Presenting Fish Tank Case Study

I analysed a British social realism film; 'Fish tank'.

Themes & Situations 

Violence - In the British social realism genre violence is a typical aspect that occurs within the lives of working class/underclass people who are living in rough urban areas. Throughout this film there are many situations where the theme of 'Violence' is clearly portrayed. There is evidence below.

The two shots above denote clear use of violence, This is displayed through Mia and a gang of girls getting into a physical and verbal fight. Mia Headbutts one of the girls in the gang which lead onto pushing and shoving and continued into an aggressive row. This portrays the people living in the area as corrupt and violent with no disciplinary from an adult figure.


Sex & Alcohol - In Fish tank there are many situations which display sex and alcohol. Alcohol is an ordinary substance within the household, we see Mia's mother constantly partying and getting drunk with her friends in front of her children without any guilt or remorse.

There are scenes which show the mother being extremely sexual and even having sexual intercourse, this portrays her as nothing more then a drunken sex symbol. 

Corruption of Youth - 

This theme is very distinctly denoted as there are various occasions where we see Mia's uneducated little sister using foul language against family members, Smoking and drinking; all three things which are extremely shocking and unpleasant. This sort of behaviour from children is normally very unusual and unpredictable considering that children are usually portrayed as well behaved,innocent and rarely be seen to have smuggled substances like cigarette and Alcohol.  

Dysfunctional Families-  The theme of 'Dysfunctional families' is clearly presented in this film. Almost throughout the whole film we see that Mia and her Mother do not get along at all, they are constantly arguing and screaming at each other. There are few scenes which display physical violence towards Mia from her Mother as she aggressively pushes and pinches her. The mother has no care what so ever on what her children are getting up to or what sort of danger they're facing on their day to day life. We are able to notice Brutal relationships from family members within the household, Connoting that their family function is broken and disruptive.

Representation (Stereotypes & archetypes) 

The stereotypes,archetypes and representation of characters are quite clearly presented in this film.

Mia (Main character)- Unlike the stereotypical representation of working class teenagers, Mia actually has an aspiration in life to become a dancer. She is represented as an unwealthy young girl living in poverty. This doesn't seem to get in the way of her dream to become a dancer, we are able to tell that she is an independent, determined teenager with an ambition to life rather then the typical teenage characters we would see in British social realist films.

Children - The children in Fish tank also follow the stereotypical behaviour of working class/underclass people living in gritty urban areas. They are represented as advanced and undisciplined little children as they act alot older then their actual age. This proves that they have learnt from the corrupt surroundings that they're living in. 

Mother - The Mother in Fish tank goes opposite to what is expected from a mother figure. The stereotypical representation of a Mother is Caring, Protective, loving and the dependable figure. In this film we see that Mia's mum is represented as Ignorant, immature and perhaps selfish as we see her neglecting her own children. It is shown that the children have a better relationship with the mothers boyfriend, this connotes that she is not ready to take her role in being a mother yet.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene appeared in Fish Tank is what we normally see in British social realist films.
Setting - It is set in a grimy urban area surrounded by council estates and local parks which are full of teenage gangs. The broken down gritty setting represents poverty and unwealthy people. We are also able to notice gypsy trailer parks and caravans. The gritty location of this film gives out a sense of realism and emphasizes the harsh living conditions of underclass people.

Costume- The costume worn by the characters in this film are rough everyday, clothing. It is stereotyped for teenagers living in urban areas to be dressed in basic clothing such as; hoodies and tracksuit bottoms. This basic dress sense again asserts the audience that these people are the underclass and less fortunate. 

Lighting - Natural/dark lighting is used almost all the way through the film which makes it more realistic and sort of emphasizes the fact that there is a lack of hope for people living in this area.

 Era - The Era is quite current and modern, we can tell this from the props that have been used such as

 Ipods and computers. We also notice that the girls are dancing to 'Cassie - Me & You' this song was instantly recognised by me as its quite current. The characters speak in heavy use of slang which is often what you hear from teenagers nowadays.

Music & sound effects

In Fish tank there's not much sound effects used, what we hear alot of is Diegetic sound. The Diegetic sound we are able to hear is Transport such as; trains, cars driving by and the chatter/screaming of children playing in the area. There is also use of sound perspective, we hear in the background sounds of dogs barking and teenagers having loud conversations which contain alot of swearing and slang. 

The use of sound makes the BSR film more truthful to the audience considering that what is shown is very often expected from council estates and urban areas like so. 

The music that they listen to in the scenes are usually; urban, R&B or rap for example; 'Eric B - Juice' and 'Cassie - Me and U'. All three genres are quite typically played in British social realist films as people living in Britain, mostly teenagers commonly listen to this type/genre of music. 

Camera work & Editing

As British social realist films; like Fish tank have a low budget they wont include as many edits as a Hollywood film, the camera work & Editing are seen to be quite basic throughout this film. The camera isn't as steady its quite shaky and hand-held which doesn't seem to make the flow of it smooth or continuous. A range of simple shots have been recognized throughout the film, for instance; Close ups, Mid-shots, long shots and establishing shots, which enables to introduce the location and characters to the audience quite well.

Dialogue
Like a typical British social realist film the dialogue we often hear in Fish tank is foul language, swearing and an awful use of slang. Offensive Language is used from everyone, including adults,teenagers and little children. This represents the people living in the area as corrupt, Rude, disrespectful and bad-mannered.
The theme; corruption of youth is clearly identified through the dialogue as we hear Mia's younger sister using an horrific amount of slang and swear words such as "Bitch." and "Mingin" also hear her talk in a very aggressive tone to her elder family members.

All characters speak in a chavy, informal way suggesting that they are ignorant, uneducated people living in rough conditions. This is a stereotypical representation of underclass people living in gritty estates as they usually are disruptive and don't really have any respect for one another.

Secondary research on Fish tank;

Institutional backgrounds - The film was written and directed by Andrea Arnold. The institution which produced Fish tank was co funded between BBC films and the UK film council. BBC films is a successful British company which has produced or co-produced some of the most favorable British films of recent years, Including; Street dance 3D, Billy Elliot and Alpha Papa. 

Target audience - The target audience is mainly aimed at teenagers and young adults in their early 20's. It will appeal to both Genders, males and females that are living in the UK. A niche set of audience will appeal to this film, people that may relate to the characters for instance; if theyre interested in violence and dancing.

Marketing Materials - Considering that the budget to this film was very low, the marketing strategies were quite straightforward and didn't have anything extraordinary about it. Fish tank was marketed through simple basic strategies such as posters which meant that it was only distributed in some of the cinemas within Britain. However the film was quite successful and has been nominated for various awards.

The typography and colours used on the posters were very effective and a great eye-stopper for the audience.