Adeel Screen Grabs

Snap Analysis

I will be analyzing two different snap shots taken from our British social realist film: Brother. In this piece I will be identifying various elements which help portray the genre and feel to our film.

To begin with here is a snap taken of a long shot of Kasper played by Olly Merson. I believe this is a very powerful shot as it shows Kasper rising up the stairs in a black hoody, this automatically gives our character a sense of importance, as he is the only individual in the center of the shot. This shot conforms to the British social realist genre in many ways, for example we have chosen to give it a very cold and gloomy look through the use of using a blue filter this helps us set the mood of the scene- the mise en scene helps depict negativity. This can be seen by the characters dark clothing, this represents the character to the audience as a dark and isolated individual-this is also evident due to no one being within the environment where he usually is. The characters dressing sense also conforms to the stereotypical representation of South London Youths, this was done in order for a wide range of young audiences to relate to the character.

The shot was taken in Tulse Hill Station, London – this works well for the genre of our film as it is an area which is used by members of the public, it is not a high class area or glamorized in any manner therefore contributing to the realism for our film. Some of the locals can relate to such an environment and for those who are not familiar to this British environment this shot helps portray the real urban side of London.

Below is another shot of the same character, as he is walking through another train station. In comparison to the shot before it is evident that there is now more lighting - this is mainly due to the fact we want the audience to be aware of the environment as the next scene is going to be quite powerful and intense. The intensity of the following sequence is supported by some of the things portrayed in the mise en scene, for example, Ollie is yet again in an isolated area - the clock which is in the center of the shot, is within a red frame; the colour red itself has connotations of danger therefore warning the audience as well as symbolizing the arrival of something threatening. For this particular shot, what really conforms to the conventions of our film would be the isolation of this character - we have used a long shot to almost exaggerate the fact that he is so isolated in such a big train station