Research and Planning: Codes and Conventions

In order to produce a trailer for a social realist film, the narrative for the overall film has to be pre-determined. The aims of social realism is to present a realistic representation of society and they often focus on highlighting a current social issue or problem. Therefore a specific issue has to be decided on so that we have a narrative to base our film on.These could include:

• Teenage pregnancy
• Drug abuse
• Crime and deviance
• Gang culture
• Cyber bullying
• Social networking
• Homelessness
• Alcoholism

It is also important to analyse and research the codes and conventions of the specific genre so that our film trailer will be easily recognised as a social realist film.
The cinematic techniques are ways in which the specific genre can be created. These include:

• Cinematography (inc. shots, angles, styles etc.)
• Mise-en-Scene (inc. locations, costumes, lighting etc.)
• Editing (inc. composition of shots, transitions, graphics etc.)
• Sound (inc. dialogue, soundtrack, ambient)