Social Realism

1. Social Realism Greg Lake-Hollingdale

2. Definition Social realism is used in films as a representative of real life, with all its difficulties. The stories and people portrayed are everyday characters, usually from working class backgrounds. Typically, films within the social realist canon are gritty, urban dramas about the struggle to survive the daily grind. Where Did the Dominant Genre of British Film Emerge From? Social Realism in British films peaked during the 1960s when what is commonly referred to as the British New Wave emerged. The new wave directors such as Karel Reisz, Lindsay Anderson and Tony Richardson had made a number of documentaries before moving on to feature films, and many of these had been screened at the (historically important) National Film Theatre event christened 'Free Cinema' in the 1950s. Like the auteurs of the French New Wave, many of the British directors were knowledgeable critics as well, affiliated with Sequence magazine. This gave them ample opportunity to promote their agenda. “The most 'typically British' of all film genres” BFI

3. Characters The main conventions of a social realism film are, the use of unknown actors. This supports the genre as the audience is unfamiliar with the actors, therefore they could be anyone which makes it realistic. For example Thomas Turgoose was an unknown actor when he appeared in the film This is England, as was Amel Ameen, Adam Deacon and Femi Oyeniran in Kidulthood. Social Realism films mostly use the working class in their film and usually set their location as a council estate or a run down area to provide the audience with a general understanding of the working class.

4. Settings and Conventions Realistic settings -Council Estates -Crowded Areas -Rooftops -Urban scenery -Gritty Realistic events and situations -Working class heroes -Economic hardship and life’s struggles -Main issue for a film that relates to real life happenings such as drugs, sex, poverty, prostitution, homosexuality, racism and crime.

5. Target audience Social realisms target audience varies depending on the films forms and conventions, because social realism films use young characters. This appeals to a young audience. For example Kidulthood is more likely to appeal to 13-18’s because of the culture of the film. Its settings appeals to the modern youth. The early social realism films like ‘Spare Time (1939)’ and ‘This Happy Breed (1944)’, social realism films would appeal to the over fifties. Social realism has a very wide audience in a sense that it appeals to the young and the old. Social realism films like ‘Billy Elliot’ appeal to a far wider audience as it is a family film that relates to real life. However, Trainspotting is not likely to appeal to a wide audience as it contains strong drug use and swearing but would appeal to the 18-30 ages.

6. Camera Shots Social Realism films use handheld camera shots mainly to add to the realism and give a natural feel to the scene. This genre also uses quick cuts or long takes to make it flow and quick cuts reflect how characters feel or the intensity of the scene. For example quick cuts are mostly used for aggressive or violent scenes, chase scenes, or to show nerves and agitation.

7. Editing • Cross cutting to link different character’s storylines is used a lot in social realism films, also an example in kidulthood shows the father and daughters relationship, he is faded as if she doesn’t even care about him being there, blurred out of her life and not even listening to him. • Continuity to support realism • Simple cuts, no special effects • Slower pace to reflect real life

8. History Britain's contribution to cinema in the 1930s lay in a state-sponsored documentary tradition that would feed into the 1940s mainstream. Producer Michael Balcon revived the social/aesthetic distinction when he Documentarist Humphrey Jennings had been responsible for consensus-building works like Listen referred to the British industry's to Britain (1942) and Spare Time (1939), which, looking at the British at play, forged a 'new longstanding rivalry with Hollywood in iconography', influencing the 1950s Free Cinema documentary movement and the 1960s British terms of 'realism and tinsel'. Balcon, in New Wave. One of the strongest images of post-war British cinema is that of factory worker Arthur his position as head of Ealing Studios, Seaton downing a pint in one at the end of another week in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). Related to, though independent of, the commercial mainstream, the New Wave was fed by would become a key figure in the the 'Angry Young Men' of 1950s theatre, the verisimilitude of Italian Neo-realism and the youth emergence of a national cinema appeal of the French New Wave. Amid the smokestacks and terraces of regional life, Room at the characterised by stoicism and Top (1958), The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), and A Kind of Loving (1962) verisimilitude. Combining the brought wide shots and plain speaking to stories of ordinary Britons negotiating the social objective temper and aesthetics of the structures of post-war Britain. documentary movement with the Thanks to the relaxation of censorship, characters had sex lives, money worries, social problems. stars and resources of studio British 'auteurs' like Karel Reisz, Tony Richardson and John Schlesinger dealt with prostitution, filmmaking, 1940s British cinema abortion, homosexuality, alienation and relationship problems. Here were factory workers, office made a stirring appeal to a mass underlings, dissatisfied wives, pregnant girlfriends, runaways, the marginalised, poor and audience. depressed. The New Wave was symptomatic of a worldwide emergence of art cinemas challenging mainstream aesthetics and attitudes. Identified with their directors rather than with the industry, the New Wave films tended to address issues around masculinity that would become common in British social realism. The New Wave protagonist was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society in which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline. Directors from Ken Loach to Patrick Keiller, and films from Mike Leigh's High Hopes (1988) to The Full Monty (1997) have addressed the erosion of regional and class identities amid a landscape rendered increasingly uniform by consumerism. http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/index.html

9. Kidulthood Kidulthood is a 2006 British drama film about the life of several teenagers in Ladbroke Grove and Latimer Road area of inner west London. It was directed by Menhaj Huda and written by Noel Clarke, who also stars in the film and directed the sequel, Adulthood. The characters in the film generally behave in a violent, lawless manner and are reckless and antisocial, with petty theft, serious violence, and drug taking endemic in the culture portrayed. Click on image to open trailer.

10. Timeline of Social Realism Hindle Wakes (1931) Bronco Bullfrog (1969) Life is Sweet (1990) Director: Victor Saville Production Company: Gainsborough Pictures Producer: Michael Balcon Screenplay: Victor Saville, Angus Macphail Director: Barney Platts-Mills Production Company: Maya Films Producer: Andrew St. John Screenplay: Barney Platts-Mills Director Mike Leigh Production Companies: Thin Man Films, Film Four International, British Screen Producer Simon Channing-Williams Screenplay Mike Leigh Blue Scar (1949) My Childhood (1972) Director: Bill Douglas Production Company: British Film Institute Production Board Producer: Geoffrey Evans Screenplay: Bill Douglas Director: Jill Craigie Production Company: Outlook Films Producer: William MacQuitty Script: Jill Craigie

11. Timeline Continued.. Billy Elliot (2000) Fish Tank (2009) This Is England (2006) Director: Stephen Daldry Writer: Lee Hall

12. Music ADULTHOOD Track Listing 1 - Over Here - Bashy 2 - End In The Streets - Plan B 3 - F UR EX - Sway 4 - My Dunks - The Click Click 5 - Paranoid - Dizzee Rascal 6 - Kids Of The Underground - Scarlet & Viva 7 - Reppin London - Sincere 8 - Follow - Tinchy Stryder 9 - Running For Life - Eliza Doolittle 10- On It 08 - Adam Deacon 11- Bars Of Truth - NoLay 12- Who Are You - Chipmonk 13- Look What You Done - Lethal Bizzle 14- Kids - Goldie Locks 15- Grime Kid - Wiley 16- I Need Love - Plan B 17- Run Dry - Kerry- Anne Leatham 18- Reach - Skrein 19- Adamhood - Adam Deacon 20- Arms Wide Open - Shystie 21- Kidulthood To Adulthood - Bashy Our plan for audio in our film is to use a lot of our own made music. Dexx has made several tracks for us to use in our trailer.