Media A2 Coursework Blog

There are many conventions surrounding the genre of social realism. I thought I’d best be aware of them if I’m to make a social realism film! In my opinion, titles are perhaps the aspect of social realism which is easy to find conventions for. Other conventions rely heavily on content and context of the film. So let’s start with titles. Font The font of social realism is nearly always sans serif. Social realism deals with the working class, and a serif font would be far too professional and middle class. Serif fonts are also usually used because it looks like less effort has gone into it, and laziness is a stereotype of the working class, especially in films. Some films will take this a step further, and add their own style to a sans serif font. For example, ‘This is England’ has titles which are made to look like graffiti, an issue which is shown in the film. This also matches the stereotype that the lower classes take part in vandalism. Positioning The positioning of titles...

So here is the first rough cut of my movie At the moment, It is missing it's final scene and also the colouring off the dance sequence is a bit off. Therefore, It is not quite finished yet.

I wanted to create a magazine that would have the appeal to my audience demographics but also fitted with other social realist reviews. So I chose to name my magazine 'Standard' as the 'Evening Standard' is frequently used to analyze social realist films.  However after audience feed back, I went and changed it to three columns:

Film Magazine Review Finding a magazine: Find a Publisher - EMPIRE http://www.bauermedia.co.uk/ Genre of the Magazine Reviews - ALL Audience Profile of the Magazine  Monthly reach of Empire magazine in Great Britain from July 2015 to June 2016, by demographic group (in 1,000s)  Purpose of Magazine  "We collaborate with the biggest film studios and distributors and world-class filmmakers and actors to create content that no other brand could pull off. From interviewing Tom Cruise to being on set with Quentin Tarantino to shooting videos with Ryan Reynolds, our access is unparalleled. With world-class writers, critics, photographers and illustrators, every piece of Empire content is considered, premium, polished and connects with the audience, who trust us implicitly and come back to Empire every day, every week and every month." Stylistic Conventions for the Review page: For Example: Included in the Review Page in 'Empire' Magazi...

There are many conventions surrounding the genre of social realism. I thought I’d best be aware of them if I’m to make a social realism film! In my opinion, titles are perhaps the aspect of social realism which is easy to find conventions for. Other conventions rely heavily on content and context of the film. So let’s start with titles. Font The font of social realism is nearly always sans serif. Social realism deals with the working class, and a serif font would be far too professional and middle class. Serif fonts are also usually used because it looks like less effort has gone into it, and laziness is a stereotype of the working class, especially in films. Some films will take this a step further, and add their own style to a sans serif font. For example, ‘This is England’ has titles which are made to look like graffiti, an issue which is shown in the film. This also matches the stereotype that the lower classes take part in vandalism. Positioning The positioning of titles...

Social realism openings are very different from mainstream film openings as they focus on getting straight into the themes and issues in the film. They do this by showing small pieces of video in between the opening credits, so that the audience get a feel for the setting and understand what is going on around the characters. This also helps to hint toward what the film is about. On the other hand, mainstream films concentrate on the displaying who is in the film and who produced it as the do not have any video before or during the opening sequence. Non-Diagetic music is often used as well, which distracts the viewer from thinking about what the film is about and the themes and issues in it. Conventions of Social Realism Opening Sequences In social realism films, there are opening credits that last for a maximum of 3 minutes. This is where everyone that worked on the film is credited but not as in depth as the credits at the end of the film. Most social realism film producers t...

Using Photoshop Elements 11, and the research I had gathered. I set out to design my poster. I took my original photo: and using inspiration from Fish Tank and This is England - I 'comicized' the location. By removing the protagonist. Then I looked at a portrait photo placemeent as I needed to concert it into  FILM POSTER: I then added the critical information, such as star ratings, movie credits and director: Then I put it all together to Create:

Looking at Film Poster in the social realist genre. They are very simplistic and direct. They don't look like they are graphically edited too much but maintain a simple look, to reflect the film's simple storyline. Social Realist Film Poster Research from Lizzy Marshall

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge form and conventions of real media products? - Film Directors - Ken Loach, Andrea Arnold Conventions of the Genre - challenge or conform - Conform through - Camera Work, Editing, Mise en Scene, Sound Camera Work - Inspired by shots from films like Fish Tank and the dance shots from Chandelier and 'Take me to Church'  Editing - In the social realist genre, editing tend to focus vary much on continuity and creating verisimiliture through long-held shots, often stabilised hand held shots, sometimes similar to documentary style. Therefore I emulate there techniques in my own work. Mise En Scene - Fish Tank and I, Daniel Blake. It was vital that I established mise-en-scene with costumes, props, and setting exactly as they would be in 'real life'. Therefore, on location, I identified some boys who were riding their bikes and doing tricks in their coordinated Adidas tracksuits and side satchels and...