Production Log TWO

This week I have looked at particular conventions that are featured in a British Social Realist films. By looking at BSR films throughout time, from the 1960s to the 2000s I have found out that a lot has changed in terms of representations of British people/life. For example, in the 1969 film "Kes" there are a few unclear accents that were very common at the time, whereas in the 2006 film "Kidulthood" the accents are quite easy to understand. However, as "Kes" is set in the past and in South Yorkshire, I would probably find it harder to understand this as oppose to a London based film  like "Kidulthood". These films appeal to those would typically either relate or understand the way that things worked in these times. I have found this out as by looking at the conventions such as cultural references, this would be a main target audience for this. I have also studied news stories that are a part of themes that appear in Social Realism films; these will help me with my production as they display attributes of a BSR film.

This will inform by production as I may choose to have typical BSR conventions such as accents and iconic views in order to attract the correct audience. There is not much point of having a lot of different conventions that appeal to many people as BSR films in general do not tend to have that.

One text that I found particularly influential was "Nil By Mouth" from 1997. This film had a scene where a wife experienced domestic abuse from her husband. What was so crucial about this scene was that the viewers were only denoted shots of the man hitting her and we heard her screams, only leaving us with an image that we had to make up. This is something I may consider as it is a common attribute to real life in Britain, connoting that this could be something good to have in my own production as it relates to many.

As I want to represent a typical BSR film I will try to conform to the conventions such as typical accents, iconic views and realistic situations as these are what many BSR films contain.