Opening Sequence Sound Analysis - Made in Britain

BSR Visual Style

Production Log Three

I have learnt that opening sequences are more complex than we originally think as they hold a lot of conventions that build the base for the rest of the movie, as it introduces the main characters and the people involved in the production of the movie; such as the director, featured actors and the institutional logos. The title devices in an opening sequence are though about in great detail as the typography must match the themes and situations in the piece, the order in which they show up in is also thought about, as when the featured actors appear, they generally appear in the order of who is paid the most, and the director would usually appear right at the beginning or at the end of the sequence.

This will inform my production as I will know a basic order in which they should appear, and the different jobs that are involved, and during the opening sequence, the names that are shown are mainly heads of each department, featured actors, director and executives.

In my opening sequence I will try to make my institutions and typography match my themes and issues, as they instantly hint to the audience what the movie is about, and adds extra emphasis if the typography matches the the themes and issues shown in the text.

Possible Fiming Locations

Ilford Lane: This location fits conventions of BSR as it is a very run-down, rough area. The streets are small, very cramped and the houses are also very small. This location does not have a very good reputation as there is a lot of crime on this road.

Forest Gate: Forest Gate would be fit the conventions of BSR as it has gained the reputation of becoming a rough area, due to roads like green street, it also has a lot of crime happening and in this image we see the train station and a big building.

Stratford: Stratford would fit the BSR conventions as it has a lot of tower blocks and is a run down area, a few minutes away from the station, it also has a high crime rate, and for example; someone was stabbed inside westfield shopping centre.

Maryland: Maryland would fit the conventions of BSR movie, as it has alot of council housing, and it a very rough area, in the image there is graffiti near the train station, showing us a true picture of Britian, and how there are nice area and rough area's such as this.

How British Social Realism Themes are Used.

Drugs: Trainspotting

The theme is established by the voice over, describing the a usual persons life, then how he has chosen Heroin over a usual life, the themes are established as we see three males running away from someone, and merchandise falling out of their jackets, depicting petty crime, then later on we see Renton smoking his drugs.
The sequence portrays the theme to be a way of life, and had the question drugs or life? The sequence shows us how the life of drugs seems less stressful, more exciting than a normal life and glorifies the drug.
In my openeing sequence I could explore this theme by having a my main character pressured by peers into trying the drug, and shows how their life will change in a very, very quickly.

Domestic Abuse: Nil By Mouth

The themes of this movie are clearly shown, domestic abuse, we see this through a number of things during this clip, as firstly when they're arguing, she mentions that this happens more than once; "I can't deal with this all the time", this shows us this happens of a daily basis, and also from the horrific abuse scene where we see him kicking the woman and tells her not to go to the hospital.
The scene portrays the theme to be very aggressive and hurtful, as we do not see the body after it gets beaten, and this is often worse as it is left to our imagination, also when we see the daughter at the end she seems very hurt and traumatised by the event, it shows domestic abuse to be very horrific, mentally and physically.
I could explore this theme in my composition, by having one of my characters living in a bad home, getting beaten by parents, or family members.

Poverty: London to Brighton

This scene from London to Brighton shows poverty, one denotation that shows us this is the fact that they're eating chicken and chips in a public toilet, the food is very cheap and they're eating it in a filthy toilet cubicle, and I belive that it doesn't get any worse than that, another example is when we see the woman offerself up for prostitution, it is shocking how it is normal for her to make money like that.
The theme of poverty is portrayed to be harsh and a struggle to have enough money to survive, also they seek shelter and make money in any way they can, even by prostitution. It also shows that poverty has its share of trouble as the two girls are all beaten up, with bruises all over their body, and this is all due to the struggle for money.
In my compostion I could have my main characters issues revolving around poverty, and how the struggle for money gets them into trouble, making their lives even harder than it already is.

Bullying: Kidulthood

In KidultHood one of the themes is bullying, we see Sam the "top-dog" of the area, who everyone fears bullying the three main characters and girls that he has influenced beating a girl in a class room infront of all their class mates, the bullying in KidultHood leads to the victim hanging herself.
In KidultHood bulling is shown to be normal, as the victim, Claire, is getting beaten by a group of girls, and only one person stands up to the girls.
In my opening sequence I may decide to have one character who everyone fears, and how he makes everyone's life a misery, and how people target him to take their revenge.

Racial Abuse: This Is England

The theme in This Is England is racism, We see the group of men defacing the asian man's shop with curses such as "paki fuck", they then enter the shop and a little boy is throwing racial abuse to the asian man, this shows that being a immigrant in england in this era (1980) was not accepted, we then see the man with the machete threaten the asian man, and he tells him that he doesn't belong in this country.
Racism in This is England seems to be accepted, as the abuse is openly said, and written on public walls, and it is also glorified as the men gain pleasure out of robbing and hurting the asians, also showing great disrespect as one of the men attempts to excrete on the floor of the asian man's shop.
In my compostion i may choose to have my character a different race/ethnicity, and they're not accepted by a certain group of people and get terrorised by them

British Social Realism Timeline

Opening Sequence Breakdown: East Is East

I had analysed and broken down the opening sequence to East Is East, and had put it into what happenes in the shot, the music and dialogue, editing, where there is a cut, and the what credits appear and at what time they show, and for how long they appear on screen. I had done this to get a general idea of how many credits generally appear, and to get an idea of how a opening sequence is laid out.

Production Log Two

The conventions of a independent British social realist movie are, poverty, violence, petty crime and the use of bad language/slang. Nearly all of the independent British social realist movies that we had seen contained multiple themes, not just one, they had a mixture and variation of issues linked to one main theme. In the movie "Scum", the main boy chooses to take the power in the boys detention centre, it had contained a lot of violence in a very shocking matter, as we see him make his own weapon with a sock and two billiard balls, if we compare this to Adulthood(2008), many things had changed, such as the themes, that are revenge, survival, poverty, alcohol, sex and drugs, this is a sequel to KidultHood which had ended with Sam killing a younger boy, and this movie is about the implications of his actions, as the people who he has hurt, set out to take their revenge upon him; the difference between Scum and kidulthood is that the themes are relevant to the time period of when the movie is made and contain themes that are still happening and challenges people face.

These media texts will inform my production as I will use some of the themes and issues shown within the movies, such as violence, crime, bullying and revenge. and also with the costume, it would be more modern, as in kidulthood, as it would add verisimilitude to my piece.

I will conform to the conventions of a British social realist movie as I think that there are many issues that currently happen and I would like to show them in my media text, I would not like to subvert the conventions of a British social realist movie as it is the low budget, location, themes and rough conventions that make the media text British social realist.

Use of Themes In British Social Realism

 The link between is that British Social Realist movies draw inspiration from the real world, from common issues that are relevant to the current era. Such as in the 1980's there was alot of racial injustice, as seen in This is England. Also some movies are based on true stories on the news, such as Nil By Mouth, which was about domestic abuse, as seen in this article, a girl moved in with her boyfriend and soon he became agrressive and started slapping her and burning her with lighters. In british social realist movies these are the themes that are shown in the composition, to uncover the real issues that people face day-to-day, giving us a true, "unvarnished" picture.

 

In british social realist films, the themes are shown in a "gritty" manner, and often makes the audience engage in the film, and interperate it in their own way, and gets the audience to ask questions and create enigma. The themes such as violence make us feel uncomfortabe, they tend to put less content, and keep it very suttle but this has a huge effect on the outcome of the scene; in Nil By Mouth, the horrific scene of the man beating his wife/girlfriend, we do not see her on the floor getting kicked, but only see a midshot of the man kicking her, this engages our imagination of what damage he has caused to her.

I believe that one of the essential themes to a British Social Realist movie is poverty, living in council estate blocks, in a run-down area as from poverty comes all of the other issues in a individuals life, such as drugs and alcohol, from poverty the turn to other things to forget about their problems, and more problems occur, If in a british social realist move the individual was well-off, they wouldn't feel the needs to turn to drug and alcohol abuse; as they may have more social support from the company they have around them, where if the individual is working or below working class, they would be surrounded by people who are a bad influence and humans learn by association, so if they're surrounded by these issues they will be affected by them.

These British Social Realist movies all contain poverty: