(Pre-Production) Project log - Week 1

By looking at the mark scheme, I now have a clearer understanding of what is required of me. I can now evaluate my own work and decide whether i need to add more detail or put information in a better order and design.

 Creating a social realism timeline has helped me pin point and understand conventions of social realist films.
I found that working out what Social Realist Conventions were in each film was not to hard. However, i found it difficult to find reasons why the films would appeal to a niche, not mainstream, audience.


Discussing the themes used in British Social Realist films has helped me develop my understanding of the British Social Realism definition and how these themes are incorporated into films. I found that some themes, such as growing up and aspiration, are often used in Social Realist films as they make a big impact on the audience. I will take this into account when creating my opening sequence, as I have a limited amount of time and want to create the biggest impact possible, to raise audience anticipation. I found the trailer the for Billy Elliot to be very useful as it was pact with a variety of themes that occur in the film and gives impressions of what the film is going to be like. For example, the mise-en-scene connotes a working class environment, which gives the impressions of hardship. In my work i may try and emulate the way themes are brought forward through the mise-en-scene and characters and accent and dialect.







Evaluating previous media AS students work has helped improve my understanding of what my work requirements are. Using an evaluation sheet, I have tried to analysis the strengths and weaknesses of two candidates work. By comparing the two candidates work I now have a better understand of the grade boundaries and at what standard my work needs to be at to reach these levels.
In my work I will now try to be as detailed as candidate two and take care on the presentation of my work.

(Pre-Production) Written analysis of 4 opening sequences

Bullet Boy

 

Directed by Saul Dibb, Bullet Boy is set in one of London's most violent neighbourhoods. It tells the story of two brothers growing up in today's society and reflects modern reality within Britain's inner cities.

Bullet boy was released in 2005.
It explores themes such as: family life, violence, crime, relationships, growing up, aspirations and race.

The director, Dibb, interviewed local teenagers before shooting the film to get a better understanding of life in similar areas as the film.

Made in Britain

Directed by Alan Clarke, the film is based around a short period in the life of a 16 year old skin head named Trevor. The film follows his confrontation's with the law and his resistance to conform to the norms of society.
The film explores themes such as: Crime, violence, growing up and aspirations.
Made in Britain was released in 1982.


















My Beautiful Laundrette














Directed by Stephen Frears, this British comedy-drama follows the complex relationships between members of the White and Asian communities during the time of Thatcher's reign.


My beautiful laundrette was released in 1985, with it's themes tackling a variety of issues that were current in the 1980's, such as homosexuality, social class, British politics and racism.














Kidulthood











Directed by Menhaj Huda, this film is about several teenagers living in inner west London.
The film explores realistic and relatable themes of teenagers in London.
These include: growing up, aspirations, social class, violence and relationships.
Kidulthood, a British drama, was released in 2006.

(Pre-Production) Social Realism timeline

Social Realism Timeline

(Pre-Production) Themes of British Social Realism

Themes of British Social Realism

(Pre-Production) Evaluation of past students work

evaluation of past students work

Below are the website addresses of the blogs I evaluated:

 

Student 1’s blog is: http://amanveermediacw.blogspot.com/

Student 2’s blog: http://jbchandler1.blogspot.com/

(Pre-Production) Beachcombing

I have created a digital scrapbook of things which i find inspiring and potentially may be useful to me in the development of my opening sequence.

I choose this image as bull dogs are usually associated with the ruff areas of England, e.g. where dog fighting takes place.

Although this video's mise-en-scene is in America and it's characters are American, the themes of gun crime and reaction to gun crime may influence how I introduce similar themes into my opening sequence.

'Nobody's heart is perfect'

- The Handmaids tale, by Margaret Atwood

I choose this image as religious topics and themes are often brought forward in British social realist films.

"I worked on the belief that, if something is not impossible, there must be a way of doing it-and there was"

-Nichols Winton

 (an ordinary man who organised the extraordinary rescue of over 600 Jewish children from German-occupied Czechoslovakia in the run-up to the Second World War)

 I liked the contrasted between these images, connoting the fabulous life of the young, attractive women and then the reality of the old, red faced women.

(Pre-Production) Analysing Fish Tank

Fish Tank

I have watched the film Fish Tank and analysed how it conforms to the conventions of British Social Realism. The film follows, in a documentary style, a 15 year old girl through her day to day life living on a council estate in barking.

Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama film directed by Andrea Arnold.

Themes & Situations

Growing up & aspirations: 
- Mia wanting to get out of Barking and be a dancer.
- Kids on estate playing football and practising dance routines
- Mia getting into fights
- Bulling (from mother and other kids)
- Having sexual intercourse of the first time
- First boyfriend
- Mia's aspiration to do better for herself


Race, Ethnicity & Cultural Tensions:
- Mostly an all white cast
- Gypsy life - criminals?
- Conner is Irish - his accent makes him stand out


Social class:
- Under class - Mia's mum does not work
- working class - Conner
- Having little money to spare
- turning to petty theft/ Mia steals money out of Conner's purse.


Violence:
- Mia & mother having physical fights
- Swearing
- Threats
- Bad parenting?

 Sexuality:
- Sexual liberation - Mother's parties
- Mia's first time - with Conner!
- Pedophile - Conner


Gender roles & relationships:
- Mia lives without her father
- Conner acts as if he is her dad - Mia gets annoyed at this
- Conner & Mia's mum - relationship or just sexual intercourse?
- Mia's hate of her environment - tries to free horse from Gypsy land


Addiction:
- Mia's mum alcoholic? - Drinks early in morning




Representation (Stereotypes + archetypes)

Teenagers & Children:
-seen as rebellious, violent, criminals, bad mouthed, rude and being involved in gangs. (Stereotypical)
- Playing football/ dancing - Having aspirations (Positive representation)
- Bad role models - Mia's sister tries to cope her (Negative representation)
- Brought up badly - Mia's little sister & friend smoking and drinking (Negative representation)
- Caring about animal well fair - Gypsy horse (Positive)

Working class life:

- Hardship (Stereotypical)

- live in ruff area (Stereotypical)

- Families have no respect for one another (Negative)

- Parents not raising their children properly (Negative) 

Mise-en-scene

- Ruff estate
- Characters mostly in tracksuits (cost 20 pound)
- Straightened hair (stereotypical east London girl)
- Small flat - lack of money
- Cluttered house
- Natural lighting (Realistic)
- Dirty environment - graffiti, chewing gum on floor
- Shorting clothing - lack of respect for themselves
- Social worker - covered up
- Tattoos




Music & Sound effects

- Hip-hop music
- James Brown - California dreaming
- Mostly diegetic sound (realistic)
- Ambient sound - cars, machinery (Fords factory), Shouting and talking around neighbourhood/estate




Camera work & Editing

- Establishing shot - out of Mia's window in house onto overview of barking estate
- Pan of environment
- Blurred - shows Mia's state of mind when drinking
- Close-up - Mia's sister drinking & smoking/ pans to children's stickers on wall
- Little special effects (Realistic)
- Mostly unnoticeable editing and camera work (Flows/ Realistic)




Dialogue

- Swearing "Bitch" "Cunt"
- Conner - Irish accent
- Everyday conversations - "If you could come back as any animal what would it be?"
- Most characters have east London accent and dialect
- " Are you a pikey?"
- Social worker - uses no slang, posh accent, calm, friendly tone (Represented as more well off than Mia's family)


Extras that helped with my analyse of Fish TankTwo definitions of social realism really helped me to understand what i was looking for when analysing Fish Tank. These were:


'Social Realism in films is representative of real life, with all it's difficulties. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist canon are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily grind'
- Michelle Strozykowski (2008)




'Social Realism, also known as Socio-Realism, is a film movement, which depicts social and racial injustices, economic hardship, through unvarnished pictures of life's struggles; often depicting working class activities as heroic or significant.'
- Unknown (2005)

This is the analyses sheet (Split into two sections) that i filled out whilst watching Fish Tank: