Films
Kidulthood - Noel Clarke
Bullet Boy
Soft - Simon Ellis
Soft is a short film directed by Simon Ellis. Soft depicts a story on the relationship between father and son. Throughout the fourteen minute short film we see a number of generic conventions that of the social realist genre.
The camera work is very unique, Ellis uses different types of shots and also uses a boxed type of filming which gives of an urban vibe. The opening sequence is of a mobile phone footage. The use of the cellular/handheld footage helps create a verisimilitude as it is not too professional and focused. The footage shows us a group of white youths chasing after a boy in uniform, then brutally attacking him. This opening sequence is very effective as it captivates the audience through the fast and upbeat introduction. It also gives the audience an insight into what themes may be portrayed within the film - from this cellular footage the audience can already grasp a small indication what themes they may come across, for instance, bullying and gang culture/dominance.
They are all dressed informally, one of the members of the group is wearing a white tracksuit and baseball cap. The choice of costume, implies that this character is from a working class background which also indicates that he is troublesome however the choice of the colour white connotes innocence and purity nevertheless his tracksuit is quite a dirty white this could be interpreted as he was an innocent child but something in his life has triggered this anti-social behaviour perhaps he has been abused or witnessed the abuse of a family member.
The film is set in a fairly well off area, it is not the sort of area you would associate with gang culture. Simon's choice of setting is very different compared to other social realist texts that deal with the issue of gang culture as they tend to be based in urban areas with a lot of tower blocks and flats. He is showing the audience that gang culture isn't neccessarily based in urban areas but can happen anywhere no matter how well off the area is. For example and area like Nottinghill is very prestige and wealthy however amongst these middle class citizens there are working class families. The wealthy individuals that reside in this area may cause tension between the working class families as they have material goods that they long for which may result in crime. The youths in 'soft' may be in a similiar situation where they may live in a nearby estate and enjoy visiting the more affluent side to terrorize the wealthy.
Fish Tank
La haine is based on a true story from the riots, on an impoverished housing estate ,on the outskirts of Paris in 1986. The fact that it is based on a true story makes the audience more immersed in the film as they know that these events actually happened which is ultimately the aim of a social realist text to portray a true or reflect an existing issue within society.
The ultimate aim of a social realist text is to be true and reflective thus there must be a high level of verisimilitude in the film.The film follows the lives of Vinz, Hubert and Said, which in fact are their real names; which helps to build up the verisimilitude of the film as the characters feel more comfortable with their names.
One thing we notice when watching the film is that Matheiu Kassovich has used a monotone edit throughout the film. This makes the audience question why he decided to base the whole film on a black and white edit as it was not based at a time where there was no colour footage thus suggesting that he deliberately chose this edit for a reason which can be interpreted in a number of ways.
One may interpret this choice as being a representation of how Vinz portrays things, in black and white, it is them verses the police, which they refer to as 'pigs', the use of this slang shows us how they are influenced by the UK and US as individuals in this country and the US also refer to the police as 'pigs'.
The use of black and white also gives the audience a vague insight into how dull and boring life must be for them as they are young adults and from what we can see they are unemployed. It is as if they have nothing productive to do with their time than walk wherever their feet take them. Which is a contributing factor for the number of crime committed by young people the fact that they have nothing productive to do with their time or are in poverty therefore they may turn to crime as an alternative way of earning money.
It may also be a reflection of the aftermath of the riots as one of their friends have died and another is in hospital on life support as a result of police brutality so the black and white may be highlighting the tension between everyone within the community, also the fact that Hubert's gym, that he waited so long to gain a grant for, was hit by the riots shows the pain and hostility he is feeling towards authority. He has simply had enough of living in poverty and feels like he cannot do nothing about it which may cause him to feel marginalised. These are just a few of the ways that this could be interpreted.
The use of sound within this piece of text depicts the age and social class the characters are of. There is a lot of slang used throughout the film by the main characters which highlights that they're of a working class background and young as they tend to swear a lot, however the language they use changes in different situations for example when Hubert is speaking to his mother and people of authority he is respectful and calm in comaprision with his friends who are very disrespectful regardless of who they are speaking to.
We see the characters using a lot of slang taht is used by young people here in the UK and USA which higlights the impact of eing in a globalised world - everyone is connected and language spreads. For example, they refer to the police as 'pigs' which is a term used by young people in the UK and USA. Also, the choice of music illustrates the fact globalisation has allowed cultural hybridisation - two cultures infuse different parts of their culture to form a new culture and from the use of American hip hop music we can see how the French have incorporated elements of other cultures.
The storyline is different of your typical Hollywood film that uses the three act structure where the confrontation is always resolved. La haine ends tragically which really reflects the lives of some working class citizens - their lives never get better it just repeats - the cycle of disadvantage. The film ends with the repetition of this line ''its the story of a society in free fall to reasure itself it repeats itself endlessly 'so far, so good' highlight the exploitation of the working class by the ruling class maintaing the unequal status quo.
The characters used are young, unemployed , working class teenagers from a number of ethnicities. The use of these characters are very effective in depicting realism as it is diverse and the issues of youth unemployment are very current
contrast between two classes
they visit the city and are supirsed that they are being treated with respect by the police
shows that there is a lack of mannerism where they come from
La Haine - Mathieu Kassovitz
By watching these social realist texts, I have found some essential codes and conventions that I wish to adopt to my short film.
Titles: All the titles are clear and basic white text on a black background - which makes it very clear and simple what I need to do when editing my product to keep to the generic codes and conventions.
Location: The use of urban areas represent the genre of the films effectivey, in almost all these texts we come across an area of deprivation... If not we definately witness deprivation via the chosen costumes
Costume: The use of costume is very essential when making a social realist text to represent certain groups within society. Analysing these pieces of text helped to give me a clear idea of what exactly I would want my charcters to be wearing when producing my product.
The most beautiful man in the world is a short film which explores certain issues and ideologies subliminally through the choice of mis-en-scene, sound, editing and camera work. There are a lot of deep complex codes presented in this short film.​
The Director shows how the child is neglected and lacks care in five minutes, the audience can automatically see how the child is bored and lacks energy unlike most children of her age group suggesting that there is a problem.
This is a generic convention of a social realism film dealing with issues in society through indiviuals lives. The film gives us a small insight into the life of a child that doesn't receive enough care and affection and today's society is very centered around children where issues like pedophilia child abuse and neglect are not taken lightly .
We gain this feeling through the choice of lighting used and diegetic sound at the beginning of the film we are faced with a high angled close up shot of the girl, yawning with barely any facial expression or any sense of happiness.
The use of the high angle highlights her innocence as she is a child and how vulnerable children are, the use of costume also plays a part in this as she is wearing a light color close to white which connotes innocence and purity but she looks dirty suggesting that something has happened to her which has tainted the innocence of this child.
The director uses the child to show the audience some of the issues many children who are neglected face the use of certain codes and conventions gives the audience a small insight of what is happening but the secrecy and sense of not knowing what exactly is going on makes the audience keep on watching and makes them want to carry on (enigma) it also allows the audience to think in depth and make their own assumption of what may be happening.
Also in this shot the lighting is very dull and dark which can be interpreted to show that the girl may not be happy because she is not
Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama film written and directed by Andrea Arnold. It was filmed in the Mardyke Estate in Havering, the town of Tilbury, and the A13, and funded by BBC Films and the UK Film Council.
I am going to analyse a few elements of the film that will be useful in the research and planning stages of our production. As we have chosen to do a film of the social realism genre Fish Tank would be a perfect example of something that we would like our film to aspire to be like.
In the introduction of the film, we come across four different production companies, the title of the film and then straight to a teenage girl practicing a dance routine in what looks like the balcony of a tower block, we can assume this as she is facing an urban, rough and run-down looking housing estate.
This opening sequence automatically gives the audience a sense of who the main character is and her social class background thus implying that the film will be mainly set in a working class area. The audience also gather a little detail about the main character, as she is dancing we would assume that she likes to dance however the location and quality of her dancing highlights further her economic background, perhaps she cannot afford to go to a professional dance class but enjoys escaping whatever troubles she may be facing at home to go and practice her dancing alone.
The main character Mia, lives with her single mother and younger sister, who she is constantly feuding with. Right at the very beginning of the film we come to realise that she is an outsider, as she has none/ not many friends which is very strange as a girl, she gives off this masculine persona, a kind of front that she is tough - which we later come to realise isn't the case. Mia is a high school dropout, with a limited amount of qualifications and no job, which results in her spending her days drinking and attacking other girls on her estate. Her character seems fairly typical of the wayward kids growing up in such a harsh environment - single parent family, no future prospects/ qualifications etc
Mia is played by Katie Jarvis, who before fish tank had no experience in acting whatsoever, she was spotted by a casting agent following an argument with her boyfriend at the train station. This is a typical feature of social realist films - using inexperienced individuals in order to make the character seem more realistic thus building the verisimilitude.