1. Social Realism

2. Key Themes
Nationalism (This is England)
● Racism (Sapphire)
● Dysfunctional families (Nil By Mouth)
● Homosexuality
● Alienation/Detachment from society (Submarine)
● Drinking/Drug culture (Human Traffic)
● Gangs (Kidulthood)
● Poverty (Kes)
●

3. Conventions
Location shooting opposed to studio filming to create a
more realistic feel.
● Unknown actor/ress making it more “real”, plus
production companies associated with social realism
films can't usually afford 'Hollywood' names.
●Semi-improvised scripts to create a more realistic feel.
Ken Loach used this approach in his social realist film;
Kes.
●Wide Shots/Close Ups/Pan gives the audience the
image of what is actually going on and mirrors how we
view real life.
●Cultural issues explored through an individuals story.
For example This is England explores the issue of
Nationalism through the protagonist, Shaun, story.
●

4. Origins
● Social Realism seemingly derived from Realism found within
Dickens and Hardy novels. Arguably the first social realist film;
James Williamson's A Reservist before the War, and After the
War (1902) offered a portrait of the Boer War serviceman
returning to unemployment.
● Following WW1 within Southern England it was widely
recognised that cinema should be realistic maybe due to the
“middle class” population.
● Following WW2 (where women were also allowed to
help/work with the war effort) the British population grew to
love the cinematic experience once more. The cinema offered
them; “relief from hard work, companionship, release from
tension, emotional indulgence and, where they could find
them, some reaffirmation of the values of humanity."

5. Origins
● Post war, films like “Passport to Pimlico (1949) and The
Titfield Thunderbolt (1952) reiterated gentler patrician values in
the face of growing corporatisation and 'Americanisation'.”
● 1962 A Kind of Loving introduced wide shots and plain
speaking to stories of ordinary British people commenting on
society in post-war Britain.
● Due to the decline of censorship films were allowed to explore
much darker issues that film had not covered before. Directors
“Tony Richardson and John Schlesinger dealt with prostitution,
abortion, homosexuality, alienation and relationship problems.”
● This paved way for films such as “The Full Monty” to explore
issues such as unemployment in a humerus but critical way.
http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/index.html

6. How does/will my trailer follow conventions of Social Realist
films?
- I will be exploring the cultural issue of domestic/drink&drug
abuse within England through my protagonists story. I make
the location of my trailer evident throughout through the use
of wide shots and pans. My trailer will mainly be shot in the
outside of council estate areas typically associated with
poverty and lower classes. My trailer incorporates the theme
of poverty and the abuse of drinking and drugs. In all of the
trailers I have looked at the soundtrack has played a
significant part in the movement of the trailer.

7. How does/will my trailer follow conventions of Social Realist
films?
- I will be exploring the cultural issue of domestic/drink&drug
abuse within England through my protagonists story. I make
the location of my trailer evident throughout through the use
of wide shots and pans. My trailer will mainly be shot in the
outside of council estate areas typically associated with
poverty and lower classes. My trailer incorporates the theme
of poverty and the abuse of drinking and drugs. In all of the
trailers I have looked at the soundtrack has played a
significant part in the movement of the trailer.