Social realism conventions with examples

1. SOCIAL REALISM

2. SOCIAL REALISM IS THE GENRE OF FILM
THAT RECOGNISES REAL LIFE AND TRIES TO
PORTRAY THESE TRUE TO LIFE EVENTS IN A
NATURALISTIC AND REALISTIC WAY IN A
FILM. MANY SOCIAL REALIST FILMS FOCUS
AROUND DRUGS, ALCOHOL, ABUSE OR
RELIGION.

3.  Location shooting
CONVENTIONS
Location shooting means that the fi lm crew wi l l fi lm in real l ife
areas instead of a studio.
Social real ism fi lms feature location shooting as it is cheaper to
use, especial ly since they generally have low budgets.

4. CONVENTIONS
 Non-professional actors
Social real ism fi lms use non-professional actors because it is
cheaper, and also because it looks more real istic to have
regular people involved in the fi lm making, who are natural ly
ready for the role of a middle class citizen.

5. CONVENTIONS
 Dark colours/ hues
Dark colours/ hues are used to represent natural l ighting within
the fi lms. It is also used because dark colours l ike blue are
associated with emotions such as sadness or hopelessness,
which adds to the overall feeling of the fi lm.
Examples from
‘ F i s h Ta nk ’

6. CONVENTIONS
 Use of strong language
Strong language is a huge convention of social real ist fi lms as it
represents working class culture.

7. CONVENTIONS
Some other examples of Social Real ism conventions are:
 Mixture of humour and serious themes
 Use of regional identities
 Hand held camera
 Low budget
 Semi improvised scripts
 More diegetic sound than non-diegetic
 Emphasis on working class culture
 No/ l imited special ef fects as they do not feature themes in
which special ef fects are needed
 Use of accents to show the regional identities of an individual

8. NIL BY MOUTH
Ni l by mouth features themes of working class l ife and drugs.
The opening of the fi lm is set in a bar with a man standing and
asking for drinks and people in the background smoking and
drinking. The camera throughout the opening is handheld
which makes the audience feel as if they are a par t of the
crowd. The sound throughout Ni l by mouth is also mostly
diegetic, the atmosphere of the pub produced by the people
actually there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_MXMW_qtb4

9. LAST RESORT
Last resor t is about a Russian woman and her son seeking
asylum in Britain.
The l ighting used in Last Resor t is dark and blue. There is no
vibrant colour palette at al l the colour scheme throughout is
blues and greys, cold colours that give of f a closed of f, sad
vibe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENKvaGZN_1Y

10. THIS IS ENGLAND
This is England is b as e d on Sh ane Me adow’ s u p b ringing i n
Uttoxeter in Staf fordshire.
The locations within this fi lm feature a run down estate,
somewhere in the nor th of England, which adds a strong sense
of real ism and represents working class nature. This is England
heavily features accents, again representing where they are.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXDNsPRTANw

11. FISH TANK
Fish Tank is set in an East London counci l estate. The main
characters is a young, 15 year old girl , Mia Wi l liams. Mia l ives
with her single mother and her sister and is considered very
i s o l a ted a nd a ‘ l o ne r’ .
Natural l ighting is used in Fish Tank, meaning that some
scenes are not always the clearest and easiest to view. There is
also a lot of swearing and quite a few scenes including some
form of abuse. In the scene where Mia is standing at the
window a hand held camera is used to record Mia watching the
car drive away from out the window.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7BFZqQ4ruA&safe=active