Product Log two.

This week i look more into the convention of British social realism films . I looked back into the past and watched films such as: 1960s Kes, Poor, Cow, 1970s Quadraphonic 1980s, Made In Britain Scum,1990s, Trainspotting, Nil by Mouth ,2000s Kidulthood, Bigger Than Ben. These gave me idea in which I could impute into my own piece of work. I find out that there has been a change in culture as in the 1960 to 1980 British social realism films all had white characters however film such as Kidulthood how a majority of the actors are black and the minority is white. This is because Britain is now more a multi-cultural country and racism is now looked down upon. I also realized that British social realism film are grittier then I imagine. For example 'Nil by mouth' shows a explicit scene where a fully grown man beats up his wife for accusing her off cheating on him in front of his daughter. This is such a powerful scene because you can’t see the wife actually getting beaten up so it allows the audience to image it them self. I am hoping I can include this into my piece of work.

I also looked in real British crimes which have occurred in the past. This gave me ideas in which i could use in my British realism opening scene. This is because British social realism is based on British culture and shows the gritty side of Britain, and there are mostly negative stories in the news which gave me inspiration. For example john terry the famous football player got caught for saying racial abusive to another football player. I could take the theme of racism and include it in my own opening scene. I have gained a lot more knowledge of what i can put in my opening scene so i gain the maximum marks i can achieve.

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 a lot of themes that keep recurring , such has violence , drugs and sexual abusive. This is because these films occur a lot in real life. For example the film 'this is England  has got a racial and violence theme behind it , this was common in real life at the time of the films era. This allows the target audience to relate to the situations which occur in the films. It can also educate people which have never been to Britain , it gives a more realistic point of view. There is a lot of gang robbery's in London which revolve around men of a certain race disliking another type of race so they decide to harm them. For example the EDL which stands for English defense league is still about in modern society, and British social realism films like to capture such issues.

What is unique about how themes are explored in British social realism films?

The themes that are shown in british social realism films are pretty graphical and disturbing . They only appeal to a niche  audience which is not suitable for children. They like to explore themes which are harsh and gritty which may put of potential viewers from watching. For example the film 'Fish tank' explored the theme of what could be raped , because the girl was underage whilst the man took advantage of her because she was drunk. This could be hurtful for people to watch if they have been in that situation before even so british social realism continue to produce content like this. In most films there is a happy ending in which the bad guy loses and their is a hero , however this is not the case for british social realism films as the main character is normal in a bad situation and gets into a worst situation . For example 'kidulthood' the main character is in school and is trying to make money on the side with his uncle, he is exploited to torture in which he uncle conducts. At the end of the film the main character dies from getting hit with a baseball bat.

Is there any themes which are essential to all British social realist films? What are they? Why are they essential?

The theme as to do with whats going on in britain  For example if there was a war then they would produce british social realist film about how people would proceed through a war. The themes are not global such as a world war or aliens coming down to take over the world. They stick to London situations like in 'Attack the block' , aliens come from space and this all goes down in a estate location which is very common in britain  In British social realist films themes keep recurring such has violence drug abusive and neglect ion. This is because sadly in the UK there are allot of these activity's going on . Young kids are being influenced into drug selling and gang violence so british social realism films like to show this through their films. A big part of themes comes from whats new in britain.

Art of title

How british social realism themes are used

Illness

In this opening scene we have a postman who has schizophrenia and talks to a imaginer football player. It not shown in a bad way because he seems to be happy with his life, he has a good group of friends in which they talk about football. However he seems to be in poverty as he lives in a estate by himself. If i was putting illness in my film i would show the battles of illness and how other people around the person with the illness copes with living with someone thats ill.

Violence 

- Here we have a group of lads who beat up a older boy in his own flat because he stole their game boy. This seems to be a disturbing scene in which the boy get smacked over the head with a keyboard in his own house and then gets violently kicked by three boys. They show violence in a negative way. I would show how violence is not always the solution and there are other ways to deal with a issue without getting physical.

Racism

In this clip we have a group of white men and a little boy racial abuse a Asian mans shop. They spray paint racial abuse on the side of the shop and steel all the sweets , fags and alcohol in the shop. They show racism in a brutal way as the Asian man in the shop is held hostage by a huge knife whilst a group of white men rob the shop. I would show how the asian community would get abused by white groups of people , and how they dealt which such issues.

Drugs

In this scene we have a group of white lads running away from security guards because they just stole some items, so they could sell them and make money to buy drugs for their Heroine addiction. This shows it in two different aspects because the main character seems to love the use of heroin and make it seem like not a harmful drug , however he does piety crimes in which the audience may seem to be bad behavior in order to get the drugs , and when his off the drugs he feels terrible so it gives drugs a negative look. I would show the negative aspects of drugs abuse and how you can get involved in the wrong crowds and lose all your friends and loved ones.

Sex

Here we have a mum who doesn't have a husband so she introduce a new man into her family. The daughter who is 15 and sees her mum and her new boyfriend having sex. Later on in the film the five-teen year old girl has sex with the new boyfriend. The girl is to young to have sex with such a young man, she is under the age registration to have sex so its classed as rape. This is a negative look on sex. I would show sex as a activity rather then a passion. This is shown in british social realism films such as kidulthood and Fish tank.

Production Log ONE

This week i look at past peoples works from the previous year and analysed it in great depth. I realized that the camera shots was on key aspect i would need to work on when producing my opening scene as i lacked in seeing any major problems with camera when there was. The analysing of past peoples work was a great help to me as it showed me what to do and what i should you try to improve on in the future.The music is a key aspect of the opening scene as its vital its not copyrighted. I am able to plan ahead so when it comes to making the opening the scene i know what i am doing. This week i also realized that little things such as the credits where a major part of the opening scene and there are a lot more credits then i imagined. These little things i didn't know will be able to boost my marks up and enable me to gain a better mark overall. Looking at the mark scheme also helped me to have a understanding of what i needed to achieve to gain my personal target grade , ill will try and meet all of the points in the mark scheme to gain as much marks as possible. Another key feature is the mise-en-scene. If things don't look right in the shot , then you can not gained a lot of marks because its poor planning and not thinking enough about the shot.

British social realism timeline.

1960's 

Kes 

In this film we see a class full of boys , with the head teacher doing the register. One of the students decides to say a smirk comment and ends up getting punished by the teachers. Back in the 1960 the teachers where much stricter and where able to hit children unlike today where teachers don't have the same authority's. All the characters in this scene are white , this has changed rapidly in today's society has the United kingdom is a multicultural country.  They also have a black bored in the background which was used back in the 1960's.

The kids seems to be scared of the teacher which may be because he was abuse by his parents so he doesn't like talking to adults and gets very nervous.

Poor Cow

In this film we see a women getting a job as a bartender. In the 1960 there was a war going on the the women had to take up the men's jobs. This is shown because the women doesn't know how to pour a drink or communicate to the people in the pub. Also the women is walking slowly through the streets with her little kid , with music that seems to be sad, this could connote that her husband has died in war or has gone to war so she has to provide for herself. There are the common themes which are shown in british social realism such has single parents , violence , and alcohol.

1970's

 Quadrophenia

In this film we see a dad have a argument with his son , his hits his son and throws him down the stairs. This was more acceptable back in the 1970's has it taught boys how to be men. In the 1970's there was lot of people doing drugs which is shown this movie , has the dads feels the son is taking drugs. This film also appoints the issues of illness's such as schizophrenia. The house in which the family are living in is very plan and simple . it doesn't have a lot of light within the house which could connote that the family was poor. Also all the characters are white.

1980 

Made in britain

In this film we have  man who seems to be going to court because his done a crime. He also has a Nazi sign in between his eyebrows and a skinhead which makes him look hard. This could connote that he was raciest which is a common them in british social realism films. He also seems proud of all the crimes he has committed which shows his rebelliousness with occurred a lot in the 1980's. There was also hardcore punk being played in the background which was becoming known in the 80's. Also all the men within the scene are white.

Scum

Here we see a group of black and white characters in which seems to be a prison. One of the characters seems to of had enough so resorts into violence and beats up a man. Violence appears a lot in british social realism. He also uses a lot of bad language throughout the scene which could connote his uneducated because his vocabulary ain't wide enough to use more intelligent words which are much more effective. Also when the main characters is beating up another characters no one steps in to help , which could connote they was scared of him .

1990's

 Trainspotting

At the start of this scene there are a group of white men running away from what seems to be a robbery. Whistle they are running there is a narrative going on , which uses strong bad language such has 'fucking'. This is commonly shown in british social films because its a commonly used word in the working class , which could connote that the characters are working class. Also the clothes they are wearing seem to be dirty which could also connote they are living in poverty. This film is based on heroine addicters which is a strong subject but drug abuse is commonly found in british social realism films.  

Nil by mouth 

In this scene we see a violent white man with his top off violently abuse his wife, he is accusing her of cheating on him. This powerful scene is so powerful because we are unable to see the after effects of the women so we imagine how she would look and feeling in are heads. British social realism films like to show reality and for some people in britain this actually happens to them, they are in abusive relationship and are unable to escape their partner.

2000's 

kidulthood

 In this scene we see three teenage boys take back a game boy which got stolen from them. In britain a lot of people get robbed and are unable to gain their items back. They use a lot of swear words and slang terms which youngster use a lot in London. There is a lot of gang rivalry in London , with kids hanging around the streets and estates so by creating kidulthood they were able to show the dark sides of street life. In kidulthood the characters are mainly black , this is different compared to the other decades in which they where mostly white , which shows the change of culture in britain .

Bigga than Ben

in this we see Russian come to London and try to make money by scamming and doing credit card fraud. This happens a lot know days because of the technological now days smart people are able to use it to there advantage and make money. We see the characters wearing tracksuits which could connote that they are working class and don't have a lot of money so it goes well with british social films story lines of tuning nothing into something.

What is british social realism?

British social realism is a genre of film which focus on issues in the UK by using different ideologies. They use such themes as , racism , violence , drug abuse , poverty and quiet dark humor. Most the films are targeted at people who are working class or would like to educate themselves on how the working class live. The story line to the film is mostly about a young teenager growing up in the modern society and having to survive for them self and chase their own dreams without any help. There are hardly no special effects use in british social realism films because they have a low budget , and they want to keep the film real and gritty. In british social realism films they don't use a lot of famous actors which could gain them a bigger target audience , they would rather give a platform to younger actors and give them a chance. Also most british social realism can't afford big Hollywood actors because they need to keep the budget down. Most the locations used in british social realism movies are in London or around London .This is because its the capital of the united kingdom , and most of british social realism films target audience are based in London.

Previous Candidate's Work

Wasters

 For their production company they used what looks cocaine to form the shape of their title . This give the audience a feel for what the movie is going to be about. Its also pretty sharp and simple , which is good , because it makes it easy to read. The title could connote that their is going to be use of drugs in the film because the title looks like its made from cocaine. The font is is very well done and has a edgy look.

 In this screen shot we see a group of boys handling drugs. In the background their is a lot of graffiti and tagging on the walls.This shows that they are in a rough area where most people are rebellious and don't follow the law. This makes it look more of  a british social realism , because in the UK their is a lot of graffiti and gang members tagging on the streets.

 In this screen shot we have a student who is in a classroom, he pulls out a cigarette in attempt to light it but is stopped by a teacher. This shows the teenage rebelliousness against teachers in which pupils in  the UK show all the time. Also the pupil might be underage to smoke in which he is breaking the law. This is issue is common in the UK has kids are smoking underage , and don't care what affect it as on them in the future. So by having one of the characters in the film being rebellious some teenagers can relate to the situation .

 In this screen shot we have the credits which are done very nicely and goes well with the theme of drugs. The credits are shown on a rizla in which the teenagers are using for their drugs . The credits come at the end which is a bad thing in my opinion , it makes it seem more like a trailer rather then a opening scene. However the creativeness of using the rizla is very cleaver and gives it a unique feeling.

In this shot we can she an over the shoulder shot. This is very effective because it allows the audience to concentrate on the characters more. It allows the audience see both the characters but shows which character is speaking. This shot helps to establish the position of each person and get the feel of looking at one person from the others point of view. It also helps the audience place the character's in their setting.

 At the start of the scene we have the production companies logo come up, this happens regulatory in british social realism films. The grey written on the white background makes the written stand out and its clear for the audience to read. The Black outlining of gives it a good finish. British social realism films don't have big production companies so normally their logo's are pretty simple, as a result this production logo is also very simple.

They put the title at the end of the so its looks more like a trailer rather then a opening scene , which is a bed option in my opinion. If they had the title in the middle or at the begging of the opening scene then it would look much better.
The fount of the title looks very good , it plain and simple which more british social realism films have. It very clear to read

In one of the shots of the opening scene the main character is talking to one of their teachers. It may shock some of the audience which the language he uses whilst talking to the teacher. This is commonly used in british social realism films as the main character in normal a rebel who doesn't live within the rules. It also keeps the audience interested because if they have never witness such behavior they will be intrigued to see how is behavior effects him later on in life.

The main character here is wearing a shirt with a tie. the main character doesn't look older enough to be working so we connote him to be a pupil in a school . A lot of british social realism movies have main characters which are kids because their life's are interesting and somewhat unusual. This can some times educate other generations of people from other country on how teenagers in the UK live.

Written Syria

Written is Syria is about a man who use to live in Syria but has now come into the UK so he doesn't get killed  and his writes about his new life in the UK In this shot we have man which hands behind his back with a blood stain on his chest. We can connote that he is tied up and is being torture. Also the lighting is very dark , which gives it a scary effect , and could connote evil. Also the man is only wearing a vest but doesn't look cold , from this we could connote that his in a hot country such as Syria.

This opening scene confuses the audience and quickly allows them to make up their own story's of why they think his in this situation.

The credits throughout the opening scene are done very well , The fount of the typography links very well with the theme of the movie. Also the credits are put right at the start which make it look more like a opening scene rather then a trailer , which is an advantage. Also the credits are to much in the way of the movie , they don't distract the audience to a extent where they are unable to watch the opening scene without knowing all the cast members.

  Here we have a picture of a saw and some construction equipment , this image is quickly show at the start of the scene when the main character is being tied up . I connote that the equipment is being use to torture the main guy . This is a good picture to add to the opening scene because it gets the audience questioning. Also we can tell this is a british social realism because the tools look gritty and grimy which goes along with the normal aspects of a british social realism film

In this screen shot we see the title of the film . The color of the title really stands out in front of the white background which makes it easy for the audience to see. The fount is simple and not to much which also is commonly used in british social realism films . The title comes in the middle of the opening scene which is good because it doesn't make it look like its a trailer.

 At the start of the scene we have the production companies logo come up, this happens regulatory in british social realism films. The white written on the background makes the written stand out and its clear for the audience to read. British social realism films don't have big production companies so normally their logo's are pretty simple, as a result this production logo is also very simple.

 Here we have the main character with a black eye . This could connote that the main character has been punched in the eye or being tortured. This little bit of mise-en-scene gets the audience thinking how he gained a black eye and was it his fault.By gaining the audience attention they are then going to watch the rest of the film so they can find out how he got himself into the position.

 In the middle part of the opening the scene their is a soundtrack which is played. The music is not british and seems like it comes from a eastern country. The UK is a multicultural country so many different types of music is played. The music goes very well with the theme because it sounds very mystical and unusual just like the main character.

  Here we have a high shot of the main character. This makes the main character look weak and not very strong. In this shot he has a flag in his hand in which he crushes up in his hand and drops it to the floor. We don't know the reason why his throne the flag on the floor , this again gets the target audience thinking. This keeps the target audience interested and makes them want to carry on and watch the whole film.

In the first part of the opening the scene their is very little dialogue between two of the characters  One of the characters we can hardly see. The dialogue of the main character is very slurred and is having trouble with saying a fall sentence. This connotes that the main character may be weak and needs some nourishment in which his been deprived of.