Narrative Structure

In order to create an opening sequence that will lead on to the rest of the film in a suitable manner, the rest of the film has to actually be planned. With the help of my filming partner, Abir Mohammad, we have decided on the final narrative structure for our British Social Realism film.

EXPOSITION
We are introduced to the main character whom is denoted writing an anonymous blog entry about his life. bullies, near death experiences etc. He mentions how nobody truly cares for his existence, he never got much appreciation and is always ignored. He has another aim of getting the attention of a girl in his class, Jenna. The audience finds out that he is not exactly the smartest student in terms of school grades, and that this is his one true way of finding something that he can gain credit from.

AGENTS OF CHANGE:
Within this section, the audience are presented with scenes of an anonymous call being made. This moment is done only on the side of the bullies so that a sense of tension of created. The bullies are then sent to go after the Antagonist, Jenna's sister. Before this we find out that Jenna is a girl that goes to Ben's school and is very protective over her sister. This is again done from a restricted view, but makes the overall film turn into being omniscient.

CONFLICT COMPLICATION:
Once the bullies get into action, they threaten Jenna's sister with a knife and beat her up. Ben sees this incident, but doesn't get involved and carries on walking. Jenna then finds out about what has happened and wants to get revenge on the bullies.

ELABORATION:
Jenna then realises from one of the bullies than an anonymous caller had set this all up, so she sets a goal of finding out who this anonymous caller is. She then finally gets a moment alone with Ben and thanks him, this then leads them to gain a closer friendship. Ben gets closer to Jenna as he realises she isn't acting herself, because he doesn't know that it was Jenna's sister that got attacked. Jenna then allows Ben to hear her plan for revenge, in which he tells her it's a good plan but does not speak much of the topic. At this point, Jenna and Ben are now dating. One time around Ben's house, Jenna is there. He pops out to make a phone call in which Jenna goes onto his laptop and sees his blog open. She reads some of the things and finds out that he is the anonymous caller. Ben sets up these situations to make others feel oppressed and miserable just like how Ben is. This infuriates her. Once he comes back in, Jenna tries to get it out of him, but he acts casual and expresses no sign of admitting the truth.

CLIMAX & RESOLUTION:
After not finding out the truth directly from her boyfriend, she storms in mid assembly, in front of the entire school and tells everyone, showing them the blog on the projector. After having everyone yell mean things to him about how they can no longer trust him, how shocked they are and how negatively they see him, Ben runs out of the school immediately. Once he gets home he throws his awards the ground, picks up his phone and a £20 note then heads out the door in a rush.
CODA:
Ben then walks out in anger and heads to a park. He then stops by the lake inside the park and watches the view, thinking about what he has done. Then suddenly a gang member appears behind him taking revenge by killing him and leaving him to die. This ends the film on a sad note as the protagonist dies at the end of the scene.

OTHER POINTS TO NOTE:This film will be made from an omniscient perspective as we see views from Ben, the bullies, Jenna and others. This will help to allow the audience to see different perspectives as well as being able to pick up clues that may help them realise who the caller is.
The narrative will contain some form of non-linear movement as the first scene that is presented on the screen will be part of the last scene. This will help the tension to be increased as well as creating an enigma as the audience are unaware of what has just happened. This cut to action technique is also known as a 'smash mouth opening'.
The following themes are all encountered:

Violence
The bullies are set up to do violent things such as knife crime. They must threaten, and in some cases actually do, bad things that may end up getting them into tough situations.

Aspirations
The whole point of this is so that Ben can find a new life. At the start of the film he does have a 'new life' and the audience are shown the transition through his voice over. We then see that this new life has gained him a girlfriend. But then, as a typical BSR convention, the aspirations have all corrupted and he loses everything.

Family
Jenna and her sister connote a close relationship in the film as Jenna is quite protective over her. Also, Jenna risks getting into a lot of trouble in order to save her sister in the future.

Bullying
The people organised by the caller bully others into certain situations, as well as being bribed (a form of bullying) into doing this themselves. This can be a great way to dive into what many people, typically the youthful population, go through.

There are also many typical BSR conventions that my film contains. We explore the typical things such as having fights, rejected dreams, negative family situations and neglected from love.

Production Log week 4

This week I did primary research by interviewing members of my target audience and created a vox pop to show evidence of this. My target audience are mainly teenagers around the age of 16,17 and are both male and female, however the males are more dominant. The main themes my target audience are interested in are violence which is a very dominant theme seen in most British Social Realism films. They also like to see a bit of comedy or action in a film because that grabs their interest. Institutions like Film4 produce films set in urban areas in Britain to show the realistic setting to the audience. They target British niche audiences, because the themes shown in these type of films are not attractive to a typical global mainstream audience. This research will help me in my production, because I know what my target audience wants so i can deliver the film to suit their tastes. I will show the typical issues and representations that happens in real life Britain and make it clear for the audience to see.

Audience Research

Data Presentation

From this vox pop I have gathered a lot of information from my audience:

• The most popular British social realism films seen by a majority of my audience are Four Lions, Kidulthood, Adulthood, Attack the block and the inbetweeners movie.
• The audience liked these genre of films, because they liked the comedy aspect and how serious issues can be made funny which grabbed their interest.
• One member of audience suggested we do an establishing shot in the opening to show what the location looks like from a birds eye view.
• The audience have experienced or seen a lot of gangs and violence in their lives.
• Their ideas consisted of bullying and teenagers doing drugs and gang involvement.
• The characters portrayed in our opening sequence should be our age and not adults so us youths can relate more to the film.
• Themes i should include are violence, drugs, poverty, petty crime and loneliness.

Open publication - Free publishing

Qualitative data analysis


This research has helped me decide on a lot of things to narrow down my options for my own film. The main themes i am going to subject in my film are violence and poverty, because they are the most popular among my audience. I am most likely going to base my location in Dagenham, because it is a popular rundown area and this is a typical British location. I will use people around my age group for casting, because it is easy for my target audience to relate to as teenagers. I liked the idea of a lawyer fighting cases for abused women but the twist is he is the one abusing them and then create more dramatic events thereafter. I may use this idea or create a story based on this plot and build on it to make it more realistic. Another audience member experienced loss of close family members which is a real life situation and I may incorporate that idea in to my own film. Some people liked the idea of a bullied teenager facing depression so that may be something to include in my film, however some feel it is too common and gets boring quickly.

 

Analysis of Sound in a British Social Realism opening

British Social Realism Style and Techniques

Open publication - Free publishing

Production Log week 3

This week, I have learnt about the use of title devices within opening sequences of British social realism films. For example, in Panic Room they have about 21 titles in their opening sequence. The production company is the first to appear on screen, thereafter the main actors present, followed by the film title. The featured characters are shown in two's so we will know they are not shown for long in the film. I can use this layout in my own production to make mine similar to a BSR film opening. I will add the credits at the beginning of my opening sequence so that it looks like an opening and not a trailer. I am going to use roughly 20-30 title devices, because this is the general amount used in most BSR films. I will also add the institutional information in order of importance and I will most likely put them all in groups, because none of the crew will be well-known.

Possible locations for my British Social Realism opening

Barley Lane - Chadwell Heath

I can use this location because the houses look run down and it has a small shop in between, so it is likely to get mugged often and i can portray that in my opening. There is rubbish in the streets which shows that people don't look after it. Also this area is often quiet, so there should be no problem filming here and it is nearby.

Manor Park

This location has a lot of typical conventions like the local chicken shop and recorder so this area would be quite busy. The streets in this area are unvarnished and look a bit tatty which is seen in a lot of BSR films. There are usually gangs who hang around this area which gives a negative representation of Britain.

Dagenham

This looks like a typical BSR film location, because the place looks filthy and abandoned.
This area has a high crime rate and is seen as rough which is very common in British Social Realism films. It is a very quiet area so sound shouldn't be affected by background noise. Most people's ethnicity here is white which is good as this would represent Britain.

Barking Market

This area is quite rough and gritty which depicts a negative aspect of Britain. The crime rate is also quite high as many people are seen getting into fights and this represents a typical British Social Realism situation. Also it is a very busy area so there may be problems in trying to shoot there.

How British Social Realism Films are used

Violence - Kidulthood

In this film, Kidulthood, violence is the main theme portrayed throughout the film. This scene shows the antagonist being physically beaten up by the protagonists, which depicts a lot of violence and bullying. This is a very common theme which is shown in many BSR films and are established physically to the person most of the time. This is a key element and I will try to include this in my production, because it links with British Social Realism. I may use the vocabulary from this film, because it represents the negative aspect of British Society.

Terrorism - Four Lions

This scene establishes the theme of terrorism and also racism to Islam. During the debate a muslim gets up and argues politically about terrorism and how the society treats them as one. This promotes the theme that muslims are treated cautiously and suspiciously  because the man reveals what appears to be a bomb strapped to his chest. This would give everyone the impression that he is a suicide bomber; furthermore he is supported by another muslim by cheering him on which further strengthens the theme in this context. Also the camera keeps zooming in and out continuously which adds to a more suspense effect. 

Racism - This is England

This scene clearly portrays the theme of racism, because a group of white men graffiti offensive words to Pakistani people outside the shop wall. Inside the shop, the kid calls the Asian man something offensive to his culture calling him a "paki bastard". The Asian man then gets held at knife point by a white man as the others are stealing alcohol and cigarettes from his shop. This theme is portrayed as very rough and makes the Asian man very innocent. I can use this theme to depict ethnic differences in my production to show the rough side of society.

Domestic abuse - Nil By Mouth

This scene portrays serious violent abuse to the woman being hit by her husband. It starts with the two shouting at each other which foreshadows something worse is going to happen afterwards. The man then physically attacks her, but through the camera language the audience does not see the woman's face or see her after that, which makes the situation even worse, because this leaves the audience to think the worst has happened, because we don't know what happened to her. I can use this theme to show a darker side of British society which would make the audience tremble.

Petty Crime - Trainspotting

This scene starts with a smash mouth opening, because we see a man running in the streets with two men behind him in suits catching up. This implies that the man has done a crime or else he wouldnt be on the run trying to escape. We can assume he is not an expert in doing these crimes otherwise he wouldnt have been caught in the first place and he is very careless while he is running as he nearly got hit by a car and then laughs. The upbeat music suggests it wasn't anything serious as if it was a prank hit and run. I could use this theme to show a powerless town not being able to prevent petty crimes from happening.