Capturing the cultural value of

film

AHRC Cultural Value Project WorkshopBirkbeck, 11 April 2013

Sean PerkinsBFI Research and Statistics Unit

Overview

• Context - previous work on the cultural value of film 2003-2007

• Stories we tell ourselves – the cultural impact of UK film 1946-2006

• Opening our eyes – how film contributes to the culture of the UK

• Directions for future research

The economic contribution of film is well documented..

Our first plan – to look at the economic value of film culture…

• In 2003-2005, we scoped the idea of a study of the “cultural value of UK film” to complement our previous studies into the economic value of film in the UK

• How to place a monetary value on UK film culture, to assist government resource allocation decisions?

• We looked at a variety of economic survey methods and the wider valuation literature and consulted with various experts on valuation methods (in the UK and overseas)

• Early thinking published in Cultural Trends (Dec 04)

In the end we didn’t feel confident enough in the economic valuation methods…

• How feasible is it, in principle, to place a monetary value on film culture?

• The economic methods had a number of practical challenges that would be difficult to address successfully (we felt)

• A good piece of research would probably be expensive – beyond our budget – because of the need to reach a representative sample of the population with a quite detailed and tricky questionnaire

So we moved from thinking about the economic value of film to the cultural impact of UK film..

• In 2007, the UK Film Council Board requested a study into the cultural value of UK film, to complement the economic impact studies that had helped convince government to extend and reform UK film tax relief

• In writing the brief, and bearing in mind the path described in the previous studies, we decided the best focus for the study would be the cultural impact of UK film

• “Impact” is more qualitative than economic value (though it does not exclude metrics) and it makes no assumption about positivity or negativity, so we thought it a potentially more interesting question to ask

The brief highlighted several dimensions of potential cultural impact...

• Contribution to understanding and appreciation of the UK’s history, culture, diversity and values

• Knowledge and understanding of identity, community and the wider world

• Cultural impact of UK film over an extended period of time, including the part played by film in cultural change in the UK over the last century

• “Culture” defined broadly, not only as artistic activity, but as “the way we live shared traditions, beliefs and practices”

Stories we tell ourselves

• The approach taken was a mix of literature review, interview, statistical analysis and case studies

• Population of 4,644 UK feature films, 1946-2006

• Statistical study of two samples – “intuitive” sample of 200 significant UK films; random sample of 200 films

• 30 case studies of British films; 8 case studies of National and Regional films; 8 case studies of films involving black and Asian talent

• Interviews with industry professionals and a review of the impact of film policy

The case studies – beginnings of a metric of cultural impact

The researchers developed a set of metrics to look at how widely films have circulated and the impact they have had:

• Original impact (box office, festivals)

• Extended impact (academy awards, DVDs, restorations, “best” listings)

• Wider impact:• Citation in other media• Evidence of esteem (commendation by cultural arbiters, prizes etc.)• Evidence of impact on the behaviour of society• IMDb user ratings and number of votes• Number of YouTube clips

Findings – four key categories of cultural impact:

• Censorship and notoriety (Sexy Beast, Pressure, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp)

• Quotations in other media (Chariots of Fire, A Clockwork Orange, The Crying Game)

• Zeitgeist moments (Jubilee, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Henry V)

• Cumulative impact (Brief Encounter, Get Carter, Local Hero, Bend it like Beckham)

..but what next?

Findings debated with academics at Birkbeck seminar in 2009, then presented to public and film professionals in Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Edinburgh, and York

Also discussed at San Sebastian Film Festival and European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education in Brussels

Participants were positive about the report and enthusiastic in discussing the ways in which cultural value or impact of film is produced and communicated

But two persistent questions:

• What do the people think?

• What about films from other countries?

Phase two – Opening our eyes

• Commissioned by UK Film Council/BFI in early 2011

• Survey of the attitudes and opinions of the UK public on a range of questions related to the cultural contribution of film in the UK

• The purpose was to find out how highly people value film – whether UK or internationally made – and how they express the meaning film has for them

Methodology

• First, we had to discover how to talk to the public about film and culture. Ipsos conducted paired depth interviews around the UK to explore key themes

• Then Ipsos conducted 2036 online surveys with a representative sample of UK citizens aged between 15 and 74

• The survey findings were used to develop a series of seven case studies and twenty follow-up telephone interviews were conducted on issues of Britishness and the artistic value of film.

Opening our eyes – some key findings

• Film has a far-reaching range of impacts on individuals

• People see value and meaning in all kinds of films, including blockbusters

• The films most often mentioned as ‘significant’ and those they consider represent the UK best, often do not appear in box office, critical or industry rankings

• Film contributes to National and Regional identities within the UK

• Two-thirds of respondents said they had seen films which had given them new insights into other cultures and ways of life

• The potential for film to make a cultural contribution is further increased by the growth in digital access

Next steps

Do the proxy indicators suggested in Stories we tell ourselves (YouTube views, IMDb ratings etc.) confirm the evidence from the survey data in Opening our eyes?

In a digital multi-platform world of film consumption, would internet-derived data provide a valid and robust source of information on the cultural contribution of film in the UK?

In comparison with conventional survey data – which take months to commission and gather – internet-derived data could provide an instant measure of cultural contribution and provide a means of tracking impact over time.

Thank you – questions?

www.bfi.org.uk/publications/openingoureyes

www.bfi.org.uk/statistics

rsu@bfi.org.uk