A2 MEDIA

1. Comparative essayon‘FishTank’and‘Kidulthood’.
The representationof teenagersin
FishTank and Kidulthood isvery
similar.One similarityisthe use of
language,the teenagers inbothof the
BritishSocial Realismare adaptedto
theirsociocultural community.For
example,InFishTank, Mia(the main
female character) talksaboutone of
herCD’s by saying“Yeah,itsnas. He’s
good.You can keepit.”Mias speechis
adaptedto the Essex words,due tothe fact thatshe livesthere.Herwordsare incomplete andare
longedoutwithinthe movie.Insteadof saying‘Nice’Miasays“Nas”. InKidulthood,teenagersuse
wordssuch as Shankto referto a knife,BloodmeansBrotherorfriendandmyendzisreferredto
‘myarea’.These slangwordsthat the teenagersinKidulthooduse isLondonslang.Introducing
speechthatis particularlyusedinaspecificarea,cantarget youngaudience thatisfamiliarwiththe
words.Thisis a positive thing,because the filmthengetsmore publicityby‘wordof mouth’.
The use of hand heldcamerasandslowpace editingisshowninbothof these Britishsocial realism
movies.Ibelieve thisgivesthe movieaminimalisticlook,thisallowsthe filmtofeel more realistic
for the audience.Handheldcamerascanallow audience tofeel like theyare withthe charactersin
the movie,thisisbecause the handheldcameragivesoff adocumentarytype feel.Mid-to-long
shotsare alsousedinboth of the moviestoshow the distance betweenthe teenagersandtheir
parents,thisshowsthe lackof communicationachildanda parenthas withone another. The
camera movementinbothof the filmsare alsofilmedbasedonthe level of panicanddesperation.
The more the character in each movie isina rush or panicking,the more the camerashakeswith
them.
ComparingbothKidulthoodandFishtank,Ihave come to a conclusionthatbothof the moviesfocus
on Levi Strauss idea,binaryopposites. In‘FishTank’we see asocial class comparison between
Connorand Mias family.Thisisshownthroughthe differentareastheylivein,the type of musicthey
listentoandtheirclothing.InKidulthoodwe see classcomparisonwithJayand an upperclass
female inadesignerstore.We are shown theircomparisonbytheirclothingandspeech. We are also
introducedtothe ‘Male Gaze’ whenMiais dancingforConnor andwheninKidulthoodJayIshaving
sex witha girl.
‘FishTank’and ‘Kidulthood’have alotincomparisonbecause theyare basedarounda social realistic
film.However,because of theirdifference inbudgeting,the use of variouslocationswasusedin
KidulthoodratherthanFishTank.Kidulthoodhada budgetof £600,000 this allowedthemtofilmin
manydifferentplacessuchas,Oxford street,Flatnumber1,Flat number2, ina black cab, ina
designerstore andetc.However,inFishTanktheyhada budgetof £1.8 million.The locationsthe
usedwas 1 flat,a house,a stripcluband outside locationandaupperclass neighbourhood.

2. Kidulthoodmayattimesseemlike theyare breakingthe
social realismkeyelementsbyusingdifferenteditingand
camera use,thatwe are more usedto seeinginHollywood
movies.Cross-cuttingtransitionsare used,whichIbelieve
makesitlessrealisticawipe shotmontage.However,
camera shotssuch as cantedanglesare usedinboth of the
movies.
The use of natural lightingisshownperfectlyinFishTank.
One scene that showsa clearshotof natural lightingis
whenMia isdancingfor Connorinthe Livingroom, the
reflectionof the sunsetlightisshunuponMiasface,
showingamixture of differentcolouredcontrasts. In
Kidulthoodwe are shownnatural lightingthroughoutthe
movie,includingascene ina BlackCab.
The clothingthat the teenagerswearinbothof these social realisticmovies,allowsteenagerssuch
as myself toconnectwiththe characters.Thisis because the clothingtheyall weariscasual.The
clothingthattheywearare tracksuits,hoodies,jumpers,miniskirtsandforgirl’shoop earrings.The
type of clothingthat the character’s wearalso showstheirfinical circumstancesandalsohelpswith
makingthe locationof the place more realistic.
As an audience andamediastudent,Ibelieve thatbothof these movieshave filmedtheir social
realisticmoviesverywell.The use of differenttype of keyelementshelpthe moviesbecome realistic
and allowsthe audience,suchasmyself,tofeel likeIamwithinthe movie.The eventsthathave
occurredin bothof these filmscanstandoutto the audience because theyare everydaychallenges
that people face.
The contextof school is mentionedinbothof these movies.Inkidulthoodthe teenagersare all
school kidsanda scene isalsofilmedinthe school grounds.InFishTankbothMia and her sister
have beenkickedoutof school andtheirmotheristryingto findtheman alternative wayininto
education.Ibelieve school isnotonlymentionedinthe moviestoshow the character’sage and to
make it realistic,butbecause thisshowsthe teenagersbeingrebellious.
The themesare showninboth of these moviesare:
 Underage sex
 Violence
 Love
 Loneliness
 Rebelliousness
 Goal/Somethingtostrive for
 A negative role model
 Drugs
 Alcohol
LonelinessisportrayedinFishTank,whenMiakeepsall heremotionstoherselfanddoesnothave a
lotof friends.InKidulthoodwe lonelinesswhenTrevordiesandhisgirlfriendisdevastated.
Underage sex isshowninFishTank whenMia,15, has sex withhermum’sboyfriend.We alsosee
underage sex inKidulthoodwhenJayishavingsex infrontof hisfriendsduringarobbery. Alcohol is
showninFishTank a lot,we see Mias youngersisterdrinkingandsmokingwithherfriendwhilst

3. theywatch a cartoon.This allowsthe audience tosee thatthe kidsare usingthingsthatthey
shouldn’tbe due tothe fact that theyare still kids.Kidulthoodshowsthe use of drugsandweapons,
a scene in Jays friend’s house whentheyare talkingaboutWeedandlateronJayfindsa gun under
the binin hisestate.
In conclusionI believe bothFishTankandKidulthoodhasrepresentedaBritishSocial Realisticmovie
verywell.Thisisbecause theyhave usedextreme stereotypical elementsof the workingclass.The
use of language,the clothingandthe state of theirhome townsare stereotypeddramaticallytofitin
withpeople’sperspectiveof howthe workingclasspeopleliveandhandle lifeineverydaybasis.
Eventhoughsome of these eventsandelementshave beenoverexaggerated,itstill feelssocially
realisticbecause peoplehave thistype of extremestereotypedperceptionof them.Toteenagers
livinginaworkingclassarea, thiswill alsoseemrealisticbecause theyknow thattheyare
stereotypedlike thisbypeople inupperclassandbyolderpeople.