Genre and the Social Realist Film

The British Social Realist genre, also known as the Kitchen Sink Drama, has been realised not only in film but also in television, theatre and literature. The Carry On films of the 1960s and 70s gave us the comedy of saucy end of the pier postcard view of Britain and Richard Curtis and Hugh Grant represented Britain as a middle class existence of endless parties, floppy hair and bumbling romantics; both are well loved, neither feel particularly like Britain.

Social Realist Films are an escape from the stereotyped caricature of Britain. They are distinctive both in their visual style and thematically. As a genre the films have evolved alongside a Britain which has changed and grown. They have the ability to make us cry, dispair and laugh - sometimes at a single character, sometimes in a single scene. Social Realist films have seen some of the most celebrated producers, directors and actors in Britain began their careers within the genre. It is for all these reasons that makes the exploration and analysis of Social Realism so interesting.

 

Research Investigation

As aforementioned, the Social Realist film is a genre which has a distinct look as well as unifying themes - this provides the opportunity to analyse films according to two different strands of Genre theory. Warren Buckland refers to these as a Descriptive approach and a Functional approach, Steve Neale describes them as Aesthetic criteria and Social/Cultural features. They both amount to the same thing and suggest that there is plenty of research into the nature of genre that can be considered and applied.

As Social Realist Films are often positively regarded by critics and academics, you may find that there are media studies and film studies text books or journals which include articals specifically about the genre. More likely you will find articles about specific films which you will need to adapt to your own needs.

The evolution of the Social Realist film also suggests that the concept of hybrid genre be looked at, but of course that will depend on which film text(s) you use as your case study...

...and this is where the real decision making lies.

Arguably Ken Loach is the key director to consider, his TV play Cathy Come Home is considered by many to be the text which kick started the genre and his feature film Kes is remembered of entirely conventional - indeed its style has been emulated by many British Filmmakers since. Just as praised, respected and treasured is diretor Mike Leigh - whose slightly more whimsical movies still have the wicked sting that we expect from the genre. And there are countless others, you may wish to choose from the following list...

• Danny Botle - Trainspotting
• Ken Loach - Kes or Looking for Eric
• Shane Meadows - 24/7 or A Room for Romeo Brass
• Noel Clarke - Adulthood
• Gary Oldman - Nil By mouth
• Mike Leigh - Life is Sweet or Secrets and Lies

Please note that you cannot choose to study Shane Meadows' This is England.

Which ever texts you choose, you will need to know them inside out - excellent knowledge in all areas of your chosen texts will be fundamental to succeeding in this essay.

Please label your research for this essay with your name and: Genre Social Realism

Media Product

You have two choices or you may wish to do a combination of the two. Either:

1. Write, direct and edit a trailer or opening sequence for a Social Realist Film (this can be done individually or in a group)
2. Create a DVD cover for a new Social Realist film and a review of it for a film magazine.

Option 1.

This will need to be planned meticulously - one thing about Social Realist films that you will have found in your research is that they often look unplanned and are sometimes improvised. Your aim is to create something that includes the conventions that you have explored in your essay. This doesn't just include a visual style but also the themes and functions of the genre.

Therefore you will have to write a script and storyboard your film - you must have actors that you can trust and who understand the vision of what you want your film to look like and the message you want it to carry. Even if improvisation is a convention of the genre, you won't be able to guarantee that your actors will get the ideas accross that you want to make explicit.

This has the potential to be a thought provoking and experimental piece of film making that will earn excellent marks - so long as it is done well.

If you don't plan it may look like an incoherent shambles.

Option 2

You will need to decide on the narrative, themes, actors, director, visual style and setting of a Social Realist film that will never get made!

Once you have decided on all of these factors and you know your (non)film inside out, you will create the DVD cover for it - the fron should be images and copy relevant to the movie and the back cover should have screen shots and a blurb about the plot.

You must also create a two page magazine review or interview with the director of this fake film which must explore the ideas that you have found in your essay which relate to Social Realist films but also looks and reads exactly like a film magazine such as Empire.

This is a slightly complex project which requires you to know exactly what the film's style and messages would be so that you can prove to the examiner that you have learned from your essay. But also show that you have the technical and creative skills to reproduce the style and content of a film magazine.

 

I have chosen this article because it talks how social realism and how it became apparent in in society. the writer of the article is Richard Armstrong, the article itself is talking about how social realism moves where first noticed in France and then was created in Britain before the war. It the goes on to talk about the development of British social realism films after the war and up until 2002.
The main points that the article is making is that British people found relief in social realism movies
 ''searching for relief from hard work, companionship, release from tension, emotional indulgence and, where they could find them, some reaffirmation of the values of humanity."- This making themselves feel more content about the social problems that where actually happening in their every day life. As well the article talks about how social realism movies know can be viewed for entertainment purposes, as he goes on to say that 'entertainment' plays at the multiplex. meaning that aspects may be added int the film only to please the audience. Armstrong also talked about how
''The 'quality film' mirrored a transforming wartime society''- so that the films would adapt to whatever social environment it finds itself in, with the quality of film improving with age.
He talks about how they ''challenging mainstream aesthetics and attitudes. Identified with their directors rather than with the industry, the New Wave films''- so that the films weren't sensored to what the mainstream industry wanted them to be, British social realism films would stay real. he goes on to say how there where ''wider social issues now explored via emotional and dramatic individual stories.''- films where starting to focus more on the person themselves that was effect by their own issues that some people could relate to, rather than a social issue.

Research

It is vital to remember that with this research topic you are expected to know as much as possible about the study of Genre as possible - not just the texts or the specific genre you are studying.

Therefore you need to find some academics that know a thing or two about it! This extract from Daniel Chandler on www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre is an excellent introduction and should be used to discover more about exactly how to study this academic area...

Samantha Lay's book is obviously a key piece of research as is Screen Online's brief history and assessment of the functions of the genre.

This book should also be of some substantial use...

British social realism from sssfcmedia

Social Realism BFI- ScreenOnline by Richard Armstrong

"In the years following World War 1, it was widely felt that the key to a national cinema lay in 'realism and restraint'."

"This view reflected the tastes of mainly south-eastern middle-class audience."

"Meanwhile, working class audiences, it was said favoured Hollywood genre movies."

"Realism carried patrician connotations of education and high seriousness."

Michael Balcon- "British industry's longstanding rivalry with Hollywood in terms of 'realism and tinsel'."

"smoothed away the tensions of the class-bound society in the depiction of factory life."

"Thanks to relaxation to censorship, characters had sex lives, money worries, social problems."

"The New Wav 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."

"Addressed the erosion of regional and class identities amid a landscape, rendered increasingly uniform by consumerism."

1960s- "Ken Loach and Mike Leigh assessed the impact of the consumer society on family life, charting the erosion of the welfare state ad the consensus that built it."

"A national cinema with a genuine and vital commitment to the way we live."

Samantha Lay- British Social Realism

Introduction

"The contention here is that social realism has been a major mode of expression in British screen culture that continues to this day." 

"Social realism as a concept cannot be understood in the British context without an understanding of the terms in which social realism texts have been discussed and how such texts are perceived by audiences, critics and film theorists."- Readings (preferred, negotiated, oppositional) Impact.

"Films should have a social purpose, and a moral force, rather than being merely entertaining or diverting."

"It is impossible to speak of social realist film-making in Britain without acknowledging the influence and importance of television."

1980's- "A resurgence of interest in social realism took place as a response to the harsh economic and social realities of life under the Thatcher administrations." - Personal Identification, sees an event/situation/section of society as a complete outsider- detaches audience allows them to be more objective and see the argument or message that the film promotes. 

1. Social Realism In The British Context 

"It is something of a catch-all term" 

"Social realist texts are described as 'gritty' and 'raw', offering a 'slice of life' or a view of 'life as it really is'." - Life as it really is to who?

"There is no universal, all- encompassing definition of realism, nor is there agreement amongst academics and film-makers as to its purpose and use."

"Many realisms all share an interest in presenting some aspects of life as its is lived."

Carroll (1996)- "should only be used with a prefix attached". 

"The addition of a prefix, such as social-, neo-, documentary-, specifies the 'what' and crucially, 'when' of that movement or moment."

"Realism is irrevocably tied to the specifics of time and place, or 'moment'."- ever-changing, prompts different responses. Situated culture, where they there? Alive at the time it is set?, Where they where born. Where they live.

Cultural experiences- Effected by the issue?, Class, political outlook.

"Truth has as many faces as there are eyes that see it." 

Zola- "Constructing exhaustively detailed descriptions of the worlds characters inhabited.... extending to character formulation, development and situations". - importance of of setting, and the need for it to be meticulous and correct. 

http://ojs.cf.ac.uk/index.php/newreadings/article/download/41/92

Andre Bazin- Film as a Social Documentary (2001) - "Realism should provide room enough for audiences to find their own realities."- readings etc.  

"Depth of shot and long takes would allow for this space to negotiate the realism of the text."

"There is not one, but several realisms. Each era looks for its own, that is to say the technique and the aesthetic which can best capture it."

"Hollywood films, for example, can be regarded as realistic in setting, characterisation, situation (they nave basis/reference/currency in the 'real world' they allude to), they are not necessarily realist texts." 

Branston and Stafford- "Intended to capture the experience of the actual event depicted."

"The film-maker has a specific argument or message to deliver about the social world."- Les Mis- could be considered social realist, musical?

 

Social Realism Coursework- Research

Social Realism: Art, Nationhood, and Politics by David Forrest

Introduction

"Films that reflect a range of social, environments and issues."

"Rejects the artifice and escapism of more classically orientated narrative models."

"There has been a tendency to view such films in the context of what they have to tell us about the issues and themes they invoke rather than what they say about their art."

"We are invited to read the films as we would approach a poem or a painting, as artefacts of social and artistic worth."

"There is no comparable compulsion in our own critical culture."- comparing New-wave in France 

and Neo- Realism in Italy to British Social Realism. 

"Place limits on a full and thorough consideration of its complexion and influence."- talking about pre-existing definitions of British Social Realism.

Julia Hallam & Margaret Marshment:

"Social realism is a discursive term used by film critics and reviewers to 

describe films that aim to show the effects of environmental factors on the 

development of character through depictions that emphasise the 

relationship between location and identity. Traditionally associated in 

Britain with a reformist or occasionally revolutionary politics that deemed 

adverse social circumstances could be changed by the introduction of more 

enlightened social policies or structural change in society, social realism 

tends to be associated with an observational style of camerawork that 

emphasises situations and events and an episodic narrative structure, 

creating ‘kitchen sink’ dramas and ‘gritty’ character studies of the 

underbelly of urban life."

 

He find it interesting because of, "The identification of the importance of "environment" in designating the Social Realist text." 

"British Filmmaking has encompassed an eclectic and persistently innovative school of creative figures, who have sought to interpret British society in an ever diversifying way." 

http://www.samiraahmed.co.uk/poor-cows-and-angry-young-men-50-years-of-kitchen-sink-drama/- Kitchen Sink dramas.

Social Realism: Art, Nationhood and Politics

Social Realism: Art, Nationhood and Politics

By David Forrest

"The broad term of social realism has come to represent numerous examples of films that reflect a range of social environments and issues, in a manner that rejects the artifice and escapism of more classically oriented narrative models."

"Social realism is a discursive term used by film critics and reviewers to describe films that aim to show the effects of environmental factors on the development of character through depictions that emphasise the relationship between location and identity."

"Traditionally associated in Britain with a reformist or occasionally revolutionary politics that deemed 
adverse social circumstances could be changed by the introduction of more enlightened social policies or structural change in society, social realism tends to be associated with an observational style of camerawork that emphasises situations and events and an episodic narrative structure, creating ‘kitchen sink’ dramas and ‘gritty’ character studies of the underbelly of urban life."

"Consider the critics’ highlighting of the importance of ‘showing’ how the aforementioned environment impacts upon its constituents,"

"The words ‘gritty’ and ‘raw’ tend to embrace both the thematic elements of the films – which often confront the troublesome relationship between deprived environmental conditions and human psychology – and the ‘no frills’ style in which they are made. "

"The art film deals with issues of individual identity, often with a sexual dimension, and aspires to an overt psychological complexity."

"the presentation of locational verisimilitude. Social realism is visually defined by its commitment to 
framing the lives of the ‘real’, within their ‘real’ environment. "

Social Realism and Representations of the Working Class (This Is England)

Social Realism and Representations of the Working Class

This Is England

"Shane Meadow‟s film-making is as consistent as that of Loach, filmed on a 

low-budget, with the use of a mixture of professional actors and local people, 
and the use of a chronological shooting style." Local people add to the sense of realism throughout the film through the use of accent and dialect. It has been shot in chronological order to make it seem more realistic.

"On the other hand, when Shaun receives the flag, he without realization accepts the principles that Combo represents: the far right politics of the National Front and a hatred of immigrants."

"By ending the film in this way This Is England echoes an earlier sensational film on teenager lives, Quadrophrenia (Franc Roddam, 1979) when Jimmy (Phil Daniels) was disappointed and abandoned 
his mod‟s members, running along the seaside cliff on his scooter, and drops it off the cliff."

"The symbol of his youth, rebellion and friendship crushes on the ground, as Shaun‟s flag sinks in the water."

"last shot presents the strength he has gained through the whole summer experience. This contrast 
between the two scenes exquisitely depicts the personal growth of Shaun, from a boy; into a man."

"Meadows mentions that his first impressions of Thomas Turgoose and his family background where especially similar to those of Shaun; since Thomas‟s parents are separated and he is living with his mother."

"In This Is England, although the subject matter of racism and violence during the 1980s is quite bold, Meadows manages to capture a „contemplated‟ version of the story, through the eye of an eleven year old boy."

"The film places itself in 1983 through the use of media footage of the time."

"The film places itself in 1983 through the use of media footage of the time. In the opening scenes, Meadows shows iconic footage from the 80s such as a Rubik cube, Margaret Thatcher playing a computer game; the fashions of the 1980s and most importantly, Falkland‟s War footage."

"Throughout the film, Meadows uses the music that represent the 80s music scene, such as 
Toots & The Maytals, The Specials, and U.K. Subs, to further embed the film in 1983. This footage and music not only brings a certain reality to the film, it also creates a nostalgic tone which alongside the, lustrous colour and excellent editing by Chris Wyatt‟ amplify‟ the fantasy"

"Meadow‟s film-making style, embedded in the ordinary lives of the people of his locality, clearly aligns his works within the social realist tradition. "

"Finally, This is England depicts the socio-political condition of the 80s and skinhead culture, 
merging fantasy and reality by use of historic media references which are placed alongside the subjective viewpoint of its teenage protagonist."

Quadrophenia:Jimmy vs. World by Howard Hampton

Quadrophenia: Jimmy vs. World 

By Howard Hampton

The article was written by Howard Hampton and was published on the criterion's website. This is  credible source as they are a company who are releasing older "high-brow" films to make them accessible to a newer younger audience.

Hampton compares Quadrophenia to Martin Scorcese's Mean Streets (1973) as it shares it's "dedication to emotional veracity, but it's midsixties streets are meaner, more inhospitable" this shows British Social Realism films to have more veracity and closer to real life than other genres.

"Pete Townshend hit on the catchy idea of doubling Jimmy's schizophrenia making it 'quadrophenia'" This shows the film deals with very real themes and topics. 

"Jimmy isn't presented as a cool audience surrogate, a heroic rebel; there's a built-in detatchment to his gradual, o-so-awkward disintegration" Example of social realism films showing 'real' people as their protagonist and not the traditional hollywood hero.

"Played with gawky, monophonic intensity by Phil Daniels, he's a twitchy and inarticulate regular lad with no visable drive, no Dean/De Niro charisma"

" In a public bathhouse - a sign of how cramped and decrepit life in Britain remained twenty years after the war." Shows the film portrays a very realistic look at British life at the time.

" By the time that the movie was made, the mods had been succeeded by several waves of British subcultures. Those prophets of alienation included, to name the most visible, hippies, skinheads, headbangers, glitter kids, and, by 1979, punks."

"Everyday mods like Jimmy, with their parkas, pasty, acne-mapped faces, and high strung clumsiness." Shows social realism films' protagonists as being average working class people with everyday problems.

"The last-shot-first nature of quadrophenia makes Jimmy's story seem like a loop he's destined to repeat."

British Social Realism :From Documentary to Brit-Grit by Samantha Lay

British Social Realism : From Documentary to Brit-Grit 

By Samantha Lay 

The book talks about the tradition of social realism films in Britain and it explores it's comtemporary forms which are more of a hybrid. Lay examines the movements, moments and cycles of British social realist texts.

Samantha Lay describes a classic realist text as being "defined as one in which there is a hierarchy amongst the discourses which compose the text and this hierarchy is defined in terms of an empirical notion of truth." (p. 30)

She highlights that realist films usually have a working man as a protagonist and she says "I am proud that i played some part in the recognition that the working man was a fit subject for drama , and not just a comic foil in a play on middle-class manners." (p.68)

"The creative interpretation of actuality should suggest an exciting, endlessly intriguing use of the cinema; and yet it must be admitted that the overtones of the term are not immediately attractive. (p.58)

"Issues relate to the different social problems portrayed in these films, which were topical around the time of a given film's production and which provided some cause for national, social concern. (p.13)

"In British Social Realism, some of the prevalent and recurring themes include the demise of the traditional working class." (p.14)

 "Social realist texts generally focus on characters one would not generally find in mainstream films." (p.14)

"Social realist texts also work towards extending the representations in art and popular culture of previously under-represented, marginalised or subordinate groups, and deal with issues and problems that mainstream cinema has shied away from or avoided." (p.20)

"The narrative structures of mainstream texts tend to work in a linear or cause-and-effect way, with the action motivated by a central protagonist" (p.20)

"By contrast, the narrative structures of social realist texts tend to operate cyclically or episodically" (p.21) Quadrophenia opens with the end, appears to be a cyclical problem.

"Many films and television dramas seem to have shifted their attention to children of the working class." (p.108)

"british social realist texts have increasingly not only incorporated the experiences of working class children into their narratives, but have also made them the central protagonist." (p.109)

"In order to understand British film-making of this period and the renewed interest in social realism in the 1980's, it is crucial to understand the social, political and economic climates." (p.81)

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL+REALISM+AND+REPRESENTATION+OF+THE+WORKING+CLASS+IN+CONTEMPORARY+BRITISH+CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1

https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/files/17977380/Working_class_Realism001.pdf

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3FxUnFFNpAIC&pg=PA274&dq=claire+monk&hl=en&ei=sn-9Tp6lAYWc8gOGqcmbBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=claire%20monk&f=false

BFI Screen Online - Social Realism by Richard Armstrong

Social Realism by Richard Armstrong

This article was published on BFI screen online's website by Richard Armstrong. I thought this particular article was interesting and useful as it contained a lot of the history about the genre as well as putting it in context to world cinema.

The article proceeds to talk about the genre in chronological order by starting with films such as "Rescued By The Rover" (1905) to "After The War"(1902) all the way to more modern films such as Ken Loach's "Sweet Sixteen" (2002)

Armstrong believes that British Social Realism is "characterised by stoicism and verisimilitude" and that it combines the "objective temper and aesthetics of the documentary movement with the stars and resources of studio filmmaking."

This article uses a quote from a historian, Roger Manvell, who said that after the war "the cinemas reopened, the public flooded in, searching for relief from hard work, companionship, release from tension, emotional indulgence and, where they could find them, some reaffirmation of the values of humanity." The Social Realism films of that time, "Millions Like Us" (1943) and "This Happy Breed" (1944) offered the public this.

Armstrong addresses the "relaxation of censorship" around 1960 and he suggests this was a huge factor in the success of social realism films being able to portray as close to real life as possible. He said as a result of this "characters had sex lives, money worries, social problems. Auteurs could deal with prostitution, abortion, homosexuality, alienation and relationship problems." These all aided the genre to portray a greater sense of "verisimilitude."

Armstrong begins to discuss "The New Wave" which was a sub-genre of social realism. He identifies one of the key themes of this genre being "issues around masculinity" and that the majority of these film'a "protagonists was usually a working-class male without bearings in a society which traditional industries and the cultures that went with them were in decline." To support this argument he uses "High Hopes" (1988) and "The Full Monty"(1997)

Research Post: A

A

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL+REALISM+AND+REPRESENTATION+OF+THE+WORKING+CLASS+IN+CONTEMPORARY+BRITISH+CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1

A1 "The concept of 'social realism' is rather complex, since although it is not 

something like genre, which has collective characteristics on style and mode of
narrative, it has been treated as one."



A2 "With a specific subject (working class lives), filmic treatment (naturalism), political orientation (leftist) and iconography (industrial city, council estates etc.), these characteristics hold a range of films together under the name of social realism" (USED)

C

C

Media Magazine

Article Written By: Richard Benn was formerly Head of Media Studies and Film at the British School in Brussels. He is now teaching at Silverdale School, Sheffield.

This article first appeared in MediaMagazine 18.

Ken Loach - 5 reasons to study:

C1 "In Riff-Raff (1991) set in London, we are shown the London of squats and building sites rather than the more usual heritage and high culture"

C2 "With Ken Loach we get representations of places in Britain which we have never seen on screens before"

Heading 1: P3

C3 "While the mise-en-scène in Ken Loach's films often features deprived living spaces and estates, he also uses the British countryside in symbolic ways"

Heading 1: P4

C4 "Not just the where but the who of Loach's representations sets him apart from other film makers. He focuses not just on what we might call the 'working class', but the underclass - people who are rarely represented on the big screen and certainly not with such generosity - the unemployed, single mothers and bullied school children."

Heading 1: P5

C5"Loach is showing us that there are no easy fixes to the difficult and deep-rooted problems that afflict us; and that those problems still exist after we leave the cinema." 

Heading 2: P3

D

D

BFI ScreenOnline

Social Realism

D1 "The most 'typically British' of all film genres" (USED)

D2 "Better than any other genre, social realism has shown us to ourselves, pushing the boundaries in the effort to put the experiences of real Britons on the screen, and shaping our ideas of what British cinema can be." (USED)

D3 "Target for Tonight (1941), In Which We Serve (1942), Millions Like Us (1943) and This Happy Breed (1944) smoothed away the tensions of a class-bound society in the depiction of factory life, the suburban street, the forces' mess. Historian 

D4 "Looking back, Loach's work seems to reflect the shift from the collectivist mood of the war years to the individualism of the postwar decades in its very form. Loach's films went from the improvised long-take naturalism of Poor Cow and Kes (both 1969) to the 'social melodrama' of Raining Stones (1993) and Ladybird Ladybird (1994), wider social issues now explored via emotional and dramatic individual stories."

D5 "Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet (1990),Naked (1993) and Secrets and Lies (1996). In these films, Leigh examined the fractures in domestic and social life wrought by divisive Thatcherite policies in an increasingly fragmented and multicultural Britain. If the New Wave short-sightedly blamed women for the blighting of British manhood, women in Loach and Leigh are often complex and powerful individuals.

D6 "If the New Wave short-sightedly blamed women for the blighting of British manhood, women in Loach and Leigh are often complex and powerful individuals" (USED)

D7 Britain's contribution to cinema in the 1930s lay in a state-sponsored documentary tradition that would feed into the 1940s mainstream."

Ken Loach (1936-)

• 
  

Mike Leigh (1943-)

D8 "Although Leigh has been accused of patronising his characters and encouraging the audience to look down and snigger at their antics, most of them, despite their eccentricities, are ordinary individuals courageously struggling with limited resources to confront life's problems."

• 
  

Links to read for genre social realism:

1.  http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/1037898/


2.  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=QdN0mhkEmK4C&pg=PA111&lpg=PA111&dq=conventions+of+social+realism+film&source=bl&ots=8zawBveB2S&sig=DaqFET1HpMwMohFx2Y_BriSYOTc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CFQQ6AEwB2oVChMIpbrOjeOTxgIV4hfbCh1t4ACQ#v=onepage&q=conventions%20of%20social%20realism%20film&f=false


3.  http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/intgenre/intgenre1.html


4.  https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/media-magazine/articles/16246

Realism and Representation of Working Class in British Cinema:

Film Studies De Montfort University 2010

Make notes on chapter 1 and chapter 2

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL+REALISM+AND+REPRESENTATION+OF+THE+WORKING+CLASS+IN+CONTEMPORARY+BRITISH+CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1

Codes and conventions of British social realism movies:

• Location shooting (NOT IN STUDIO)
• Wide shot
• Non-professional actors (semi-professional) 
• Semi improvised scripts
• Humour AND seriousness
• The erosion of regional identities 
• Wider social issues explored via emotional and dramatic individual stories
• Triumph over adversity 

British Social Realism powerpoint:

http://www.slideshare.net/tinkertaylor1981/british-social-realism-3986811

https://www.dora.dmu.ac.uk/bitstream/handle/2086/4720/SOCIAL+REALISM+AND+REPRESENTATION+OF+THE+WORKING+CLASS+IN+CONTEMPORARY+BRITISH+CINEMA.pdf?sequence=1

Genre Essay

To what extent is your chosen text typical of its genre?

This is England is typical of a social realist film as it involves certain conventions that are typical of the social realism genre. For example, the locations used in social realist films are rarely sets that are built for that purpose, they are more likely to be real locations such as council estates and the like. This adds to the films sense of realism as locations used are seen everyday by the British people who will be familiar with it and therefore enforces the 'realism'. This Is England features many shots on council estates, Shaun's house for example is on a council estate. This also adds to the cramped shots when it is filmed indoors. This works in This is England's favour for the most part. The scene in which Combo makes his 'This is England' speech is filmed in his cramped flat which gives the shots a more menacing look as he makes his speech and further emphasises the discomfort of the scene to watch as a viewer. This is emphasised by the point of view shots that are used from the perspective of Woody's gang who are sat low to the floor looking up at Combo.
The non-professional actors used are also a common convention of a social realist film, Shaun is played by Thomas Turgoose for example and this is his debut in acting of any kind. This enhances the realism as he is not an experienced actor and will only be able to act based on his own initiative and with help from the director.
Themes are vital to a social realist film, This is England tackles themes such as masculinity, racism, poverty and independence. As the film follows Shaun's summer holidays we initially see his lack of male role models as his father has died in the Falklands and he has no friends. Woody takes him under his wing and Shaun now has a 'big brother' type to look up to. Racism stems entirely from Combo in this movie. Before his arrival the film features no racist comments or remarks of any kind. Poverty is an underlying theme in this movie, Shaun's lack of a change of clothes in the beginning of the movie illustrates this. Independence is what Shaun is heading towards throughout the movie and is finally illustrated in his discard of the St George of England flag at the end of the feature.
The iconography of the movie must be correct in a social realist film as it must be as authentic as possible, therefore key signifiers of the time it is set must be visible. As this movie is set in the 80's we see iconic objects of the time, the way the skinheads dress for example is one of the most iconic things most people would remember from the 80's therefore their distinctive style must be exact. This is England does look authentic in it's style, from the cars seen in the movie to the shirts worn by the actors.