Evaluation Question 1 - Conventions

In ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Titles 

With regards to titles our film follows this convention for social realism. This is due to the titles being a plain white font with a simplistic San serif font. Our titles were highly influenced by the titles the guvnors as they also provided a modern font with an appearing and disappearing transition which tries to add to the 'realism' of the film. It helps to present a film based on the working/middle class lifestyles and struggles within Britain.

Soundtrack/Music 

Our non diegetic sound shows how we have understood the conventions regarding sound for social realism. In some modern social realism films a slow paced instrumental is  used. The soundtrack we created was based around the song 'To Build a Home' By Cinematic Orchestra which represents this slow paced song that helps build up the emotion we hoped the audience to share with the upper/middle class character. In other modern social realism films the soundtrack consisted of underground, youthful and grime music. As we introduce our younger working class character we incorporated an underground theme into our main soundtrack. Here we followed the conventions of two different types of soundtrack/music of social realism.

Mise En Scene/ Opening Shot 

The opening shot of an upper/middle class big stately home are counter typical of social realism and don't follow the general conventions. This opening shot uses a low camera angle which makes the audience look up at the house. Using this angle also makes the audience feel small so they can automatically associate the house with wealth. Social realist films generally contain a working class setting for example in the Warp film This is England many grafted walls are included with austere and depressing working class surrounding. Although our opening shot may seem bleak it doesn't represent a working class house or area, this is the fundamental reason it doesn't follow the convention.

Editing 

In terms of editing our opening consists of fairly slow paced shots, this is a convention of social realism. The reason the shots tend to be slow paced is so the audience are able to get a wider sense of the realism involved with in the film as is it dealing with modern, individual and social issues.


For social realism I found that the other conventions were:

• Location Shooting - The locations are generally shot on actual real life locations e.g parks and council estates. Unlike big Hollywood films that shoot in a studio. The film 'This is England' was primarily shot in Nottingham.

• Unknown- These are used to add to the effect of the realism. Also film company's generally cant afford A-list stars to feature in their films.

• Regional Identities - This depends on where the film is set and based around, this will use correct accents and language in the suitable setting. 

• Social Class - Usually social relist films deal with issues around working class people e.g 'Billy Elliot' and 'This is England' 

• Semi-Improvised scrips- Sometimes used to achieve realistic dialogue that closely follows life like conversations. This was used in the films 'Kes' and 'Sweet Sixteen' directed by Ken Loach..

• Types of Shots- Normally in social realist films wide shots/establishing shots are used to give the audience a better understanding of the environment. 

What we chose from the Social Realism conventions:

Un-glamorous Locations

 In our film we opted to film parts of it in a working class environment. This followed the common conventions as may social realist films are filmed in these areas. Our film completely follows this convention due to our entire footage being filmed in real life locations. These locations consisted of Ben Rhydding council estate, Burley in Wharfedale tunnel, Ilkley cemetery, Ilkley bridge, Ben Rhydding train station, Milo's house and Tom's house. As social realism deals with real issues it was important to use real life locations in order to give it a more realistic feel, also it helps identify and separate different social classes. Throughout 'The Guvnors' (a film we followed closely) the whole film is based with in a council estate symbolising the working class environment. 

Unknown  Actors

Unknown actors are used mainly because of the the low budget. They are also used as people have never seen them before so they aren't associated with any other characters they may have played previously. By doing this it adds to realistic look of the film that is trying to be created. Obviously as this is only an AS media film opening we don't have to funding and access to professional actors anyway so this is another convention that we were forced to follow regardless.

Type of Shots

In social realism close up shots are used in order for the audience to visualise the emotions of the characters. Also long shots/extreme long shots are used go establish the characters place in society. I believe that out film follows this convention as we have included both close up and long shots have been used to present the older protagonist and younger protagonists emotions and place in society. This makes the audience able to see the clear contrast of the characters in society.  We have also used a lot of wide/establishing shots in order to give the audience a better understanding of the environment although these shots convey both working class and upper/middle class environments. 

Social Realism History and Conventions

Early British cinema used the common social interaction found in the literary works of Charles Dickens and Thomas Hardy. One of the first British films to emphasize realism's value as a social protest was James Williamson's A Reservist Before the War, and After the War in 1902. The film memorialized Boer War serviceman coming back home to unemployment. Repressive censorship during 1945-54 prevented British films from more radical social positions.

After World War I, the British middle-class generally responded to realism and restraint in cinema while the working-class generally favored Hollywood genre movies. Thus realism carried connotations of education and high seriousness. These social and aesthetic distinctions have become running themes; Social Realism is now associated with the arthouse auteur, while mainstream Hollywood films are shown at the multiplex.

Producer Michael Balcon revived this distinction in the 1940s, referring to the British industry's rivalry with Hollywood in terms of "realism and tinsel." Balcon, the head of Ealing Studios, became a key figure in the emergence of a national cinema characterized by stoicism and verisimilitude. "Combining the objective temper and aesthetics of the documentary movement with the stars and resources of studio filmmaking, 1940s British cinema made a stirring appeal to a mass audience," noted critic Richard Armstrong.

Social Realism in cinema was reflecting Britain's transforming wartime society. Women were working alongside men in the military and its munitions factories, challenging pre-assigned gender roles. Rationing, air raids and unprecedented state intervention in the life of the individual encouraged a more social philosophy and worldview. 

A British New Wave movement emerged in the 1950s and 1960s. British auteurs like Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson, and John Schlesinger brought wide shots and plain speaking to stories of ordinary Britons negotiating postwar social structures. Relaxation of censorship enabled film makers to portray issues such as prostitution, abortion, homosexuality, and alienation. Characters included factory workers, office underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, runaways, the marginalized, the poor, and the depressed. "The New Wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline.

This information was retained from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_realism#In_film

The main conventions for social realism are; the use of unknown actors, this makes it realistic as the actors could be anyone so it supports the social realism genre. Social class is also another convention as working class is dealt with like 'This Is England' directed by Shane Meadows. Generally the films are set in poorer run down areas but can be nice neighbourhood. Usually a social realism film deals with alcoholism, drugs, sex, poverty, homosexuality, violence and crime. Age is also important in the conventions of social realism as most films use teenagers from ages 13-20. 'Kidulthood', 'Kes', 'Sweet Sixteen' and 'This Is England' all have the protagonists between these ages.