To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre?- Fish Tank

To what extent are you chosen text typical of their genre? - Fish Tank

My chosen text is is fish tank and is typical of its social realism genre through its use of hand held camera positioning, this creates a sense of empathy by putting the audience into the characters position. the use of the camera bouncing, whilst the character is moving, creates the illusion that we are with the character as the camera moves the way the audiences eyes move. this is justified through the scene where Mia has just discovered Connor has gone, due to the fact that they had sex the night before, and she runs out of her home going after him. the camera follows her from behind, viewing her from the back as if we were following her. It creates the feeling that we are with her on her journey, we are looking through her eyes.

moreover the use of the technical code of the shallow depth field creates a sense that the character is mimicing the human eye, this is also to create empathy and give the audience a sense of realism. this is demonstrated when Mia has discovered where Connor is and confronts him outside of his real home. the fact the houses are blurred behind them and they are in focus makes the audience feel they are there viewing the conversation live. The fact the characters in film are not famous actors, and some not even real actors (Mia), also give the audience more belief that this plot is a harsh, gritty reality because they are known to be in the fictional films.

Diegetic sound is used constantly throughout the film, this is typical of the social realism genre as the director want the audience to hear exactly what the character does as we embark on their journey with them. it makes the plot serious and believable to be true as the sounds are actually with in the picture of the scene. an example of this would be at the beginning when we are first introduced to Mia and she is walking down the street, we are greeted with the sound of traffic and her breathing. However an element that goes against the convention in a particular scene is the scenes of the diegetic sounds of breathing and the technical code of slow motion. this creates a sense of fantasy and dream. an example of this would when Connor carries Mia on his back after she cuts her ankle, the shot slows down and there is an emphasis on breathing. This also creates the idea that Mia lusts after Connor reminding us that she is still an innocent young, niave girl. In addition to this it could be creating an enigma code for their sex scene later on into the text.