BSR Evaluation // Part 1 (How I Met The Brief)

Our task was to create a British Social Realism film aimed at 16-24 year olds. We had to create the first two minutes providing a clear sense of graphical, editing and musical style. We also had to conform to the conventions of the Social Realist genre and meet audience expectations. To keep costs low, all of our work had to be original with the exception of stock sound effects. 

I believe we have met this brief well our film targeting teens and young adults predominantly. We conformed to the conventions of this genre and the conventions of an opening sequence, we used non-proffessional actors adding to the realism of the film and we included wide shots showing the location which in our film is an alley way. This connotes a rough area, which are commonly the main focus of British Social Realism films. We filmed in real life locations and used natural lighting to add to the realism of the film. The location may be recognisable to some, but it is set in a non-particularly wealthy area that our target audience should be able to relate too, as our protagonist comes from a similar background. Our opening also introduces themes/ideologies. It introduces the theme of corruption of youth, through the rape scenes and Becca taking the pregnancy test as this is not something 15 year olds should have to deal with. Our opening also introduces the theme of self-harm and unwanted pregnancy. These themes act as an enigma in our opening as it leaves the audience wondering what will happen next: "Will she keep the baby?" and "Will she take her own life?" are some questions the audience might have after watching our opening. Another technical aspect we conformed too is handheld camera shots which creates a more realistic filming style like a documentary. Our characters are wearing clothing fashionable, amongst the youth today making the era accurate and recognisable. The only non-diegetic sound used is our music which conforms to the BSR genre as we do not use SFX. Our diegetic sound consists of dialogue, which is very minimal, which is an example of conforming to the conventions of an opening sequence. The dialogue heard has swear words which show our audience aggression. The accent shows the audience Regional Identity which is South/South-East London. 

Our film is titled "Positive" which forecasts part of the storyline to our audience. It refers to a positive pregnancy test being the result of Becca's rape and also her trying to focus on being positive about the pregnancy as it will change her life forever. The opening hints at her negative thoughts as she considers self harm and our film will look at people trying to tear her down causing her negative, suicidal thoughts to build up. She has no one can turn to, her best friend turning against her and her struggling to tell her single father, the weak but aggressive man, who happens to be extremely strict. (which will be seen later on the film). 

More of the storyline can be seen in my Treatment here: 
http://emilybeatriceshah.blogspot.co.uk/2014/11/treatment-and-narrative-structure.html 

Our film explores common themes featured in BSR films. The rape being an example of sexual abuse/violence which is first introduced at 0:44, the shot denoting Becca being dragged round the corner of the alley way.

It also shows a corruption of youth as the act results in pregnancy. Becca is 15 years old and not of the legal age to have sex, so her innocence is taken away from her through the rape and her own youth corrupted by the cause of a baby. British Social Realism films tend to look at what is ignored in society, which is why we targeted rape and unwanted pregnancy. Pregnancy among teenagers nowadays has become expected and today's youth is blamed, as if in every situation they were careless. We wanted to show how some things people have no control over, how some things are not someone's fault but they have to face the consequences. 

Corruption of Youth is shown in "Fish Tank", in the scene of the girl having sex with the older man. It is shown differently in our film, as it was not through choice the act occurred, yet how it still tainted Becca's youth and innocence. 

Our film also explores mental illness, through Becca being depressed after finding about the baby. The theme is introduced through a snippet of her considering self harm in our opening. This is first introduced at 1:24, where it cuts to flashbacks of the alley way and back to the bathroom where she starts reaching for the scissors. Mental illness is a common theme in BSR as it is used to discriminate against and define individuals. This links with the element of bullying later in our film, how individual differences are used against people. Mental Illness is shown in "The Selfish Giant" where Arbor has ADHD. His mental illness is shown quite clearly through his outbursts of anger, which contrasts ours as it will be shown much more subtly, as it is Becca's first time feeling this way. This had to be done for our film to be certificate 15 according to BBFC rules, stating we cannot show self harming in a way it can be copied. However our film has similarities as Swifty is the only one keeping Arbor strong, later in our film Becca finds someone who keeps her sane and prevents her from taking her own life.