Analysis of Representations in 'The Selfish Giant'

Regional Identity

The film is set in Northern England and was filmed in Odsal, Buttershaw. This is an area in Bradford so it was filmed in the actual location of the film. This area has been represented as a very industrial, mundane and negative area of England as there is a constant blue over the color palette and there is no non-diegetic music which makes it very and creates a glum mood; the lack of music represents the area as very hopeless and makes it seem like there is a lack of dreams and aspirations from the people living there. The industrial area has been represented by the extreme uses of wide shots to emphasize the poverty of the area, from the image below I can denote that it is a wide shot as the two actors (Arbour and Swifty) are not the main focus. I can denote graffiti and weeds which connote that the area has been deserted and vandalized by youth groups; this represents the area as an area with a high violence rate and tells us it does not have many upper class residents. The production design is very typical for a British Social Realism film as it has the shutters which represent the urban atmosphere, the production design of their costume also represents the regional identity of northerners as very chavy and mostly working class or under class.

The screen grab above also illustrates how northerners are represented as travellers and gypsies as they are seen to be riding horses a lot of the time and this is a stereotypical 'gypsy' thing to do; this conforms to the stereotype. In one scene of the film they are also seen horse racing on the streets (29:37); not only does this represent them as gypsies but it also represents that northern people cause havoc and in general are very rowdy and careless. The effect of the director's choice makes the audience think of people who live there badly when I am sure this is not the case.

The area in northern England is also represented as very mundane and negative as the screen grab below shows, from the screen grab I can denote rain and grey skies which connote that the feeling of the film at this moment is negative, this scene at 01:18:25 also uses the idea of pathetic fallacy which shows how the weather represents the mood as Swifty has just died. This is also typical of a BSR film as it is almost the end of the film and it is at its most negative part. This represents the idea that bad things and bad luck is common for this region.

Age

Age in this film is represented very strongly. The older men-especially Kitten take advantage of the younger generation to the extent where they will make them conduct adult paid jobs for much less money and they will even con them out of their money which they have rightfully earned. Not only is it shocking that the young boys are completing adult jobs these jobs are extremely dangerous as in the end lead to Swifty being brutally killed. This is shown in the screen shot below where Kitten pays the boys for bringing in some cable which they found at the track.This represents the younger generation as very gulliable as they do not realsie that they are being unpaid instead they become overwhelemed that they are even being paid. This innocence which is seen in the children shows how sinister and sly the older generation are as they willfully take advantage without any guilt. This scene is a midshot of the hand over of the money and is at 7:10, the extreme blue color palette represents how there is a huge contrast in the morals of each age group. The effect of this choice makes the audience feel sympathy for the younger generation. It also represents the older generation as bad examples and shows that there are no sufficient role models for children nowadays.

Swifty paying them

The scene shown above(01:02:07) shows how the older generation of men took advantage of the younger boys and this represents them in a bad light, here the older man took Arbour's cable and told him he would sell it and split the cost but in the end he drove away with all of the money. The close up used here emphasizes how excited Arbour was to recieve some money as he is living in a working class/under class family and this would help them and this makes the audience feel extreme sympathy for him and hate the older generation. The technique used here is called depth of field, the money has been placed out of focus slightly and Arbour's face is in complete focus so the audience focuses more on his happiness in that moment rather than the cash; this was chosen by the director to emphasise the negative representation of the men.

The last point I would like to make about age is that Arbour's mum-although older than her is represented as much weaker as she is crying and he has to comfort her, this connotes that she is unable to look after her son and there is a reverse position role here. This represents that the younger generation are becoming more responsible and beginning to act more like adults. This scene also however represents Arbour as innocent which is one of the few scenes which does this. It portrays his child-like side and shows the audience that he is still good at heart. Another scene in the film which connotes Arbour's innocence is when the police arrive and he feeds the fishes-his innocence here is portrayed as he still does child-like things and this represents him as a boy who can act older when the circumstances require him to but at the same time he is still only a little innocent boy. 

Arbour hugging his mum to comfort her

Disability

In 'The Selfish Giant' disability is not dealt with properly and is represented as a weakness and a problem in the persons life. The main disability shown is from Arbour as he suffers from a severe case of ADHD, he is not aided in this as he is excluded from school with no support; he is represented as a problem as he is told to stay away from Diesel (horse) when Swifty is allowed near it as he as seen as 'normal'. This secluded nature is represented harshly in the film whereas in real life the people would be given counselling or the medicine required to improve their mental health issues. The film doesn't sugar coat the condition and shows the worst parts of it for example when he is under the bed screaming and hitting the bed or when he is screaming at his mum and chucking everything around. Instead of people helping him he is called a 'mental case' which shows that people laugh at his disorder instead of help him. The most help he gets is when his mother just tells him to take his medicine-her view is that if he takes that and does nothing else everything will be okay. Overall his illness is represented as a problem.

Arbouer under the bed screaming

The other mental illness which is explored within the movie is depression and the sufferer is Swifty's mum, this common illness makes her look weak and although it is common it represents her as incapable and unable to look after her son, this illness does not improve over the course of the film which is typical in BSR and there is no magical cure for her.

Social Class

Social class is represented very harshly in this film, the younger generation are made to believe that to survive they need to earn money as they are in such a low position, the under class and working class have been represented as extremely poor which is exaggerated-there is a scene where their sofa is being sold and the children are in a dark house as they cannot even afford electricity; this extreme situation is very rare but has been shown as if it is very common. This represents Britain as a country with a large amount of people who live at the bottom end of the scale. The production design of this scene has been specifically chosen to represent the family as weak and in extreme poverty-the grey colours emphasize how nothing is brand new and the low key lighting show how they cannot even afford to pay for electrics. Even the kids' clothing is old and tatty and they do not even have a dining table on which to eat their dinner. This scene also includes a high angle shot of one of the girls being told to get off of the sofa so it can be sold-this is very touching and a direct key of sympathy to the audience. The social class are also represented as very desperate as they even need to sell their basic household items such as their furniture-their only sofa. This situation is not usually expected from the 21st century. The audience is also made to feel shocked by the mid shot of Swifty holding his younger brother, their facial expressions represent how the younger generation feel let down and sad about the class they have been born into. Their desperation of money is also shown when Swifty is killed whilst in the process of trying to make some money. 

The under class are also represented as a group of very rowdy people who tend to cause a nuisance and are no good to the community. Arbour's brother is a drug addict and the parents of the families do not care about their children, this represents them badly, they are also denoted to wear ripped clothing  which connotes that they are so poor that cannot even afford to clothe themselves but also connotes how careless and dirty they are. In the whole film they also swear a lot which represents them as very rude even to their own children and family members. 

This shot at 29:45 shows how rowdy they are-horse racing on public roads leading to havoc

The under class are also represented as people who do not know what they are talking about and the upper/working class do not listen to them, I find this very surprising especially during the scene where Arbour's mum is called into school-the headteacher tells her that Arbour is excluded and although his mum plea's with the headteacher she says no-this represents how the higher classes' have more say in what happens and have much more power than the ones below them. This represents the lower classes' as weak and unable to stand up for themselves as they are immediately overpowered. This scene takes place at 18:37 and the head teacher also says 'Is there anything I can do?' which emphasizes how the working class and upper class look at them as if they are in need of help or hand outs. They are represented very weakly. 

Arbour's class is also seen as disadvantaged as he has ADHD but it is worsened as in class there is no support teacher next to him-is this because he is of a low class so doesn't get one or is it because people of his class believe they are a waste of time-either way this represents him as hopeless.The lower class are represented as people who do not appreciate education in any way as Arbour says 'I hate school, I'm a fucking scrap man me!'-this strongly connotes how he does not care about academics and connotes that the under class overall do not care either.

Gender

The two genders play very different roles in this film. The males are represented as harsh, violent and very masculine-so masculine that at one point Kitten attempts to chop off Arbour's hand as he has stolen-this harsh act portrays men as mean and shows that they do not have a heart. This is the stereotypical image of a man as he has to be in charge and people need to fear him-as Swifty is quite an emotional boy he is told to 'toughen up' by Arbour. Even at such a young age Arbour has got the idea of a real man into his head when this is not correct. The men are represented as scary and if you got in their way it would be the end for you. This violent image is emphaszied by close-ups and low angle's of the main men in the film-especially Kitten. Price Drop also orders his wife around which shows which gender is represented as much higher in a relationship, this represents to the audience that men should be feared.

Kitten pushing Arbour's hand into the machine

On the other hand, women are represented as very weak and unable to do anything, even their own children are more able to look after them and they are shown as very emotional. If at any point in the story Arbour is in need of comfort he always goes to his mother as the female is connoted as a shoulder to cry on-he would never go to a man for this as they are connoted to have no emotions and no heart. Most of the woman in the film also have no job and just sit at home miserably except for one woman-the lady at the scrapyard. However, even she does not conduct the same job as the males do, she has a thinking and logistics job and if you look carefully she does not actually do much so even she represents women as weak.

Arbour and his brother have an absent dad which could be the reason as to why they are complete tearaways, although Swifty's dad is completely useless he is not as crazy as Arbour and this connotes that men are needed in a family to create boundaries and without one leading man the children become a mess and the wives are unable to control them. This also connotes to the audience that a woman is nothing without a man.

At 12:46 there is a scene where Swifty's dad is shouting at his mum "You're completely useless aren't ya"-he blames her as there is no money for the electrics, this shows how men do not talk to women as if they are human too and as she does nothing but look at him in fear as she knows there is nothing she can do. This shows to the audience how weak women are in comparison to men. The midshot also allows the audience to see the facial expressions of both actors-especially the mother. Her messy appearance and costume also adds to her character and represents the struggles of life she faces everyday.

Swifty's dad shouting at his mum

Sexuality

Sexuality is not explored a lot in the movie but it is mildly hinted at throughout, there are no gay actors but there is a constant theme of casual homophobia as most of the children call each other gay. This is not direct or abusive and they do not realize what they are truly saying in the situation as it is not the correct accusation. This homophobia has been grained into their culture and without showing it the audience is able to tell that if one of them were to be gay they would have been disowned by their family. This also emphasizes how there is no escape-they are stuck in this same world. 

Ethnicity

In this film there are mainly white people and not many other cultures seen other than in the school scene. This film presents white people as bad parents who have many children, this is shown especially in the scene at Swifty's house where their sofa is being sold and their are many of them and they are ordered to move instead of asked nicely which they should have been asked as it is a very shocking experience. White people are also represented as if they all have broken families, the two main actors have broken families. Arbour has an absent dad and Swifty has a reckless dad and a depressed mother.

White children are also presented as rude as if they have no manners, this is shown in the classroom scene where Arbour swears at the teacher and tells him he stinks, he is the boy being rude when there is a brown boy sitting next to him behaving properly, this represents white children as problems and disruptions in educational environments, the mid-shot also connotes that coloured children are a lot more well behaved and contribute to the class room effectively compared to white people.

The last representation that is given for white people is that they hate the police and are constantly swearing, this is shown throughout and even the younger kids swear a lot. This shows that maybe this is a mannerism they have learnt at home from their parents; this stereotype of white people is unrealistic but is represented very brutally.

Week Two Production Log

What did I do this week?
This week in class I watched a well known British Social Realism film-'The Selfish Giant' and then analysed it too looking at how different aspects of the film are represented to the audience. I also began to study the mise-en-scene which is in Adulthood to look at how I can show the typical mise-en-scene in my own production. This week also included me assessing previous students' work and looking at the mark scheme to I could become aware of what is expected to achieve each level. The last lesson I had this week looked at sound in general and concentrated on all the different types of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds in film and media in general.


What have I learnt about social realist conventions in relation to audience?
Listed below are some of the codes and conventions that are related to BSR and what I learnt about them in relation to audience:

• Location Shooting (not in a studio)-I learnt that most BSR films are shot on location in local estates, deserted urban areas and parks-this creates a real effect and nothing looks fake for the audience. It makes it believable and in some cases the audience may also be able to relate to the places that are shown. For example in 'My Brother the Devil' the locations are real and not on set like in Hollywood Movies. (shown below).

• The second convention I have learnt are wide shots, these are commonly used in British Social Realism to show the audience what the area is really like and to emphasise the bad state or the poverty the people are living in. The loaction of BSR is very important as it represents the characters social class and this is a main theme. Shown below is a wide shot from Kidulthood to show the location of the characters to the audience so they can understand the film more.

• Another convention I explored was that BSR films have unprofessional actors who have no experience in acting at all; sometimes they are even ordinary people that directors have found in the local area. This is because BSR productions do not have the money to hire Hollywood famous actors but mainly because these real, ordinary people actually have life difficulties that are explored in the film so this allows them to act very realistically and has a positive effect on the audience as it makes them believe the story line more. The audience also has a stronger sense of belief as these ordinary people look like normal people they would see everyday and do not have 'Hollywood faces' so it is very realistic and accurate. Below is the actress who played the main role in 'Fish Tank' as Mia Williams, her name is Katie Jarvis and she was spotted in Essex arguing on the train with her boyfriend and was chosen for the role.

How will the conventions inform my production?

The conventions will shape my production as I will use them as a guide to produce my own opening sequence for a British Social Realism production. I will shoot on location and find places locally which look like they would have crime problems as this is common in BSR. I will also film during the evenings if my story line fits this as crime is associated with night time.

I will also use many wide shots in my work to show the audience the location I am filming in, this is important so I can exaggerate the poverty my characters live in. I think that I will use a lot of wide shots at the beginning so I can set the scene at the same time as showing my characters from a far distance. There is a short film called 'Tight Jeans' which I think successfully shows how wide shots can  be used to represent the location to the audience. Below is an example of a wide shot that is used.

What texts did you find particularity influential and why?

In particular I found Fish Tank very influential as it was filmed in my local area and I found this very inspirational as it shows how much can be brought out from the area surrounding me; they filmed in areas which I never would have thought of and also because they used Katie Jarvis who has never acted before it also showed me that professionals are not needed so I myself can make something very good.

I also found 'A Room for Romeo Brass' very influential as the actors were young which showed that I could use people my age or even younger and still get a good effect; usually I would avoid using younger kids as they wouldn't be able to read a script but one convention of BSR is that there is a limited script so this is very useful. This film was also influential as it wasn't filmed in the countryside which I found odd for a BSR film but then I also liked the idea a lot as it made the film very different; I also liked it because it showed me that not all BSR films have to be set in the current era; some shots of this film showed cowboys shops and men in very bright shell suits which showed me that you can still show the BSR conventions in different era's and I think this was very smart.

Two young actors from 'A Room for Romeo Brass'

Will you conform to conventions or subvert them?

In my work I think that it is very important to conform to the conventions as they are all traditional in BSR films so if I do not conform to them the opening sequence I make will not be able to be distinguished as one which is not my aim. 

I think that I could make a hybrid film so it is BSR and thriller to emphasize the crime but at this point I am not sure but that is as far as I would go to subvert the conventions of a BSR film. All of the conventions are useful and all have an impact so I am reluctant to change any as I do not want to lose the interest of the audience and ruin their expectations.

Past Students' Work

In order to build my knowledge of British Social Realism films I looked at seven opening sequences which past students have made and analysed them. I will be roughly analyzing them all and then looking at two in more detail.

The first opening sequence I looked at was called 'South Paw'. It was about a boy who is split between being a good Muslim and being a boxer, in the short amount we saw I think he is the lost boy from the archetypes which are usually seen in British Social Realism. I think that South Paw was good because the location was very urban which is the usual setting for BSR, the music was also suitable; I liked how it began simple and then as the story line progressed it got more complicated and upbeat. It was also successful as it did not have a lot of dialogue and was minimalist in this form-this is important as less dialogue is usually seen in opening sequences and not a lot actually happens. This was also the case in South Paw-all that literally happened was a boy left home and went to boxing and on the way had doubts on attending the mosque. The rebel against religion is a theme which is often seen in British Social Realism so the idea of the battle between boxing and Islamic faith is relevant to the genre, it also fits in with 'the Lost Boy' archetype very well.

Taking off religious cap

There were however some weaknesses to South Paw. There were sound level issues as at the start we were unable to hear what was happening at home because of the music so maybe the audio levels could have been adjusted individually to fit each clip. I also found that there were many long shots and mid shots one after the other and barely any close ups which could have made it boring for teh audience to watch. The closeups usually make it look more different and can also help the audience to focus on one thing. The last criticism is that typical BSR films do not have credits which are on black backgrounds-they typically have credits on transparent backgrounds which run along the bottom at the same time as the opening sequence. 

One of the many long shots, although they did show location very well.

I gave South Paw 30 marks and the actual marks given were 34. I marked this a bit harsher than I should have as I believed that the audio and credits were very important parts of the project which didn't work well, I gave it a good mark because I felt that it had a realistic representation by using stereotypes which are usually seen in BSR.

The second opening sequence we looked at was called 'Fast Life'. This one had a boy who got chased down an alleyway by two thugs and then went home. I liked this opening sequence because the music fitted very well with the BSR genre and I could denote hoodies and joggers which connote they are thugs so the music is also relevant to that image. The characters look like normal everyday people and not hollywood stars which relates to usual actors seen in BSR. The titles were also done in the BSR fashion-transparent and in black and white at the bottom of the screen.

Costume in Fast Life is very stereotypical

However there were some faults in 'Fast Life'; the music was incredibly loud throughout and espeically loud over the dialogue which made it hard to hear. The credits were done in the correct fashion but they went very quickly which meant I was not able to read them quick enough. I also think that some of the shots could have been varied more; the long shot of the boy walking through the alleyway was shown for quite a while and I think if they cut into close ups it would have been more effective. My last criticism is that the story line was a little confusing-I did not understand why he was getting chased and I feel like that last part after the title is shown is irrelevant and has no actual meaning. 

I gave 'Fast Life' 25 marks and they were awarded 32 marks, I was quite far off and I think I underestimated it as it finished on a bad note so I assumed it wouldn't get very high.

The third film title was 'Damaged Goods' this one was about a prostitute who goes into several houses a week. i liked the idea of having loads of shots of the same action happening but on different days, I think this emphasized how this is her everyday life and it shows that she does the same thing every day which is key in BSR as the characters are normal people who have to do continuous boring jobs just to survive. I also liked the titles as they were unnoticeable and the timing was correct on them so we were able to read the names. The third thing I liked was the mise-en-scene which was very relevant. The urban settings especially during the evening looked relevant to the genre and the red lipstick, hoop earrings and heels are all stereotypical costume pieces for a prostitute. The last strength was that the entire story line was quickly given in 2 minutes and there was no confusion about who she was. 

Stereotypical red lipstick and hoop earrings

The weaknesses I found in this opening sequence were that at some points it was very dark which meant I was unable to see what was happening so I think they could have filmed a little earlier to avoid this problem. The only other criticism I found in Damaged Goods was that at times the music was too loud which meant I couldn't concentrate on the actual opening sequence itself-the music was a little distracting too which after a while stole my attention away from the footage. I am not sure whether the music matches the BSR genre but I believe personally that it did fit the story line as it was slightly urban but had a feminine touch.

Overall I gave Damaged Goods 47 marks when it was actually marked as having 57 marks-I highly underestimated this opening sequence and I think this is mostly because of the lighting I found the story line confusing as I couldn't see as I was watching it on a projector; but when viewed on a laptop I could see a lot more and the lighting wasn't as terrible as I had initially thought.

The fourth opening sequence is called Suffocation, the strengths I found in this piece were that the titles were good and suited the genre well; I also thought that they were very imaginative as they weren't presented normally at the bottom of the screen. For example some of the credits were placed at the top of a stack of piled books and as the stack grew more credits were shown. I also liked how the characters were represented as they were easily distinguished and within the two minutes I understood what role they each played. From those two minutes I think that the main man is the 'failing man' as he goes to work and is very stressed but comes back to ignore his family and to drink alcohol. I also liked how they had a range of shots in their work; the shots were never all long shot or all mid shot and a range of closeups etc were placed in there to make it more interesting. 'Suffocation' was also good because it emphasized the struggle element of BSR films and this is a very key aspect.


On the other hand there were also a couple of weaknesses' I found from 'Suffocation'. The first one was that there was some confusion during the last couple of shots where the female stood at the sink staring at a beer bottle; I was unsure about what she was doing and I think that this one shot had a negative impact on the whole sequence as it is the last shot the audience is left with and it happens to be a confusing one. The other weakness I found was that the costume and location was not the stereotypical BSR mise-en-scene. The male character was wearing a suit which did not appear to be over-sized or grubby and the house it was placed in afterwards did not look run down or isolated at all; I feel that this takes away from the negative aspect as they do not look as if they are living in poverty which is usually the case in British Social Realism.

I gave 'Suffocation' 45 marks as I thought they had used many of the technical skills including using the titles correctly, shooting material appropriate to the task set and more. The actual mark given to their work was 42; I think some marks might have been deducted because the music may have not fitted the BSR genre for some people although it fitted the situation.

The next opening sequence I analysed was Bridges, this was about a religious barrier in a relationship and explores the Indian ethnicity. This is a very common theme which is explored in British Social Realism. I liked how the music was at the start of the opening sequence however I feel that as there was no music for the rest of it it was a bit awkward and sounded unfinished; I understand that this was because he took his headphones out. The other strength I found was that they filmed on scene when the shop was in use which must have been hard for them.

Filming on set in indian cloth store

The weaknesses I found in this work was that the title was very small at the beginning which made it difficult to read and the credits were also small in size and dissappeared quickly which made them very hard to read; although they were presented correctly the time shown and size of them were not correct. Another problem I found with 'Bridges' was that the story line was very confusing; I did not understand what was happening as there was not enough dialogue to explain the situation and as they had broken the 180 degree rule several times this did not help the confusion as it also visually looked wrong. The last weakness I found was that there was no mise-en-scene that realted to the BSR genre; this meant it could not be distinguished as a British Social Realism film from the opening sequence.

Overall, I gave 'Bridges' 25 marks as I believed that it did not show the storyline well and I could not think of many positives, the exam board gave it 29 marks which was close to my guess.

The sixth opening sequence I watched was called 'Drained' and this was about a girl who was getting ready for work and then got to work where it seems her manager is abusive in some manner. I liked this piece of work because they had a good range of shots and although not a lot happened they managed to keep it interesting by changing shots frequently to keep the audience hooked. Another strength I found was that the music was very catchy and suitable for the genre; the urban beat was typical for the BSR genre. I also thought that the credits were simple which were good and unnoticable; they had a transparent background and were on for the correct time to allow the audience to read what they said. I also think that the situation the characters were in were very realistic for the genre as they showed a working class female and a male who seems to be angry which makes me think he is 'the weak but aggressive man'. My last strength was that they managed to film on scene in a warehouse which must have required skill to film quickly and ensure nobody changed anything; they also managed to film many different locations without making it look too jumpy.

Suitable credits for BSR

However there was also one weakness I found in this work; I thought that at times the story line could have been seen as a little confusing and it was not revealed where she was going for a while so it left the audience a little confused.

Overall, I rated 'Drained' 50 marks and they were actually given 58 marks; I think I did not give them such a high mark because I felt the actor looked very young when actually he was probably trying to act a middle aged man so I think this would be an improvement for them to make if they wanted to. I also liked this one and gave it a high mark because it had realistic dialogue at the end from the manager; his slang used was language which is usually seen in this particular genre.

The last opening sequence I looked at was called 'Maze', the strengths I found in this piece of work were that the music suited the genre, the rap links to areas of Britain where BSR are based which linked well and the lyrics 'O-V-E-R' connoted that the film is about a relationship which has ended badly. I also liked how there were a range of shots in the work and although she was only walking/travelling somewhere they kept it interesting, I also found it amazing how they had filmed in so many different locations but made it seem as if they were all close together; if someone who lived outside the area watched this they would not have realised this. I also thought that the theme of broken relationships and fights was relevant to the genre, the mise-en scene was also there as she had a bloody nose, wore a hoodie and hung around on buses and through subways. These are all very stereotypical things for a British Social Realism. The credits were also on transparent background which meant they were relevant to the genre; I also liked how the title of the film was kept on a transparent background too instead of a black background.

Typical location for BSR-subway

The weaknesses I found in this work were that the music needed to fade out a little more subtly than it did as it was very sharp and unexpected which didn't make it sound very professional, I also think that the music at times was distracting; although the lyrics were good at hinting the storyline I think that the lyrics could have been taken out for some parts so the audience could concentrate on the footage too.

Overall I gave 'Maze' 55 marks and it was actually awarded 56 marks; here I was very close, I think it got such a high mark because it included everything a BSR opening sequence requires and the only weakness was the audio-if this was improved I think it would have got full marks.

I am now going to look at two of the opening sequences in more detail and analyse some of the shots from each specifically, I have chosen to further look at 'Drained' and 'Fast Life'.

Drained
Here is the full opening sequence of drained:

British Social Realism Themes and Situations

This gif is successful as it shows the typical situations which are seen in BSR, the female employee is being physically abused to an extent as her manager has his hand around her neck, this is a typical situation in BSR as usually men have the power and abuse or some sort of problem is seen in this genre. In this opening sequence the main character's problem is that she has a violent boss. To improve this I would follow it with a close up of her facial reaction or a close up of his hand tightening around her neck to draw the audience's attention to the act which is going on and to emphasize how wrong it is.

Realistic Representation

I like this shot as I think it has a very realistic representation of what the main character is like and what area she is from. It is realistic as the girl does not look glamorous in any way as she is wearing joggers, trainers and a coat and doesn't even have a handbag-she has a JD carrier bag style bag. The fact that she is at a bus stop also connotes that she cannot afford to drive and is a poor urban teenager; it could also connote that she has no family or friends to give her lifts to work and cannot rely on anyone leaves a very negative feeling. This shot is very realistic as it shows a normal typical working class person which no flashy items. 

Mise-en-scene

This shot shows the Mise-en-scene which is very typical from the BSR genre as it displays terraced houses in a very mundane looking area; there are no expensive cars or many bright colors and the whole area looks deprived of happiness and lonely, this is the main feeling which is in BSR films and the setting helps to create this atmosphere. If I was to improve their work I would maybe concentrate on costume a bit more to build the mise-en-scene; I understand that the male boss is a manager but his suit could maybe be a little shabby or  ill fitted to make it look more relatable to the genre.

Music, sound effects and realistic dialogue

I think that this shot again had realistic dialogue as the male said 'This ain't acceptable', his tone of voice and the word 'ain't' made it seem very urban and fitted the genre well, he didn't sound posh or upper class which is important as in BSR there are only under class or working class people. The music in the opening sequence was also very effective as there was a sad sound the whole way through which made the audience feel sympathy for the girl and set it up to be a sad movie and BSR movies are usually sad and don't usually have happy endings.

Camera work and Editing

I liked the camera work that was used in this shot as it was a close up of the manager saying 'She's late'; I feel that the close up allows the audience to see his frustration and therefore gives them a feeling that when she arrives he will not be pleased and tells us a bit about his character.

I also liked this shot as there was a pan across the location where she worked which allowed the audience to figure out her job and where she worked, it helped to set the scene. If I was to improve their work of camera work and editing I would maybe include a couple more close ups of the main female character as I did not see many of her. 

Appropriate opening sequence graphics

The graphics throughout the opening sequence looked like these; I liked them as they were on a transparent background and all BSR movies have them like this so it was relevant to the genre, the simple colour of white was also visible and again relevant to the genre. Sometimes people got the timing of the graphics wrong but in this piece of work this was not the case and they were left there long enough for the audience to read.

Fast Life


British Social Realism Themes and Situations

I think that this shot successfully shows the main themes which are in BSR, I can connote three teenage boys in hoodies which connotes the theme of gangs and because they are in an alleyway this connotes that there is either going to be a drug dealing or a violent act which are both themes relevant to the genre. The situation also could be that the boy facing the camera could about to be provoked by the other two which is also common and a very realistic situation in Britain. To improve this I think that they could have added some dialogue as it would a little confusing about whether there was a drug dealing happening or a violent act as the next shot displayed the two boys with their backs to the camera chasing the other which did confuse the storyline.

Realistic Representation

I think that this shot is a realistic representation of the types of people that are seen in BSR films, their is a black male teenager who is wearing unbranded everyday casual clothing which is typical for a working class/under class person. The location which he is in is also a realistic representation of what East London is really like, it is very mundane and boring and not a lot of happiness is shown. The fact that he is black also shows the typical stereotype of a black guy being related to crime and being known and a criminal. To improve this they could have added some close ups of his face to exaggerate that he is black to the audience or had him kick something out of the way or spit on the floor to emphasize the stereotype of black people.

Mise-en-scene

I chose to analyse this shot for Mise-en-scene as it shows a police station and a police car, I think that this is suitable for the BSR genre as it shows that legal enforcers are very important to Britain and are needed regularly which then looks back at the fact that Britain is a violent country. This representation of Britain has been shown through the mise-en-scene which includes a police car. However, I did not see many props used for mise-en-scene in the opening sequence, I think that some actual props like knives and cigarettes or packet-ed drugs would have been a good idea to show why law enforcers are needed.

Music, sound effects and realistic dialogue

The dialogue in this shot 'man I need some food' is related to BSR as it shows that the character remains hungry which connotes that he is poor and cannot afford to fend for himself, this looks at classes and represents British people as working class or even unemployed so they go hungry. I think that there were some improvements which could have been made, I would have added some more dialogue before when the boys were chasing the main character and I would have maybe had them swearing at him to represent the genre. I also could have had the music a little quieter when the dialogue occurred as it made it hard to hear but the music itself was good as it was rap which is related to London and urban areas.

Camera Work and Editing

I liked the camera work that was used in this shot as they followed the fridge as if the camera was the character eye's; I thought this was effective as it looked different and allowed the audience to view the location from the characters eyes. However, I think that if I was to improve this work I would not have kept this shot on for so long as I think after a while it got a bit boring and the audience would lose their attention. I also think that throughout the production there needed to be some close ups or extreme close ups to exaggerate some points and there needed to be some camera movement as for the majority of the time the camera was stationary on  a tripod.

Appropriate opening sequence graphics

I think that the graphics were suitable in their appearance as they had a transparent background and were in the simple color of white so this related to British Social Realism typical graphics, however I think the opening sequence lost marks because they were not there for long enough which meant the audience would not be able to read them properly, they vanished too quickly so this was a small problem.

Final Continuity Exercise 'The Encounter'

Above is my final piece of my work after I have edited it, added music and the credits. I am very happy with this work and I have also made a blog post evaluating my work.

Week One Production Log

This week in class we looked at the mark scheme and the brief that a previous year were given, this was to give us an idea of what we may be presented with and we also looked at past students work-this was so we could see what we could ideally produce. By looking at the mark scheme I learnt what elements of work are appreciated by the examining board and I also learnt what is required to reach each level. Before this week's work I was unaware that if your work was very good-but not completed you could not go further than a level 1-I found this very shocking as I thought that if the work was done incredibly well-but just not completed you could still get a high mark. I also saw this as a wake up call to tell me that to achieve a high level and mark I must complete all my filming early so I have plenty of time to edit and re-edit which I think is very important. From the mark scheme I also learnt that very small details are very important; such as the titles and credits, before this I didn't even think that this tiny detail would be so important but as each genre has differently appearing credits/titles it has come to my attention that it is very vital that they are correctly displayed.

By peer assessing previous work I have seen what I am able to achieve and I have seen some ideas which I would never have thought of, as I looked at several pieces of work I have also seen how many different story lines can be thought of from one simple brief-I like this as it shows everyone's work can be different but still relate back to a brief and it also shows how creative the tasks allow you to be. I also learnt some skills which I could use and I noticed some of their editing techniques and ideas which I really liked, in 'Suffocation' they presented their credits in a very unique way by placing them on books whilst the books stacked upwards and I found this very interesting instead of simply having credits along the bottom of the screen.

Usual titles/credits for British Social Realism

Also by peer assessing it made me realized how hard it is to actually create a piece of work to perfection and even if there were mistakes in their work I realized that most pieces of work do have mistakes and it is very hard to perfect them all as we are not professionals. However, I did see many parts of the work which were very well done and kept me hooked and interested.

By peer assessing work it will impact my production as I have felt like an examiner looking for all the right boxes to tick from the mark scheme, so when producing my own work I will do the same thing to ensure my work ticks all the boxes. Whilst filming I will look through the mark scheme and make sure I have missed nothing out and this way I can confidently say I have secured myself a high level and mark. Peer assessing also helped me build my creative thoughts and it showed me how such a wide range of ideas can be brought out of one, simple brief. This helped me as now I can think of more ideas which are unseen and try to make them happen instead of ones which are usual and can become boring and predictable. Assessing the work has also given me some ideas that I will definitely try to fit in with my work as I think these ideas were different.

During my production I will try to emulate some of their very good editing ideas, especially the credits one in 'Suffocation', I will also try to imitate how they had little dialogue and more action as we are not working with professional actors this method is much safer as if there is any dodgy acting it could take away from the aurora of the production. They also had less dialogue as it was an opening sequence and usually opening sequences do not have a lot of stuff going on in them. I will also try to emulate how creatively they were able to produce their ideas and keep their mise-en-scene very different.

In my production I will try to avoid using credits which do not link to the genre of work I am production as whilst looking at the mark scheme I have seen that the conventions and this are very important. I will also try to avoid using very bad actors and I will avoid using any long winded ideas which could lead to a confused audience, I think that a simple production with amazing editing skills applied to it will work very well.

Edit Workshop Evaluation of 'The Encounter'

I have now finished my project 'The Encounter' and this is my evaluation of my edit workshop which includes any techniques I used, challenges I faced during production and post-production, overall strengths and weaknesses and any improvements I would make to my work.

I kept to the 180 degree rule throughout the entire production, this was so my work was clear and there was no confusion from the audience. If the rule is broken people appear as if they are moving/switching sides when in reality they are remaining stationary. This rule is very important and is one of the basic rules of filming. I kept to this rule as I kept Sam on the right of the camera and Bailey on the left at all times. The two shots below show how I kept to the 180 degree rule, in the first shot you can see that Sam is on the right of the camera as Bailey's hand is in frame on the left, the second shot shows an over the shoulder where Bailey is on Sam's left side which supports this. I kept to the rule by only filming on one side and not switching sides.

 Another rule I kept to was the rule of thirds, all of our shots had people in them so we shot them with the eyes on the top third line, this is to make sure everyone looks the same height/age and it also makes the work a lot smoother, here are some examples of where we kept to the rule of thirds, I also made sure I kept to the rule when the angle was not a straight on, the first shot is a straight on but the second is a high angle. The high angle connotes that Bailey is weak/innocent/vulnerable.

I used match on action twice in my work, the first time was to show a paper being turned over two shots and the second is booking falling which cause a girl to fall over, the second one was very hard but eventually I did reach the point I was happy with.

This first example is of Sam flicking through Bailey's work notes she has brought with her, the action is very smooth as I used the precision editor and I think that it is unnoticeable which makes it a good edit. The second match on action is when the books are thrown and Bailey has to jump to catch them but ends up falling over in a mess. These two shots are very quick so I think that the match on action is not very easy to notice but this is also good because it doesn't look fake-it looks like there were actually two cameras recording the same event from two different angles.

During production we did face some problems, in our storyboard we had planned to have a two-shot in our work but this did not work out as we were unable to fit both of the characters in the shot unless we had them sitting very closely which looked weird as the personal space of each character would be invaded and the space between them would connote that maybe there was another type of relationship and this is not the case. This problem then led us to change our shot decision to a more suitable one which we could conduct-we chose an over the shoulder. Although this problem was not major it was a problem which we managed to solve quickly and effectively. If we were to film this again we would choose a bigger room which allows us to stand further back so we are able to get a two-shot as I think it is a very good shot to show both people and their facial expressions at the same time. The last problem during production was keeping the camera very steady when Bailey fell over, this was a problem as when we had it on a tripod it would shake a lot, to solve this problem we filmed free hand and locked our arms to ensure the camera was not shaky at all.

This is an example of a two-shot

Filming falling Bailey without tripod

During post production we did not face many problems but the ones we did face were very frustrating. Whilst editing we had realised that Bailey was talking in our first shot of our match on action and not in the second-this meant that once we edited the match on action to match visually her audio got cut out-to solve this problem we separated the audio from the clip and ran it over both clips, this problem was resolved in the end but did cause some confusion for me. Another problem we had was with the second match on action where Bailey falls over, the shots did not match as the second shot showed just books falling and Bailey was not in it, this did not match so we had to re-film the books falling with Bailey too. This was very important as this task is all about continuity editing and the next shot showed Bailey laying on the ground-without the middle one it would not have made sense as time would have passed. If I were to edit again I would make sure I am very clear on my match on action and planned it out before hand so I wont need to re film any moments I forgot about.

Shot of Bailey on the floor with scattered books

I think that a strength of my work is that the idea is my creativity because my idea is very unique, it is comedic and light hearted comedy and the characters are so stereotypical it is funny. The brief given was very vague and I think that my creativity skills were shown very well as I got a funny idea from such a vague brief. I also think that it is successful because I successfully used some very good techniques such as match on action, these helped to make my story look more interesting and I like how I used a range of shots to keep the audience hooked and interested, I had closeups, long-shots, mid-shots and I also varied my angles which were straight on, high angle and low angle. I think these are all very important as they make the footage much more interesting and easier on the eye. The angle also conveys meaning on who is in power and who is vulnerable.

Funny close up of Sam

High angle of Bailey to keep audience interested

The planning of my work was also done very well and me and my partner spoke regularly on where to film and what time which helped us quickly do our work, my storyboard was also very clear and made sense, all of the writing needed was included and made planning one of my strongest points. My strengths with digital technology were that I had used these cameras several times before which meant I was aware of all the functions and I could quickly transfer the memory card etc. My post production was successful as we were able to film most of our shots quickly so the lighting would not change, this was one of my main worries as the majority of the work was in one room, but we were able to film it all without any lighting problems.

I think that the weaknesses of my work are that some of the acting is not as great as it could have been, one of the closeups of Bailey is poorly acted which if I could I would re-film again, we were unable to re-film this as we filmed this shot last minute as I needed a reaction shot from Bailey and I did not have any more time to film again. 

Shot of Bailey I would like to re-film

The other weakness I have noticed is that my audio is slightly louder when Bailey speaks at one moment compared to the rest of it and this does not sound right, if I could change this I would look again at the audio settings in iMovie and alter this so it fits in well with the rest of the work. I do not think there are any weaknesses in the creativity aspect of my work-I believe it is a very unique idea and the characters although are stereotypical they do not lack any creativity. The planning and research was done very well for this project as I worked with my partner Paman Uppal and I think that we made a very good team, the only weakness I think there was to do with planning was that we did not look at the room size and figure out that it is too small for  a two-shot, we only noticed this on the day of filming. 

Over the shoulder shot used instead of two shot

We did have one problem related to digital technology on the first day of filming where we needed to do a shot of Bailey which was a tilt but also on a dolly moving backwards. We found it difficult for a while to control the camera and make sure Bailey was still in shot but in the end we managed to film it with two people guiding the dolly and one person guiding the camera to tilt upwards to reveal her outfit. During post production the weakness we had was getting the match on action sorted for the falling books, this was very hard as each shot was a little different as they were filmed on different days, the solution of this was just to get them as close as possible to match and in the end I did overcome this problem it just took a lot of re-filming and very precise editing.

Overall, if I was able to make any improvements to my work I would get a bigger office in which we could decorate it more with fashion related items for mise-en-scene, I think this would make it more interesting and the bigger room would also allow the two shot to occur. I would also maybe like to make my own music but for this production I did not have enough time and we were able to use music from YouTube-; I think it would have been fun to make my own music and have specific moments in the music where the tone changes to match the story-line of my work. Instead the music we used was 'Jason Mraz - Geek In The Pink'. The last improvement I would make to my work is to re film some of my shots which I think could have better acting skills, I think these shots don't have great acting skill like the others because we were filming very close to the deadline and worried about finishing our work on time.