SOCIAL REALISM

SOCIAL REALISM IS THE GENRE OF FILM

THAT RECOGNISES REAL LIFE AND TRIES TO

PORTRAY THESE TRUE TO LIFE EVENTS IN A

NATURALISTIC AND REALISTIC WAY IN A

FILM. MANY SOCIAL REALIST FILMS FOCUS

AROUND DRUGS, ALCOHOL, ABUSE OR

RELIGION.

Location shooting

Location shooting means that the film crew will fi lm in real life

areas instead of a studio.

Social realism films feature location shooting as it is cheaper to

use, especially since they generally have low budgets.

CONVENTIONS

CONVENTIONS

Non-professional actors

Social realism films use non-professional actors because it is

cheaper, and also because it looks more realistic to have

regular people involved in the film making, who are naturally

ready for the role of a middle class citizen.

CONVENTIONS

Dark colours/ hues

Dark colours/ hues are used to represent natural lighting within

the films. It is also used because dark colours like blue are

associated with emotions such as sadness or hopelessness,

which adds to the overall feeling of the film.

Examples from

‘Fish Tank’

CONVENTIONS

Use of strong language

Strong language is a huge convention of social realist films as it

represents working class culture.

CONVENTIONS

Some other examples of Social Realism conventions are:

Mixture of humour and serious themes

Use of regional identities

Hand held camera

Low budget

Semi improvised scripts

More diegetic sound than non-diegetic

Emphasis on working class culture

No/ limited special ef fects as they do not feature themes in

which special ef fects are needed

Use of accents to show the regional identities of an individual

Nil by mouth features themes of working class life and drugs.

The opening of the film is set in a bar with a man standing and

asking for drinks and people in the background smoking and

drinking. The camera throughout the opening is handheld

which makes the audience feel as if they are a part of the

crowd. The sound throughout Nil by mouth is also mostly

diegetic, the atmosphere of the pub produced by the people

actually there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_MXMW_qtb4

NIL BY MOUTH

Last resort is about a Russian woman and her son seeking

asylum in Britain.

The lighting used in Last Resort is dark and blue. There is no

vibrant colour palette at all the colour scheme throughout is

blues and greys, cold colours that give off a closed off, sad

vibe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKvaGZN_1Y

LAST RESORT

This is England is based on Shane Meadow’s upbringing in

Uttoxeter in Staffordshire.

The locations within this film feature a run down estate,

somewhere in the north of England, which adds a strong sense

of realism and represents working class nature. This is England

heavily features accents, again representing where they are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXDNsPRTANw

THIS IS ENGLAND

Fish Tank is set in an East London council estate. The main

characters is a young, 15 year old girl, Mia Williams. Mia lives

with her single mother and her sister and is considered very

isolated and a ‘loner’.

Natural lighting is used in Fish Tank, meaning that some

scenes are not always the clearest and easiest to view. There is

also a lot of swearing and quite a few scenes including some

form of abuse. In the scene where Mia is standing at the

window a hand held camera is used to record Mia watching the

car drive away from out the window.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA&safe=active

FISH TANK