British Social Realism - Visual Style

I have looked at three different films in which I have analysed three screen shots from. By looking at a range of films I have also looked at three different technical aspects:

• Mise-en-scene (Green Street Hooligans)
• Editing (Adulthood)
• Camera Language (Looking For Eric)

Production Log THREE

This week I have looked at a range of different opening sequences and what conventions they tend to contain. Every film's opening sequence tends to differentiate from each other as a way of making their film seem unique and interesting. I have also learnt that most opening sequences tend to use these few minutes to display the institutional information in particular orders. This order is different for every film, but it seems to typically be in a fashion of importance, for instance, the most popular actor would be presented first. A lot of BSR films tend to also follow this idea by having those involved listed in the same order. I have also learnt that not every film seems to have much institutional information, such as "Adulthood". This film literally has no written details in their opening sequence, which can connote how those involved may not be as well known as others. This can also be seen in the view; the view that the need for it may not have been necessary as the opening may have been quite important for the storyline and the audience would prefer to not be distracted.

As almost every single BSR film has appeared to have a bit of information within their opening sequence, I would also follow this suit. I may not list the actors in order of their popularity as the film may not have well known actors in the first place. I would list most of them in groups as none are entirely important on their own. I would also not include too much storyline as this is the time where the audience would try to get to know the people who will be appearing in the film. I have seen this in the opening of many films, but in particular "The Boat That Rocked". Here there is only an introduction to the context of the plot with a bit of institutional information.

How British Social Realism Themes Are Used

Themes are a very essential aspect of British Social Realism film making. Without having these believable themes such as violence, childhood and others, BSR films would find great difficulty in creating a realistic representation actual issues within their films. This post is where I have chosen five BSR films in which display the use of a different theme.

1. Domestic Abuse - Nil By Mouth

In this scene from the 1990's film "Nil By Mouth" we see a scene that starts off with a gradual amount of yelling that soon turns into domestic abuse. This theme is established by the woman's husband beating her with his hands and feet. I would say that this is portrayed extremely violently as although we see the actions he is doing, we do not see what she looks like during or after the abuse takes place. This only leaves the audience to imagine what is truly happening to her, thus creating an even worse scenario in our heads. If I were to use this theme in my own film then I would possibly portray it the same way. As this decision decreases the chances of someone actually getting hurt, it also allows the scene to be seen as quite serious, which is what anyone involving this theme would typically want for their scene.

2. Bullying - Kidulthood

The main theme represented in this clip is bullying. Here we see that this film has established this theme by having scenes of a group of girls and a boy physically and verbally abusing another student by calling her names and hitting her. There is a moment where the identity of her virginity is emphasised on in front of the entire class, which can only be taken as an act of humiliation. Bullying has been portrayed as quite a dangerous thing as at the end of this clip, the girl commits suicide. We see the build up of this moment occur from this girl being tormented and uncared for by her fellow pupils as well as her family. As this scene had required excellent camera work, acting and build up to represent the bullying theme as serious as it did, it may be quite hard for me to denote it the way that they did. However, as I am only planning on creating an opening sequence, I may include the use of vocabulary and possibly physical actions that the kids from the school had done. I would do this as this not only represents the scenario in a negative aspect but can be easily achieved.

3. Childhood - This Is England

In this scene, there a little boy being surrounded by elder men, denoting the theme of childhood. The theme is established by having the boy being casually located in an area with negative behaviour around. For example, there is the uses of drugs and even a fight to the death occurs, connoting how this boy is in an area that is definitely not recommended to be in, particularly at his age. The theme is portrayed as quite influential towards the kid as he is denoted laughing during a time where someone is in pain (the start). However, towards end of the scene the boy's innocent is in some form restored as he constantly yells and cries for the violence to end. This is quite a dramatic scene and highlights how children can be easily influenced by others but will always remain to have a form of purity within them. I could explore the theme of childhood within my own sequence as I could have a little boy within a crowd of people using unnecessary words and actions, just like in this clip.

4. Illnesses - Looking For Eric

In this clip we see the main character from the film deal with his illness, schizophrenia, a mental disease that causes people to think that they are talking to someone, but in reality are only communicating with themselves. Here we see how the film has established the topic of illnesses by bringing in a famous footballer whom Eric idolises and incorporating him into Eric's schizophrenic imaginations.  Illnesses have been portrayed in this clip in particular as influential but also somewhat comedic. From the words actually being spoken it is clear that Eric is being influenced by them, but from the tone and how Eric reacts to the appearance of this footballer, a form of comedy arrives with it. I could incorporate the theme of illnesses by allowing a character of mine to use some medication, e.g. an asthma pump. By having this in my sequence, it denotes to the audience that the character is likely to be dealing with this situation.

5. Gun Crime - Adulthood



In this clip from 'Adulthood' we see the exploration of the theme of gun crime. The theme is established greatly throughout the entire scene as the man holds a gun to an adult couple as well as a few other men inside the house. It is clear that this film portrays the act of gun crime to be quite violent and dangerous. Evidently, the use of guns has gotten these people into all sorts of trouble, as well as the gun being a symbol of authority. This authority is represented as whenever one man holds a gun against somebody else, the holder ends up having more control over the situation. This is apparent when there are only two people left in the room and the man in the hoodie puts the gun extremely close to the other's mouth. If I were to put this theme into my own sequence then I could possibly have some trouble with doing so. However, although it may be hard to obtain an actual gun, the mentioning of it could be quite attainable, in which can help me to portray a violent film.

Possible Locations for my BSR film

For my BSR film I would consider quite a few different ideas in order to help me create the typical BSR representation. These areas must be considered to have the right conventions that would portray the correct ideology of a British lifestyle. Things that I would be looking for may include:

• Racism
• Unkempt
• Unpopular
• Not much to do
• High population of ethnic minority
• High population of white ethnicity

LOCATION ONE - Green Street, Newham

Positives:

• Known for its crime so can be easily portrayed
• Ethnic minorities are more apparent within these areas
• Racism is quite a common occurrence here

Negatives:

• Quite busy so sound may be hard to find
• Also the busyness of it can cause the problems of getting in people's way
• Would cost a bit to get there as it is relatively far

LOCATION TWO - Barking Market

Positives:

• Dominantly white so the typical BSR representation can be apparent
• Quite a rough looking area

Negatives:

• Travel may be quite a lot as it is not very close
• Can bump into trouble quite easily, especially with the expensive equipment
• As the area is busy it may be hard to record sound/try to avoid staying out of other people's way

LOCATION THREE - Ilford Lane, Greater London

Positives:

• Typical BSR shops (i.e. cheap fast food/clothing)
• Rough looking (i.e. unkempt ground)
• Usually see people wearing cheap outfits
• Easily accessible (cheap and close by)

Negatives:

• Quite a noisy area so sound made be hard to record
• May bump into trouble
• Might get in the way of people as it is quite a busy area

LOCATION FOUR - Parsloes Avenue, Dagenham

Positives:

• At times it can be relatively quiet so filming can be quite easy
• Can be a rough area as denoted by the amount of crimes that occur here.
• Dominantly a white area so can have great BSR denotations

Negatives:

• Can be quite a long journey to get here
• At times trouble may be easy to find
• Near a school so the sounds from here may be a problem

LOCATION FIVE - Dagenham Swimming Pool

Positives:

• Has a typical BSR outlook as it is quite rough and unvarnished
• Dominantly white ethnicity, which helps to have the BSR representation
• Not too loud so audio recording can be relatively easy, in some form.

Negatives:

• Depending on the time of day it can be quite noisy, depending on how many people are there.
• Not very cost/time effective
• May bump into trouble quite easily

"The Boat That Rocked" - BSR Opening Sequence Analysis

I have analysed the opening sequence to the British Social Realist film "The Boat That Rocked". This is to help give me an idea of what actual BSR films have as their openings and how I can incorporate it within my own.

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.

Use of Themes in British Social Realism

WHAT IS THE LINK BETWEEN BRITISH SOCIAL REALISM THEMES AND THE REAL WORLD?

In British Social Realism films we see themes that are represented in the world being presented to the audiences. There are many themes such as drugs, violence, alcohol, poverty and many more that allow audiences from all over the world (particularly marketed at a British niche audience) to be enlightened on what is currently happening in the world of Britain today. BSR films such as 'This Is England (2006)' help to present what is happening by using scenarios such as asian shop keepers being intruded by a gang of white people that steal and threaten to kill in order to get what they want. This massively links to the real world as this has appeared in the news many times. For example, according to the 'ormskirk' website, two masked and white criminals had entered a corner shop and threatened a member of staff whilst attempting to open a cash register. This is particularly relatable to the subject expressed in the BSR film already mentioned as both scenarios connote racist attacks on corner shop owners in a British environment.

WHAT IS UNIQUE ABOUT HOW THEMES ARE EXPLORED IN BRITISH SOCIAL REALISM FILMS?



In BSR films the unique selling point for them occurs with their courage to explore serious issues. There are many films that contain comments and themes that a typical global mainstream audience would disagree with, such as in "Nil By Mouth (1997)" there is a scene where a woman is physically abused by her problematic husband. This film deals with themes such as domestic abuse which is not something that is typically seen in a Hollywood film. Even in films such as "SAW 6 (2008)" where there are many murders and torturous scenes occurring, these occasions are not treated as seriously and are brushed away as if it is a casual topic. Hollywood tend to treat issues like abuse less severely. With BSR films the affect that the situation has on the characters is connoted through much detail; whether this is through mise-en-scene showing sadness or the sound denoting anger, these movies explore their  chosen crucial themes with the realistic respect it actually receives.

ARE THERE ANY THEMES WHICH ARE ESSENTIAL TO BSR FILMS? WHAT ARE THEY? WHY ARE THEY ESSENTIAL?

With British Social Realist films there are many themes that are essential to them in order to represent the true identity of the world of Britain today. These themes include violence, swearing, discrimination and the use of drugs. I would say that these are essential as these are the most common themes that occur in a typical British society today. For example, it is very rare for a film whom has an aim of representing a true image of Britain yet would not include characters that swear, smoke/take drugs, discriminate or show any forms of violence. A great example of this is the BSR film titled "Kidulthood (2006)". This film depicts the daily life of a group of 15 year olds growing up in West London. Anyone who has experienced life in West London and would want to portray what the struggles of the region is like would not exactly describe their characters as 'posh'. The struggling side of this area tends to be full of people who fight, swear, steal, smoke and discriminate, so someone that is willing to have a BSR film to present life in this area would most likely not miss these themes out as they are very vital in order to create the real representation. Other themes like child/domestic abuse are quite serious and common, but when compared to things that are used so casually in BSR films (such as swearing and violence), they are not seen as much in today's society.