British Social Realism themes and the news both have a strong link with each other. They both use the real world as their inspiration. Other films such as global mainstream films wouldn't have the negativity of the current issues. They would make sure that their films are positive and don't relate to the news as much. The themes that are used in British social realism are similar to stories that you would hear in the news. The stories in the news have these same types of themes such as drugs, crime, violence etc... An example for this would be a current story in the news of a young girl being given alcohol and then being raped. You would see this type of stories in British social realism films. This could relate back to the film 'Fish Tank'.
British social realism films explore the themes in their films through the situations (themes) they put their characters through such as poverty, violence, drugs, petty crime, etc... British social realism films use a lot of the themes in each film to make it seem like how life in Britain actually is.
In British social realism films there are always certain types of themes inside it such as violence, drugs, sex, alcohol, poverty petty crime and rebellion. These are the themes that we would always see in British social realism films as they are what we would see in reality. British social realism films try to relate back to the real world and how it actually is; a realistic film (verisimilitude). These themes are essential for a British social realism film as it portrays how the British life actually is such as someone getting mugged. This would be shown in a British social realism film.
This week i have learnt about the conventions of opening sequences and how they are ordered. I have also looked into past students opening sequences and analysed them. I have realised which areas of this unit i have to focus on and complete on time. Seeing the previousstudents work has helped me a lot to understand what i am meant to create and has helped me know what pieces of work would be marked and how they would be marked. as i know this i can make sure i don't make mistakes like some students did and make sure i can get the most marks. I also know that a lot of work must go into making the opening sequence because its time consuming and i have to make sure it is right or can lose marks. Looking at their work i have seen how they include the themes and situations we would see in Film4 and this has helped me to understand how i could include them in my opening sequence. In my opening sequence i will make sure that i don't make it into a trailer as some previous students have done which brought their marks down. I will make sure i get permission for music or will create it myself. I will try to avoid using noisy areas where it would be hard to listen to what the characters are saying and certain camera shots as they don't always come out right.
British Social realism shows how life actually is(in British) but through the themes and situation the characters go through. The genre and the themes for this would be using real life problems people go through such as violence, drugs, etc...The style for these type of films would be portrayed through minimum camera language; they would use the unvarnished areas to portray the harsh reality of situations.
How has British Social Realism evolved over the years?
-The current issues of that time are shown in the films
-The dialogue - it has become more slang than
proper English over time
-It shows how the society has changed over time and their reaction
-The location has become more Urban
-The characters used get younger each time; were based around
adults but is now mainly based around teenagers life
Written Syria is about
a Syrian refugee who is hiding in England. He writes about all
his problems and his life and then becomes a journalist. Written Syria uses a good use
of continuity and used a variety of shots. the music used was
appropriate
The typography in this
screen used has worked every well as the font looks like its been written. This
relates back to the film as the main character is writing about his troubles
and life.
These two shots work every well as they use the same shot type. They both use a simple mid shot which doesn't change. this was successful as it shows the minimum use of camera shots(makes the films more believable as we see everything that happens but in a but normal shot.
I think this shot was successful in terms of the setting; it shows the Syrian flag in the background showing that the guy is from Syria.
This shot could have be improved. I think it would have been better if it was a few seconds later than the previous shot and that it shot be longer as it's just on screen for less than a second. A good effect they could have used is that they could have had the camera focusing to make out what the items were as if the guy just became conscious and has blurry vision. I also think that they should have zoomed out on the equipment to show that the guy is in an empty room with only those items.
The artificial lighting used on this shot is good as it attracts the audiences attention towards the character and he is also in the middle which mains him the centre of attention. As the whole scene but the light on the guy is dark, it makes the audience wonder about whats happening as its the first scene they see.
This
shot was quite successful too as backing lighting made the character in this
shot anonymous. This creates mystery in the scene and gets the audience asking questions and makes them want to continue watching the films.
Through half of the video, we see that there is natural lighting used. The shot shows his concentration on what he is doing. The shot used to show this is a simplistic shot; mid shot, straight on. The portrays the Film 4 uses of camera angles as they are also minimum. This video
Cycle
This shot can be improved as it is too long. This shot goes on for a while without any other shots being used. The other improvement is that the time of day they shot this scene at; the daylight changed half way in between and then we can see that its night time.
The typography used isn't really brilliant. They have used simple graphics which doesn't connote much. They should have used a better typography or made one with a cool cycle like letter or something to do with the film.
During this shot, we can hear other people talk but only see this characters face. This shot would be good if it was to show the audience his reaction but not in this case as the characters reaction doesn't change much.
This can be improved as it doesn't get the audience excited for what will happen next and doesn't make them want to watch the rest of the film. After the first half of the opening sequence(after the title is shown), the tension created goes away and then it doesn't make the audience want to watch it. The first two minutes need to catch the audiences attention.
This shot should be on screen for a bit longer to find out what happens. I think this scene doesn't really match up with the scene before and after it
This shot would be a successful one because the music goes well with it and makes it seem as if the character in listening to it himself. From the props we can tell that he is in a music studio/room
The
handheld effect was really good as it seemed like we were running with the
character in the shot. There is also another shot but from the other side of
the alleyway which i think is a good shot.
This shot would be a successful shot as it represents the stereotype towards teenagers that they are rebellious, dangerous, always getting into trouble. With this stereotype the clothes that people would think they wear are hoodies as shown in this shot. IN this shot the characters are place in the centre which attracts all the attention towards them.
Fish Tank is a verisimilitude film about the British lifestyle based around a 15 year old girl named Mia who struggles to achieve her dream of becoming a dancer. The area and the lifestyle she has stopped her achieving her dream with all the pressure of her mum sending her to a private school and her mum’s boyfriend staying with them. There are situation that the girl is involved in which actually happen in real life such as stealing from people, kidnapping, getting too drunk at a young age.
Mia's life become more complicated when her mum's boyfriend came to stay with them and then developed feelings for Mia. This inappropriate relationship between Mia and Conner reveals Conner's identity (that he has his own family and was cheating on his wife). In my film I would involve real life problems that people have, to build the social realism like in this film has using all these situations.
Representation (Stereotypes & Archetypes)
The representation of a typical Essex teenager is shown through Mia's behaviour and language. She gets involved into fights fast and uses foul language (swearing).
The little girl doesn't have the stereotype the audience would expect to see. Normally a little girl would be shown as being an innocent and polite girl but she is represented as a foul mouthed little girl.
Connor is represented as a 'player' as he first has a relationship with Mia's mum and then Mia. We then find out that he is actually married and has a young daughter. He used all 3 females in this film. This would be social realism as it shows how some men actually are in real life.
The mum doesn't have a stereotypical representation of being loving, caring and responsible parent but instead is the opposite; she is constantly swearing and abusing her daughter. She is shown as an irresponsible parent when Mia tells her that she is leaving home and she tells her to go rudely.
The use of stereotypes of teenagers would be good to involve in my film as its shows a believable side of teenagers. e.g. being irrresponsible.
Mise-en-scene
The location chosen for this film is an unvarnished area in Essex, London. The main location is the flats in the films which is where Mia and her family live. They live in a council flat as you can tell from the props (items) they have in their flat. The locations used show the real/believable lifestyle that British people have.
Mia's costume is what you would see normal teenagers' wear: joggers, hoodie. This is a typical costume u would see people wear in Essex. The old loop ear rings are known for being a bit 'chavy' which Mia wears. These would be normal for girls to wear who live in the same area as Mia.
Throughout the film is use of natural lighting. This is because Film's budget is low and has a niche audience. As there hasn't been any effects or better lighting used, this film portrays how a real teenagers life would look like. Using an unvarnished place such as barking would show social realism in the film so i would do this in my film as it makes it seem like the audience are seeing someone else's life in an area they know of.
Music & sound effects
The diegetic music we hear in the film would be mainly from would Mia listen to such as R n B, reggae music/Jazz and Hip-Hop. These are the type of music genres teenagers' would listen to so this representation of Mia being a stereotypical teenager is quite accurate. The music they use in this film is known worldwide and this would get more people to watch the film so using globally known music in my film would get a bigger audience and it would make the film see, more believable as the would be music the audience know.
Camera work & Editing
The camera shots and editing are quite basic. There has been pans used to let the audience see the area as the characters act. There were some hand held shots which wasn't clear. This shows that this film didn't have a high budget and didn't have the equipment to use for used the hand held. Film4's budget is low as they have a niche audience which is why they can't afford the equipment needed. The close ups to Mia's face were used to show how she's feeling and her facial expressions.
The editing of the film had scenes on the same shot for a while which made it easier for them to Film especially with their low budget. In my film i would use the different basic shots they use in this film such as hand held or long take to show how the characters are feeling.
Dialogue
The characters swear quite a lot when they speak. This could be referred to as being chavy. Seeing all ages swear would be a negative point to bring across to the audience and this wouldn’t be done by Hollywood as they would lose their audience. To make my film believable I would make sure that the audience can tell that the characters are British by them having a British accent.
Secondary Research
Institutional background
Fish tank was released in 2009 and was directed by Andrea Arnold.
The productions companies that were a part of this film were: BBC Films, UK film council, Limelight Communication, Content Film and Kasander Film Company.
Audience Breakdown
This film would be aimed at a teenage+ British audience as they would be able to relate to the film maybe with their own experiences and as there are cultural references which they would understand more than other non-British people.
Marketing Strategy
To market this film, they released the trailer to make people aware of the film and get people talking about it more. There were also a few posters made to advertise the film.
