Themes Of British Social Realism

Growing Up & Aspiration:
Maturing and growing up in life and making big steps forward in life. Aspiration in British social realist films is usually the characters trying to sort out their problems. Their aspiration can be both positive for example like Mia in "Fish Tank" or negative liked the younger brother in "Bullet Boy".

Example Films:
*This Is England
*Adulthood
*Fish Tank
*Sweet 16
*Looking For Eric

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
*Sweet 16- showing the children shave and spending free time with adults to try and aspiring to get the adults acceptance by doing the jobs they want them to do. Examples of the jobs they have to do are violent crimes like attacks and on some occasions murder.




Race, Ethnicity & Cultural Tensions:
Cultural clashes and tensions in environments, these can include people feeling like they don't particularly belong with a certain culture like the children in "East Is East" or tensions from cultures like those in "This Is England" and "Snatch" where the characters are at odds with foreign immagrants or people of rival ethnicities. Another big part of Race in British Social Realism films are racism and how people suffer from it and give it out to other people.

Example Films:
*Snatch
*East Is East
*This Is England

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
In the trailer of the Snatch the trailer immediately introduces the gangs and their ethnicities while giving the characters a catalyst to allow them to show show the audience their hatred for one another. We also get a glimpse at some racism in "Snatch" when a character calls an Irish Gypsy a "pikey".






Social Class:
British Social Realist films often deal with the working class and even underclass characters because of the opportunities that the peoples lives allow the filmmakers to deal with such as drug addiction, alcoholism and living in poverty to name a few.

Example Film:
*Brassed Off

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
"Brassed Off" shows the lives of several average working class people doing activities that're typical of people of their class and shows the average living style of people who're working and underclass. We see accents and dialects that're commonly associated with working class people and we see them arguing over things which are stereotypical of people who're working class such as having no money.


Violence (often with gangs)
Explore violence such as domestic abuse/violence. The films also explore motivated and verbal violence and use things like gang violence to help exploit it.

Example Films:
*Football Factory
*Kidulthood
*Adulthood

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
Football Factory explores common motivated violence amongst people of working and underclass like football hooliganism. We see how their motivated violence is behind football teams and is very similar to the violence in Kidulthood and Adulthood which is instead of being motivated by football teams is motivated by gangs.




Sexuality:
Types of sexuality and sex that most British films would make more positive not as sad or in some cases not tackle at all such as homosexuality, underage sex, pedophilia , ethnic sex and rape to name a few.

Example Film:
*My Beautiful Laundrette

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
The film explores homosexual relationships and ethnic relationships which at the time were not themes that were often explored and even now the former isn't often explored in a realistic manner.




Gendre Roles & Relationships:
These films often have the themes of absent father figures and bad surrogate fathers or father figures. We also see friendships that are often formed by the environment the characters live in for example the skinheads in "This Is England". The films also look into abusive relationships such as relationships with domestic and child abuse.

Example Films:
*Nil By Mouth
* Once Upon A Time In The Midlands

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
Once Upon A Time In The Midlands shows the contrasts in relationships and how they affect people. We see a mans fear for another man who threatens his love for a women. We also see a woman being controlled via fear from an ex lover to not have a relationship with another man.



Addiction:
Drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, petty crime, self harm, fights and theft are forms of addiction that the films try to explore even though some of the addictions are not as obvious as some of the others for instance an addiction like self harm is not the most typical addiction you expect to see in a film. When the characters are addicted to something and get their fix the filmmakers often exaggerate the scene so the audience gets a greater feeling of what the character feels at that moment on time.

Example Film:
*Trainspotting

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
Trainspotting the shows characters withdrawal addictions and the highs of their drugs in either really positive lights or really negative lights. The films theme of addiction also takes on surreal approaches to show the feelings the characters get. The theme of addiction also allows the film to incorporate sexual themes and themes of violence.

British Politics:
Condemn them in most films and always portray them in a negative light. The films often show the working class as being bullied by the government and the government don't care about their reactions.

Example Film:
*This Is England
*Hunger

How Example Films Explore The Theme:
In Hunger we see a real life figure who was tormented by the government as a lead character and his ordeal is a central aspect of the story, the events of the film and the theme of politics always show the government as bad and because the story is biased to the lead character the government is always shown as a primary antagonist and the reason the characters and environment they live in are so poor.



Immigration:
Explore the difficulties of immigration and the outcome of their decisions in society, to them and the people around them. This can include being attacked and abused or even having cultural difficulties among the generations of families, when younger generations try to adapt to their new surroundings.

Example Film:
*This Is England
*East Is East
*West Is West

How Example Film Explores The Theme:
The characters who have immigrated are shown as being received with hostility and racism. We also don't get a condemning view on the people who are affected by the immigration. We're given two sides to view the effect of immigration, one from either party.




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Analysis of Opening Sequences (British Social Realism)

Bronson: Released 13th March 2009 UK, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, written by Brock Norman Brock and Nicolas Winding Refn.



Harry Brown: Released 11th November 2009 UK, directed by DanilYoun,writen by Gary Barber



This Is England: Released 17th September 2007, Directed by Shane Meadows, written by Shane Meadows


Bullet Boy: Released 1st Apri 2005, written and directed by Saul Dibb

Evaluating Past Students Work

Candidate 1:

Planning and Research
Strengths:
*Took feedback for their work.
* Researched into similar products and looked at a potential target audience.
*Their work  was done in the time given.
*When forming ideas it was layed easy to read and had valid ideas.

12

Weaknesses:
* There were very few examples.
*The research into other products and their possible target audiences was limited.
*When forming ideas for their opening it lacked explaination of ideas.


Production/Construction:
Strengths:
*Effective graphics.
*Varied range of shits.
*Aimed to do something that would requiere alot of effort.
*Sound that went with the images was appropriate for the task.
*Framing of shots included and excluded appropriate elements.

27

Weaknesses:
*The prop wasn't very clear in the shot.
*The shots although varied needed to be more precise.
*The plot didn't seem very clear.
*The mise-en-scene was poor.

Evaluation:
Strengths:
*Understood their audience.
*Basic explaination of choices made and their outcomes.
*Was able to discuss their representation well.
*Had basic ability to communicate.
*Good skills used in the digital technology and ICT evaluation.

9

Weaknesses:
*Correct terminology was limited.
*Fails to precisley evaluate aspects of their work  such as music and camera techniques.
*Lack of good explaination.


Candidate 2:

Planning and Research
Strengths:
*Brilliant use of examples.
*Clear and understanding of points.
*Brilliant research into similar products and the target audience.
*Excellent level of care in the presentation and planning.
* Excellent time management.
* Excellent work on drafting.

20

Weaknesses:
*N/A


Production/Construction:
Strengths:
*Varied shot types.
*Excellent editing
*Meaning of the editing was evident to the viewer.
*The shooting material was appropriate for the task set.
*Excellent framing of shots.
*Steady shots.
*Excellent camera techniques.

19

Weaknesses:
*Certain sound effects didn't appear appropriate with the editing.



Evaluation:
Strengths:
*Excellent understanding of issues around audiencece and technology.
* Excellent ability to refer to choes made and outcomes.
*Excellent skills in the use of digital technology and ICT in the evaluation.
*Excellent undertsanding of representation.
* Excellent understanding of their development from preliminary to full task.

20

Weaknesses:
*Background noise/disturbance in final evaluation distracted the candidate from their evaluation.



Analysis Of Fishtank

Andrea Arnold's Fish Tank (2009) is the story of a fifteen year old teenage girl called Mia in Essex who has a dream of becoming a dancer but is unable to because of the unstable environment that she lives in.

Themes & Situations:
Fish Tank contains many themes and situations which are very stereotypical of teenagers but most films will not wish to show because of the reception it may receive.


Sex: Is seen throughout the films and is a key theme. Connor (Michael Fassbender) has a sexual relationship outside of his marriage not only with Mia's mother but also Mia herself. The films theme of sex tackles aspects of sex such as paedophilia and adultery the former being an aspect of certain relationships most films would be uncomfortable tackling. Casual sex is also witnessed in the film when at a party of Mia's mother we see two characters having casual sex in the kitchen even when there are other guests at the party in their vacinity. These views of sex not just represent possible British relationships as negative but also shows a distorted view on the relationships some people and families have and how there is no love.

Jealousy: Is an evident theme of the picture. The audience is aware of the jealousy Mia has towards her mother for the love and affection she is given by Connor and this jealousy is not just there towards her mother but to other female characters that Connor seems to show any sign of affection towards; his daughter Keira and her mother. The jealousy is shown when Mia witnesses her mother having sex with Connor and she watches them before finding it too much for herself and storming off to her room in anger. The jealousy towards Keira and her mother is shown when Mia kidnaps Keira with the intentions to make Connor and his wife feel the pain she went through while also upsetting their daughter in the process.


Abuse: There is a strong theme of varying types of abuse. These include sexual abuse from local thugs and Conor. The local thugs torment Mia and touch her inappropriately while the paedophilic relationship that Mia has with Conor can also be interpretated as a form of abuse. The way in which Mia treats her younger sister and how their mother treats them is also abusive, we (, the audience) see the characters verbally and physically abuse one another by swearing and fighting with each other. Mia's younger sister is seen drinking and smoking which is against the law and the person who supplied the child with the means of getting hold of these things has (possibly unknowlingly) committed child abuse.


Representation (stereotypes & archetypes):
From the start of the film you see the environment that the main character Mia lives in and it is very stereotypical of her character who appears to be a trouble startting youth. This stereotypical view is further amplified by having her get in a fight and calling another girl a "pikey". The word pikey is used derogatory and is used to reflect the world she lives in and also show how the characters see this sort f racism as acceptable.

Mia's family is shown to be of underclass by the way in which the family interacts and the environment that they live. Mia's mother is shown to wear clothing like a vest and knickers while sitting in a house that's a mess shouting at her daughters. This gives a stereotypical view of how people who're underclass are and the places they live in. The mother dosn't seem to care about her kids and allows them to freely turant off school, this representation of the mother shows her as a woman who dosn't care about her children and is a character that the audience can possibly blame on the way her children are however in real life there are children like this with parents who are nothing like Mia's mother and the children are still badly behaved, the film does nothing to try and represent her mother like this.

Mise-en-scene: In the mise-en-scene of the film we see costumes that're very familiar to British people and characters wear costumes that are that of typical working and underclass people such as stone washed jeans, plain t-shirts, tracksuit bottoms and hoodies. The dyed hair and extensive make up and eye shadow are very stereotypical appearances of people who live in Essex but it helps the film give more verisimilitude.

The locations we see such as the place that Mia dances at is rundown and the park she is at in the beginning of the film is an existing location that gives the film a naturalistic feel to it. Most of the locations are actually existing places like the internet cafe, the street that Connors family lives on and the estate that Mia lives on. These locations and the color palette the cinematographer uses makes the film naturalistic and adds to the verisimilitudel.

Music & Sound effects:
Lack of a soundtrack and relies more on adjacent sound and foley sound. There is lots of existing music throughout such as "California Dreamin'", as covered by Bobby Womack (1968),  "Me & U" by Cassie,"Life's a Bitch" by Nas, "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr, "Cool Down the Pace" by Gregory Isaacs, "Your house" by Steel pulse, "Juice" by Epic B and Rakim, "Baby girl" by Wiley, "Show Me Love" (Stonebridge Club Mix) by Robin S, "Get Up Offa That Thing" by James Brown, and "Original Nuttah" by Shy FX & UK Apache.

Camera work & Editing:
Extensive use of handheld camera work when there are scenes that are intimate (Love scene between Conor and Mia). Handheld camera work is also used when Mia is in danger for example when she's runnign from the thugs who own the horse. Ontop of handheld camerawork there are lots of jump cuts and quick cuts to show that Mia is disorientated. When Mia is running from Connor after returning Keira the camera is at a long shot with a tracking shot that is also a pan before becoming a tracking shot. There are alos lots of long takes and establishing shots.An example of a long take is when Mia is walkign behind the man who owns the horse and the camera tracks them as they walk down a street. An example of an establishing shot s when the camera is at an over the shoulder shot of Mia looking out onto the town she lives on, the shot contains other estates and pylons which let the audience know that the film is set in the uk by the terrain and certain things in the shit like th eestates and pylons.

Dialogue:
Violent swear words that commonly stated with British people. "Cunt" and "Wanker". The dialect used is rather typical of people of where they live and their status. The dialect is very common and their pronounciation tends to be poor, with msot characters dropping their T's and sayings things like "init" instead of isn't it. The things the characters say is also often things you wouldn't associate with people who're middle class saying like " nearly had you aborted" and "pikey".

The character of Connor has an eccent that is not British and in turbn makes him seem exciting and new to the characters. Conor also speaks with much better pronounciation then the other characters which builds to his character because he dosn't live in an area as poor as the area that Mia lives in.

Examples of the "common" and rude way the character speak to each other:

Mia: I'm leaving then.
Joanne: [dances] This is one of your CDs.
Mia: Yeah. It's nice.
Joanne: Yeah, it's great.
Mia: You can keep it.
Joanne: Well, go on then. Fuck off

Tyler: Why do you need so much stuff?
Mia: [packing] Just in case.
Tyler: What about the referral unit?
Mia: You can have my place.
Tyler: I don't want it. They're full of spastics and idiots, those places.

Mia: Cor! Clever Dick!
Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed off. Ring me back, you bitch.

Beachcombing

 I really like the long take as the heist begins along with the music which sets the mood for the scene and changes as the scene plunges into danger. The handheld cameras make the audience feel as if they're running with the characters and makes the audience feel like a part of the film. The nun costumes are also very iconic, I'd like something equally as iconic if not more so for my work.:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q7dmPnwXfw&feature=related


I really like the slow pan downwards to Robert De Niro's Max Cady in Cape fear because the music MAKES his introduction so powerful. In those few seconds it makes the audience believe this man is a criminal.



The rain in the scene along with the calm music makes the scene feel personal. The music seamlessly blends in with the sound of the rain and is almost unnoticeable. I like the imagery of the water which acts almost like the tears the characters are unable to shed.





The chestburster scene is still to date the most frightening scene I've ever seen in a film. It was unpredictable and shocking. Something i would like to recreate- being taken out of your comfort zone without expecting it.

 I'm not sure how i would get this song to fit into  my work but this songs has always struck me as something that needs to either open or close a film.

Black and white suits have a look that radiates iconic to me.

I like the idea of formally dressed criminals. This picture captures the look of how I like my criminal characters to look. I like the way their dressed smart and efficiently but their actual appearance looks like that of a common thug.

You do not talk about FIGHT CLUB!














If Walt Disney is the master of animation then Hayoa Miyazaki is the god of animation.



 I wish I'd created this film.