British Social Realism Themes

Kidulthood (5:25) - Violence

The theme of violence is shown throughout the whole of this film among many other themes, but violence is shown mainly at this sequence as the girl is being bullied and abused by another group of girls. The violence shown though physical and verbal abuse. The girls a hitting the victim as well as shouting at her. 
Violence is represented very boldly in the film and many other BSR films. The violence is not censored in any way, it is represented as a normal thing in the film as people are just standing around watching the girl get abused in this sequence as it is nothing, which means it is not a rare thing. I could explore this theme in my film by showing it through the British youth.

Adulthood (3:07) - Crime

The theme of crime has a big part in Adulthood and is shown throughout the film. It is shown in this sequence of film with two young boys attacking a man while he is in his car and he ends up getting shot, they also rob him. Crime is not censored when represented in this sequence, you can also tell it is a big theme in the film as the film starts off with a scene which shows crime. Crime is often shown within the youth in the film which means that there is a lot of exposure to criminal activity at a young age. I could explore the theme of crime in my film by showing it being exposed to young people. 

Attack The Block (4:50) - Gang Crime

Gang Crime is a big theme in this film and is shown throughout the film with a big group of young boys. In this sequence the young boys can be seen walking in a large group while talking to some younger boys who seem to look up to them. Also, later in the film the gang are exposed and pressured into criminal activity. Gang Crime is represented in mainly the younger people in the film we see this as most young person in the film is a part of a gang. The area seems to be very bad which is surrounded by criminal activity which might be the reason of gang crime. I could explore this theme in my film by showing gang crime within young people and how they are exposed to it.

This Is England - Racism

In this sequence of the film racism is shown very boldly. The young boy walks into the store and racially abuses the shop keeper, then is followed by a group of men who hold up the shop keeper and rob the store and are also racially abusing him. Racism is represented in this film with mainly white skinheads as there was a lot of racist groups in Britain in the 80's. You can tell racism played a big part in Britain in the 80's as it was not just older men who was racist it was a young boy as well. The racism is not censored and is shown throughout the movie. I could explore this theme in my film by showing how racism is represented in the modern day.

Ill Manors - Corruption of Youth

In this film Corruption of Youth is shown throughout. You can see the boy being abused from a young age and seeing his father dealing drugs. Corruption of youth is shown with the boy from the start of the film being exposed to his father drug dealing and experiences thing which an adult would at a young age which means he has a different childhood compared to other children which you can see in the film as he is mature from a young age. This theme can be explored in my film by showing how some young people who have been corrupted by youth have differenet lifestyles compared to other people.

Social Realism Timeline

British Social Realism

What is British Social Realism?

Social Realism represents the real average life of every day people in Britain going through struggles in their life. These people are normally working class but in films will show the dark and gritty part of their lifestyle and how they get through it which normally does not end up well.

Decade	1950s	1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s	2010s
Key Films	Look Back In Anger	Poor Cow	Bronco Bullfrog	My Beautiful Laundrette	Trainspotting	Kidult  Hood	Ill Manors
BSR Conventions Denoted Themes & Situation Characters Location & setting Sound Music & Dialogue Camerawork/Editing Other mise-en-scene	-People are working class as train rattles past open window -Trained actors as dialogue is posh -Urban city as there ate trains -Classical music -Industrialised city -Women is scared of the man and she is also doing house work which is stereo-typical -Camera work, standing over women showing he has more power	-Working class as they have baths with buckets -Abusing ladies -Women trying to stand up for them self -Man laughing at women getting abusing by a man as if it is normal -Not trained actors as language is not very good and more natural.	-Language is not as posh meaning they are genuine working class people -Doing labour jobs shows they’re working class -houses are simplistic shows they don’t have much money -Stratford docks -Committing crimes	-Has got colour instead of black and white -working class as there are people sleeping in a laundrette -trained actors, as their acting is done well -Dressed casual	-Very natural speaking -A lot of swearing -Working class people -In pub smoking and drinking as a lot of average British people do. -Men being aggressive towards women -Carrying knifes -Natural acting	-Set in London Estate -More diverse casting e.g. Black/White -Younger cast, school teenagers -Trained actors -Modern language – slang -Guns instead of knifes -Girls bullying other girls shows they have more power in modern day -	-Set in basement -Racism in modern day shows racism is still frequent -Drugs instead of drinking shows how times have changed -Modern grime music -A lot of swearing

An Analysis of Representations in The Selfish Giant

Age

In The Selfish Giant age is represented in different ways. Arbor and Swifty try to work finding scrap metals and materials to earn money for themselves and also help their family out despite their age. Whereas all the other teenagers their age are going to school living "normal" lives, such as Arbor's brother who is older than Arbor but when seen in the film he is normally at home with his mother while Arbor is out making money. This shows the audience that Arbor and Swifty do not live the normal lives of teenagers and live a more hard lifestyle. Arbor and Swifty's lifestyle challenges the sterotype of normal teenagers, as most teens at this age would be going to school but Arbor and Swifty work a job which is for adults. Arbor and Swifty was a clear archetype of troubled teens as they both had been kicked out of school and also had problems at home.

Gender

In the film gender is represented in a bad light as Swifty's father, Price Drop is very abusive towards Swifty's mother Mrs Swift. Most scenes which Price Drop is in shows him controlling Mrs Swift, there is evidence of this at 12:46. This tells the audience that there is a clear difference

 from the men, as they have a lot more power over the women in the film as the men in the film are always doing hard work and when the women are shown they are in the house. This conforms the stereotype that men are the ones who go out and earn the money and women are the ones who stay home with the children doing house work as Price Drop trys to earn his money from selling old furniture from the house while Mrs Swift is seen cooking for the children and doing house work. Price Drop is a clear archetype of a abusive husband as he is always very rude and controlling towards Mrs Swift.

Social Class

In the film there is a clear difference between social classes. You can see the difference of social classes in Arbor's household and Swifty's household. Arbor lives with his brother and his mother in a nice house and his mother is working. Whereas Swifty's house there is a lot of children 

which he has to often take care of. Mrs Swift does not work and Price Drop sells furniture from their house which shows they have finacial problems. Their house is also close to being repossessed as they are low on money. This shows the audience that Arbor and Swifty's lives are quiet different even thought they are friends. Arbor challenges the stereotype of a middle class person. Even though Arbor comes from a good household, his lifestyle is like a lower class person as he picks up scrap metal for a living. Kitten is a clear archetype of a traveller as you can see him involved in horse racing.

Disability

Disability is shown with Arbor's  ADHD and Mrs Swift seems to have some sort of soical disability which is not actually named in the film. Arbor's ADHD results with him getting kicked out of his school and also causes him problems at home with his brother and mother. The film shows us the struggles Arbor has to go through living with ADHD.

The film starts off with Arbor under his bed banging, shouting and swearing which means the dirctor has chosen not to censor Arbor's ADHD as it makes the film more hard hitting. This will make the audience feel sorry for Arbor and feel his struggles. Arbor fits the stereotype of a problem child as he has problems at school as well as at home and he also gets bullied by other kids because of his ADHD.

Regional Identity

The film is set in the North of England, in Bradford as most British Social Realism films are set in London. Bradford is stereo-typically known for having  a vast amount of travellers and white people who are uneducated. Even though the film is set in present time some aspects of the film will make you think it is set in olden times such as, riding horses on public. This is really

normal life in Bradford. Most scenes in the film are very dark and consist of a lot of dark colours such as grey and dark blue, this could be to give a certain feeling to the audience that it is not a very nice area and to set the mood. The broken car in this shot shows that the area is not very looked after and the horse could show that it is a poor area and some people can not afford cars. The characters in the movie conform the Bradford stereotype as it shows the struggle of area and their lifestyles such as horse racing.

Past Student's Work Analysis

 Bridges                          Positive

        

BSR Themes & Situation

From this image you can tell that the themes of the clip are sexual harassment, rape and relationships. In this clip the girl is being pinned against the wall and sexually harassed by a the man.

The themes in this clip are interracial relationships and racism. In this clip the asian boy does not want to see the other boy and girl together so he tries to split them apart but this was hard to tell from watching the clip. 

Realistic Representation (stereotypes & archetypes)

There are two characters in this clip. The main character is the normal helpless young girl, who looks innocent. The other character being a young man wearing a hoodie which normally is represented as a hoodlum in British films.

In this clip the characters and their roles are not very clear but the there is a normal asian wearing traditional clothing and boy.

BSR Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene is done well in this shot as everything matches. The location is rough and grimey and the clothing the boy is wearing fits the location of a dirty ally way. This shows that is a rough area and gives a feeling of danger.

The mise-en-scene is done well in this shot as it has been recorded in a public clothes shop and most people in the shop are wearing traditional clothing except the boy which fits with the theme of interracial relationships.

Music, sound effects & realistic dialogue 

Throughtout the clip there is sad music connoting that something bad is going to happen, this also helps to set the mood. There is no dialogue which could have helped shaped the story more but most of it is clear and understandable. I did not notice any sound effects as most of them was natural.

Throughtout this scene there is grime music playing which is common in British films but does not really fit with the themes. There is only a small bit of dialouge which is not very clear which makes the story very hard to understand.

There is no sound effects but this did not make a difference.

Camera work & Editing

The camerawork throughout this scene is very good in this particular shot it is a high angle connoting that vulnerable and it makes her look powerless and helpless. Also the cuts throughout the scenes flow very well and are not jumpy. The low angle shot while the boy is walking out the ally way works well as it shows the boy has alot of power over the girl.

Throughout the clip there was not a good range of shots but some did work as well as others. The over the shoulder shot at the start worked well but the over the shoulder shot was used quiet frequently which got boring to watch.

Appropriate opening sequence graphics

                                                                                                                                            

 These are the only graphics in the clip which shows the production company, there could have been more graphics to set the mood. In both clips it is the same.

Past Student

Continuity Editing Clip (The Encounter)

Storyboard Of The Encounter

Storyboard Of The Encounter

                             

Intro To The Encounter

Intro To The Encounter

In the Encounter we used a range of techniques such as shot-reverse-shot, match on action, 180 degree rule and rule of thirds. All these techniques help us affect the audience in different ways. Shot-reverse-shot is repeated cuts between two shots, the subjects of which are often people and normally starts with both people in the shot. This guides the audience by focusing on the person talking. Match on action is a cut which occurs midway through a physical action this makes the scene more detailed, and exciting for the audience. 180 degree rule is like a invisible line the camera shouldn't cross, ensuring all subjects remain in correct part of the scene. This is to not confuse the audience. The rule of thirds places the subjects eyes roughly a third of the way down the screen, this is so the audience can focus on what is on screen instead of getting distracted.

The Scenario

A character opens a door, crosses a room and sits down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.

We have used the scenario but changed it to give it a story. Our Encounter is between a drug dealer and a drug lord who are dealing cocaine but the drug lord is not impressed with what he is given and ends up getting his body guard to handle the situation. We used all the techniques in our Encounter. We used shot-reverse-shot when the drug dealer and the drug lord are talking to each other across the table so you could see the emotion in their faces as well as focus on who is speaking. Match on action was used when the drug dealer walked into the drug lord's house, when the drug dealer was pulling out the chair, when the drug lord threw the bag of cocaine and when the drug dealer and bodyguard was fighting. Using match on action at these moments made the scene flow more and made it more exciting. We took the 180 degree rule and the rule of third into consideration when filming throughout the scene.

Evaluation

When filming the scene we had some strengths and weaknesses. We had some problems with the actors staying in character which meant the whole scene took longer to film and we also had some difficulties sticking to the 180 degree rule. But we all worked well together and we all had separate roles which meant someone was always doing something. My role was to make sure that we was following the storyboard properly and that we was following the 180 degree rule and the rule of thirds. I also think we had good mise en scene as we payed attention to the props we used and what our actors was wearing. Another weakness we has was the lighting, as some parts of the scene was shot in low key lighting and some was shot in high key lighting. We had to make sure it was not to dark so you could see what was happening but at the same time it had to be slightly dark to set the scene. At 1:02 we had originally broke the 180 degree rule as the clip before we recorded to the right of Nadim and on then next clip it was recorded on his left side. But while editing the video I found a way I could edit the clip so it flipped to the right side, so in the final clip the 180 degree rule was not broken. Also at 1:05 you can see the tripod in the background which was not meant to be in it. This error could not be changed as we did not have time to re-record the clip and it also could not be edited out. Another problem we faced was the time of day the video was recorded as it was quite late the lighting was very dark. This also made it hard for us to re-record as once we recorded it once it was hard to get the same lighting. An error witht the lighting was made at 0:30 as the lights was off in the hallway as he walked into the shoot, but the lights was on before. 

Overall the production of the video was good even though we faced a few challenges, they was easy to over come. We also have learned from our mistakes and will be able to over come them next time.