Social realism is the term used for work produced by creators that tries to draw attention to the everyday life of working class people and to voice the opinion of the creator of the social structure behind the position. Due to this genre concentrating on enlightening the audience on problems that exist in todays society, it usually focuses on drugs, class, religion, money and politics. Other conventions for social realism are

• Location shooting; being out in the real world to give a sense of factual information
• Non professional actors as to not draw away from message but also to not take the viewer out of the atmosphere with recognisable faces.
• Semi-improvised scripts to add to the atmosphere.

As much as possible to give the sense of real living over paid production.

Trainspotting – MT Research – 01/10/2018

Oliver Ginifer

Poll tax (also known as the community charge) was a set amount of money that an individual had to pay no matter their earnings or living situation, it was introduced in scotland from 1989 in replacement of domestic rates, it was then introduced into England and Wales during 1990. It was introduced in scotland first due to the fact that a small amount of people voted for Margret Thatcher in Scotland, therefore she did not lose and of her voters, she used scotland as a ‘trial run’ and to pick out and problems that arose without it being a problem for the entire of the UK. This I think is the reason Thatcher was so unpopular, not only did she introduce this to scotland first but the reason of this was only found out in 2014, meaning the scottish people wouldn’t have known it was anyone but thatcher that made this decision.

Prisoners Cinematography Analysis – 29/09/18

Oliver Ginifer

The lighting in this scene the majority of the time is lowkey, the only time it isn’t is at the start of the clip, in the cafe. This could be because this is the only time where the character is at ease, or experiencing any emotion other anger or frustration. However the fact that we see the outside of the building first and how the light only illuminates so much of the dark outside leaves us in suspense while the speaking in the cafe is happening, this is because we know that he is going to have to exit into the seemingly dangerous outside at some point.

Whilst the main part of the scene is happening, the confrontation between the officers and the man from the vehicle, the fact that the only visible light in the frame is coming from the police officers suggests that they are the ‘good’ in this scene, similar to how the cafe was; it feels as though that they are the only safe place. When they all shine the torches onto the man not only do they create a powerful interrogation-like feeling, but the sheer amount of the lights in this scene create an overwhelmingly positive feeling, as though that they’ve won in some sort of aspect, as they’ve outnumbered this man to such a large way.

Both the editing and lighting work well together in this clip, in the fifty-six second long cafe scene, there is only three different shots: a long shot, a medium shot and an over the shoulder shot. I think it is edited in this way to mirror the emotions of the characters onto the viewers, a calm before the storm sort if feeling, as the slow shot changes give us time to adjust and take in each one. Going back to the first point; the reason I say the editing and lighting work well together in this scene is because the full view off the diner we gain from the three shots adds the the safe feeling you feel from the high key lighting, as we have the time as well as opportunity to fully see around the building the characters in.

Once the character exits the building, similar to the lighting, it completely changes, in the first fifteen seconds there are three different camera angles: long shot, close up and over the shoulder. This creates a sense of suspense before their is any action at all, almost speeding up the camera angles slightly to get the viewer ready for it. I also think that this comparison identifies the characters emotions and thoughts incredibly well, how in the diner he was able to think something and fully process it in his mind however now that he is close to uncovering something thoughts are flying through his head rapidly.

The weather sets the scene for this clip, this is because its what we expect, when something stereotypical such as a ‘good v evil’ scene is going to happen we expect it to be dull and raining and not the easiest conditions to work or see in, the fact we see this before the clip in the diner works well with the lighting to prepare us for something of this sort. Like the officer in the restaurant, the criminal in the vehicle also contributes a point previously made; whilst the officer was in the diner he not only had high-key lighting (possibly presenting him as ‘reliable’ or a ‘good guy,’) he was also protected from the rain and the outside conditions. While the man sits in his van, he does not have the high-key lighting, this hinting that he is infact a bad guy, however he is shielded from the outside, until the officer removes him from it, this could show that this man is no longer safe, he has now been caught and is no longer on top of it all.

During the entire clip there is no non-diegetic sound, from the radio to the storm the entire scene is filled with diegetic sound, personally I think this is due to how intense this part of the film is, this could be one of the most important scenes and therefore has the potential to pull the viewer right into the film, the fact that there is no non-diegetic sound really helps the film succeed in doing this as we as viewers forget this is a film for a second and are dragged in.

To begin with: the diegetic sounds of the cars, and the general mumble of the busy road sets the scene for this clip. The main thing to focus on in this scene however would be the music that the main character is listening to through his earphones, because although we can see him play it, and we are aware of where the music’s coming from within the film (which would suggest that it is a diegetic sound), the fact that none of the other characters can hear it, and that the music continues playing when the camera pans outside the car would suggest  music’s non-diegetic.

Continuing with this first initial scene, the camera moments do tend to be solely based on the beat go the music at this point in the film, the frame being switched to a different characters face every other beat, and the characters motions almost matching the beat of the music once they get out of the car and walk to the bank, this gives off quite an orderly vibe, in the sense that this entire ‘mission’ has being thought out so thoroughly that even their movements match each others; an I think it’s because of this serious tone set by the three bank robbers that it feels as though there is such a drastic change in mood when Baby starts singing and dancing along to the music in such a comical way.

The lowkey lighting is the first noticeable feature of the first few seconds of the scene for me, as well as the close up on the characters, Ediths, face as soon as the wakes up, not only does the lack of lighting create an eerie tone for the scene right off the bat but it also draws all attention to the confused emotion of the character.

This scene contains a main aspect that most horror films do, this being the fact that the main character has to expose themselves to a dangerous situation or place themselves in a situation of vulnerability, in this case the woman decides to walk the corridors of this castle, obviously late in the night, because she hears a noise, this moves the plot forward and adds to the suspense that must’ve been building up throughout the film.

In the first few seconds it’s easy to tell what type of film this is, not only from the lowkey lighting but also the genre conventions in this such as hand held candles that only seem to be illuminating the womans face and not much else, alongside the fact that she’s wearing a white gown (suggesting purity) I can only assume that in this incredibly dark setting she is the only thing that doesn’t belong there or the only part of the scene that isn’t corrupt/evil. However adding to this, once we get a full body shot of the character we see how the light shows her dress as a grey colour, this could suggest that just by being there at this point there is already some darkness attempting to take over her.

A key feature of this scene is the lack of non-diegetic sound, this emphasizes every small creak or footstep, I think what they were trying gain from this was a similar experience to when someone (a member of the audience in this case) is alone in a situation, and is hyper aware of every noise made, so much that they may start to create sounds in their head that aren’t actually there. The use of this creates a bond so strong with the character in this scene that you almost feel as though you are that character or present in the scene with the character although this is also bought on by the camera movements in this clip, how it is one continuous motion, halting only when Edith does, and that being when there is a noise.

To extend; not only does the camera techniques impact the bond between the character and viewer, but could also be seen as a completely different point, this being that someone is following her, this would explain the multiple times the character turns around when she hears a noise and shines the candle  in the direction of the camera.

Oliver Ginifer – 18/09/2018

10/09/2018

Film Studies Blog A-Level