Analysing Fish Tank

Themes and situations

The main themes shown in this film are alcohol, aggressive behavior and sex. Mia is a teenage girl who has an aggressive behavior towards people as shown in the first few minute where she throws stones at her friend's dad and she headbutts a random girl. Her mother is an alcoholic and she doesn't seem to care for her children at all. She is also seen in the house most of the time which tells us she doesn't have a job and may be financially unable to support her family.

This influences my film because i can depict these themes and show real British life problems.

Representation

A teenage girl doesn't know how to use a digital, modern video camera. This suggests Mia is not in touch with the latest technology which is unusual for a teenager, however she lives far away from a modern city, so she would be very narrow minded.

The characters in this film have a drinking problem, as they tend to get drunk and out of control. Mia is shown to be drinking when she is underage, meaning its illegal, but in this location, rules seem to be outside of order as there is no police seen.

This influences my film, because the film portray common stereotypes of the real world and this can make the audience get a better understanding.

mise en scene

filmed on an estate and most areas are in the countryside, thus this conveys its a social drama, because independent films are typically set in working class locations. 

All lighting is natural, there is no special effects used which depicts the film had a small budget.

Mia's (the main character) costume consists of a tracksuit which is a typical representation of this type of teenage girls. This is somewhat different in contrast to the other girls who wears less clothing and is typically stereotyped as slags.

This will influence my film, because the film use all ambient lighting which is the cheaper option and this shows the world how the setting is meant to look like with no special effects.

Music and Sound Effects

There is no non-diagetic sound used, only diagetic sound. There is ambient sound where birds are tweeting and kids laughing in the playground. Music is played on the TV or on an audio player which is all hip-hop, jazz and reggae music like in the scenes where Mia is dancing to it which shows British teenagers are interested in that.

This would influence my film because I would only use diagetic sound because it portrays the social realism in the film.

Camera work and editing

There is a long take with handheld used when mia runs out of the house and the camera tracks her movement. Most of the shots in this film are mid-shots. There is a high angle, over the shoulder shot used at the start of the film which establishes the location. There is also use of a focus pull going from a shallow focus to a deep focus which also emphasizes the location. There are not many continuity techniques used, just all cuts. Its all very slow paced which is typical for a social drama.

This influences my film because a lot of handheld has been used which reveals the realistic situations used and this can be useful.

Dialogue

Most of the sound used in this film are dialogue, which conveys this is a social drama, because its very quiet and focuses on the relationships between the characters. The dialogue contains a lot of offensive words such as "Bitch" and "cunt" which portrays teenagers having very bad language. 

This influences my film, because the film uses a lot of dialogue and i can use that to show the relationship between the characters.

Institutional background

written and directed by Andrea Arnold

Had a low budget and was funded by BBC Films and UK Film Council

Production Companies

• UK Film Council
• BBC Films
• Limelight Communication
• ContentFilm
• Kasander FIlm Company

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232776/companycredits 

Audience Breakdown

This film is mainly aimed at a British niche audience, because there is a lot of British cultural references used within the film. This appeals to teenagers around the age of 16, mainly females. People from estates area and who are from london would be most interested in this film. 

Marketing Strategy

• The film have used numerous posters to advertise the film. 

• The film was also promoted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009 where it won a jury prize.

In this trailer they market the film using critics quotes and awards they won to promote word of mouth advertising.