2. Synopsis
The drama film ‘Fish Tank’ was released in 2009, it was written and directed by Andrea
Arnold. This film is about The film is about Mia Williams, a volatile and socially isolated 15-
year-old who lives on an Essex estate with her single mother, and precocious little sister
Tyler. She has been thrown out of school and is awaiting admission to a referrals unit and
spends her days aimlessly. A weird and uncomfortable friendship blossoms between Mia
and her mothers boyfriend, Connor who encourages her one interest, dancing. The film
‘Fish Tank’ was received well, this is due to the fact that it won the Jury prize at the 2009
Cannes Film Festival, it also went onto win the 2010 BAFTA Best British Film Award.
3. These two Gifs show the use of an establishing shots. An establishing shot is usually the first shot of a new
scene, designed to show the audience where the action is taking place. It is usually a very wide shot or
extreme wide shot. It allows the audience to experience and get to know the surroundings of the
protagonist. This shot shows that Mia lives in a council estate, it also shows that there is not that much
around but tower block flats and council flats.
4. This Gif shows the use of an over the shoulder shot, an over the shoulder shot is a shot of someone or
something taken from the perspective. In the case of this gif it allows us to see Mia’s mother, Joanne from
Mia’ perspective. This shot also allows the audience see what type of person Mia’s mother is, we can see that
she is a smoker, this is as she has a cigarette in her hand. Also this shot gives the impression that Mia’s
mother does not care much for her surroundings, this is in reference to the fact that the house is un-tidy, this
is as there is a beer can as well as a alcohol bottle on the window seal. This conforms to typical norms and
convention of ‘social realism’, because this is how a typical working class home would appear.
5. This gif shows the use of a long shot, a long shot is a shot that shows the entire object or human figure.
This shot allows the audience to see the type of clothing that the protagonist wears, in this shot we can
that the protagonist is wearing grey tracksuit bottoms, paired with a grey hoody and a black handbag. This
implies that she is working-class this is as she is wearing cheap and informal clothing, this is also conforms
to the norms and convention of social realism because this is the type of clothing that is associated with
the working-class youth that are socially isolated. It can also be argued because the colours of the clothing
that the protagonist is wearing are quite grey, it represents the protagonist emotions and personality.
