Production Log 3

This week the first lesson was Mrs seven where we were finishing off our British Social Realist time line where i learnt about the different graphics and how important they were however, i analysed Nowhere boy and the opening sequence of this film was unusual due to the fact there were not as many graphics as expected in a British Social Realist Film.

Negative representation

The first lesson with Mr Phillipson this week was based on Mise-en-scene, Camera Style and also the Editing in British Social Realist Films. However we were firstly asked to take photos which represent Britain in a positive and negative light taking into account the Mise-en-scene and Camera framing of the pictures.

Here this picture shows a negative representation of Britain, connoting to the audience a sense of depression, loneliness and isolation which are all major themes in British Social Realist films. The framing reflects the hardships that people have to go though in Britain  the metal door connotes to the audience that life in Britain can be cold and difficult, also the metal doors are frequent props used in British films to display the hardships.

Positive representation

Here this image connotes to the audience a very positive vibe of Britain, that students are committed are hardworking they know where they want to be in life and how they need to get there. This portrays Britain as a very academically driven contrary where everyone takes the maximum benefit of the the education they receive  Also this image shows teenagers in a positive light rather than always in a negative light leading to a life of crime, this image exemplifies the fact that despite these kids are not in lesson they choose to spend their free time studying.

We also looked at the Mise-en-scene of British Social Realist films and came to terms with that the production design such as locations are set in more urban places in the working class part of Britain using found props are actors are usually unknown or often untrained and have very natural and non dramatic acting, their costumes would also be more casual and are not dressed to the latest fashion, they just need clothes for survival. The lighting used in British Social Realist films are mainly natural due to the fact that the main aim to to display peoples life in a natural setting but it also is to do with the fact that there is little money and time. The colour design in most British Social Realist films is very dim and have a lot of grey and blacks to reflect on the low quality and darkness of their life. We analysed a scene from 'Looking For Eric' and it showed all the main conventions of Mise-en-scene for a British Social Realist film.

Rule Of Thirds

Next we brainstormed the camera style for British Social Realist Films and concluded that the shots are mainly mid shots and establishing shots are used a lot in order to denote to the audience where the scene is set, close ups are also used very often to display the emotion of characters and the struggle that they go though. Angles are not used much throughout British Social Realism Films however camera movement is more commonly used to make the audience feel as if they are part of the film. Composition is very important for British Social Realist films and nearly very shot uses the rule of thirds. This is one of the most important rules used when filming British Social Realist Films.

Lastly we talked about editing in British Social realist films i have learnt that editing is very important in order to create the correct emotion which needs to be portrayed to exemplify emotion in British Social Realist Films.The pace of editing is quite slow and hardly any transitions are used with continuity editing used throughout the film to display real life situations. We looked and analysed the editing in the films 'Dead mans shoes' and 'Shify' 

The opening sequence to dead mans shoes editing establishes the character showing that the film will  be mainly about the man shown in the beginning and his family and the cross cutting shows the comparison of his loneliness and isolation in this life now. The editing connotes to the audience the difference between his countryside life and also the family house with the dissolve transitions. The themes which are established due to the editing is growing up, serration and loneliness due to the variety of shots.

In Shifty, the editing establishes the character importance in the film due to the fact that there are loner takes of Riz Ahmed to create an intimidating feeling whilst Daniel Mays's character speech is sped up and overlapping . The long take of the wall in the back establishes the themes of poverty and that they are in a bad area and also draws into the fact that the themes of petty crime is introduced. 

In Mrs Sevens lesson this week we looked how sound is an important factor in British Social Realism films and established the fact that mostly non diagetic music is used, such as voice over, sound bridge and dialogue.
Whilst analyzing the opening sequence to 'Anita and Me' i realized that the effect of the different sounds impacts the audience and makes the audience ask questions of what is to come.
Whilst looking at the opening sequence for this is England i have learnt that the effect of the sound track which is like Regge soul music which gives a light hearted and fun feel but then contrasts with the violent images shown.

I have learnt that in British Social Realism Films the credits are a very important part due to the fact it shows all the people involved in the film and also the production company are giving importance to as they have funded the film and made it possible to make. The correct use of Mise-en-scene is very important for British Social Realist films due to the fact it establishes the era that the film is set it also the color design sets the tone the film and usually for British Social Realist films the color design is dim. This means that i must establish the era correctly in my opening sequence of a British Social Realism Film and give the film a dimmer feeling i must also correctly type cast my actors and make sure they are wearing suitable costume and experiencing to match the conventions of a British Social Realism film opening sequence. I have also established the fact that the camera work of my opening sequence must contain the rule of thirds all the way though and use the correct sound effects in order to give the correct impact and emotions that i want to transfer to the audience. The editing also has to match the conventions of a British Social Realist film so i think i will mainly use cross cutting and dissolve to show the comparison of two peoples life to establish themes well.