Fish Tank -

Conventions:

Social injustice (wealth and opportunity divide):
Within the film there is a running idea that these individuals have no escape from the 'fish tank' they are in, yet fill their lives with the idea of escapism and a better life.
This is represented in:

• The television programmes they watch (Cribs, Sweet Sixteen, music videos.)
• The song selection used within the film - Titles 'California Dreaming', this idea of escaping, the song is also linked to Connor whom Mia seems to find comfort in. 
• The wallpaper within the families lounge is of beach scene (the idea of 'paradise' ironically placed in the room of this flat).

Camera work:

Filmed in such a way that we see things how and when Mia sees then. We empathise with her and see things from her point of view.

This is shown in the use of:

• Shallow depth of Field - When the camera is looking out the window we see Mia and the metal spikes of the window in focus and the outside world out of focus, this represents her being trapped within where she is and the outside world being unknown and far away (not apart of her life).
• The camera being held at Mia's point of view/eye shot so we see things how she does - When Connor is cleaning the cut of her foot the camera flicks to Mia's eye shot and her placing her hand his should after hesitating, this shows her becoming vulnerable towards him.

GENRE: "TO WHAT EXTENT ARE YOUR CHOSEN TEXTS TYPICAL OF THEIR GENRE?"

The film Fish Tank is typical to that of the Social Realism genre and its conventions support this. One of these conventions is the idea of social injustice in which the character have no escape from place and lifestyle they live in yet fill their lives with the idea of escapism and a better life. This is represented in the scene where Mia enters her home and walks into her lounge; despite living in a run down council flat ironically the wallpaper in the living room is of a beach scene showing they have attempted to bring in the idea of paradise. 
Another convention typical to this genre which is conveyed in the film is the camera work and the use of a shallow depth of field when filming. When Mia is smelling Connor's aftershave on his neck the use of a shallow depth of field means Mia's face in focus on Connor who is further back is not, this is how the eye would see it and the camera techniques used reflect the realism of the film itself. The camera is not there to manipulate what we see and how we see it in other genres, everything is kept realistic so we feel involved and more understanding towards what is going on. 
The use of diegetic sound is also a typical to the genre in this way. In the scene where Mia is recording her dancing tape to send off to a dance group the music playing is seen coming from the speakers in the room. In many other film genres this music would be non-diegetic and added in via post production but because all the sounds and music in this text are diegetic we never loose the idea of realism. This is typical to Social Realism because the idea of escapism is not encourage as we are wanted to empathise with Mia's character.















How typical are your chosen texts of their genre?