Research: Iconic Social Realism Directors

Reserach: Kidulthood 9 Frame Analysis

I have chosen to do a 9 Frame Analysis on the film Kidulthood's opening as it is social realism, which means I can study the conventions and how it uses enigma codes to get hints as to how our opening should be.

Below is a prezi presentation of my analysis of Kidulthood film opening in 9 frames. But before you take a look at it here are some quick information on this film:

-It follows the life's of many teenagers who attend the same school, showing the troubles such as violence, drugs, sex and alcohol that face the different social and ethnic groups in a rough area
-The film is rated 15, due its sexual and violent nature.
-It is distributed by revolver entertainment
-The film was actually shot in the principle areas (adds to realism)

Prezi:


Further Analysis:

Mise-en-scene= The general colour scheme is grey and dull which makes it look quite gritty. This gives it a more realism feel and compliments the run-down look of the metal cages on the edge of the playground, and the poorly kept grass. This shows further that the area is rough and not a very happy place to live in.

Editing= The editing used almost gives the effect of a CCTV camera, with blurring jump cuts together, panning across the playground zooming in to focus on the different characters and social groups. With the trouble and crime going on in the area the CCTV is quite appropriate and fitting. This effect also adds to the realism of the film.

Camera= There is a varied use of longshots to close-ups, panning and focusing again creating the effect of the realistic CCTV. Also the close-up of the drill highlights the importance of it and makes it more dramatic.

Sound= The film opening uses both non-diegetic and diegetic sound. The non-diegetic sound being a stereotypical 'grimy' urban track, and the diegetic being shouting, laughing, and dialogue. The music sets the pace which is quite fast but slows down when dialogue is used to make it more dramatic.

Enigma codes= The main enigma code of the opening, is the drill shot. This is because the audience is un-able to see what he is making this may trigger the audience to want to watch more. The  boy then goes on to hide it in the bin. This creates questions like, 'what is it?' 'why is he hiding it?' etc. Another enigma is the fact the hooded group is watching everyone looking suspicious, which makes everyone wonder 'what are they up too?' 'are they looking for someone?'. The middle class group who hand out the party invites also create an enigma code as a party where 'everyone invited' is not bound to go well, therefore we wonder what will happen at this party.

Aspects that I have learnt from this analysis and maybe useful to consider for our own film opening=
-A dark dull colour scheme will add to the realism
-Certificating at 15, would be suitable for concerning the social realism themes of violence, alcohol and sex
-Shoot in the real life areas to get full desired effect
-Look into the distributor Revolver Entertainment to see if it could be a suitable match for our film opening once made
-Non-diegetic music can be used to make things more dramatic and help highlight important bits which need to be considered in the opening
-Should use a vary of close-up and long shots, as this is creates the effect of some one watching or CCTV which adds realism

Research: Codes and Conventions of Social Realism films

The use of unknown actors- this helps to create the sense of verisimilitude because the audience see's the actors as ordinary people.
One main protagonist- The plot usually follows the story of one individual's life, looking at how they face problems and overcome adversities.
Most films use teenagers or young adults (13-20)- although this is not always the case with films such as 'Tyrannosaur' where the main character is in his 50's
Working class- I believe this is because the majority of audiences will be in or around this social class as it is seen as the most common, also they tend to have the most gritty story lines.
Set in council estates or 'run down' areas in suburban locations- this aids to the naturalistic approach. 'Fishtank', written and directed by Andrea Arnold, is a good example of this as Mia, the lead, lives on a council estate.
Wide shots- this is allows for a lot to be seen in one frame, mimicking that of what a person see's through their eyes, so again it helps give a naturalistic tone.
Location shooting (not a studio/film set)- this gives the illusion on real life and makes the film more convincing.
Explores at least more than one of topical themes- such as sex, money, divorce, alcoholism, prostitution, gangs, abusive realtionships, homosexuality, crime, drugs, poverty.

Research: Trainspotting

I watched Trainspotting, the 1996 film directed by Danny Boyle who describes it as a movie which reflects "the drive and energy of modern pop culture", for this reason I feel it fits into the Social Realism genre, despite the fact it is classed as a crime fiction or drama. Therefore I thought it would be good to study for inspiration.

 

Basic Synopsis
The film is set in 1980's Edinburgh, where Mark Renton, a heroin addict is trying to come clean. The story follows his struggle to wean himself off the stuff hit after hit. After nearly dying of an overdose, he moves to London and gets back on track owning his own flat. However he gets mixed up with his friends again and they make a dangerous heroin transaction, coming into a large amount of money. As the others sleep, Renton leaves with the money and then vows to live a stable, traditional life.




Codes and conventions- Does this film conform to the codes and conventions of Social Realism?

The use of unknown actors- this was Ewan McGregor's (Renton) 4th film, however this was his first big one, and this film was Kelly Macdonald's (Diane) debut.

One main protagonist- The plot follows the ups and downs of one character predominately (Renton).

Most films use teenagers or young adults (13-20)- The majority of the group were in their 20's, though Begbie looks older and more aged.

Working class- It is set in an economically depressed area of Edinburgh.

Set in council estates or 'run down' areas in suburban locations- Set in urban locations such as Edinburgh and London and Allison flat which is presumably on some sort of council estate.

Location shooting (not a studio/film set)- many location shots were used such as Princes Street which is a real street in Edinburgh.

Explores at least more than one of topical themes- the themes of drug use, substance abuse, sex, violence, money and urban poverty are illustrated

Does it break any?

• there are some unnatural scenes in the film, to show the effect of the drugs, so we could say that this is not abiding to the idea or verisimilitude.
• Some scene cuts in the film are not true to real life. For example, at the end of one scene Renton is seen jumping off a wall outside. It then cuts to a shot of him landing inside a building. This is not naturalistic.

Things that inspired us about this film:-

• The idea of portraying what is inside the heads of characters. (Our lead is drunk and so we like the idea of her hearing the memory of her mother shouting, which we can show through the sound of a muffling, echoed voice played over the score.)
• The use of voiceovers is something we could experiment with, to give a clear back story of the main character.



Research: Costume, Props and Makeup

In order to succeed in our genre we need our mise-en-scene to be as realistic as possible and this in particularly includes costume, props and make up. To research into this I have studied and analysed these three things in the social realism film openings  that we have already have analysed previously in our initial research.

1. Costume:

This screenshot is from the film Fish Tank. As you can see she has a grey tracksuit on which is baggy and provides a hood to it, which she has up. She also has crystal white trainers on. This look is very youthful and gives off the impression she is a 'chav' and could be feared of.

This screenshot is from Kidulthood. As you can see they are wearing tracksuits with a cheap thin raincoat and baseball caps. This look is also very youthful and 'chavy'.







These above are only a few of the examples of costumes I had found and analysed from the social realism film openings. All of the films I saw all had some kind of casual tracksuit, baggy clothing, and a hood. Therefore, I think we need to consider these findings for our own film.


2. Props:

This screenshot shows one of the main character smoking a cigarette. This prop is used throughout and plays an important part in the realism as smoking is a widely popular activity.

This screenshot is from Fish Tank. As you can see the prop is alcohol. This plays a big part in the film and it also adds to the realism due to it being a popular thing for teenagers to do.









These above are only a few of the examples of costumes I had found and analysed from the social realism film openings. All of the films I saw all had either a cigarette, or alcohol in it. But overall it was mostly alcohol. Therefore, I think we need to consider these findings for our own film.


3.Make-up:


In this screenshot as you can see there is hardly any make-up. It is very bare and gives of the impression that she does not have enough money to glam herself up. It also may represent how troubled she is as she may have other things to worry about other than her looks.






In this screenshot the main character also has minimal make up on. She has a little bit of mascara on and maybe a bit of foundation. I think this naturalistic look is important as it portrays the struggle or the giving up on making yourself look presentable due to other issues over riding them, which would be needed to get across in social realism films.





                   
These above are only a few of the examples of costumes I had found and analysed from the social realism film openings. All of the films I saw all had either natural or no makeup. Therefore, I think we need to consider these findings for our own film.
                                                                                                                              
                   

Summary:

Costume should be baggy, have a hood, or tracksuit if possible

Props used should be alcohol related

Make-up should be natural as possible

Reserach: Iconic Sound associated with Social Realism

Diegetic Sound

Police car sirens- as Social Realism deals with real life issues, arrests are likely to take place or similar situations, therefore sirens will be heard. Also, many are set in areas were the crime rates are higher (council estates) so police would be around more frequently.



Sounds of violence- Such as fighting sound effects or gun shots as this scene from 'Kidulthood' demonstrates, because many of the themes Social Realism films deal with involve violence including gangs, domestic abuse and prisons.

Swearing- As Social Realism deals with real life, obscene language is not filtered, it is as true to reality as possible as this the clip above also shows.



Busy streets- As we know from the codes and conventions, Social Realism films are commonly set in urban areas and cities therefore ambience like this is appropriate to set the scene.

Non-Diegetic Sound

Music of the time period- Social Realism films do not use specially made soundtracks, they use music from the setting of the film to make it more real. For example, 'This Is England', which is set in 1983, uses 'Come On Eileen' by Dexys Midnight Runners which won Best British Single at the Brits in the same year. So a Social Realism film in the modern day may use rap music or dubstep.

Research: Social Realism Iconography

Moodboard

We decided to do a mood board as its an useful way to bring our ideas together, show what topics we could explore and what films we could look to in inspiration. Above is a photo of our finished mood board. 

SUMMARY:

• We can look into the topics of drugs, violence, alcohol, and smoking
• We may look at films like 'this is england' 'london to brighton' 'kes' etc

Research: Film Opening Timeline Analysis- Billy Elliot

 

Research: Social Realism Genre