Social Realism Timeline

Social Realism Timeline

 Look Back In Anger (1950's)

People in this movie are working class as Jimmy goes through his wife's handbag to see if there is any money in it, but in those times as women did not work as frequently as the present day she most likely would not have much money and all the income would come from a man. The dialogue is also quite posh this shows that the actors and actresses are trained as it does not really match genuine social realism. The train going past at the time connotes that it is quite an urban city, the factories also connote that it is quite industrialized and there is a lot of pollution. The woman is also oppressed by the man as she is scared of him as when she notices that he went through her handbag she does not say anything.

 Poor Cow (1967)

In this movie the man is having bath in the tub in his living room which connotes that they are quite poor. The house is near an alley also connoting that they are working class as someone who is richer would not live near an alley. The man punches woman this connotes that one of the themes of this movie are abuse. The man from the window is also laughing as if it was funny and acceptable , and the language throughout the whole movie is not as posh meaning most likely that these people are real genuine working class people and not trained actors and actresses.

 Bronco Bullfrog (1970) 



The language used throughout the film is not as posh showing that the actors and actresses are most likely genuine and they originally talked in the way that they do. The men are doing a lot of labour showing that they are working class and have to earn a living. The houses shown throughout the scene are also quite simplistic showing that they do not really earn much money. There is also a lot of crime as people are believing the labour they are doing is too much so they go out and steal things, it is located in Stratford where the docks were.

My Beautiful Launderette (1985)

This movie deals with themes such as racism and issues with homosexuality. It is evident that the Asian man is working class as he lives near a train station, as there are trains you can tell it is quite urban. He is also running out of money he also used to do a job which included labor ( Worked in a car wash), he then falls in to alcoholism and he very quickly loses his money this movie helps to show usual struggles within British Social Realism. Also as they are Pakistani in the UK they were beaten up also connoting the racism.
Trainspotting (1996)

This film deals with themes such as hardcore drug abuse such as cocaine, it is quite serious as he is addicted and it portrays the struggles of British Social Realism as he keeps having withdraws and becomes dependent on the drugs and everything keeps getting worse as he then receives a STI. The house that the 15 year old lives in is quite average connoting that most likely she is working class and it signifies that most people in the movie are working class as well. The accents seem quite genuine connoting that these are most likely not trained actors.

Kidulthood(2006)

This film deals with themes such as drug abuse, crime, violence and adolescent life in West London for a teen. The teens are portrayed as antisocial and reckless. The clothes that the teens are wearing connotes that they are working class and also the council flats that they live in also connotes they most likely don't have a lot of money as they can't afford to live in  a house. Another theme is teen pregnancy as the girl is pregnant at 15 years old, this deals with British Social Realism as this is quite common in Britain. The actors are also quite young and there language and accent does not seemed forced this connotes that they were most likely working class before they started filming as they could play a roll which is similar to them or which is portrayed around them in everyday life. Girls are also fighting girls showing there is less stigma of being like the outdated common housewife. 

Ill Manners (2012) 



Throughout this film there is a vast amount of drug abuse as in the start the woman is doing crack cocaine. The skinhead Nazi also confirms that this film includes themes such as racism, also as he abuses the young boy because he is black. Young children are also selling drugs to get money this shows that they are working class, it connotes that the drug life is hard to escape as he is an adult and still selling drugs. The language used is quite explicit and the language is not as posh connoting that they are not trained. The music is also quite upbeat making the film seem urban.

British social realism in the past 60 years has changed dramatically as it has been updated with modern themes, as time went on the themes changed, for example in the film Bronco Bullfrog people had to do a lot of manual labor, they were not happy so they started stealing things, compared to the film Ill manners where they did not have to do much but sell drugs for money, better money than if they were to get a normal job, there is not really a big amount of work. Some of the themes remain the same such as abuse but they are represented in a different way to match the time period. Also before women were quite oppressed but in the more modern films they are not as oppressed as over time things have changed for women and this is portrayed in these films. Although some people are still living in a backwards society and fail to accept the fact that women can do more than just clean, cook and look after the children.

An Analysis of Representations In The Selfish Giant

Regional Identity

The film is set in the North of England, it is filmed in Bradford as most British Social Realism films it was filmed on location, Bradford is stereo-typically known for having  a vast amount of 'chavs' who wear tracksuits, are aggressive and are uneducated. The colour in this shot is also quite bland setting the mood as quite sad and it gives the audience an idea of how the mood is going to be throughout the whole movie. The car denoted in this image shows that the area is not very well looked after and the horse also connotes that they are not very rich as they need horses for travelling and to help them maybe look after their land. Even though this is in quite a poor area the houses denoted signify that it is a modern as the houses are quite modern, not modern as is in the present day but in the 2000's. This establishing shot gives the audience an idea of the setting and the type of lifestyle that people are living in, in this area. In the second image quite grimey images are denoted, the boy Arbor is also wearing a tracksuit and the cars in the back are quite low priced cars.

The location and Mise-en-scene denoted in both of these images connote that people are living quite a horrible lifestyle and they do not really have any money for luxury items, also as there is Arbor in the shot carrying a horse this connotes that he lives a very different lifestyle compared to an average boy in the city but he is living in the suburbs, also as he is a boy out in the middle of the day with a horse, instead of being at school it connotes that school life is not very important, it is stereotypical as Northern 'chavs' would not usually attend school.

Age

Age in this film is represented through the contrast of the young boys and the men, the boys are still at school as the image above denotes Swifty wearing school clothes. Characters such as Swifty and Arbor are the younger boys who are trying to do jobs, which are for the grown men, this is where adolescence is evident as the boys are trying to provide for their family, this is very stereotypical as it is said that men have to work to get the money for the family. Also the children are trying to get money making them seem helpful, but the contrast is where the men are using the children to get what they want for a very small cost. When they bring the wire to Kitten he takes 30 pounds off the final price this makes the children seem very vulnerable and it makes Kitten seem very evil and un-pure as he is taking money from children who need it, Arbor is still happy to have the money showing his innocence. The fact that they are trying to get money for their parents shows that they are very caring and gives the audience a sense of sympathy for them and it targets an anger at Kitten. The second image denotes all the men being reckless they are also making a young boy race a horse showing that the men are evil as they just want to use the children.

The film connotes a negative representation towards older men overall it shows the innocence of children and how they can be manipulated for a small price, the men treat the children like slaves to make money. The boys are also happy to work also Swifty looks forward to riding Kittens horse showing that he just wants to please the older men and gain their respect.

Disability

Disability is denoted through Arbor as he suffers from ADHD this is one of his weaknesses, ADHD caused him to be removed from school permanently, also the film starts of with him under the bed screaming and hitting everything, the film does not try and cover up his disability but tries to enhance it by using some hard-hitting scenes, such as the scene where he is hitting the bed. Swifty does not get permanently excluded from school because he is seen as a more 'normal' compared to Arbor , but Arbor has ADHD which stops him from acting in a civilised fashion. There is also a a scene in the film where Arbor is throwing all of  the stuff off of the table, his mother tells him to take the tablets as that is the best she can probably do as there is most likely not a large amount of counselling available for Arbor as he is poor and his mum does not realise that he needs better medical attention. Continuous sadness is denoted throughout the film not only in Arbor's brother but in Swifty's mum, Arbors brother is in serious trouble and cannot afford to pay his debts and Swifty's mother is oppressed by Swift's dad who treats he like she is a slave. Throughout the course of the film the depression only gets worse as Swifty dies, near the end of the film the depression is denoted and it seems to be even worse which is commonly how British Social Realism films are.

Arbor is seen as the character with the most disabilities as he is trying to juggle various tasks at once, school life, earning money for his mother and also impressing the older men.

Social Class

Social class is represented strongly in this film as working class is denoted heavily, most of the film is about children trying to earn money just so they can look after their family when in reality the parent should be looking after the child, this is a counter-type of an average child. There is a scene where the bailiffs all come to the house to take the sofa this connotes that they have borrowed money which they cannot pay back and they in a continuous cycle of debt. This seems to be very common as even Swifty's family struggle quite a bit as they do not have much money to feed all the children properly, the house is filled with children screaming and shouting connoting a big mess. Arbor's brother is also a drug addict who needs money to pay off his debts that's why he even try to take money of Arbor to pay his way out, the denoted facial expression that he has connotes that the struggle is real and money is a very rare thing for these people. Arbor's mum tries her best to keep Arbor in school to try and get an education and be smart so he can get a proper living, but he is focused on keeping his mum happy connoting that he is quite caring. This part of British Social Realism takes away the saying ' You do not need money to be happy' as these people are struggling for money and if they don't get money they know they could possibly be in danger. Arbor knows the struggles of an adult at such a young age and he has learned to realise the value of money better than other children as growing up he probably did not have the best things. The school also connotes that they are working class as Arbor just swears in front of the teachers this connotes that many people in the same area deals with similar struggles as Arbor and Swifty. This gives the audience an idea of the social class and the struggle.

Gender

Throughout the film very stereotypical scenes are shown where the men are quite masculine and violent, Kitten is quite violent and negatively portrays men through the film this connotes that he is evil and very selfish he makes himself feared to the children and he seems very powerful. Gender equality is not present as Swifty's Dad and oppresses Mrs Swifty and she is overpowered, even the young boys can go out and do what they want but most of the time Swifty's mum is inside the house doing housework or cooking for the family, she is the main one who looks after the kids as the dad seems quite threatening and selfish. There is a part where Arbor tells Swifty to make sure his dad does not find the money this is because Arbor knows that his dad would take it away from him to use on himself, whereas there is another part where Swifty can trust his mum to take the money as he knows she is more caring for the children. Most of the women in the film just work at home except the woman in the scrapyard and the woman at the school this connotes that women are still oppressed even in the modern day this shows that people in these areas are still living in the past and it shows they were brought up to believe that women did all the housework and looked after all the children. Swify's dad blames Mrs Swift for the lack of money but she does not work and is forced to look after the children so there is no chance of her earning any , Mrs Swift also does not respond this connotes that the relationship is uneven and they are living in a backwards society.

Sexuality

Finally throughout the film there is a constant repetition of the word gay, this is used as a cuss towards the other boys connoting how in this type of society being gay is frowned upon, or as they are children they do not realise that they are using it in the wrong context and their ignorance denoted connotes that they are not well educated and do not understand what they are saying.  From this the audience is able to either tell that the children are uneducated or being gay is hugely frowned upon in this modern day society within Bradford.

Past Students Work

Past Student's Work Evaluation

            

BSR Themes & Situations

In this image the theme of sexual harassment, rape and relationships and is connoted as the image denotes a girls dress being lifted up in an alleyway. Also she is pinned up against a wall connoting that she is trapped and has no where to escape to.

The denotation in this image is of a Caucasian male being dragged out of an Asian shop this connotes the theme of racism, there is also parts in 'Bridges' where there is is a problem with interracial relationships, also these themes are present throughout this short clip they are not really clear or represented very well. 

Realistic Representation

In this shot the antagonist is clearly denoted as he is wearing a hood, this is a stereotypical British gangster type character as he is dressed in black and is wearing his hood up to try and hide his face. The girl seems to be a average British girl as at the start of the scene she is in her house which looks like a common British house,

In this shot the antagonist is denoted as he is watching the Caucasian male talk to the Asian female, but the representation is not very clear and throughout the whole scene there is not much representation of all the characters it is hard to distinguish the different archetypes.

BSR Mise-en-scene

In this shot the location is well denoted and the clothing is well denoted, by looking at this image we can see the setting, the location, and the clothing used to create each character. The shoes show that this is set in the modern day and also where they are shows it the clothes also help to connote what the character is like as the antagonist is dress in all black we can tell that he is quite mysterious making him scarier for the audience.

Throughout this scene the Mise-en-scene is quite well done the clothing on the boy signifies that this is quite modern and the location they are on shows it is also modern. Also at the start of the scene there is quite a lot of shops around connoting that the area is an Asian area as not a lot of Caucasian people are around the area this strengthens the idea of racism.

Music,Sound effects & Realistic Dialogue

From the start of the scene the music is quite sad connoting that the rest of the scene will be sad this helps to set the mood . Also there is not much dialogue but it is not needed,as the visuals were quite hard-hitting there was little need for dialogue. The only main sound effect is when she is being pinned on the wall, there is a bang to show how much the girl is struggling.

Throughout most of the start of the scene the music is quite bad as it does not really match the theme of racism, the music is quite grime based connoting that the scene should be more gruesome. Also the first piece of dialogue is not very clear and cannot be heard but the second piece of dialogue is quite forced and you can hear the sound of where the cuts are.

Camera work and 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. the match on action when the boy comes out is done quite well as it shows different parts and adds detail. The cuts throughout flow quite well and do not make the scene look jumpy, this shot here is very good as it shows the scissors and the girl in the same shot connoting
she might do something bad with them.

In this scene the camerawork starts off quite well with the over the shoulder shot but towards the end the camerawork is quite bad as parts do not flow and the actors start after they have started recording and it was not edited well to make it flow. The shots after this are quite jumpy and the match on action is not done very well as the continuity is not kept.

Appropriate opening sequence Graphic

There are not really graphics that start off the scene to create the mood , but it shows the production company so it gives the audience an idea of what type of film this is going to be as films on this channel usually have different themes.

The graphics in this are also the same there are not much graphics that establish the film but it shows that it is for the production company film 4 so again it gives the audience an idea of what type of film this is.

My Continuity Editing Clip

Storyboard and Shotlist