Analysis of Mise-en-scene in Fish Tank

I will be talking about 6 elements which make up mise-en-scene in 'Fish Tank'.  Each element creates a different atmosphere towards the audience, influencing how we feel at certain points of the film.

1. Settings
2. Costume/Props, Hair and make-up
3. Facial Expressions, Body Language
4. Lighting and Colour
5. Sound
6. Positioning of Characters/objects in the frame

                              

Setting

At 0:02, there is a wide shot of denoting the location that the film is set. The council estates are distant, from the near greenery that is the main focus in the shot, showing a barrier between the two different settings. This connotes that the characters in the film will be represented as chavy, underclass characters living in a run down, ghetto area. This already displays the social class theme of the film to the audience because of the lack of money they have to be living somewhere like that. 

Costume

At 0:16 there is a mid shot of denoting the costume of 3 girls, they are wearing tight, crop tops with their bodies on show, overly large hoop earrings and dancing inappropriately. This represents the characters as girls who have no respect for themselves, they like to show off how they look and dress underclass. This connotes them to be chavy girls who are on the street alot just dancing for attention. This displays the generic conventions of British Social Realism because the characters shown are usually everyday, underclass people and the girls are normally portrayed as not caring of what others think of them, just like these. 

Lighting

At 1:46 there is a close up on the girl laying down looking sad. The colour design in British Social Realism films is usually blue, to add a cold feel to the shot, but this shot uses red. This creates a sense of danger for the audience, the colour red is associated with danger, blood, lust, connoting the character this time to be the one in danger, she is just a young vulnerable girl who looks the weakest she has in the film yet even without saying anything, the colour makes us feel this way towards her.

Positioning of objects/characters

At 0:47 there is a shot denoting the young girl drinking from the tap, this connotes the characters are underclass with not a lot of money. Although, in this shot the foreground consists of bottles and cans of alcohol, so the audience's focus is immediately brought to this, connoting that a theme of the film is alcohol, which a lot of British Social Realisms consist of. The younger sister is also in the kitchen, connoting she is being brought up in an environment of alcoholics, the family is not a good role model for her, they drink away their problems instead of facing them

Facial Expression/Body Language

At 1:39 there is a shot denoting the girl being attacked by two guys, they are holding her in the air with anger in both their faces. This connotes that they are aggressive characters, and we see the clear archetype of the guys, they are bullies because they are taking advantage of someone firstly who is a female, much weaker, and much more vulnerable than them. We see the clear daily struggles this girl is facing and as an audience begin to feel empathy towards her.

Music

Music plays a huge part in this film, the music changes throughout in order to set the appropriate atmosphere to the audience. It starts off upbeat in order to grab the audience's attention and interest them in what is happening, half way through it slows down to a piano song, then as the action montage starts at 1:28, the music gets more upbeat and lively, for example when she is running, in order to make the audience on edge of what is happening. It sets the appropriate mood throughout and has a huge impact on the film which is very common in British Social Realism films.

How Will I apply Mise-en-Scene to my film?

In my British Social Realism film, I will use appropriate locations which relate to the genre for example council estates, parks, streets and alleys, aswell as Fish Tank, 'My Brother the Devil', this is an ongoing generic in BSR films as it displays the realism of the film to the characters, it feels much more genuine than if it was filmed on set.

I will use suitable lighting in my film, natural, so that again it feels more realistic for the audience to watch and sets the correct mood and atmosphere. In My Brother the Devil, the lighting is dark as the character is running down the road, although we can only see his feet, the low key lighting creates an eery atmosphere for the audience as we feel scared for the character without even having to see their facial expression, the lighting has a huge impact. I will bare this in mind when deciding when to use high or low key lighting throughout filming. In 'A Room for Romeo Brass' a blue colour design was used, I will use this in my work to create the cold feel that the colour creates, this expresses the negativity of the shots and storyline throughout. 

The actors in my film will be normal, unrecognised people who do not have a lot of experience with acting, it will also not be scripted throughout, some will be improvisation in order to come across much more natural and realistic to the audience. The costumes will consist of tracksuits to connote the underclass characters, in My Brother the Devil, the characters are wearing grey tracksuits, he also has a slit eyebrow, denoting the stereotypical 'gangster' look, I think this has a really effective view on the audience and influences how they feel towards the character.