Fish tank case study

Themes and situations

Leaflet Mia finds about dance- Aspiration and escape

Throughout the film there is a running theme of aspiration and escape as in this movie the protagonist, Mia, watches dances on YouTube and then copies their dance moves and also she dances by herself to train. Dance is her main passion and to show this in the movie it shows her picking up a leaflet about dancing. 

Mia also watches people dance around the city and she is clearly not accepted as they bully her and she is not accepted into their group. 

Mia drinking beer- Corruption of youth

Another theme in this movie is corruption of youth. This can also be seen as a major running theme throughout. This theme being shown starts by showing us a 8 year old girl smoking a cigarette with her friend whilst her older sister allows it. This is clearly a good example of the youth being corrupted because she is way under age to be smoking cigarettes. Also the protagonist is portraying a 15 year old and in the second half of the film she is seen drinking beer and getting drunk which she is not supposed to do as once again she is under aged. Also the last thing that shows the major corruption of youth through this is that Mia has sex with a man that is twice her age. She is under the legal age to have sex and the fact that she did shows that everything is out of the ordinary for her youth. This is the typical theme for a BSR films most BSR films revolve around the protagonist being a young adult or a teenager. 

Sex scene between Connor and Mia- Sex

As Mia is seen having sex with another man sex could also be a theme throughout the film but sex doesn't only occur once in this film. One scene involves Mia spying on her mum and sees her fully undressed having sex with her boyfriend. This could suggest a theme in this film.

2 brothers beating Mia up- Violence

Violence is a theme that runs throughout the film. There are various types of violence in this film, such as domestic abuse as the mum hits her. This adds realism to the movie; most BSR's contain violence because of the location. This is set in the urban area if the gritty side of London. The violence is normally done by the hoodlums in these films. This is shown in the picture above.

Mia stealing money from wallet- Poverty

Mia lives in a council estate which is very cramped up and small. In every corner there is dirt and every door hinge is rusted. This shows the clear significance of poverty. In the picture above Mia is stealing money of a middle class man showing she is desperate for the money as she does not get enough being in poverty. The outside world is very dirty as well as if no one cares about the environment and they do not abide by the laws and rules.

I can use these themes in my film becuase these are typical BSR themes and using these themes would mean my film has the potential to be successful if i conform to the conventions of that theme.

Stereotypes and archetypes

Mia practicing her dance

In this Mia subverts the stereotype of all teenagers living in an urban gritty area should be criminals that have no ambition in life. She subverts it because Mia actually has ambition and she wishes to succeed in life in dance. This is a different aspect of a teenager that the audience looks at which keeps it interesting for the audience as it doesn't conform to the general stereotype.

Mum physically hitting and pushing Mia

The mother is another character in this movie that subverts from the typical stereotypes. Mothers are generally seen as caring passionate ladies that would do anything for their children. In this movie the mother is seen to be uncaring, rude and neglecting her own children. However she is also an ambiguous character as,at some points, she does fit the stereotypes of a mother as she shows a interest in her daughter's life.

Tyler and friend smoking cigarettes

In most BSR films all the main characters are seen to be living in bad conditions as it is taken place in the gritty part of  London. Due to this location it is shown that these characters tend to break the rules of society a lot. This is stereotypical in this film as you can see these two girls have broken the rules of society by smoking cigarettes even though she is underage. This is stereotypical of BSR films as they do normally show characters not conforming to society.

Brothers beating up Mia

These two boys that are abusing the protagonist can bee seen as the archetype of Bullies. But depending on point of view they can also be seen as a pair of goofballs. This is due to the fact that they are being violent towards Mia and the audience can see this from Mia's facial expression and how she is reacting to this situation. The fact that boys are smiling and laughing during this scene shows they are taking it as a joke suggests they are goofballs as well.




I definitely will use this in my film. I will try and subvert a lot of the stereotypes to keep it interesting but i liked the fact that in this film the mother was ambiguous so i may use that in my film. This will keep the audience intrigued.

Mise-en-scene

Characters wearing more or less the same clothing

The clothing in this film is pretty much the same clothing as every other person in this film with the exception of one character. This shows a lot about the location and about the type of people that live there. It shows that these people are not very rich and are working class as they cannot afford other clothes. Also as most of the characters are wearing the same thing it shows that most people in that area are not very rich. It shows that it is not only the protagonist but all other characters are the same. 

Mia plugging in speakers to her CD player

The movie is set in a modern era and you can tell this by some of the equipment that Mia owns. The picture on the left shows that she owns portable speakers so this shows that this film was set in the modern day. As well as this the music being played such as Cassie and the clothes being worn such as their trainers are all very modern which makes it relatable to the audience and it appeals to the target audience of teens and young adults.

Red bus on the street

You can tell the location of this movie by just seeing the red buses. The UK are known for red buses so you can tell that this movie was shot in Britain. Also another thing you can see that connotes that this was shot in Britain is the registration numbers on cars. Britain has a unique registration number layout. These are two things you can see in this movie and the buses are seen in other scenes as well. There is an island in the middle of the road to. The yellow thing with a blue circle up top with a white arrow in it. This is unique to Britain as well.

Lighting all over is natural lighting

In the majority of this movie everything is pretty much natural lighting. A lot of this movie is shot outside or in a place where light shines through windows. The natural lighting gives a sense of realism to the audience and helps them relate to the environment and the everyday life. This is common in BSR films because these types of films are made to help the audience relate to the film and most importantly they need to make it as real as possible.

Some of the set where the movie was shot

The set is important to the audience because it gives them a fell of where this is all located and it gives them an idea of who lives there. This set represents underclass people who do not earn a lot of money. It also gives the audience a bit of insight to the gritty parts of London. Even this is another thing that adds realism to the film and it makes us feel more for the characters knowing where they come from and what they are surrounded by.



I like the fact that they added red buses to mkae it known that it is set in London. I think i will use that idea in my movie and i need to establish the era which can be very simple as all needs to be done is dressed right and have the right technology. Mise-en-scene is probably the easiest thing i can incoporate into my movie.

Music & sound effects

This song plays a significant role in the film as it is the favourite song of character Connor and this influences Mia to do her dance performance on this song. A lot of the music played in this film is diegetic which is good because it adds to the authenticity of this film. If the audience knows that the music being played is also heard by the characters in the movie then it gives the audience more depth into who these characters actually are and what they are into. Another thing is all the music being played is rhythmic and upbeat. This plays nicely as the protagonist wishes to dance in this film so all this music being played is mostly by her as she is looking at dancing. There is also modern music such as Cassie which gives us a sense of the era. 

Background noise of trees and insects

There are some scenes where foley sounds are added on top such as the scene shown on the right; this scene has the foley sounds of insects and trees in the background. The director really wanted to emphasize the naturalism of this scene. It helps the audience know the environment better. There also is another scene taken at Connor's workplace where in the background you can hear the sounds of trucks and cars. This all adds to the atmosphere. It doesn't just isolate the characters, they make sure all these sounds are there specifically so these characters are not isolated. 

All this sound, be it diegetic music or foley/ambient sounds, adds the realism and the atmosphere to each and every as they are supposed to. It gives an audience a insight into the characters and also the environment. 

The diegetic sound adds realism but i think i can make it more dramatic by adding some non-diegetic sounds ovder the top. I do not like the fact that everything is diegetic but i do like that they used foley sounds to create atmosphere so i may use that. 

Camerawork & editing

For the camera work there is a lot of long takes. A edit occurs around every 10-15 seconds. The fact that there are long takes add to the drama a lot more as it makes you watch that one scene for that period of time. If there was a lot of fast paced cuts then we would forget the previous scene instantly. This way you can take in the characters and the environment as well as process it and keep it in your head because at the end it all adds up and makes it an enjoyable experience for the viewer. 

(13:08-13:28)- this scene is an example of a long take as it occurs for around 20 seconds. The editor had the chance to put cuts everywhere in this scene but putting a lot of cuts will take away all the realism of the scene. It would make it into more of an action film and it would look to clean. What i mean by clean is the majority of the time the camera work is not static and 'clean'. There is a lot of bounce and this makes it almost seem as if it was handheld. This definitely adds more atmosphere and authenticity to the film as if someone were watching this whole girl's life and videoing it. Also these long cuts use a lot of tracking as it follows the character around.

When cuts are used they can be very abrupt. Most of the time it is to do with a location change. It skips the whole journey and cuts straight to the location she was going to. This is effective as it keeps interesting and different as it doesn't make the scenes flow one after the other which can convey the feelings of that character that maybe she is frustrated. Also the long takes can get tedious at times so these abrupt cuts keep it engrossing. 

Two shot showing their relationship

A lot of two shots are also used between these two characters which is good because it shows us their relationship over the course of the film. Some scenes would show them very close and some would show them far. This camera shot really captures this.

Close up of hand

Close up of foot

As well as all these camera shots and slow edits there is also some cuts used to actually convey emotion. The camera does not always focus on facial expressions. It also looks at body language. These two scenes can just tell you the feeling of the character just by looking at her foot and arm and what is happening. This shows how effective close ups can be and how these edits are used effectively. To make this more powerful camera shots and frequent cuts like this are rare in the movie. 

I will use long takes in my production but i do not like abrupt cuts because it just doesn't flow. I will make my one flow but i will have long takes and i will use a variety of camera language in it such as the close ups to convey more emotion that the face cannot show. 

Dialogue

The dialogue used in this film is very informal by every character. The most formal anyone talks is most probably Connor. A lot of swearing is used and slang which portrays that they are uneducated and most likely living in the urban gritty areas of London which it is; meaning the way of talking emphasizes this. Also their dialects are from London showing where they are from. Also the fact that the mother swears in front of her young child shows that their way of talking is socially accepted in that area and everyone brought up in that sort of environment will turn out like this. A lot of the time the mode of address used is very aggressive and this is helpful to the audience as it lets us know what she actually is feeling. This is common in BSR films.

"Mia: I'm leaving then.

Joanne: [dances] This is one of your CDs.

Mia: Yeah. It's Nas.

Joanne: Yeah, it's great.

Mia: You can keep it.

Joanne: Well, go on then. Fuck off."

This is one of the quotes from the movie and it shows how in any situation, whether it's a good situation or bad, they still use vulgar language. This backs up the point of them being uneducated. Also it shows they are from a working class background and the fact that the mother is saying it emphasizes how much she subverts from a stereotypical mother.

"Mia: What are you looking for?

Billy: A Volvo 940.

Mia: What's it look like?

Billy: Like a Volvo 940.

Mia: Cor! Clever Dick!"

This quote connotes the attitude of the characters and it shows that they are still quite immature in a way making stupid comments to one another. This represents the characters well to be in their teens as teenagers are the ones who use sarcasm most often. Also again the use of foul language is there even though the context she uses it in is a humorous manner. This backs up the point of the characters being uneducated. 

"Mia: Keeley, it's me. What's going on? I've left like three messages. I said sorry, didn't I? You know what I'm like. I was pissed of. Ring me back, you bitch."

This quote connotes the fact that Mia is rude and doesn't know any better as she is trying to apologize to a friend yet at the end she calls her using a swear word which doesn't help her situation with her.

Institutional background

There are 5 companies that produced this film. These companies are:

BBC films

UK film council

Limelight communication

Content film

Kasander film company

The main production company in this is BBC films and UK film council. These two are British production companies. BBC have produced films such as 'Ill Manors', 'Billy Elliot' and  'Shifty'. BBC have many upcoming productions in future years but at the moment they have produced up to 237 films. They produce 7-8 films per year which is very similar to Film4 which is the institution for my film. 

The UK film council have produced films such as 'Woman in Black' and 'The kings speech'. These two companies work in collaboration a lot such as the movie 'My week with Marilyn'.  The UK film council have produced up to 225 films so far. The UK film council actually funded this film. 

Target audience

I would say the target audience for this film is teenagers to young adults so i would say 16-30. This is reasonable as the film is certified at a 15. Also this is targeted at more of the female side. I say this because the protagonist is a female and dance is stereo-typically associated with females but i would say it is aimed at 60% females and 40% males. This film would interest the people that are interested in dance and interested in seeing what life is like on the gritty side. This helps them relate making it more interesting for them. Also this film is targeted at people living in the UK as this film is a British film and also it is targeted at white and black people. 

Marketing materials

This film can be found on numerous websites such as Play.com and Amazon. These are mainstream websites so anyone and a lot of people can see this. You can buy this movie in different formats. In DVD and Blu Ray. Also being on these websites gives it a wider audience range. There are also posters that contain short one sentence reviews from companies and how many stars they have given it out of 5. This may influence people to watch it due to these reviews.