Fish tank analysis

Fish Tank is a 2009 British drama film written and directed by Andrea Arnold. Fish tank won a award in 2009 called the jury prize , they then went and won a BAFTA for best British film in 2010. The movie was filmed in a estate in Havering the town of tilbury and on the a13. The movie was funded by the BBC films and the UK film council.

Themes

Through out the movie the main character which is only15 drinks a lot of cider, this can be related to real life because now days kids are drinking under age and getting ride of their problems by drinking. The main characters named Mia is having a hard time at home so she decides to get her old friend to buy cider for her. she then drinks the cider by herself which makes the audience feel sorry for her.                                                                                            Poverty

 In this picture Mia the main character is drinking water from the tap , this could show that she lives in poverty and can not afford cups . There is also alot of beer cans around the sink which is not a expensive drink which could also show that's shes in poverty. This could show this she is unprivileged and doesn't have the luxury's of going to shop and buying a bottle of water. its also shows that she hasn't got alot of manners. she acts like a animal drinking water from a lake , which

shows she's probably working class

 Abuse

Mia has a hard time at home with her mum and sisters. her mum neglects her and when she is talking to Mia she is either shouting at her or abusing her physically. this could because the mum is stressed because she is a only mum which is very common in east London. this gives it a more realistic feel to the movie and allows the audience to relate to the main character (Mia).  the audience feel sorry for her because all she really wants is someone to talk to.

Sex/rape

In the film the mum and Irish man are having sex and are making loud sex noises. Mia the main character is able to hear the noises and wants to find out whats happening. she finds out her mum is having sex and stays to watch. This can amaze some of the audience because at such a young age she is exploited to such events. the Main character then goes on to have sex with the Irish man as well which is classify has rape because the girl is underage. Underage sex is common in

Essex  so film4 was able to put this issue 

                     Neglected                                                                 into their film so people could relate.

In the movie we see Mia has hardly no friends and hardly ever chills with her mates . This makes the audience feel sorry for her and makes it easy for us to tolerate her bad behaviour. also in her family she only has young sisters in which she ain't able to express alot of her feeling towards. Many people in Essex are singled out and are unable to make friends. This allows the audience to relate and feel like they ain't the only one in their situation.

Representation

The storyline of the move fish tank is the normal stereotype of a girl on the estate. she had big dreams but is unable to make her dreams into a reality because of her situations. Her main ambition is to become a famous dancer in which she practise's in a abandon flat in the estate she lives in. Its the not the most practical place to learn how to dance but she cant afford any lesson. There are a lot of young mums in today's society which don't gain any money from the dads so they are left to live in poverty, This is also the case for Mia as she lives in a flat with her two sisters and her mum and doesn't have any father figure to guide her through life. Mia's behaviour is look upon as bad , but because she lives on a estate this is seen as normal behaviour . she gets into many fights throughout the movie which indicates she ain't scared of alot of people. she is willing to stand up for herself. Mia has been kicked out of school which is quit stereotypical of a Essex girl. Mia doesn't have a wide variety of clothes to wear , she is normally seen in a grey tracksuit which is stereotypical of a chav. 

Mise-en-scene.

In the film we can connote that Mia is living in poverty. she lives in a small flat on a council estate in Essex. we see bottles of beer and cigarettes around the house just left there which shows Mia doesn't care about her living conditions and connotes that her family are quit tramp. This shows that Mia is in the working class and is unable to afford luxury's. In Mia's house there isn't alot of items in which she can play with like a console , the two sisters both share a small t.v in which they watch reality channels on. the two sisters also share the same bedroom and have bunk beds which also shows that they cant afford a bigger house in which everyone will be able to have their own room and t.v. This shows the audience how the working class live and people who are working class are able to relate to the characters in the film. it can also educated others how the working class act.

 Music and sound effects.

Through out the movie hip hop and r&b music is being played. Most the songs are talking about the hustle and  trying to make money. this can relate to the characters because they have no money and are going through the same situation the the rappers have been. Mia also wants to be a hip hop dancer , the music which is being played in the film is very upbeat and gives out a urban feeling. its makes the film seem more grimy and makes the way Mia is living seem a hard life. This helps the target audience to relate to the characters if they have ever listen to the music , and the music relates to the story line of the movie which is trying to show that's Mia life is hard.

Camera work and editing.

Fish tank was produce by film4 who don't have a big budget for films. film4 spend around £500,000 a year on 20 different movies. they are unable to produce great special effects and the clearest quality shots, however the gritty handheld look goes well with this film because the film is their to illustrate poverty and how its like to be brought up on a estate. I notice that most the shots took a very long time and their wasn't allot of shot actions clips. if their was any action clips it would of been done in one to three shots to cut the costs of filming.

Also their is a lot of handheld shots of MIA running away. This gives a rough feeling to the shot. It also because film4 where unable to afford the professional equipment they needed for that shot , so they decided to cut cost by doing it handheld and giving it a edge look.

Dialogue.

In this movies there are a lot of swear words which would no be shown on normal TV . For example when MIA is talking to her friends dad , she calls him a cunt. The world 'Cunt' is one of the worst swear words and Mia the main characters uses it in her vocabulary on the casually. Also the two kids in the movie are able to hear the older sister and the mum which are meant to be role models swear all the time. This shows the target audience how people on estates communicate and shows how they have got a lack of vocab . this connotes that they are not educated enough to use other words which will be less rude and more effective .

Institution.

There where three companies that invested into fish tank such has BBC Films - UK Film Council - New Cinema Fund - Limelight. these companies have also invested into other film4 films so they know what film4 want to produce and what their aims are. These companies are not very big that's why the invest into a small film such as fish tank so if the films flops they don't loose out on alot of money. Also they are UK base companies so they know what the UK market needs and wants.

Target audience

Fish tank's target audience is very niche. It will be only shown in the UK because they wont have enough money to make it go global. Also some country's may take the footage in the film to be disturbing so they won't show the film in cinema's or sell it on CD. Also the film it for a older audience that can see whats right and wrong. This movie would not be targeted at kids because parents wouldn't allow their kids to watch such a rude film in case they copy what the characters do in the film. Also their is alot of swearing and rude words such has 'cunt'.

Marketing

Fish tank produce poster in which they created a target audience for. People would see the poster which had alot of colours and on the poster its show how many stars it gained . This would gain people attention because the film is highly rated so people think it must be a good movie. They also made a trailer in which they uploaded it on you tube which is one of the most viewed websites on the Internet. Film4 don't have a big budget so they are unable to advertise their film on national TV , so by putting it on you tube they can gain a national audience for free.