Fish Tank genre analysis.

How stereotypical is my chosen text to its genre?

The scene i will be analysing is shortly after Conner takes the family to the pond. the scene is when a woman comes to the house to tell Mia about a school that she has been accepted in to, but Mia doesn't want to talk so she runs out of the house and gos to a internet cafe where she watches videos of dancers. as she goes to leave she is confronted be some girls from a previous scene, and she meets them with hostility. 

The social realism genre often contains long editing, this is shone is fish tank when Mia is in bed, there is nearly 27 seconds of her just lying there. this is used it the social realism genre to make the film scheme more real, it shoes how slow pace life really is.

Another thing that is often in the genre is over the camera shots, to show life from the point of view of someone, often the main protagonist. this is scene in fish take when carrie is talking to Mia about the school. You see carrie and the living room over mias shoulder. this is used it the social realism genre so that you see the world through the persons eyes, and it helps you to gain empathy as you see everything from the is point of view.  

social realism genre conventions

Character roles
The protagonist is usually a typical working class hero, who strives for a better life, better than the one which they have is the beginning of the film.

Usually a non-nuclear, often dysfunctional or broken family.

Representation- it is widely agreed by critics of the genre that social realism has represented females is a negative light. often representing them as dependant on men.


Narrative themes 
Social realism films represent real life and its difficulties.

The narrative follows the lives of niche underrepresented groups of people usually through headship, struggle or social injustice.

The narrative themes are ones that are typically under discussed and are either not or not entirely expected in society.

Typical narrative themes include issues such as the so called underclass, underage pregnancy, phedophilia, depression homosexuality and abortion.


Technical conventions
-Digetic sound
-Shallow depth of field
-hand held camera work
-Natural lighting
-Point of View (pov)
-linear narrative
-Closeups
-simple cuts

Mise en scene & Iconography
-real unvarnished, typical working class locations
-factories, council houses, terraced streets or other traditional locations
-alcohol, drugs cigarettes
graffiti filled run down locations
so called working class fashions that connotate certain subcultures and stereotypes

Genre conventions of Film Noir

film noir was a popular genre in the 1940's and 50's. after world war 2 and during the cold war. because of this the main protagonists are often damaged, eater physically or mentally like the men would have been after they had fort in the war.

Film noir conventions catégories.

character roles 
femme fetal
cynical protagonists
corrupt power

mis-en scene and iconography
dark side walks

narrative themes
mis-trust
paranoia
melancholy
bleakness and depression
1950s politics
effects of waiting for cold war
consequences of war

technical conventions and codes
high contrast lighting
low key lighting
voice overs
shadows cast by venetian blinds
non-linier narrative
first person voice overs

Most texts today mix genres, how true is this of your 3 main texts? (30 marks)

District 9

District 9 is a typical post modern film, because it mixes genres, the film uses both sci-fi and documentary style conventions.

One convention of the sic-fi genre is having an underlying meaning, District 9 is actually about the apartheid, and how black and white people where separated.

an example of the in the film, is a short sequence of editing where it shows shots of wikus and two of his co-workers, the scene quickly cuts between wikus in one frame on his own, and another with the other two, in a back and forth conversations. This references the apartheid because it is showing that wikis is in power, because he has had a promotion, so is in charge of the others, and they also call him "boss" and he has the shot on his own this clearly shows he is the powerful one and more important. also both of his workers are black, and they get the shot together, which shows that although there where more black people, the white population has more power. 

Another theme that is commonly scene in sic-fi films is corrupt covenants, and the powerful corrupt characters are usually stereotypicaly middel aged, white males.    

science fiction conventions.

body horror 

corrupt governments