Fish Tank Analysis

Analysing Fish Tank

Summary

Fish Tank is a social realist film about a girl called Mia who lives on an estate with her tarty mother and rude little sister. She is thrown out of school and is waiting for admission for referrals but till then she has a weird relationship with Connor, her mothers boyfriend, who encourages her dance interest.

 

Below I have analysed fish tank by making points that I believe keep up with the conventions of social realism.

Mise - En - Scene

The main location is the block of flats, in a city, which conveys its a social drama. Moreover we associate flats with being a dangerous, loud and chavy environment. Also shows the working class people's way of living.

The lighting is all natural and varies from low to high key lighting, this in turn creates a dramatics and moody effect. No special effects are used, emphasising that they had a small budget.

Mia's costume consists of a grey tracksuit, gold jewellery and old trainers. This signifies to the audience that she is chavy and cheap. She wears this though out the whole film, connoting she is poor, dirty and is incapable of looking after herself.

In my film I would use the location of the council estates as it adds to the preferred reading I would like to give off, which is a rough, poor and troubled environment.

 

Editing

There is not much use of continuity techniques, instead it consists of lots of cuts. This emphasises the bluntness of social drama's. Cuts are used when she is being tormented by the boys. The cuts are fast paced, keeping up with the action and as an audience keeps us assertive and interested.

In addition shot reverse shot is used when the mother and Mia are dancing. This shows the relationship between the two and connotes they are getting along and having a special moment. Moreover SRS normally tells us who is dominant and this judged by the amount of talking time a character gets but in this case it goes against the normal conventions as they are both silent, therefore causing the audience to sympathise with them and cherish the moment.

I would use the idea of lots of cuts and less continuity because its emphasises the roughness of the situation and really grabs the aspect of harsh reality.

Sound

There is not any non diegetic sounds, they are mostly diegetic. For instance ambient sounds of kids playing and birds can be heard in the background, therefore adding verisimilitude to the atmosphere.

There are many tracks played. Me and You by Cassie is played when the group of girls are dancing to it. It's a very modern and urban song that people would recognise.

In addition, in the last scene a song by Naz is played. He is rapper that went through life's struggles and it is shows through his lyrics, ' life's a b**ch and then you die, that's why we get high'. A parallel can be drawn to Mia and her family and how they are trying to survive the daily grind.

I would use popular urban music that my mostly young audience would recognise ( U & G) as its entertaining and gains interest. Moreover some songs can really help explain situations.

Dialogue

Taylor uses foul language. She uses words like ' butters', 'bitch' and ' tramp'. These are negative and very rude. Her lack of proper vocabulary connotes how she is uneducated girl, living in poverty and is not cared for.

Mia also uses phrases such as ' your such a d**k' and ' let's get wasted'. This connotes how she is trouble maker. Moreover, she is underage and results to drinking to have fun.

Mia also says 'Lemme borrow a fiver' to Connor. This connotes how she lives in poverty and is financially restricted and her mum does not care enough to give her money. Moreover, she tries to keep her pride by saying she'll 'borrow it', suggesting she does not want to seem weak and worthless.

I would make sure the characters use foul language as it just makes the film more realistic and true.

Camera

Most of the film is filmed in handheld. For instance when Mia is dancing in the empty flat, the camera follows her movements in a shaky and jerky manner. It connotes she has lots of energy. Moreover is makes the audience feel confused.

A high angle is used when Mia is offered a drink by Connor. Connor is emphasised as the authoritative figure who has power of Mia, who is weak and venerable. This scene deals with underage drinking and what's worse, the adult encourages it.

I would film a lot in handheld as its more exciting and conventional. Moreover it gains interest from audience to be more assertive and keep up, as it may cause disorientation and confusion.

Themes and Situations

The themes below are sensitive subjects and is very typical of social realist films to have because they are rough, gritty and are unvarnished pictures of the daily struggles that some British people have to face.

Corruption of youth: Mia's sister smokes and drinks alcohol. There is underage sex. Also breaking of the law.

Violence: Mia head butt's girl

Dysfunctional  Family: There is no family unity. There is no love and care within the family. Everyone does there own thing and is out of control. Eg. Swearing at each other. The poverty, social housing and single parenting families are foregrounded as audiences voyeuristically see the grim realism of South Essex 'chav' culture unfold.

I would include taboo topics like underage sex as a theme, as its conventional of social realist drama's and its something that happens in the real world, so no escapism.

Representations

Mia's mother is supposed to be caring, loving and responsible. However she is stereotypically portrayed as a single mother, who has finical problems, can't look after her kids etc. This is clearly shows when she throws inappropriate parties and swears at her kids.

Mia acts and dresses like a typical chav. She is very violent and is a troublemaker. She head butts a girl and breaks the law by stealing and breaking into a house.

Connor cheats on his family with Mia's mother and Mia. He reps rents the dominant ideology that men are desperate, can't be faithful and a sexually driven. We see this when he has sexual intercourse and seems to be leading a double life.

I would use stereotypical representations such as single mother stereotype, as people can relate more and it gets them thinking and questioning. Also it may challenge dominant ideologies.

Secondary Research into Fish Tank

Institutional background

Its and independent film. the writer and director is Andrea Arnold. The film was partly funded by BBC Films. It was produced by Kasander films. Additional funding came from the UK Film Council where the prints and advertsing funds cost £70,000, the new new media fund cost £644,000 and the develeopment fund cost £20,000. In addition, the film was distributed by Artifical Eye and had a very limited distribution budget, meaning it was realsed to 40 screens.

The film had a budget of $3 million and made $2,357,852 at the box office.

The film was nomiated for Palm D'Or at Cannes 2009. It won the jury Prize at Cannes. It also won the 2010 BAFTA, best british film.


Audience

'Fish Tank' is produced by Film 4 Production which straight away tells us that this film is targeted to a British Active audience. The audience that will watch this film be educated and understand the themes and situations that have been raised within 'Fish Tank'. The certificate for this film is 15. The reason it is 15 is because of the themes and situations that have been developed in the film, are aimed towards teenagers from the age of 15. British people would find it easier to understand the issues that have been raised within the film compared to people from other countries who may consider British teenagers to be very gritty and dirty. The film is specifically aimed towards females, due to the fact that the main character within 'Fish Tank', Mia is a female. Most of the issues that have been raised in this film are mainly got to do with females, so 'Fish Tank' audience in my opinion is British females. 

 

Marketing strategy

In the Fish Tank trailer and posters etc they put up all their achievements, in order to attract the audience interest and establish their success and that its a good film.

The trailer was released on YouTube and the film was available on DVD and Bluray from places such as Amazon and Lovefilms.com. Due to the budget of the film, the market strategy was basic meaning, only things such as the films trailer could be shown through YouTube. This trailer has only been uploaded onto YouTube as it is free.