Deconstruction of Locations

In this blog post, I will deconstruct locations commonly used in British social realist films. As this is our chosen genre, we aim to conform to the codes and conventions as much as possible so as to appeal to the target audience, as this will consist of people who are fans of social realist films. Therefore, they will be familiar with the locations used and would expect something similar.

The first thing I have discovered is that social realist films are filmed on location, rather than in a studio. This is done so as to add to the realism in the film, as it makes it seem more true to real life, and is a technique that is typical of the documentary style. One example of this is Fishtanks, which was filmed on a real council estate.

The location in which a British social realist film is set affects the regional identity portrayed. Appropriate accents/language are used, and the issues addressed are often specific to the setting. This is evident in the film Yasmin. The location further emphasises how the narrative portrays a national community that is united.

Conventionally, social realist films use urban settings, such as a council estate or industrial cities. They aim to demonstrate how environmental factors affect the development of characters through portrayals that depict the relationship between identity and location.

Evaluation
From this deconstruction, we have discovered the types of locations we could potentially use for our teaser trailer. The moral panic we aim to discuss is eating disorders, and so we should aim to use locations which convey how the environment affects the development of our protagonist and her growing obsession with her body image. One such technique we aim to employ is the use of social media, as this is a major media platform that propagates stereotypes and reinforces the societal pressures forced upon teenage girls daily.