One of the first and most obvious themes is a 'working class' family. Mia, her Mum and Sister live in a flat in Barking without a stable father figure. This is typical of a British Social Realism film as it helps to highlight the struggles of the poorer families life's in Britain.
Views of bottles of cheap Vodka and Cider are constantly put across to the viewer. This adds to the idea of the struggle in working class life's, for example when Mia is becoming an alcoholic where she gets drunk every day. This also portrays social injustice where Mia is not being helped out by the government through Education or Doctors.
The film displays a scene of Mia trying on make up for the first time which comes under the themes of societies influence on females and how females portray themselves - ultimately dealing with social problems through coming-of-age which is a vital factor is classifying the film as British Social Realism.
-The theme of coming-of-age is something I will consider including in my opening sequence as it is something that relates to me and others around me as I am 17 and others around me are of similar ages. I beleive I could use accurate representations to create this theme as it relates to me.
Representations
The male travelers in the film who live in caravans are first represented as inconsiderate and immoral men when they are throwing Mia, a 15 year old girl around like an object when they are all 19 or 20. From this can connote the men are poor as they live in caravans and have also had a poor childhood upbringing as they have no manors/consideration for women.
Mia's little sister takes the stereotypical role of bringing back childhood memories by reminding us of out annoying little siblings. Except in this case Mia's little 7 year old sister smokes occasionally, swears constantly and even charges her her Mums boyfriend £2 to leave the flat. This character role emphasizes on how kids can be effected in working class families with relation issues and stability in the household. We see the more realistic side to parenting and why it might be hard for Mia's mum ultimately confirming the key conventions of this British Social Realism film.
-I would consider using this stereotype as it is something that everyone in British society is aware of or has come across. It would increase the realistic effect of my opening sequence as viewers would recognise the realistic stereotype of a younger 'annoying' sibling.
Mise-En-SceneMia's choice of clothing ranges from anything to a grey tracksuit (as seen in the image above), to a black tracksuit. Not the most fashion conscious girl we would have come across, but this only connotes the idea that the family are poor and she comes from an area in Britain where tracksuits are fashionable, such as the big suburban council estate she lives on where everyone else is around the same level in terms of social status.
We see her little sister denoted smoking with her friend in the living room in front of Mia, acting quite casually and looking as though they are enjoying it. This could be a result of the screenshot below as it connotes the influence that smoking parents have on their children which is an issue in terms of child safety and is also seen as a moral issue which not everyone will agree on. Some will say it is not acceptable to smoke in front of kids whereas others (some smokers) will say it is, depending on their own personal upbringing. Ultimately we see the film play with moral issues that arise in Britains society.
-This is something I would consider not concentrating on so much in my opwening sequence as I want to avoid having a cliche opening seuquence - from doing research into the unit by viewing the cheif examinors blog about opening sequences. I found that the idea is to be creative in your work, therefor avoiding cliche is vital in acheiving a high quality opening sequence.
The estate in Tilbury where Mia's mums boyfriend lives is more colorful, elegant, modern and consist of new built houses instead of flats. This connotes the difference in social status in Britain which is another moral and controversial issue that the people of Britain are concerned about which would attract a large target audience to view this British Social Realism film.
Music and Sound Effects
Mia's Mum also listens to 'Life's a Bitch' by Nas which is a 90's hip hop song which changed the perception of Hip Hop. The song connotes a pessimistic approach to life which is reflected through the lives of the characters we meet in the film such as Mia who has no real friends or close family that she can go to when in trouble. It also connotes the gritty side of life about just 'getting by' instead of enjoying yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEwSfbE9IXc
-Hip Hop music could be perfect as it provides a somewaht gritty approach to introducing your characters when being played as a soundtrack which would make it good in creating the right atmosphere in my opening seuqence. Also, 90's Hip Hop such as the song above by 'Nas' is a genre of music that I particularly enjoy which would aid me in finding a song that is relevent to my work.
Camera Work and Editing
The director uses a slow track to follow Connor carrying Mia to her bed when she is asleep. This is done using a low key lighting system to connote the perverted thoughts that could possibly lay dormant in his mind that we are waiting to see exposed and also how he is hiding his thoughts from his girlfriend. The slow camera movements represent his strategic state of mind which will eventually lead to him having sex with the young girl and creates an anti-climax where we think he is going to make his move in that scene but does not.
The film consists of a range of artistic footage which resembles paintings and pictures that people would take of nature and real life.
The mid shot connotes the idea that this girl feels stuck in a world that she does not belong in. It shows the struggle to understand why life is tough and also belittles her by having machines towering over her making her look small. She is wearing a tracksuit which, when compared to the other elements of the image such as the surroundings, has a massive difference is value for money. Her social status influences how she feels in the world and therefor connotes another convention of British Social Realism.
This mid-shot denotes two young people drinking together, just 'chilling' out. The age difference is denoted through the young males facial hair which connotes the confusion that may influence a young girl to have relations with older boys. This may also connote the influence she has taken from her mum dating older men. It also connotes problems such as drinking which may also be down to influence from older generations. Yet again we are dealing with gritty and realistic situations, confirming the British Social Realist genre.
-Creating an artistic effect is something I definetly plan on doing for my film trailer. These images have all been given artistic effects to help create thought on specific issues concerning the film which is a typical issue of the genre, British Social Realism. By doing this myself, I would be able to help the viewer recognise the style of the film. I would also be able to trigger thought in the viewers mind as to what they understand from the artistic effects such as using still shots with intriging props in the background such as the first image with the lifts in the background.
Dialogue
The dialogue shows us urban, cockney accents that we would see across many towns in London such as Dagenham, Tilbury and Barking. From this we recognize the social status of the characters as their accent reflects on where they grow up. It is typical of the genre to do this as it reflects the poorer part of the community being concentrated on.
Mia: "Can you give Keely a message for me?" ... "Tell her I think her Dads a cunt!"
This language enforces the ideas that Mia has no manors which could be through a lack of school, education, parenting etc - all vital factors to describing her life and social class which is yet again a typical convention of the genre.
-Having working class accents in my work is a must, as it portrays the idea of the poorer British community, emphisizing the gritty effect that I plan on using in my opening sequence."I said sorry didn't I?"
From this we see that the young girls speaking do not actually know the meaning of sorry, from poor parenting they might have just learned to use the word as a way of getting round people and not actually recognize that this word means you are really sorry and wont do it again. Or maybe this is even just a typical factor we would see in some of the youth of today which means 'Fish Tank' might be exploiting this idea as it could become a bigger problem in years to come.
Institutional background
The production companies who helped to create 'Fish Tank' are as follows:
- BBC Films
- UK Film Council
- Limelight Communication
- ContentFilm
- Kasander Film Company
The film would be marketing and targeted towards a slightly older audience than 15 years old even though this is the age limit for viewing. The audience would have to be interested in raw coming-of-age movies which might reflect on their own personal youth's which is why those that are anything from 20-30 years old would watch this. They might be British working class as it would remind them of their own personal youth. They might even be from international countries and trying to learn about British Culture.
Marketing Strategies
-Posters in urban towns such as Brick Lane and Camden
-Trailers in Independent Cinemas/Online/Some major cinemas
-Presented at various film festivals
-Newspaper reviews - e.g. The guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/may/14/cannes-film-festival-andrea-arnold-fish-tank-review
Official Trailer
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