry into the 1970s.
The 1970 opened with a financial slump for America but in 1975, the film industry was boosted once again with films like Jaws, Star wars and close encounters. All of which were ground breaking in their approach to film. Star wars was the first of many and it invented the merchandise that we have today, like figurines.However in Britain, the film industry was struggling because America had stopped funding british films because of the recession. However, they still were making films like the Battle Of Britain.
The 1980's began with a huge recession that effected the film industry in Britain. Only 31 U.K films were made. this was down 50% from the previous year. The start of this decade also saw the emergence of self-financed British films. This was very different because when a film was made in the U.K, they were either American financed or had American director/producers. However, the 80's soon turned itself around in the film industry when the companies, like Channel 4 and Gold crest, started to make gritty comedies that were hugely popular in the U.K and internationally. To conrast this, America was Thriving in the film industry. They were making huge films like, Airplane and Riders of the lost Ark (which made 389.9 million US dollars in box office.)
At the start of the 1990's the British film industry was on a low once again because of the lack of interest in the cinemas for British made films. However, once again, they had managed to turn this around when the film, Four Weddings and a Funeral was made. The film started a new trend in british film to make British set comedies, like Notting Hill and Bridget Jones. Both were as successful as Four Weddings. In America, cinema attendance was up mostly in multi screen complexes throughout the country. Altough the budget for a film in 1998 was $53.million, the films cost over $100.million to produce. This called for better stories and plots throughout the hollywood scene. This also lead to James Cameron's Titanic. (1997)
The 2000s hadn't had a huge impact on British film history because of the government not funding the British films. However this changed when Harry Potter was made. J.K Rowling did not sell all of the rights making the film British, which boost the film industry greatly. However in America, they finished the decade with the revolutionary Avatar ( 2009- James Cameron.) which broke the record of the highest grossing film world wide. Which was previously James Cameron's own Titanic.
An insightful useful summary showing a solid knowledge of the last 100 years of cinema trends. Well done.
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