AS Media Studies Blog - The King's Speech - Exhibition

Exhibition has played a major role in the phenomenal success of the British biopic, The King's Speech. Through various media platforms such as social networking sites, YouTube and theatrical rating sites which allow users to forward their opinions on new releases such as, IMDB. It is these sites which allow low budget British films to gain popularity and an audience following, e.g The King's Speech.

YouTube has played an important role in the success of many low budget British movies, an example of one of these success stories is The King's Speech. By using the plethora of social interaction services which the site features, users are able to share videos with friends and comment on content they like and dislike. It is these services which allow videos to spread and
become discussed by many viewers and critics alike.

Above: An example of a highly rated YouTube comment on The King's Speech.

 Social networking sites also play a rather important role in ensuring low budget Budget films are successful. In many cases low budget films aren't able to pay the huge advertising fees many broadcasting companies now demand. However by creating a Facebook or Twitter page, fans are able to follow, comment and share information about their favorite films with their friends. The King's Speech Facebook fan site receives many visits per day and countless comments on content which is posted on there. Just an example of free advertising which many films and television programmes are turning to attract a more diverse audience.

Above: The BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and the variety of certificates which films receive based on their content.

The certificate which the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) gives a film which is released in the UK may make the difference between the film succeeding or failing to break even. Many films which are released in the UK every year financially fail because of the rating which their film has been classified as. This may be because the target audience which the film was aimed at has been excluded from viewing the content, reasons include unsuitable language, discrimination and violence among others. The King's Speech also had its fair share of classification issues, firstly being categorised as a certificate 15 film because of scenes where Lionel Logue encourages the King to shout profanities to relieve stress. However following criticism from Tom Hooper, the director of the motion picture, the certificate was eventually lowered to a 12A certificate on the basis that the film is an educational resource and that the inappropriate language was not used in a offensive way.