Fish Tank Case Study

Fish Tank

Fish Tank is a social realist film it displays the reality of life and mundane realism and often called a kitchen sink movie as the movie moves in a very slow manner. Social realism films are made by independent companies, Fish tank is a film directed and written by Adrena Arnold. The film is about a 15 year old girl called Mia living in a run down council state flat with a low quality of life who is trying to break free from the trauma by her  secret skill in dancing however when her mother brings home her new boyfriend, life completely changes for Mia.

Institutional background

The film made £103,180 in the UK on the 13th of September in 47 screens and $32,619 in the USA in 2 screens. As this was a independent film the marketing strategy was weak so information about the film was not spread widely which reflects the box office number significantly, the actual context of the film is also very dark so would not interest a mainstream audience and is more targeted to a niche target audience  However the film  won a BAFTA film award and many other awards. 
The production companies for Fish Tank were: Uk film counsil, BBc films, Limelight communication, Content Film and Kasander Film Company. 
Audience breakdown
The film is aimed at a British audience due to the elements, themes and situations being closely related to British culture due to type of dialogue and the types of area that Fish Tank was filmed in  Many people in Britain will be able to relate to the situation that is shown and also will be able to understand that this is the typical lifestyle for some people living in Britain  The target audience for this film is mainly upper class and educated so will be able to decode all the important and sensitive points made in the film. As this film mainly has British refrences it would be difficult for any other nationality to compleatly understand the situations present and distinguish the important messages that the director wants to give to the audience. 
Marketing Strategy
Fish tank was mainly marketed using posters as Fish Tank is made from an independent film company there is not much money available for marketing however the film was shown at the Canns Film Festival where it was shown for the first time and generated word of mouth which is a very powerful technique so the film can be talked about, however it takes time for the word of mouth to reach a larger audience but the neiche audience that the film is targeted will quickly acknowledge the information and find more information about the film as the audience is very active.

Analyzing Fish Tank

Themes and Situations

1. The hardships of daily life is portrayed very well in the beginning of this film, within the first 15 minutes there you are able to tell this film is a social realist film as it shows the struggles of a girl and presenting the reality of the life she is living in. She is suffering rejection from her own mother who doesn't even want to know her and she is wondering aimlessly threw the streets with no education or morals. 

2. Mia is trying to break out of her hard life that she is struggling to live in, she has no support for anyone and is almost alone in life, the film touches on the fact that her passion for dance is the only thing driving her to live. Her mothers boyfriend connor try to push forward her passion and encourages her to peruse her dream as she is really good at what she does.

3. Mia has trouble trusting anyone in her life due to all her let downs and failures in life and even if someone try's to help her or does her good, she sees no scene in it and that everyone is bad and is only out to do bad, this reflects a typical social realism film as many people in real life have so much struggle trusting anyone after they have been hurt constantly. 

The situation of Mia trying to peruse her dream is a really good theme to use i think i would use this theme of trying to break out of the hardship of daily life in my film as it typically portrays a social realism film. 

Representation (stereotypes & archetypes) 

1. Everyone shown in this film is working class, and typically stereotypes all the people in this film as very poor and living in council flats, chavy girls who are loud mouth and typically shows the bad areas of Essex giving a bad impression to the audience outside of Britain of what people are like, who have no manners or respect for anyone and all have very messed up life's.

2. The representation of rough girls who are trouble makers are shown through this film, these type of girls who have no education and do not care about doing well in school and just around all day creating trouble and easily start a argument and up to no good. 

3. Connor who seems like the protagonist throughout most of the film, he is very handsome and charming. He seems like he is the person who is going to take Mias mothers herself and her sister out of this hard life and give them a better life, he gives them happiness throughout most of the film, however when he was in a drunk state he becomes the antagonist of the film and his true colors come out and Mia who finally trusted someone so much was let down and messed up again. However this was no expected but draws into real life of a stereotypical man who is going through a midlife crisis and goes around sleeping with everyone.

I think i would use the idea in my film of using a dark protagonist as it is unexpected but still matches the conventions of a typical social realist film.

Mise-en-scene

1. The costume of very chavy in expensive clothes being worn throughout the film matches the theme of the film, it shows that the people in this film are all working class and have no money to wear nice clothes and do not really care about fashion or style they just need clothes to survive which matches the conventions of a social realist film. 

2. The color design of most of the film is mostly dark and blunt, it represents the realist view of life that it is hard to survive with no job or education and that money makes the world go round and brings good things into your life, if there is no money life seems pointless and dim. This film uses a lot of grey and dark colors to portray this fact. 

3. The type cast is very good in this film, Mia looks like a typical 15 year old who has many problems in life, she looks like she has had a rough life and does not really care about her looks despite she is a girl, she is told many times in the film "your hair looks better down" this type cast is a typical convention of a social realist film as she looks like someone who does not care much about life at all. 

I would use blunt and dark colors for my color design for my film as it portrays the real hard ships of life and gives a hidden message towards my niche audience  As niche audiences are active they would enjoy decoding and understanding the message behind this. 

Music and sound effects.

1. As Mia is walking down the ally way of her flat you are able to hear screaming  swearing, baby cries and arguing. This is just what she hears as she walks down the ally way, these sound effects directly reference to that her fact is full of arguing and unpleasant sounds.  

2. As Mia is in the car with Connor, he pus on the song called called California Dreaming by Bobby Womack  this song plays an important part in the film as it is the song which pushes Mia towards her dream of dancing and directly references her dream as something now that tangible due to Connors inspiration.  

3. As Mia is walking down the high road you are able to hear lots of police cars and ambulances  this just reflects the mundane realism that she is living in and that the cruel world which she is having to put up with that she cannot escape from. 

I think that i would use a important music track in my film which my character gain inspiration as it is showing that normal people in reality gain inspiration from many things, even something so simple as a song.

Camera work and editing.

1. Shaky hand held camera work is used in the film. Social realism films are independently made and do not usually have much money to spend on expensive equipment so the shaky hand held movement reflects the ephisis on money again. Also the shaky hand held camera work can be a symbol for Mias life as it is very messed up. 

2. The low angle shot of the 2 young girls smoking is very symbolic the shot represents that they are very young and have no power what so ever, yet they are hardly 13 and are doing something so mature. This represents life today, as young girls are growing up too fast and having their innocence taken away from them and start doing bad things at a young age which makes them even more vulnerable to being involved in crime when they are older. 

3. This mid shot of Mia and her friend represents the mundane realism of lie and how it is so plain and really in life all you need is good family, friends and education to have a good life. This shot displays that life is actually very simple and the best things in life are free. 

I think i my film i will use hand held camera work to in chance the social realism feel for the film. 

Dialogue. 

1. "ring me back you bitch" This is one of the first sentences to be said in the film. This represents that people from this area are very rude and foul mouthed and do not have any respect they do not know how to talk to anyone even if they are in the wrong they would not apologize reflecting on the social realist conventions of displaying everyday life that most people do not see life threw rose colored glasses. 

2."come on then you prick" Again this denotes the fact that most people in this area do not have respect and not been taught manners because Connor was trying to do something nice however Mias sister reply's in a rude way.

3. "Oi those bloody track suits cost £20 you know" this strongly emphasis the social realism conventions as they are struggling for money and something so merely as a jogging bottoms they have to keep safe as they do have enough money to be wasting on small things such as track suit bottoms and that £20 is a lot of money for most working class people.