Thursday 27 January 2011

Research into Chosen Genre: Social Realism

The three functions of genre are: - To understand how texts are used and produced. - An insight into some of the ways audiences consume text. - Is useful from an academic perspecive e.g. media students. Social realism is a genre that explores the experience of a certain social class, sub culture or various groups in society, often portraying them in an extreme way to entertain audiences. Films, such as, Kidulthood, Adulthood, Snatch, One Day, Shank, Fish Tank and Brassed Off. All these films tend to reflect what people in that certain sub culture is experiencing day to day, usually portraying a life filled with violence, gang culture and promiscuity- this means that they are portrayed in negative ways because the social class often presented are working class, so the portrayal of this group in society is stereotypical.


Both film posters on the left portray elements of the genre social realism. Although Snatch is a British gangster genre it mirrors details of social realism in the way it represents the British and a sub culture of gangsters.

The obvious conventions often found in this genre is violence, sex and drugs- this may be because the stereotyped assumptions revolve around these activities so they are portrayed within the films. For example, in Kidulthood the class represented is working class youth, the activities they condone in is usually, violence, promiscuity, gang culture and drugs highlighting their way of life negatively. We have chosen this genre because we plan to mirror this stereotyped representation by adapting it into our judgements.

Characters within this genre differ in variety, but most social realism films, such as, Kidulthood and Fish Tank do present their characters with anti-social behaviour characteristics, often expressing themselves in violent ways and being promiscuous. Kidulthood was made by Londoners of which the film was set, employing those from a London origin to star in the film gave a more realistic approach to the character types because they knew from first hand experience what growing up in London is like. For example in Kidulthood, the film takes a step in the shoes of eight teenagers in London for 48 hours; the characters within the film have different experiences. One of which characters is 15 year old Trife, he takes central role as a young Black man plagued with the responsibilities of managing his street cred at school, an intense pressure to join the family criminal business and ex-girlfriend claiming to be pregnant. Trife is then dramatically stabbed and unfortunately dies which touches upon the extreme portrayal of social groups in social realism films. Therefore, characters within our own trailer would need to be parallel to those found in previous social realism films and ideally dealing with sensitive issues such as these.

Iconography is an important element when creating a social realism film. The setting plays a vital role in creating both the atmosphere and scene within the film, so it would have to be decided which mirrors the message or portrayal in the film. For example, the portrayal of life in London would need to be set in London in order for the portrayal to take place. Symbolic iconic features should be used in order for the genre to be recognised by the audience, for instance within the horror genre it can be blood or a weapon; however in a social realism film the features may not be as obvious. They are more subtle parts of the story that may reflect this genre, such as, the portrayal of sensitive issues like abortion or suicide and a group of people in society dealing with these issues as well as their behaviour being presented in an alarmist way.


Exploring the importance of the setting further its easy to see that it plays a vital part. Usually social realism films are set within a city that is run down and troublesome, which represents the social group negatively. The area is usually poverty stricken and deals with day to day illegal, violent behaviour which makes residents within that area fearful within their own homes and communities. Within my film trailer I will ensure that my partner and I finding the right setting will be a priority because it sets the mood for the film and highlights further what we are trying to illustrate. When filming we will capture long shots of the area to set the scene to make audiences aware of the setting and what the film will entail, by showing a montage of the setting with fast cuts will convey the dramatic themes that will be shown later in the trailer.

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