ANALYSING BRITISH SOCIAL REALISMOpening 2 minutes of a British social realist film Kidulthood

Theme 1 GENDER ROLES

Kidulthood uses gender roles through both the boys and the girls. They do it by making the boys and girls fit into a specific stereotype, for example The boys fit in with the stereotype of being a gangster, or a rude boy. This then influences them into conforming to the roles of these stereotypes. The girls fit into the stereotype of being rude girls for example. Also they fit into the roles of being chavs and/or slags. We see this through the way they act and portray themselves for example the scene where the two girls are talking about doing different things with boys etc.. Also another good example is the scene where the girls are in the class room, the way they are dressed even though they are in uniform they have styled it out to make them look like chavs and they begin acting like rude girls. This appeals to a British audience as many people tend to carry out their required stereotypes for either boys or girls.

Theme 2 - VIOLENCE Kidulthood uses violence throughout most of the film. One boy at the beginning looks to be using a drill in school. Most people would think he was doing a subject like technology but he is actually modifying a gun. This fore shadows what is later to come in the film meaning he is going to get into some sort of trouble and it wont turn out good. A scene which shows a physical and verbal side of violence is the scene in the class room where all the girls are picking on this one girl calling her names and hitting her, then suddenly she gets punched in the face. This appeals to a British audience as it happens a lot in the real world. Also some people might find it entertaining. Also I feel that it appeals to a younger audience as youngsters tend to like things like fighting etc..

Theme 4 - SEX Kidulthood uses a lot of sex, and even talking about sex in the film. A scene which shows this in the first 2 minutes is when the two girls are talking about past experiences and doing things with boys etc.. Also one girls says she will sort out getting money for an outfit if her friend comes out, personally I assumed hear that she was going to sell herself for sex in order to get the money as a similar scene to this happens later on. Sex appeals to a British audience because everyone sooner or later will experience it. It also appeals to them as it does happen everywhere and sometimes anywhere. Also a lot of underage sex happens in the real world and the film Kidulthood explores it.

Narrative devices - Many narrative devices are used throughout the film Kidulthood, and also used throughout many other films produced for British social realism. They help to give the film/story a motive. It gets the audience thinking and makes them develop some of their own ideas and what they thinks going on in the film. A device such as Restricted allows the audience to only follow the story from one characters point of view. However Kidulthood does not use this it uses Omniscient which allows the audience to follow more than one character. This gives the audience more access to different narrative events it keeps the film exciting however can sometimes confuse the audience as too much might be going on at once! Another narrative device is Linear and Non Linear . Linear is when a story has a start a middle and an end and non linear is where its not in chronological order. Non Linear can also sometimes be confusing and so you have to be aware of the audience. And another device is Open Narrative and Closed Narrative . Open Narrative is when there is no resolution at the end of a film and therefore enables the plot to continue into a second film. A Closed Narrative is when events have been explained and resolved and therefore it doesn t lead to a second film coming out. I feel that Open Narrative is the best one to use as it gives you a choice to carry the film on or not, and if your film is a success that will be the next best thing!

Conventions MISE-EN-SCENE The location of Kidulthood is set in a school for the beginning 2 minutes. Their costumes helps to indicate where they are as they are all in uniform. Real locations are used throughout the film as it makes it more real and naturalistic It also gives the film a good vibe and sense of verisimilitude to it. This appeals to British audiences as most schools in Britain have uniforms, and it generally looks like a typical school. I feel that the actors really conform to their specific roles in the opening sequence as they generally look and sound like the roles they are trying to portray.

Conventions CAMERA (SHOTS, MOVEMENT) The camera feels like its handheld most of the way through the film. This gives it the feel of it being documentary like, it feels almost as if we are following the lives of these young people. This makes the whole entire atmosphere of the film seem more natural and makes good use of verisimilitude. Also a lot of close ups on some of the main characters are used a lot to help us as an audience identify them. A lot of establishing shots are used. This is because it lets us as an audience know exactly where each scene is set. This is good as it helps us as an audience not feel lost or confused at any point of the film.

Conventions - EDITING Kidulthood uses a lot of editing for its opening sequence, for example a lot of zooming is used to go closer to the girls faces as they are talking about sex and other interesting things, also a lot of jump cuts are used back and forth from a scene where a boy is trying to modify a gun back to the scene of all the school children in the playground waiting to go in school. The scene where the boy is trying to modify a gun is very zoomed into his face. I think this is so they don t give away what he is actually doing straight away in the beginning scene, they want the audience to think he is doing something else. This is because they don t want to give the storyline away to quickly as by him modifying a gun fore shadows what is later on to happen.

Conventions - DIALOGUE The dialogue used throughout Kidulthood is very violent. A lot of slang is used and also a lot of swearing, for example fuck and slag etc... Verbal abuse is used quiet a lot towards many of the characters in the film for example one boy says to a girl Wag1 Bitch this is very intimidating for some people to watch as some of the language used people may find highly offensive. This appeals to a British audience as they seem to understand a lot of the slang and language used throughout, as a lot of the younger generation speak almost the same, especially people of the same age group as it relates to how most young people communicate to each other nowadays.Some of the words from a song which was featured in Kidulthood >>>>>>>>> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Sub Genre - Kidulthood fits into the sub genre of being a pure British social realist film . A lot of other sub genre s are also involved in Kidulthood for example Teenage pregnancy Gun crime/Knife crime Violence Drinking/drugs/smoking Gangs Bullying Sex These all relate to British social realism as they are things which occur in our every day life, and they are very much realistic.

Developing my idea!?What impact has this research had on the development of your ideas? The research I have done has really helped me gain new and exciting idea s. Because of my research I now want to introduce new techniques for my opening sequence thriller. This is because I feel more comfortable with the many devices used as I am now able to understand and explain many of the conventions and narratives in a lot more detail. I like the idea of giving the audience something to think about whilst watching an opening sequence and so I think using an Omniscient Narrative and Non Linear would help to enhance my idea, however I do think that trying to create an opening sequence to be either of these two might be difficult as I have not yet tried them and so I think I will do my thriller as a Linear Narrative. I am still yet to decide whether or not to pick Omniscient or Restricted. Also things such as a Title Card I would like to have near the beginning of my film along with the company credits and crew, also I want to design my own company name to make my opening sequence piece even more unique. The sub-genre of my film I feel that I would like to keep it with the genre/theme of being a pure British social realist film, this is because I feel it enables my work to be more natural and gives it a better feel of verisimilitude. I feel this creates a better atmosphere as I want to create it to be almost life-like and in order to do so I will have to carefully and correctly choose my conventions to enable them to match with my final piece.