Social Realist genre conventions

After looking at several social realist films such as Fish Tank, Kes and This is England, there are a running line of common conventions found in all of them.

• A vast majority of these films have been shot using handheld cameras, to give the films an almost documentary like feel to the reinforce the realism. These often include long cuts and a lack of 'flashy' editing, in order to make the audience forget they are watching a film.

• The use of unknown actors was also a common factor found throughout all of the example films, such as London to Brighton, Fish Tank and even This is England. The actors were used to reinforce the realism as they could be seen as just anybody in society, so the personal success wouldn't get in the way of the atmosphere. Upon reading certain texts about the directors, some only wrote a base script so the actors would have to improvise, so it would have a more realistic feel.

- Example of unknown actors -

• The use of sound if mostly diegetic as music is sparsely used and the real world sound is exaggerated. Music is still used, but mostly in very specific scenes, often to carry the emotion of a certain character to the audience.