Production Log - Week 2.

In the first lesson of the second week of production, my class and I explored the themes of British social realist films in relation to the news. We surfed the internet to find new stories that related to the themes used in British social realist films. There were a lot of themes that featured in British social realist films that also featured in the news, for example; violence, dysfunctional families, poverty, politics, unemployment, etc. From this research, I concluded that the production companies of British social realist films gain their inspiration from the news as they want to portray real life events in an explicit manner.

In the second lesson this week, we discussed what you should do in an opening sequence and what you shouldn't do. For example, in an opening sequence you should use typography that is appropriate for the genre - in this case, the social realism genre and you shouldn't reveal too much of the narrative. We also looked at how many graphics appear in a typical opening sequence and how frequently they appear. We then created a timeline for a British social realist opening sequence of our choice to label the intervals in which the graphics appeared and what was happening when they appeared. We also had to label when the music played and when there was a transition. This helped me to gain a better understanding of how many graphics need to be included and it gave me ideas of how I could edit the sequence to make it more effective.

In the third lesson this week, my class and I watched the opening sequence for the British social realist film 'London to Brighton'. This opening sequence was very different and explored a range of themes. The sequence started with a smash mouth opening, which attracted my attention from the start to end. It was very entertaining and left me, as the audience, with a lot of enigmas and left me feeling a lot of emotions. The themes that were explored within this opening sequence were; prostitution, violence, poverty, dysfunctional families, parenthood and childhood. From watching this opening sequence, I learnt about smash mouth openings and realised that there are more interesting, exciting ways to start an opening sequence of the British social realist genre.



What have you learnt about social realist codes and conventions in relation to audience?

I have learnt that in social realism, current issues that exist within society are presented seriously but also with an element of humour. For example, Kidulthood explores the issues of corruption of youth and petty crime. Both of these are shown through serious situations but some humour is added, for a wider more younger appeal to the audience. Depending on the region of which a film is set, the appropriate issues/themes, language and accents will be used according to the region. The locations used in social realist films are real and mundane, to increase the verisimilitude of the narrative. Camera language is always used but in a gritty style, wide shots are used a lot to show the mise-en-scene, in particular the settings and locations. Also, non-professional actors are commonly used as it increases the verisimilitude and because the production companies who produce these British social realist films cant usually afford mainstream, international actors. I have also learnt about the conventions of the social realist genre, some of these were; to put the title towards the beginning of the opening sequence, to include lots of the mise-en-scene (settings & locations), not to reveal too much of the narrative, etc. All of these conventions will help the audience ease into the film, so and if the title is put towards the beginning of the opening sequence the audience wont have to be interrupted when they start getting into the narrative.

How will this inform your production?

This will inform my production, as I will now make sure I include all of the social realist codes and conform to the conventions of social realism. I will also pay sharp attention to detail because I do not want to mix the conventions of social realism with those of a trailer as there isn't much of a difference to separate the two. I will also make sure that when I make my social realist films opening sequence, it is very British, so that I can meet the brief and create a British social realist film, so I will relate all of the accents, issues/themes, language, settings and locations to the British region. Therefore my film will be very culturally relative.

What texts did you find particularly influential and why?

I found the British social realist film 'London to Brighton' very influential as it started with a smash mouth opening and from then on had me engaged in the narrative and left me with a lot of enigmas. It also explored a lot of issues/themes that take place in London and many other places, but was most culturally relative to British people, as the accents, language and settings all related to the region in which the film was set.




Will you conform to conventions or subvert them?

I will conform to the conventions of social realism rather than subvert them so that the opening sequence of my British social realism film, meets the brief at the highest standard possible as the brief clearly states that it wants my film to conform to the conventions of social realism. Therefore, I will do this in an attempt to create a film of high standard and to gain as many marks as possible.