Conventions of social realism:
- Use of unknown actors - this supports the genre as the actors could have been anyone before the film.
- Location - tends to stick to council estates and run down areas of different cities, as these are places that are stereotypically worse off, but sometimes the film can be set in a nice neighbourhood.
- Age - the age of the actors in most films are young teens and adults from 13-20. This brings in a wide audience, as young actors appeal to a younger audience (for example, Billy Elliot is an all round family feel good film), and the films that have more mature content, such as drugs and swearing (like Trainspotting) appeals to a young adult audience between 18-30.
- Content - centres around the issues of the current day, such as inequality between class and race, drugs and money problems.
History of Social Realism
After World War 1, people felt that the key to cinema was through realism, and though the middle classed south eastern people agreed with this, most of the working/lower class favoured Hollywood style films. Therefore, early realism films reflected the higher education and seriousness of the middle class.
In the 1930s, state sponsored documentary film making began to appear and rise,interest in realism grew as these real events and issues were things that could get funding easily. Then, in the 1940s, these state funded documentary films fed into the mainstream. The combination of the documentary movement, the stars, and the resources of studio film making helped make the British cinema appeal to a mass audience. World War 2 was the main event occurring in society at that point and was reflected in the social realism films - they portrayed a transforming society, a new outlook and women doing 'mans work'.
With the 1950s came the 'free cinema' documentary movement, created by the likes of Lindsay Anderson, Karel Reisz and Tony Richardson. Films were free from the box office demands, as they were made without the help of the film industry, instead often self funded or with small experimental film grants. These films rejected the traditional conservative British cinema and also the documentary making style of the post war. They focused on realist portrayals, and constraints in technology defined their style - 16mm short shots of no more than 22 seconds and were hand held.
The 1960s saw the hippies and the 'new wave' movement, evolving from the Free Cinema and documentary style, but with a fictional plot. It showed the difficulties and conflict in the working class lives, rather than the higher educated middle and upper classes, often known as kitchen skink dramas. There was a relaxation of censorship, and this allowed representations of characters to be even more realistic, as they were able to have sex lives and talk about issues such as abortion, money problems and drugs. It would mainly follow a male protagonist who feels alienated in a society where traditional industry and culture are in decline. It challenged mainstream cinema aesthetics and addressed issues around the social classes and masculinity. The New Wave movement later defined British social realism into what it is today.
In 1982, Film Four Productions produced their first film, Walter, directed by Stephen Frears, and later, in 2006, the company was christened Film4 Productions. It attempted to cultivate a cinema audience for the genre by funding the British Realsim Cinema. Many realist films were made in the 1980s and showed what it was like to live in the Thatcher Years. 'Films on Four' My Beautiful Laundrette and Letter to Brezhnev (both 1985) show what life was like living on the edges of society, whilst trying to stake a claim in the new order of things.
Today, social realism is raw and harsh, and is seen as Britain's main style of film, and what Britain is famous for. Americans prefer the generic Hollywood types with happy endings or over simplified emotions. In comparison, British realism is hard hitting and reflect current issues. They often tell stories of the multicultural working class, who are considered the underdogs of today's society. They often have to face the usual, everyday problems of the working class, racism and stigma.
After World War 1, people felt that the key to cinema was through realism, and though the middle classed south eastern people agreed with this, most of the working/lower class favoured Hollywood style films. Therefore, early realism films reflected the higher education and seriousness of the middle class.
In the 1930s, state sponsored documentary film making began to appear and rise,interest in realism grew as these real events and issues were things that could get funding easily. Then, in the 1940s, these state funded documentary films fed into the mainstream. The combination of the documentary movement, the stars, and the resources of studio film making helped make the British cinema appeal to a mass audience. World War 2 was the main event occurring in society at that point and was reflected in the social realism films - they portrayed a transforming society, a new outlook and women doing 'mans work'.
The 1960s saw the hippies and the 'new wave' movement, evolving from the Free Cinema and documentary style, but with a fictional plot. It showed the difficulties and conflict in the working class lives, rather than the higher educated middle and upper classes, often known as kitchen skink dramas. There was a relaxation of censorship, and this allowed representations of characters to be even more realistic, as they were able to have sex lives and talk about issues such as abortion, money problems and drugs. It would mainly follow a male protagonist who feels alienated in a society where traditional industry and culture are in decline. It challenged mainstream cinema aesthetics and addressed issues around the social classes and masculinity. The New Wave movement later defined British social realism into what it is today.
Today, social realism is raw and harsh, and is seen as Britain's main style of film, and what Britain is famous for. Americans prefer the generic Hollywood types with happy endings or over simplified emotions. In comparison, British realism is hard hitting and reflect current issues. They often tell stories of the multicultural working class, who are considered the underdogs of today's society. They often have to face the usual, everyday problems of the working class, racism and stigma.
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