This week I researched more into my commissioner, Film 4's background and ethos. I have found that they are behind a lot of the funding for many British films and have supported many social realist films in the past. They tend not to produce films suitable for family audiences, they prefer more controversial and sensitive film topic ideas. This means they have developed a reputation for producing British social realist films as well as many other genres. The films they invest in tend to show the true hardships of a lower class life in Britain, how people can be discriminated because of social class and sometimes the rebellion against the mundane life they live. They also look at political views and topics like race and sexuality and deal with them in quite an extreme, graphic way. I have learnt that they spend lots of money and time in supporting independent directors to offer a platform to the British film industry. They try and invest £500,000 per film at a rate of 20 films a year. Film 4 have produced some really successful films that have gone on to win awards even if they had relatively low budgets. This means I need to ensure that my opening sequence conveys a serious topic, such as domestic abuse or drug experimentation in a new, unique, innovative way. I feel my film idea has to be truthful as the film ideas they tend to produce come from true events or a way of life, even if I portray it in an extreme way.
I also learnt more about sound in British Social Realism. Sound is really important in films as it helps the audience navigate and understand the text. It also creates a mood and atmosphere and tells the audience what feelings they should be experiencing. British Social Realism films would usually mainly use diegetic sound and not use many sound effects as they would want it to be as realistic as possible. I also found out that Foley sound is not often used in social realist films as it takes away from the realism. Foley sound is a naturally occurring sound but it needs to be re-recorded. It is usually used to enhance believability as it makes the sound match more to what is on the screen. It is not used in British Social Realism films because they would want the footage to be raw, so it makes it much more realistic for the audience. I also learnt about mode of address, which is the way the text speaks to the audience and it includes the way the language is used by the characters. In British Social Realism films, the mode of address may help us identify regional identity through accents or age group perhaps through slang. Also, in social realist films the dialogue is delivered all at once, because the actors tend to work around an improvised script making it much more suitable for this type of film as it is more realistic. I also learnt about non-diegetic sound for example sound bridges. Sound Bridges can be used in British Social Realism films as they bridge the sound on two separate shots and link them together. The two separate shots are usually at two different locations or time periods so is effective way of moving the story along. However another example of non-diegetic sound is a sound motif. A sound motif is when a character has a piece of music that the audience would always relate to them, which wouldn't be suitable for a realist film and is much more common in superhero films. Another example of non-diegetic sound is a voice-over, which again like sound bridges has been used in realist films before. Voice-overs could even be considered diegetic sound in some cases, for example listening to a character's thoughts.
Example of Foley Sound:
Example of Sound Bridge:
This will impact my opening sequence as I need to consider what types of sound I will use in my production. For example, the music I will use while the opening credits are on the screen needs to relate to my film idea in some way but not be to repetitive or overpowering for the audience. I will also need to think about what regional identity I am trying to portray and make sure that the mode of address matches this.
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