Based on my preliminary task, I felt that the successes were that we used the same technology which is the tripod, Panasonic GS230 Camcorder, iMac and iMovie software. I had gained some experience and was familiar with using these technologies. I felt that my directing and filming skills during this exercise were good considering I had never previously had this experience. In the editing process, I used a few cutaways which was effective and worked quite well. The sound effects I used such as heartbeat and creaking door worked quite well and built tension for the audience. Me and my partner used storyboards to plan our filming, it helped to keep us organized and give us an idea of what it should like.
As for the less successful parts, I felt that I could've used more effects using the iMovie software such as adding music to the film. I also felt I could've included more of a variety of shots during the exercise. The camera work for a couple of the panning shots looked a bit rough. A problem was that the filming didn't finish to the point it was suppose to due to lack of organization skills, I was not contacted by my partner as soon as possible that she would not be able to film a certain day as planned.
Whilst producing my British Social Realist opening sequence, I was able to work with someone reliable and trustworthy. I felt that we had excellent planning skills and kept organized as we were able to contact each other through phone or Gmail. We also created shooting scripts and call sheets which helped us organize the times and dates of filming. A much more variety of shot types and cuts were used as well sound/music effects. As we used the same digital technology for filming and editing, my camera work and skills had improved. We had also researched films produced in the past to give us an idea of how the narrative structure and effects e.g. music fit in with the meaning of the film.
Overall, I have learnt that research and the use of technology have had a huge impact in creating my opening sequence. By researching British Social Realist films, it has given me an idea for the theme for my own opening sequence (growing up and aspiration) which relates to what life is actually like for British people. A lot of website applications, software programmes and hardware have proven to be very useful in order to create my own opening sequence.
The brief I was working to was creating an opening sequence to a British Social Realist film targeting 16-24 year olds for the production company, Film Four.
The title of my opening sequence 'Hear Me Out' is a straight forward and simple title like most British Social Realist films Film Four have produced in the past e.g. 'Hallam Foe'. This is because it sums up the entire story line and my title gives off the impression that a person in Britain wants people to listen to her story, which people may have negative interpretations.
In my opening sequence, the story line is the transition between two girls, Mercedes from the working class and Paris from the middle class both competing for a part in a Shakespeare play. They both have the same career intentions to become actresses. Mercedes messes up her lines and goes to the toilets angry and upset which leaves a question, will she get through? You can view more about my narrative on my treatment.
My opening sequence explores the theme of growing up and aspiration. It also the fact that people in Britain want to get out of their current situation and make something of their lives. I have explained this further on my research production log regarding week 4. The film 'Billy Elliot' has also inspired me where a young boy aspires to become a ballet dancer, which is mainly seen as a feminine type of dancing. 'Kidulthood' has also inspired through the use of locations such as the train station, street of houses where middle class mainly live and council flat estate areas. This so that our British audience will be able to recognize these locations.
As for the music for my opening sequence, I decided at first I could use hip-hop music to fit with the urban lifestyle of the main character, Mercedes. However, me and my partner found that this would be difficult because of the transitions we have between the two girls and the fact that Paris comes from the middle class.
Therefore we decided to use the slow piano instrument idea towards the last 20 seconds of our opening sequence so that it creates a sad tone as well as creating sympathy towards our main character.
We got the music from a copyright free website: http://www.freeplaymusic.com/
I have analysed the feedback I got on my 1 minute draft feedback. I've written the good points, bad points and how me and my partner will improve this for editing deadline.
Good points
- The contrast between the protagonist and antagonist
- The cross cutting between the two characters worked well
- A variety of shots were used (eg. close up, long shot, angle shots)
- The alarm clock starting low in the dream and gets higher as it cuts to the girl waking up
- Appropriate mise-en-scene and locations used and is conventional to British Social Realism
Not so good points
- The waking up scene looked too dramatic
- The cut was too fast as it went from Paris doing her make up to Mercedes quickly coming out of the flat
- The sound between the jump shots at the train station differ
- One of the shots were a bit shaky
- The white board was in the way on the stage
Improvements
- We need to cut down the scene of the train approaching
- Record the ambient sound of a train station to be used throughout two shots
- Match on action shot of Mercedes coming out of the flat or swap shots as Paris doing her make up
- Re-film the scene of Mercedes waking up making it less dramatic and more realistic
- Re-film the dream scene and roll up the white board on the stage
As for the production company logo, me and my partner decided on the name 'Capital Eye'. This is because it gives us an idea that we are following the daily lives of ordinary British people.
Me and my partner also created a few production logos using Corel Paint Shop Pro X and Adobe Fireworks. We used the colour scheme grey, black and white to connote a kind of negativity that British people don't always live a happy life.
This is a logo we created:
Instead we decided to use the following logo. This is because it is simple and the image of the eye connotes that we are watching over British peoples' daily lives in our particular opening sequence.
The feedback I received for my animatic story board was:
I like the storyline, you can imagine how it will turn out, however sound could have been used to create more of a mood.
I think the storyline looks very good. I like how you have added extra information on the shots for example "*yawns*" giving the audience more information about whats happening :)
From the comments above, we received positive comments about the storyline and how I have added extra information in the shots such as dialogue to give the audience a better understanding of my opening sequence. These positive comments give me an impression that my opening sequence should run smoothly because they understand the storyline from the pictures.
One of the comments mentioned that I could have used sound to create more of a mood. To an extent, I agree with this. At 1:44 of my opening sequence, music of a piano begins to play to create sympathy for the protagonist as soon as she messed up her lines at the audition. Perhaps, I could have added music towards the beginning of my opening sequence to set a mood for the audience and give them an idea of what the opening sequence is going to be about.
25 word premise Mercedes, a teenage girl from Marks Gate has always dreamed of becoming an actress. With many issues in her life, will she aim for success?
Target audience - My film targets the age range of 16-24 because the themes such as aspiration, growing up, relationships and conflict relates to that age group. Also the themes are quite complicated such as violence and drug abuse which young people may not understand or take it seriously. - Additionally the film involves the issue of suicide, an issue which is very serious and you need to be mature when watching it and it could be upsetting for a young audience. The film is targeted at a British niche audience we decided the film would relate to the working class as this class can relate to the film more. It will appeal to a female audience because the main characters in my film are females. This is appealing for a female audience as they can relate to the aspects of the person of the same gender and the lifestyle of the characters. It could still appeal to a male audience if they are aspiring to be something, but the issues faced in my film will relate more to females than males. - I also did some research on the kind of interests this audience has for example music as the audience will be familiar with the song tracks in the film which a British artists. Additionally stuff like celebrities, television are aspects which girls like and enjoy. The Internet, mobile phones, magazines are consumptions that a lot this target audience have and these devices are used within the film to give it a sense of realism. -The unique selling point of my film would be the theme of 'growing up and aspiration' as my target audience can relate to this and at the age group of 16 and over, you tend to make decisions in life. A film which inspired me was 'Fish Tank' which is about a girl from a working class background aspiring to become a dancer. Here is a link to a video showing a few clips from the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvuWhhZUBRI. Another film which inspired me was Billy Elliot which deals with a similar theme of growing up and aspiration. The main character, which is a young boy, aspires to become a ballet dancer. Here is a link to the first part of the film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lm5reTXJQQA
Outline of idea The main idea of our film is to prove that no matter which social background you come from and the obstacles and issues you face in life, you can still aim to reach success. Many people get the impression that the stereotype of a ‘chav’ are troublemakers and have no career intentions, but they miss out the fact that they can be aspired to go far in life in order to get out of their current situation. In my opening sequence, when the protagonist Mercedes begins her audition, she gets nervous and messes up her line. She runs out of the auditions and into the toilets angry and upset. My opening sequence will end at this point depending on whether she gives up her hopes or continues to try and aim for her dream to become an actress.
Looking back at my treatment as a draft, I received some positive feedback on my treatment and some feedback on areas I could improve on. I would need to take all this into consideration for when I improve my final treatment. My partner and I have discussed that we might need to make a couple of changes on our final treatment based on our peers' feedback.
I received positive feedback about the title 'Hear Me Out' because it is short and gives a sense of what the storyline may be about. They also mentioned that the storyline was very good and the fact that we had good ideas such as using the helicopter to get an establishing shot but we couldn't because of the cost issues.
Me and my partner also received feedback on areas which we could improve on and parts of the story line they lacked understanding of.
- Why does she hate her mother? On our treatment, we had to cut the narrative short because it went over 2 minutes whilst working on the shooting script. So we decided to remove the scene where Mercedes snatches the letter of acceptance from her mother. This can be a stereotype that she is just a moody teenager but doesn't actually hate her mother.
- What happened in the flashback? In the flashback, we see Mercedes having a dream of herself in the future as a famous actress. We hear a man say "Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome Mercedes Johnson" and she comes on to the awards stage looking glamorous, smiling and waving at the crowd who are cheering and clapping. Mercedes, from a working class background is aspired to live her dream of becoming an actress which contrasts with the fact that she is quite poor.
- Who is she aspiring to be like?
As she is quite poor, she wants to get out of her current situation to live the dream of a celebrity. She could be reading magazines and wants to live the lifestyle most famous actresses do.
- What are her daily routines?
Her daily routine is that she goes to school and is in competition with a middle class girl from the same school who seems to have a higher chance of getting through the auditions. Mercedes isn't academic in school, but she wants to fulfill her dream of becoming a famous actress one day.
- Sound/Music
As for sound and music effects, me and my partner decided we would play non-diegetic sound of the piano being played towards the end of the opening sequence so the audience would feel sympathetic towards the protagonist. We would also play slow instrumental music when introducing the antagonist to give us an idea that she is from the middle class. We find that ambient and diegetic sound is important because we would also need to make our film looking as realistic as possible.
My British Social Realist opening sequence needs to target the age range from 16-24. Through the Reception Theory, the similar the cultural background and life experiences in a film, the more the audience will understand it. After discussing these issues with my partner, we decided to follow the theme of growing up, aspiration and conflicts between teenagers. This is because around the age of 16 and above, teenagers begin to decide on their future career and try to aim towards their goal. Therefore this opening sequence would appeal to that age range. The main character is a girl who dresses like a 'chav' which makes people think they have no career intentions and just want to loiter around the streets. This is common in Britain these days and this film would target mainly females who want to prove people wrong. This opening sequence could also appeal to boys who may be in a similar situation.
The video below is a quick trailer of 'Fish Tank' which has inspired me to do my opening sequence following the themes of growing up, aspiration, conflicts between teenagers and of the working class. The girl is seen as a 'chav' and gets into a lot of trouble but she aspires to become a dancer but keeps it to herself. This has had an influence in my opening sequence for a girl who is similar, but instead, she will be aiming for her dream to become an actress and show that she can do it to everyone.
I have learnt that some social realist films such as Bullet Boy, This Is England and Fish Tank have been funded by the UK Film Council. They target a niche audience, mainly British who live a similar lifestyle as they may find it interesting how they cope with their own lives. They follow themes which happen nowadays such as gang culture, violence, drugs, ethnicities and British politics which British people find appealing. The biggest institution in UK which produce British Social Realist films is Film Four. Their films target different niche audiences depending on gender, ethnicites or social class. For example, East is East portrays the difficulty in half-caste children with parents coming from two different backgrounds. It shows the conflict between the two cultures through comedy to get a message across to parents, so they understand the situation of their children.
This will inform my production because I have a better understanding of the locations to be used and most importantly, the characters and their roles. I would need to make sure that the characters will be appealing to teenagers. I am also able to follow similar themes and conventions which British Social Realism use to show what life is actually like for teenagers and the difficulties they face.
I have learnt various narrative devices which could be useful for my opening sequence. I found that there are many ways in which films can follow a story. In the image below, it is the various narrative devices used in films. Most of them can be used in British social realist films and can make them more interesting and draw the audience in. It is also important that films have narrative structures so that the audience can follow them easily and not get confused.
A British social realist film can have flashbacks in the opening sequence such as Adulthood because it may seem more interesting for the audience of what may have happened in the past.
It is also an ellipse as it is denoted by the term 'six years later'.
This will inform my production because I would want to use a couple of the narrative devices in order to make it interesting for the audience to watch as well as easy for them to understand. I would probably make a timeline for my opening sequence to keep the shots and actions organized. Music is an important element in an opening sequence because I would need my opening sequence to create dramatic tension and set a mood for the audience. By looking at the opening sequence for Adulthood, it might be a good idea to use flashbacks at the beginning to give the audience more information of what is going to happen and how it relates to the past. The audience is then able to have a better understanding of the context of the film.
The methods I might use in my opening sequence would be probably be a restricted narrative to make it look realistic and show what life is actually like for the main character. It would also be interesting to use the non-linear device as flash backs or going in the future but I would have to make sure it won't look confusing for the audience. If this is the case, then the linear narrative would have to be used.
As part of our task, we had to analyse the sounds and it's effects in an opening sequence. I have decided to analyse sound for the British social realist film 'Bullet Boy'. In the video below, I have added annotations for the opening sequence up to 2:15.
The impact this research has had on my opening sequence is that I would need to add music which will create moods for the audience. I find that this is important because it helps them understand the context of the film better as well as the role of the main character. I would probably need to use a mixture of high notes and low notes to create tension on my opening sequence. I also found out that ambient sound is important in social realist films because it makes it seem more realistic, so I would take this into consideration.
I decided to look into the opening sequence for 'Catch me if you can' as part of my research.
I then created a timeline for this opening sequence and captured the credits shown, actions seen and the music played.
By referring to the timeline I created for the opening sequence, I found out that the production company names and logos must be at the beginning before introducing the actual opening credits. The film opening credits begin to introduce the names of the actors in the film and then the directors, editors and producers. These credits were introduced with the mise-en-scene, which gave me the impression of the roles being played by the actors. By doing this, the audience is able to gain more information about that the film is going to be about and get to know the characters already. Music was also played throughout the entire opening sequence. There were various instruments played as well as a mixture of low and high notes. This creates suspicion for the audience as well as setting a 'mood' for them. For example, the low notes could signify misery. The title of the film 'Catch me if you can' was introduced 44 seconds within the opening sequence, this is because it relates to the mise-en-scene where an animated police car was chasing a taxi. This audience is able to pay more attention to this and understand the context behind the title more.
There were a few terms in the credits which I did not understand and would probably need to take it into consideration for my own opening sequence. I looked the terms up to see what their jobs are:
Executive producer - Handles business and legal issues and are not involved in any technical aspects of the film making.
Co-executive producer - Second in seniority to executive producer.
Screenplay - A script made for a film including dialogue and descriptions of characters and sets.
The impact this research has had on my opening sequence is to create my own timeline because it will help keep it organized and easy to understand. I would also add my own production logo at the beginning and introduce the director and producer names before the actors. I would probably place it on the mise-en-scene because the audience may understand the roles of actors better. Later on in the opening sequence, I would add the film editors, music editors and costume designers as I noticed from my research. Overall, it had given me an idea of the certain times I'd need to add in music, actions and credits.
By looking at social realist codes and conventions, it has given me an idea of what needs to be included in my opening sequence. I have also learnt that there can can be more than one themes in a social realist film. For example, Kidulthood introduced the following themes in it's opening sequence: school bullying, crime, chavs, violence, gangsters and relationships. I have also learnt that handheld camera movements, real locations and natural lighting are important elements in order to make a film realistic as it will make the audience feel like they are involved in the scene. Also British people in social realist films usually wear casual everyday clothing which anyone can pick up from a shop so I would take this into consideration so that my opening sequence can therefore relate to a British audience.
Kidulthood is one of opening sequences I looked at to get an idea of what makes it British:
My research on a few British social realist films will inform my production because I will have more of an idea of what I need to consider including in my opening sequence. For example, I would keep the lighting natural because I want to keep my opening sequence realistic. I would also need to think about the dialogue and the language which would appeal to a British audience. Camera work is also important, so I could consider including a handheld shot to create a dramatic effect and in order to involve the audience as if they are in the scene.
After researching various opening sequences, alongside Kidulthood, I found that Fish Tank was particularly influential. This is because it was filmed near where I live in Baking & Dagenham and I am familiar with the locations. Also I can understand the regional language and accents because it relates to similar experiences I might have had. The opening sequence also didn't have much editing so it felt like I was following the character in the scene.
I will conform to conventions because I have gained knowledge by researching opening sequences that they introduce more than one theme. I will also need to start thinking about the various conventions such as camera work and props which will be needed in my opening sequence to make sure it will be appealing to a British audience.
Themes How it is used in British Social Realism: Developments throughout a situation and where the whole film follows on a story of a particular kind. Example: Bullet Boy - Gangster, crime, drama, fights between gangs and the relationship between these 'gangsters' and the police. Violence because of the guns involved. Teenagers are also being judged. His little brother is aspired to be like him when he's older like a 'criminal' - not a good influence. The boy has nobody and his mother cannot handle his situation.
Representation of Gender How it is used in British Social Realism:Usual men and women roles - what they spend their time doing. Domination, masculinity, single parents, only sometimes give positive views, not fulfilling roles as parents, encouragements. Example: The Full Monty - Six unemployed men become strippers to earn money.
Representation of Ethnicity How it is used in British Social Realism:Racism - actively aggressive, tensions between ethnicites, discrimination, judgemental, struggle living between two different cultures, use of humour to get a point across, sympathetic. Example: East Is East -Children have a white mother and a Pakistani father. They live in Manchester and the father wants to control their lives by getting them married to Pakistani girls but one of the boys already has a white girlfriend. "Mum! The paki's are here!" - considered offensive.
Representation of Class How it is used in British Social Realism:Underclass and working class living in council estates, aspired to achieve something and get out of their current situation, mainly see negative views - not much positive, not always showing what life is really like, shows them to be scums but it is not always the case. Example: Football Factory - A man who is nearly 30 and says his life is boring. He is working class and says "he's no different" to anyone else because he takes drugs, has sex, drinks alcohol, 'lives for the weekends' and does beat up people. This mainly gives a negative view of the working class. He enjoys football.
Mise-en-scene How it is used in British Social Realism:Natural/dark lighting, grey colours - not bright, council estates, real settings, streets, dirty environment (not perfect), not in studio, casual everyday clothing because anyone can pick it up from a shop, messy houses, hoodies. Example: Billy Elliot - Natural lighting, industrial estate, broken fence, bushes not cut down in a while, school uniform, others doing actions in the background, boy practices ballet in bedroom and kitchen.
Music & Sound Effects How it is used in British Social Realism: Ambient sound - birds, police sirens, cars, people shouting, hardly uses non-diegetic music, uses urban music from that area, mainly diegetic music Example: Made In Britain - Rock/metal/punk music - aggression, crime, troublesome, main character looks like a punk so the music keeps with the character, set in a real court room as someone speaks it is fuzzy and echoes, use real sound affects, very little talking in the background.
Camera Shots & Editing How it is used in British Social Realism: Handheld, shaky, rough to follow lives of characters and as if we are in the actual scene watching them, mainly documentary, not much editing involved - makes it flow more and the conversations, long takes, quick cuts. Example: This Is England - Hand held camera shot as boy attacks a man, a few quick jump cuts to show an action happening, close up shots of the boy and man talking to show their facial expressions and reactions. Long shot of environment - it is dirty, there are puddles, tyres on the floor. Expansion of time as they jump into the water for fun.
Dialogue How it is used in British Social Realism: Swearing, British accents, slang based in the regional area, we don't always understand some words but we can guess, dialect speech, choice of language. Example: Kidulthood - "Are you dizzy blud?!" "I'm gonna bang 'em up you understand me" "Who wants a sket like you" "It's cuz you're so buff yeah..."
Football Factory (2004)
- Directed and written by Nick Love
- Production companies: Vertigo Films, Rockstar Games
- Themes: crime, drugs, violence
- Gross: £623,138 (UK)
Kidulthood (2006)
- Directed by Menhaj Huda
- Written by Noel Clarke
- Production companies: Stealth Films, Cipher Films
- Themes: teenage drama, bullying, guns, gangs, drugs
- Gross: £100,056 (UK)
Happy-Go-Lucky (2008)
- Directed and written by Mike Leigh
- Production companies: Film Four, Summit Entertainment
- Themes: comedy, drama
- Gross: $3,494,485 (USA)
Bullet Boy (2004)
- Directed by Saul Dibb
- Written by Saul Dibb and Catherine Johnson
- Production Companies: BBC Films, UK Film Council
- Themes: ghetto life, gangster, prison, violence, sex
- Gross: £297,735 (UK)
As part of preparing for the opening sequence coursework, we looked at few examples of previous candidates work. This has helped me to give an idea of what needs to go in my coursework in order to achieve high marks and reach the Level 4 grade boundary. We were also given a mark scheme as shown in the image below to mark two candidates' work from last year. One of the candidates was a Level 2 example and the other was a Level 4 example. We wrote notes for the strengths, weaknesses and gave it an overall mark. This has been a useful task as it will help me with my own coursework of what I need to do to get the top marks.
By looking at the difference between the Level 2 candidate and Level 4 candidate, I have learned that you need to explain things in more detail, research and analyse films and have organized planning.
This will inform my production because I will have a good and better understanding of the task set, have good time keeping since a lot of work is involved and there are several things I should avoid which could cause me to lose marks.
Below is an example of a candidate's opening sequence from last year. He has used various shots, dramatic sounds/music, lighting and appropriate props. It is an excellent opening sequence for a film and would take all these things into consideration when producing my opening sequence.
The things I will avoid is bad time keeping because I'd need to catch up with previous work since there is a lot of work involved and it will also cause me to be stressed out. As part of the construction process, I would need to avoid poor quality of graphics which looks over the top for an opening sequence as shown in the image below which was part of a thriller film:
Another thing I would avoid is poor grammar and unclear graphs/charts. In the image below, we can see that this candidate has not included a key for their pie chart and has overlapped text. These kinds of things is what loses marks, so I would definately avoid this. The analysis reflecting the survey is good but lacks appropriate grammar and punctuation marks.
Growing Up & Aspiration Definition: Maturing, going from kids to adults, getting an education, get out of their current situation, to be more than what you grew up with, change who you are, having dreams of a better lifestyle Example: Billy Elliot (2000) How it explores the theme: Billy dislikes sport but has a passion for ballet dancing. He is aspired to become a professional ballet dancer when he is older, but it is not accepted by the people around him. Further Info: The film was set against the background of the 1984 Miner's Strike. Billy Elliot is an 11 year old boy who is torn between his passion for dance and the disintergration of his family to become a boxer. The message this film gives out is "Inside every one of us is a special talent waiting to come out. The trick is finding it." Jamie Bell, who stars as Billy in the film says he wanted to "prove that it wasn't just for girls". The film had a budget of $5,000,000 and made some success in USA with a gross of $21,994,911. Below is the trailer for the film.
Race, Ethnicity & Cultural Tensions Definition: Racism, tensions between two cultures - they do not always get on Example: East Is East (1999) How it explores the theme: Mixed race children are confused between the two cultures they come from and find it difficult to keep both in balance. Their father tries to control their lives by getting them married to Pakistani girls because he wants them to follow his culture. Further Info: It is directed by Damien O'Donnell and tells the story of a Khan family living in Manchester during the 1970s. George (a Pakistani immigrant) and Ella's (a native Anglo) marriage and children face racial prejudice and struggle to find a place for themselves because George wants them to follow his tradition. O'Donnell says "We're dealing with racism...we do it in the film with humour because I think it's a great way to make a point". Thes use of humour in a film is effective in getting a message across because people are likely to watch it anyway for entertainment. East Is East was a little popular with USA and had a gross of $4,170,647. Below is the trailer for the film which shows the lives of children who wish to follow their own British lifestyle.
Social Class Definition: under class, working class, live in council estates, no job, ordinary people Example: The Full Monty (1997) How it explores the theme: It is about 6 men who are unemployed who decide to become strippers to gain enough money to get somewhere else. The working class are just ordinary people like anyone else as a man says "you're just like the rest of us...scrap". Further Info: The film had a budget of $3,500,000 and it's gross was $45,857,453 in the USA. It was distributed by Fox Searchlight and the comedy involved is what made the film successful. The director Peter Cattaneo was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Direction and won the Academy Award for Best Director. The film was set in Sheffield which is seen as a grimy, dominished locale and the script reflects the loss of status for individuals and the community. Below is trailer made for the film for an American audience because the comedy involved in the film would appeal to them.
Violence Definition: Emotional scenes, a reason for violence, impacts on dialogue with swearing, fighting, bullying, guns Example: Kidulthood (2006) How it explores the theme: Three boys who are sixth formers bullying three boys in the lower year, punches one to the ground to show their dominance. Boy under pressure by his uncle to cut someone's face with a knife. A boy beats up his girlfriend for cheating on him. Further Info:Noel Clarke wrote and starred in the film Kidulthood as well as it's sequel, Adulthood which was later released in June 2008. According to the director, Menhaj Huda, the film cost only just £600,000 to make. The film was shot in the actual areas of inner West London and the London Underground of Ladbroke Grove. Noel Clarke wanted to show the lives of actual teenagers growing up in these areas and pass on a message to the audience. He mentions in an interview that many people who watched Kidulthood, miss out the moral message it was giving out. He also says "If you behave like this and get involved with these sorts of people...you could die" and that it wasn't just about "another young black man getting killed on the street". In the video below, Philip Saunders interviews Noel Clarke.
Sexuality Definition:Homosexuality, bisexual, transgender, others around people may not accept the way they are Example:My Beautiful Laundrette (1985) How it explores the theme: Two men who like each other of different ethnicities but the Pakistani man is being dominiated by the white ethnicity. The Pakistani man's father tries to set him up with a girl so he is not attracted to men. Further Info: The film's budget was £650,000 and it's gross was $2,451,545 in the USA. Channel 4 Films/Film Four was the first production company to produce films of extreme themes. It was directed by Stephen Frears and written by Hanif Kureishi. Homosexuality was a major issue back at the time during around 1985. The film also involves comedy to push the issue forward and give out a message to show the lifestyles of ordinary people. Below is the trailer for the film.
Gender Roles & Relationships Definition:Pedophiles, mother/father figures, expected to be a man/woman, friendships can change your life, relationship between husband and wife Example: One Upon a Time in the Midlands (2002) How it explores the theme: A man who acts feminine as he hides in a cupboard, he intimidates a tougher man than himself and tries to run away from his troubles as he says "Where's my suitcase?!". A man also calls him "You're not even half a man". Further Info: The gross for the film was small in the USA which was $171,830. The director Shane Meadows, who also directed This Is England, was nominated for the Best Feature at the Gijon International Film Festival 2002. The film trailer portrays the roles of men and women as shown in the trailer below.
Addiction Definition: Drugs, alcohol, self-harming, thieving/shoplifting Example:Trainspotting (1996) How it explores the theme: Strange scene when the person drops a pill in the toilet and goes down inside it to get it, this gives us the idea that people are addicted to substances and are willing to take big risks which seems unrealistic. The guy also nearly gets runover by a car and starts laughing at the screen. Further Info: Trainspotting had a budget of $3,500,000 and was successful with it's gross $16,501,785 which shocked critics. The film shows the "Edinburgh heroin culture" and portrays the fantasy and urban life that heroin addicts face. In the video below, the director Danny Boyle describes his intentions of the film.
British Politics Definition: Explores how the government doesn't care about the society or people, anti-government films made to represent this Example: Hunger (2008) How it explores the theme: This film is about the last six weeks of the life of a hunger striker, Bobby Sands. It is based on the 1981 Irish hunger strike. A man sacrifices for what he believes in. Further Info: Michael Fassbender plays Bobby Sands, the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) volunteer and led the 1981 Irish hunger strike. Critics say that the film dramatizes these events rather than portraying what actually would've happened. Hunger was turned down by the Irish Film Board, but still had gone down to be one of the most successful Irish films. The film was also named as the 'Best Film Of 2009' by the Toronto Film Critics Association Awards. The director of this film, Steve McQueen, wanted to show people about events which occured in the past which they don't know about. McQueen talks about this outside the London Film Festival in 2008.
Immigration Definition:Moving from one area to another area, trouble fitting in with the society, they are taking away our benefits Example: Somers Town (2008) How it explores the theme:It is about a lonely Polish boy who makes friends with someone already within the society. Football is a common sport in Britain and a man gets the Polish boy to wear an arsenal t-shirt so he supports that football team. Further Info: It's gross revenue was £566,616 and is directed by Shade Meadows, who was also the director of This Is England. The film studies the social environment in Somers Town in London which was shot in black and white. It was set around Pheonix Court, a low council property which reinforces the social realism in films of the working class. New Of The World describes the film as 'Hilarious, heartwarming British film-making'. Below is the official trailer for the film.
1950s Key Films: Look Back In Anger Social Realist Conventions: Black/white, British accents, in a house, white ethnicity, mainly mid shots and two shots, unknown actors, rainy season, looking down at the working class Appeal to a niche, British audience: the generation which lived during the 1950s because they are probably familiar with the lifestyle and the accents are British so it is easier for a British audience to understand
1960s Key Films: Kes Social Realist Conventions:set in a school, white ethnicity, football, white ethnicity, working class, unknown actors Appeal to a niche, British audience:an older generation, those who are into sports, football in particular, working class can relate to the lives of ordinary British people
1970s Key Films:Quadraphrenia Social Realist Conventions:poor sound and quality, natural lighting, violence, working class home, white ethnicity, relationship between father and son Appeal to a niche, British audience:British families who have children, interesting to see what lives of other people are like
1980s Key Films: Scum Social Realist Conventions:set in a boarding school/university, working class, racism of white ethnicity and black ethnicity, swearing, extreme violence Appeal to a niche, British audience:may come from a similar background, those who are working class would understand the context of the film
1990s Key Films: A Room For Romeo Brass Social Realist Conventions:poor quality, violence, fighting between teenage boys, located at a park, shot in colour to show more recent times, mainly mid shots and some long shots, swearing Appeal to a niche, British audience:British teenagers because of slang used, park as a hanging out location and fights between the group of boys
As part of our task, we had to mark two candidates coursework blogs from last year using the mark scheme. One candidate was an example of a low grade and the other candidate was an example of a high grade. This has been helpful and given me an idea of what needs to go in my opening sequence.
This my digital scrapbook of things I find inspiring and could help me with my opening sequence.
(8) I can live without money n if everyday was sunny I can live without the rain n if I ever went up to heaven I will fall rite bk dwn, tht life wudnt b livin cuz ur the 1 I cudnt live without (8)
This is a song lyric and it interests me because someone is describing their life through their rap.
Social realist films give us a representative image of what life in Britain is actually like. They usually portray characters in their everyday routine, the difficulties they face and their struggles to cope with their lives. Fish tank is a film about a teenage girl (Mia) who lives with her single mother and little sister in a council flat in East London. She doesn't have much friends or goes to school, but she is passionate about street dance.
The film uses ambient sound which isn't always in the field of vision such as police sirens, birds and engines. This makes the film more realistic and gives us the impression that there are other actions happening in the setting even if it is not seen. The sound volume is quite low so that we focus on the current action which is in view. The film hardly uses any non-diegetic music because they want to make the film look as realistic as possible by showing what life is actually like for ordinary British people.
Dialogue through diegetic sound is important in social realist films. The main character (Mia) speaks in a cockney accent which is commonly spoken in Barking & Dagenham. Words such as "butterz" and "rank" are used in the film which is usually used by teenagers in Barking & Dagenham area. People from other regional areas would never have heard of these words before and find it difficult to understand because it may only apply to that specific area. This can give a negative stereotype to teenagers in Barking & Dagenham and represent them as uneducated. Mia's mum's boyfriend has an Irish accent. He says "You need sortin' out you do' and Mia replies "...You don't know nuffin' so why should I listen?". This contrasts with Mia's cockney accent and shows that he does not fit in the regional area and his opinions are not important. It also shows Mia has bad attitude and represents teenage girls as rude and gives negative stereotype of them.
There's a tracking shot as we see Mia walking, the camera is also shaky. This creates a dramatic effect allowing us to follow the character and make the scene more realistic. The shaky camera draws the audience in as if we are in the actual scene watching Mia. For the same reason, it may be why there are not much editing shots in this particular scene.
We see a match on action cut of Mia running up the stairs away from her troubles and her mum's angry reaction denoted by her facial expressions. We see a close up of Mia shouting "You're whats wrong with me!" which represents her as argumentative which gives a negative stereotype to teenage girls. The shot cuts to a low angle of her mother to represent her as weak and vulnerable. He facial expression is blank which connotes that it may be her fault that her daughter has got a bad attitude as a response. This gives a negative connotation of the woman and it can also signify that she isn't being a good mother. It is an accurate stereotype that single mothers living in council estates are unable to take good care of their children and be good role models.
We see a few jump cuts as Mia is dancing to an R&B/grime song on the TV. This is to show her fast action in dancing and so we pay attention to it. This gives a positive representation of Mia because she has an interest and has talent in dancing. We see a mid shot of Mia's mum's boyfriend saying "You dance like a black...it's a compliment". This gives us the impression that black people in Britain are the best dancers and gives a positive stereotype of them and it is an accurate stereotype that they are best at street dancing.
We see a long shot of Britain's environment which looks quite dirty with rubbish on the floor of cans and wrappers. This represents Britain as unhealthy and British people as careless which gives off a negative representation. It is common that a few places usually have rubbish on floor and the environment isn't completely 'perfect'. The lighting is also natural which reinforces the realistic view of Britain.
There is also graffiti on a fence. This is seen as an iconic sign which connotes teenagers are able to cause crime and damage the environment. This gives a negative stereotype to teenagers that they are criminals. This may only be accurate for the working class who mainly live in council estates.
Info about Fish Tank: - Written and directed by Andrea Arnold - Katie Jarvis, who plays Mia, was spotted at Tilbury station arguing with her boyfriend which caught the casting assistant's attention to put her into the film with no acting experience - It was funded by the UK Film Council - It was released in the UK on 11th September 2009 - It had a gross of $373,060 in the USA - Won the 2010 BAFTA for Best British Film
