For this topic I will be studying British Social Realism films and appyling my findings when making my own opening two minutes of a film. I will study the conventions of British Social Realism films to make my opening two minutes look as realistic and proffessional as possible. I will study many existing opening two minutes of films including. 'Kes', '24/7', 'The Full Monty', 'Yasmin' and others. I will create my opening two minutes using pinnacle. However, I will create a small video to practice the techniques needed to make a successful opening two minutes (preliminary task).
THE CODES AND CONVENTIONS OF BRITISH REALISM FILMS
Firstly, your average British Social Realism film will feature a working class set of characters living in typical working class areas around Britain (e.g, inner city of Birmingham or London's east end). In the film 'Brassed Off' the film makers recreated the Pitt shafts and Mine Lifts that had been pulled down only a few years before in the small rural village town of Grimethorpe
Finally, in the 1950's, the start of British Social Realism, critics of the time said that it was a step-forward for British cinema as it was completely different from the conformist entertainment audiences were used to. Since then, Social Realism has developed into a successful genre of film which is popular with UK audiences.The director is more than likely to cast unknown actors to make the film seem more realistic, allowing the audience to relate better to the characters, making the film more successful.
A TABLE COMPARING THE OPENING OF 6 BRITISH REALISM FILMS
From analysing these British Realism film openings I found:
the average number of edits is 13;
average number of characters is 3;
average number of locations is 3;
average number of titles is 6.
I will apply these findings when creating my own opening two minutes.
However, many of data in the table differentiates greatly from the average found. Therefore, I will try different numbers of features when creating my opening two minutes to make it look as professional as possible.
ANALYSIS OF THE OPENING TWO MINUTES OF 3 BRITISH REALISM FILMS
ANALYSIS OF THE REPRESENTATION OF YOUTH IN '24 7'
Twenty Four Seven, directed by Shane Meadows, tells of a group of youths that join a boxing club, run by an ex-boxing champion, to get them off the streets and out of trouble. The youths in this film are portrayed as being lazy, abusive, drug users, big alcohol drinkers and as having no pride in their surroundings or themselves. They live in a rundown community, and do nothing to discourage their bad reputation by making their own living spaces filthy and wearing typical 'yob' clothing such as tracksuits and caps. One of the characters in the film doesn’t even get out of bed to go to court, which suggests that youths are not only lazy but have no respect for the law.
The youths in Twenty Four Seven appear to have turned to crime and drugs as there is nothing for them to believe in. The film seems to promote the idea that if young people are left to their own devices and have nothing to distract them then this is an inevitable outcome. The film also uses boxing as a metaphor for life; you have to learn discipline, follow rules and learn to have respect in boxing just like you do in life.
This type of message is very typical of a Social Realism film as most movies of the genre try to promote or tackle a specific message or problem in society.
This type of message is very typical of a Social Realism film as most movies of the genre try to promote or tackle a specific message or problem in society.
BARTHES' CODES
Roland Barthes suggested that a text is like a tangled ball of threads, with each thread comes a different meaning - pull one thread and you get one point of view, pull a different thread and the meaning of the text changes altogether.
Barthes decided that the threads in which we pull are called narrative codes.
ENIGMA CODES: REFERS TO THOSE PLOT ELEMENTS THAT RAISE QUESTIONS
ACTION CODES - REFERS TO ACTIONS: THOSE PLOT EVENTS THAT LEAD TO OTHER ACTIONS
TODOROV'S THEORY
WHO FINANCES BRITISH FILMS ?
"Vertigo Films is a UK Media company founded in 2002 to create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema."
Vertigo Films are an integrated company, with a very small number of immediate staff.
WRITER/DIRECTOR - NICK LOVE
PRODUCER - ALLAN NIBLO
PRODUCER - JAMES RICHARDSON
RUPERT PRESTON
ROB MORGAN
NIGEL WILLIAMS
Since 2002, they have produced 31 films including Social Realism features 'Summer' and '1 Day'To date, Vertigo Films has so far resisted the pressure to jump seas and create American movies, like many British companies do. Thus, all of Vertigo films are British.
"BBC Films is the feature film-making arm of the BBC. It is firmly established at the forefront of British independent film-making and co-produces approximately eight films a year. Working in partnership with major international and UK distributors, BBC Films aims to make strong British films with range and ambition" (source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/about/ )
Executives
- Christine Langan
Head of BBC Films - Joe Oppenheimer
Executive Producer - Jamie Laurenson
Executive Producer
Development
- Beth Pattinson
Development Editor - Ed Wethered
Development Editor
Business Affairs
- Zoe Brown
Senior Legal and Business Affairs Manager, Fiction - Michael Wood
Senior Business Manager - Simon Gillis
Commercial, Business Affairs and Legal Manager - Livy Sandler
Legal and Business Affairs Manager - Helen Giles
Legal and Business Affairs Manager
Publicity
- Freud Communications
Owned by Channel 4, Film4 develops and co-finances British films, working with the most innovative talent in the UK
A TIMELINE OF BRITISH SOCIAL REALISM FILMS
BRITISH FILM FOREVER - SOCIAL REALISM - BBC TWO
