Style and Tone

Our film is going to be a social-realist style. Therefore, our atmosphere that we are attempting to create is one of harsh, gritty reality; there will be no glamorisation or dramatising of the issues that are being addressed in the film - i.e. dealing with the consequences of violence and loss.

We will do this by using a combination of diegetic and non-diegetic sound; some points will have a subtle soundtrack but there will be parts with the absence of a soundtrack with purely heightened diegetic sound in order for the reality to be brought to the forefront and focused on. This will build the intimacy and personal relationship between the audience and the characters.

We have been influenced by Fish Tank, a social realist film which follows the life of a teen girl. It bares to the audience the true relationships she has with her family, herself and the new people she meets in her life; nothing is glamourised, and this heightens the harsh verisimilitude. Frankie and I hope to achieve this tone with a combination of mis-en-scene to define the characters and their backgrounds, and a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create both tension and a more intimate, empathetic relationship with the characters.

For example, we have taken inspiration from the way Mia has been filmed walking through streets; even though there is no dialogue, we are able to see her emotions through her body language and stride. This is important as social realism relies on techniques such as emotion and camerawork rather than CGI and expensive sets/locations. 

The scenes shot in the street will be very dark as we will rely on the light from cars, shops and street lamps, giving the scene a dark orange tinge.

       Shutter island has influenced our opening as we are going to include a flashback. The lighting is similar, as the present is dark and bleak, whereas the flashback will be set in the light with the sun throwing golden light over the ethereal scene. 

We also used the golden-hour scene from The Virgin Suicides as inspiration for our flashback.

Our original interest in strong colour semiotics will be included in the second flashback, inspired from We Need To Talk About Kevin. The colour red will also be hinted at in the house, as the walls of the kitchen will, too, be red. This will give the flashback a stylised tone, connoting blood, danger and death.