Social Realism

The most "typically British" of all film genres.

• Social realism shows us to ourselves and gives a taste of what real British film culture is like.
• Realism carried high brow connotations of education and seriousness.
• In 1950's the documentary movement held sway and in 1960's British new wave took over.
• New wave films tended to address issues around masculinity that would become common in British realism.
• Descendants of the realistic flowering at BBC in the 1960's, Ken Loach and Mike Leigh assessed the impact of social realism.



Social Realism Films

Social realism films over the ages includes:

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  Up the Junction
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  KES
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  The Full Monty
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  This is England
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  Kidulthood/Adulthood

Techniques of Social Realism

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  Use of authentic locations
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  Actors with regional accents
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  No Hollywood stars
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  Lack of 'big' names- pool of actors well known for appearances in T.V dramas.
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  Narratives deal with social issues such as; unemployment, divorce, family breakdown etc.
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  Usually twist of British humour
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  Gritty
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  Naturalistic filming techniques- observational style
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  Spontaneous naturalistic action (Loach)
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  Non professional actors
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  Lead characters are 'ordinary' working class.

Importance of having a British Industry

The British industry is important to both the British public as wel as the outside public.
This is due to the fact that the British industry gives an insight on the culture. It allows
this British culture to be spread and noticed around the world through film. The british industry also mocks the British culture as well as upholds its certain values. Overall we could say that the
British film industry is a mirror in which we see ourselves and the window through which
the window sees us.

A2 Media: Andrew Goodwins Theory on Music Videos & Analysis of music videos

For our media lesson, we discussed Andrew Goodwin's theory on music videos. He talks about the key features which distinguish a music video as a form. These include:

1. There is a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals.
2. Relationship between music and visuals (e.g. Pace of music relate to speed of visual)
3. Particular music genres may have their own music video style and iconography
4. There will be a demand on the part of the record company for a lot of close ups of the main artists or vocalist.
5. There is likely to be reference to voyeurism: ( e.g. Something your not suppose to see : looking through a key hole shot)
6. There are likely to be intertextual references linking to other music videos or films.

After discussing these theories, we were then asked to analyse some music videos using Goodwin's theory.

Country: Hoe down throw down by: Miley Cyrus http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlnbmZK7GxU

 I would say that is music video follows Goodwins theory of the relationship between the lyrics and the visual. This is evident at the beginning of the video where the beats are illustrated through words. For example "Boom Boom Clap..".  This video also follows the typical music genre of country music.

Hip Hop/ Grime: Look what the cat dragged in by: Giggs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIUL10qOeR8

Goodwin's theory in relation to this music video, reveals that this video demands a lot of close up on the main artist and vocalist. It also follows the typical Hip hop/Grime genre, meaning this particular music genre has its own video style and iconography.

Pop: 3 by: Britney Spears http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QubWKLQUrN0&ob=av2e

This muisic video definitely follows Goodwin's theory of demanding close ups of the vocalist, in this case Britney Spears. There is also a relationship between the music and the visuals. The faster the tempo, the faster the transitions between shots.

Boy Band/ Pop : Rule the world by: Take That http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KII1ruAfvsg

This music video follows its particular music genre style and iconography. There are also quite a few close ups of the main vocalists, in this case the whole band.

Heavy Metal: Thunderstruck by: AC/DC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f1cwycSWq0

This video has a relationship between the visuals and the music. For example the explosions in the video matches the tempo and base of the music.

A2 Media : The Phone Call

For this lesson, we were required to use our camera skills to plan and produce a short film name "The Phone Call". We were asked to get into groups and share roles such as editing, directing and acting.  The planning of this task was quite helpful as it enabled our group to put forward ideas of what our film would be about. We were asked to plan our film using story boards. We decided to go for a film about a threatening phone call and with our previous planning, we managed to get filming straight away.

When filming, we had had to keep in mind the different camera angles that would make our film look professional. Some of these camera shots included the establishing shot, dolly shot, swish pam shot and many others. After filming, we were then asked to edit our films to perfect it. As it was our first time using the Apple laptop software to edit, we found it a bit difficult to get the hang of it. On the other hand, our group managed to include one or two transitions as well as adding a starting title and a finishing text. Finally, after the completion of planning, filming and editing our film, we uploaded it onto youtube and i have placed a link of our video below.

A2 Media : Walk Around the School

For this task, our aim was to create an un edited film/tour of St Marks. The main aim of this task was to show the different camera shots and ideas that we could come up with as well as inform new students of the schools facilities and subjects. We were asked to get into groups and produce a no less than 10 minutes film. Our group consisted of two participants and our roles included a camera man and a guide/interviewee. We aimed this short film at new students hoping to be persuaded in attending our school. To ensure a positive attendance and persuasion, we decided to make our film informal and relaxed. This would have made the film more enjoyable and entertaining to watch. We also decided to use different shots such as a wide shot, dolly shot, swish pam shots, over the shoulder shots and many more. To ensure a professional look to our film, we decided to use a tripod in some scenes to eliminate shakeness. As we werent allowed to add any editing to our film, it still had an amatuer look to it. Hopefully in our next task which involves the use of editing softwares, our next video would be far better than our first.