social realism.

Fish tank is a 2009 british social realist film writen and directed by Andrea Arnold. the film adheres to the social realist genre in a number of ways. in the section of the narrative where we see Mia in bed and her mum shouting her we get a close up of her asleep and as her mum enters the room the film cuts to an over shoulder shot for us to see what she does; this being a technical convention of socialrealism. there is also a close  up shot of a cd cover which reads 'An England Story' which adds a sense of realism as we see what music she listens too and also a glimpse at her situation and struggle. the film then cuts to her walking down the stairs where she talks to the social worker who wants to get her into a special school; her mum also wants her to go but doesnt adress the matter lightly and she ends up making sarcastic remarks to mia. this shows us that the family is dysfunctional, also when the worker asks about another daughter there is no mention of a father telling the audience that it is also a broken home. at the point where mia runs out the door we then see the movement from the camera as it follows her; the hand held camera effect allows the veiwer to empathisewith mia and feel more part of the situation as the camera acts as our eyes when filming her in shallow focus and mia's eyes when we get a close up pov shot of whatever she is looking at. for example in the narrative when she looks at the window to read something, the film instantly cuts to a pov close up of the dance audition flyer which she is reading. the lighting in the shot is plain and natural, and not overly lit; doing this, the film conforms to yet more convention.