Social Realism - Fish Tank

1) How typically are your chosen texts of their genre?

Fish Tank (2009- Directed by Andrea Arnold) is very typical to the social realism genre this is shown through narrative structure and genre conventions within the medium such as diegetic sound , hand held cinematography and unknown actors.Fish Tank uses predominantly diegetic sound through out the film this is shown in the scene where Mia (Katie Jarvis) shows Connor (Michael Fassbender) her dance for her audition to work .By using diegetic sound only it add's no emphasis towards the daily ground the characters take part in allowing an audience emotionally react to the situations realistic.The use of close up's in this scene highlights where the sound escapes from being speakers plugged into a cd player. The cinematography in Fish Tank consists of hand held work with a narrow depth of field this convention is used to make the issues appear realistic as the eye would see. For example in one scene Mia runs away from Joanne her mother (Kierston Wareing). We are shown a sequence which chases Mia with hand held camera shots following her down the corridor and the stairs again to focus on the reality of the location and how the eye would see.Another convention which makes Fish Tank typical to its genre is the use of unknown actors such as Katie Jarvis. Arnold spotted Katie in the location of Barking London arguing with her boyfriend when she approached her with the role of Mia. Katie portrayed Mia's character in the location of filming making the use of unknown actors a typical genre convention.