Somers Town Analysis

This is a trailer for the film "Somers Town" directed by Shane Meadows. Meadows' films tend to all belong to the genre 'Social Realism' which is now my chosen genre. The film Somers Town seems to contain similar themes to my own storyline, so I've decided to analyse

the trailer for typical codes and conventions for this genre so that I can apply them in my own work.

I have taken several screen shots of from the trailer so that I can analyse the conventions.

This is one of the first shots shown in the trailer. Usually, films that belong to the social realism genre are shot by independent companies due to minimal budgets needed and they are never expected to feature well known actors/actresses. Trailers for films of this particular genre and budget aren't usually fast paced, action-packed like those of Hollywood films, therefore quite a lot of the time the trailers include awards that the film has been nominated for, or positive reviews of the film, in order to create interest.

Another element used within most trailers is the use of filters over the footage. The use of filters helps to create a particular mood to the trailer. Throughout the entirety of the trailer, there is a black and white filter over the footage which was most likely added during post-production. This filter creates a individual, original edge to the trailer as most films are colour.
I took a screenshot of this particular shot as I like the framing of it, with the character in the middle of the shot whilst people walked past (out of focus). The shots that Meadows produces are always well thought through, taking into consideration the framing, focus and composition of the shots. Within my own work, I will rely on the framing on my shots in order to create an artistic edge to my work, meaning it will follow the typical conventions of the social realism genre.
I took a screen shot of this particular shot because of yet again the brilliant framing of the character, and also the natural lighting used within it. Because of the small budgets used, natural lighting is almost always used in films of a social realism genre.