Social Realism Analysis

 

Sweet Sixteen

Ken Loach, director of Sweet Sixteen, a British social realism film, employs a number of features to make the film appear more realistic. This film is about a young boy who easily gets himself into trouble and is also having to deal with his mum in jail.
One feature is through the use of camera tracking the characters as they run from the policeman. This is filmed at a fast pace with a handheld camera to give is a speedy effect and to create adrenalin for the audience as they watch.
Another feature is through mise-en-scene and appearance of the characters. The characters are wearing tracksuits and caps, these outfits make them appear to be chavs and make them out to be people that struggle with money. This then concludes to getting in trouble with the police by stealing or selling things to get money.

 

Kidulthood

Kidulthood is a British social realism film that employs a number of features to make the film appear more realistic. This film is about a group of stereotypical teenagers growing up in the city with all sorts of hardships.

Kidulthood is another example of a social realism film, directed by Menhaj Huda, which was released in 2006. This film was produced by a number of companies such as Stealth Films, Cipher Films, TMC Films etc. The target audience for this film would be teenagers due to the fact that most of the characters in the film are around the same age. Kidulthood gained £100,056 in its opening weekend (UK) once releasing the film, with a budget of £600,000.

One feature is through the use of camera shots, this shot shows a low angle view of the family discovering that the daughter has hung herself. This shot is able to show their emotions so that the audience can see the shock on their faces. To make this scene more horrific, the girls feet are dangling in the camera view as well. This is to reveal that she's committed suicide due to her being bullied at school.

Another camera shot which is often shown throughout this film is over the shoulder shots. This is to show when two people are in conversation, here we have a teacher and a student. The facial expression on the students face shows anger towards the teacher and the teacher ends up feeling patronised. This shows the domination that the teens have in this film towards others and how they're violent and impolite.

 

This screenshot shows a close up of his face from the point of view of whoevers at gun point; this reveals the emotions on his face and shows how aggressive the character looks. Even though the gun is blurred we can still figure out what the object is, although it’s blurred so that we focus on the character. Through the use of mise-en-scene, he’s shown to be a stereotypical black youth through the clothing that he wears. I’ve also recognized that a number of social realism films include a gun or a weapon of some sort, this shows how violent these films can be and how disastrous crimes are in the real world.

 Bullet Boy

Bullet Boy is a social realism film, directed by Saul Dibb, which was released in 2004. The film was produced by a number of companies such as BBC Films, UK Film Council, Shine etc. The target audience for this film would be teenagers, mostly towards males. Bullet boy gained £140,332 in the opening weekend once releasing the film, with a budget of £48,000 to create the film.

This screenshot from the opening scene in Bullet Boy shows a young male (Ricky) in his cell. This presents him to be mischievous and to be a trouble maker due to the fact that his beginning appearance is of him in jail. The camera shot is of him in the cell with cell bars just in the sides of the shot, we instantly recognise that he’s in jail which makes the audience think negatively of him due to his whereabouts. This can also be seen as stereotypical for a social realism film due to the fact that he’s a young adult who’s mixed raced, this is seen as the stereotypical person who would be committing crimes and causing trouble.

 

In this screenshot it shows the character Ricky hugging his little brother as he’s come out of jail. This shows that Ricky must have been in jail for a long time for him and his brother to have an emotional moment together. The close up of the hug reveals his feelings towards his brother and how he’s missed him due to the fact that he’s been away for so long. This makes the audience question what Ricky done for him to end up in jail for so long.

 

 Attack the block

Attack the Block is a based on a gang of teens from South London who defend their block from an alien invasion. This film was directed by Joe Cornish and produced by a number of companies such as StudioCanal, Film4, UK Film Council etc. Attack the block was released in 2011 with a budget of $13,000,000, once the film was release it gained $137,580 in USA and £1,133,859 in the UK for their opening weekend. The target audience for this film is mainly towards teenagers due to the fact that most of the characters involved in the film are at a similar age.

In this screenshot it shows a number of characters just sitting around discussing the alien invasion. This is a long shot; the camera is placed in a view so that the audience are able to see the whole room and what’s going on. Teenagers are revealed to be lazy in this shot due to the fact that they’re all just sitting around smoking; this is a stereotypical view of a teenager which the film plays upon. The setting is also very dim to create a gloomy effect and that its late at night, this tells us that teenagers are seen to get up to no good once it begins to get dark.

 

This screenshot is a medium shot that shows one of the characters on a motor bike getting away from the aliens. Teens are shown in a stereotypical way through the use of mise-en-scene due to the fact that he’s wearing a hoody and has a bandanna to cover his face. This gives us the impression that teenagers are shifty and that you can’t trust them. He’s also shown to be riding a motorbike which shows he’s not old enough to be able to drive a car, the fact that he’s riding a motorbike shows that he’s dangerous and has a lot of adrenalin. 

 

In this screenshot it’s showing a close up of a character firing a gun from an angle where you’re able to see the gun and the characters emotions. This screenshot is comparable to the screenshot from Kidulthood, this shows the similarities between social realism films and how most of them include a scene with a gun shot. Through the use of mise-en-scene, he’s shown to be a stereotypical black youth due to the fact that he’s a hoodie and he’s dressed in dark clothing. The fact that the characters face is focused and that his arm is firm shows his confidence and anger when firing the gun.

 

Samantha