primary research
- primary research -
social realism cinema with Jules Becker
On Friday the 29th I spoke to Jules Becker, the community leader and Co-coordinator of film studies at The Beacon School. He is an expert in social realism dramas and cinema which is why i wanted to speak to him to get a better understanding of the sub-genre and how it has impacted the world of cinema.
By having a better understanding of the subgenre it will help me create a more nuanced and realistic experience for my characters and the audience.
I wanted to gain as much information out of this interview as possible and Jules certainly delivered. He gave a timeline of the very first social realism film, a French film about factory workers (unknown title) (c. 1930) which paved the road for the social realism films that we know today such as I, Daniel Blake (dir. Ken Loach, 2016) and Saturday Night Sunday Morning (dir. Karel Reisz, 1960).
We then went into discussions about the cinematic and technical conventions within the social realism drama. Starting with Cinematic we discussed Todorov's equilibrium (the idea of equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium) and how it's almost never applied in this genre. The whole point of social realism is that it's meant to show the nitty-gritty of society, the working class struggles of people who've been done dirty by a rigged system. There's no room for 'equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium' in social realism. At best what you may get is disequilibrium, equilibrium, disequilibrium and then the unknown of our character's fate.
Most films will carry two motivations. A theme and issues. A theme may be the Wall Street Crash of 1929, while issues will be the repercussions of the theme so poverty, starvation, alcoholism etc. and Catalyst has a similar set-up. Jules helped me break down Catalyst to find the key themes that stuck out.
Incarceration vs Liberation
Both Calvin and Chester suffer from crippling incarceration with the desire for liberation. Chester is facing incarceration over this saviours complex that's been placed upon him due to the death of his parents, he has the desire for liberation and freedom from the said complex. Calvin is facing the incarceration that her addiction and Chester are putting her under and has the desire for the liberation that being free from both Chester and the drugs will give her.
We also went into a discussion about the ending that I had in mind. Originally, Calvin was going to leave and we were going to hold on Chester sitting on the stairs with the keys in his hands however Jules had some things to say about it. He said that if we are to start on Calvin then for cinematic and storytelling satisfaction then we should also end on Calvin. That got me thinking about how I could adapt the ending to still have the emotion however end on Calvin. After discussing this with Jules we came up with an ending that meant we follow Calvin as she walks away from the house.
Transcription
Refined Notes:
Social realism is as close to documentary you can get without it being docu-drama
Implement similar techniques such as long shots, close-ups, handheld.
Todorov's equilibrium is seldom reached in social realism. I can utilise this in the ending.
Social realism films will have a theme and an issue. The theme for Catalyst is incarceration v liberation (which affects both characters) and the issues are grief, drug abuse, abandonment.
Chester and Calvin both have wants and needs which will help them be set free from the shackles of trauma. In the film Calvin wants to get the final word with Chester; in the bigger picture what she needs is personal security and an understanding of who is, or wants to be. In the film Chester wants to get Calvin to admit that she is sick; in the bigger picture, what he needs absolution from the savior complex given to him.
My post-interview thoughts
Jules Becker post interview thoughts.MOVsURVEYS AND FORMS
In this section of my research I created a google form and shared it amongst my year and friends on social media.
It consisted of a simple four question quiz that would help me gauge what people enjoy about dramas and what is the important element of a drama in terms of plot, characters, and their favourite dramas. This would be helpful as I would be able to breakdown what i need to include in my script and production to create a pleasing and interesting film for my audience.
The responses
It should be noted that this quiz was taken exclusively by my followers on Instagram as well as my FMP strand. This would mainly be a demographic of young adults (between the ages of 15 and 25). They are equal parts male/female (potentially a slight majority of females) and are all based in the United Kingdom.
Out of the thirteen people that took the poll, twelve voted in favour of dramas as oppose to one not in favour. It was not surprising to see a landslide majority for dramas as they're gripping and can be a great escape for people. This will be helpful as i can gauge a good audience relative to the age and gender of the participants of the form. It will also inform me of how many people enjoy dramas as oppose to other genres so I can focus on the conventions of the genre.
This was rather surprising. It wasn't too far off an even split between the three however characters came in with a majority at 46.2% over 30.8% for plot and only 23.1% for high stakes action. It's a surprise as I was expecting a landslide majority for plot with Characters and high stakes action trailing behind it however no option actually took a majority of 50% or over.
This is going to be useful to me as I know what to focus on. Character. This luckily won't be too difficult for me as I've had so much time with the characters that with each draft and rewrite I certainly feel as if they've become richer and more nuanced. For example, I can give Calvin a drug addiction or Chester an obsessive-compulsive personality if I like, but now they have the nuance and complexity to answer the question of why they developed these crutches and disorders. This will also aid in drawing the attention of the audience as the complexity of the characters will surely grab their attention.
The results showed that most people believe dramas should be realistic, but only marginally. Agree held a majority of only 53.8% compared to disagree with 46.2%. This was a surprise, I was expecting a landslide majority on either side. I asked this question to gauge an understanding of the kind of dramas people were most interested in. Realistic or unrealistic ones.
From this research, I can understand that most people are interested in realistic dramas that follow a situation that could occur in real life.