Fish Tank : Social Realsim Conventions

Fish Tank : Social Realsim Conventions: This film is typical of social realism genre conventions because they use:

Cinematography:
Hand held camera's and P.O.V shots are used throughout this film this is a common convention within social realism for instance in the scene where Connor leaves the family to escape the encounter with Mia however this back fires on him when Mia realises what has happened and begins to run after Connor as he leaves the estate shooting in a P.O.V shot of all the doors and miss-en-scene capturing Mia's P.O.V this is so the film can showcase an everyday life of a 15 year old and how she see's instead of a middle class would see the underclass. Mia run's down the corridor and out the steps a hand held camera is in use in this scene as it follows Mia's pattern and rhythm as she exits the estate this is used to enhance the social realism and make the film more believable as it reflects the life of when it was filmed.

Diegetic Sound: diegetic sound is used more often then not over diegetic this reinforces the fact of reality. The camera will focus on the item the music is being played out of to enforce this by doing this the sound quality will have been different when played through different items such as the T.V and speakers as the audience only hear what the character hears so the audience isn't manipulated via non diegetic sound. Connor and the mum are watching T.V later on in the scene the T.V is turned of and the CD player is on a clear sound quality is changed making the audience be fed the social realism in which they would ignore or not associate with.

Unknown Actors:
Unknown actors are used throughout this film this is due to the director making this film a real as possible. Mia's character was approached when the directer spotter her and her boyfriend arguing at a bus stop using fowl language in a underclass estate this is reflected in the film as they use the word 'CUNT' highly and the mise-en-scene. The reason for using unknown actors is due to making the audience believe what they see is real life if they would have used a well know character as Bruce Willis in this film an audience may only watch as they are attracted to him however in this film it strips this all from the audience. What they see and hear is reality.


Social Realism genre represents the underclass who are not represented or are different the the well know , this is why Fish Tank takes on the genre of Social Realism as they want to gain an audience awareness of a certain class and how they are affected by the issues at the time.

Socialrelism

so·cial re·al·ism noun The realistic depiction in art of contemporary life, as a means of social or political comment Themes - money , drugs, prostitution , sex , class , religion , issues happening at the time the film was set for instance Billy Elliot - Margret Thatcher, This Is England and Kes. - examples Mirrors a transformation of society within it's time on screen.  Became popular in the 20th century in America - photographer documented the working class within still images.  Social realism was forced to find a new home, and became a television staple from the 1960s onwards. Fish Tank (2009) is further evidence of her special ability to probe complex personal emotions while more broadly reflecting the disenfranchisement of modern youth. Between them, and other emerging names, the genre looks set to be revitalised. Social Realism in films is representative of real life, with all its difficulties. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist genre are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily grind. The Social Realism Genre was born in the 1960s in an era called British New Wave. Amongst the many films that emerged during the new wave of social realism

SIN CITY

SIN CITY: THREE CONVENTIONS FROM THE GENRE'S ; FILM NOIR / COMIC BOOK

Film noir:
- Character roles (cynical protagonist/ femme fatel) - Shelly and Dwhite scene where Jack Boy want's to break in to  Shelly's flat and have sex with her to what he finds is Dwite ( Cynical Protaganist) i waiting for him as Shelly (Femme Fatel) needs Dwhite for her protection from the Jack (Villan). The *Cynical Protagonist : always have flaws such as an illness or an issue such as smoking , heart condition they don't value their lives and therefore the Femme Fatel character role can easily manipulate the cynical protagonist into there biddings. Usually a detective / cop who is on an investigation , usually very street wise and a tough guy who is a loner who suffers with paranoia.
*Femme Fatel 'deadly women' they use there beauty and seduction to get the male protagonist into a scheme leading them into his death the typical femme fatel will use her ways for money , power or revenge by using their seductive ways they are able to use this against the cynical protagonist as they want/ need sex.

- Voice Over - Opening scene introduction to the corrupt lifestyle of old town telling the story from the protagonist eye's we here there emotions and thoughts, this is the first thing we here is the non diegetic voice over of John Hartigan's explanation to the story of Nancy the voice over is typically used to tell the protagonist's story explaining his death and decisions which link to society of not valuing life (cold War) and his character as a hero.

- Themes which run through out the film (paranoia/corruption) this is showcased in the scene where Dwhite is sat in the car getting rid of Jacky's body where Jacky begins to smoke with a gun in his head this clearly shows Dwites mental state. Becky shows the corruption within old town as she snitches up the prostitutes killings to gain power and money when it back fires when Manute state 'kill her' once the information has been processed.


Comic Book
- Special effects (CGI) this is used in Sin City clear of examples are shown of CGI in this film for example as Marv runs away from the police force when he is intruded he runs at a car and the car fly's into the air. This film is filmed on a green screen allowing the mise-en-scene and landscapes to be what ever the director wants them to be also the weather conditions used on the scene's pushing harsh rain onto the scene's this is used a special effect - Pathetic Fallacy

- Superhuman Strength is commonly used within the protagonist such as Marv this is showcased in several scenes one being when Marv and Lucille are stuck in Kevins basement whilst waiting for him to come and kill / eat them both however Marv manages to break the concrete and bars in the scene. The next example would be within the set up scene, where Marv is framed for Goldie death and the police force break into the flats; Marv smashes through the bricks and makes the cops fly. He jumps off the staircase down the middle and grabs onto a rail and pulls himself back up and continues his escape. When Manute hit's Gail her and the chair fly across the room.

- Character roles (Propp) - Hero , princess that needs rescuing by the villain which is shown in each three stories. For instance John and Nancy , he saves the sweet innocent child from the pedophile. This then gets disrupted (disequilibrium) by the shooting of John. A flash forward is used to when Nancy is a woman and is in love with John showing them together and being protected however he then is killed. Todorov theory can't apply to Sin City as this film follows conventions of Film Noir ending unhappy and not the typical 'fairy tale' ending. However Propp is defiantly applicable in Sin City as common roles as the hero is played by the protagonist - John , Marv and Dwhite and the princess is by the femme fatal - Goldie/Wendy , Shelly and Nancy and villains Jacky Boy , Roark . Side kick is played by Bob who turns into a villain.

Both
- Costume design - Trench coats - In film noir the trench coat hides the identity of the cop and in comic book it acts as a cape , its taken on and off to represent good / bad acts. In Sin City a clear hybrid genre is shown within the use of costume on screen for instance a trench coat in the film noir genre is used to hide identity of a secret cop where as comic book's use capes to signify they are a hero which is how the trench coat is used in the film as it flaps in the wind when running to a crime. Marv takes of his coat when he is involved in a non heroic action for instance taking a violence action and puts back on when they begin there hunt to complete the mission in killing the villain.