Nil by mouth

Nil by Mouth is a 1997 British social realism film portraying a family of characters living in South East London. It was Gary Oldman's debut as a writer and directorThe title is a medical instruction meaning that a patient must not take food or water.

Tyrannosaur

Tyrannosaur is a 2011 BAFTA award winning British social realism film written and directed by Paddy Considine, his first feature film.
The film depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a council estate in the Midlands. The film's title is a metaphor, the meaning of which is revealed in the film.
Plot
"Joseph, an unemployed widower, plagued by violence and a rage that is driving him to self-destruction, undergoes a life change after killing his dog in a fit of rage. Desperate to change his ways and get out of his unpleasant past and surroundings, he earns a chance of redemption when by chance he becomes close to local charity shop worker Hannah, a respectable wholesome and kindly Christian woman who takes pity on him, and they become close friends. However Hannah has a dark secret of her own which threatens to plunge Joseph back into his former life."












We chose to look at the Tyrannosaur poster because we felt it subverted codes and conventions of a social realism film. The poster is unusual and original, it contains the skeleton of a dinosaur which works in harmony with the title of the film, however it does not signify a social realism film nor a drama. This intrigued us as a group and helped us to choose our final poster as our poster did not fit the codes and conventions of a social realism either. This is because we used a lot of nature and did not signify working class, poverty or urbanised areas. To look at the poster closely it is clear that there are urban houses in the background, however from a distance the poster, without the skeleton, almost looks like a horror poster as the man standing between the towering trees seems to be holding a weapon, however he is really holding a bunch of flowers. The poster is chilling, cold because of its sepia tone and seemingly tense, however the layered effect of the poster that gradually draws the eye down through the menacing trees to the small yet vivid man down through the undergrowth to the skeleton is somewhat beautiful. The idea that something horrific lies beneath is strongly connoted and the use of flowers that could be mistaken for a weapon ignites the idea of the boundaries between what is good and bad. This poster is powerful and original, we want to create a similar feel but perhaps not so haunting.

Certification

An 18 for This is England? This is an outrage

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) had decided to give This is England  an 18 certificate for its use of "realistic violence and racist language". 
Shane Meadows wrote in outrage against the decision to certify his film an 18: By having one piece of violence and one piece of really acute verbal violence I've managed to get an 18 certificate, whereas someone else can slay thousands of people in a single film and that's OK. To be honest I don't understand it because, yes, the film is affecting but I think it's something that someone of 15 can cope with. It's not like it's a film about the 80s that has no value; it's incredibly relevant politically. It's as much about Iraq as it is about the Falklands. It's as much as about England in 2007 as it is about England in1983. We learnt from this that social realisms need to be accessible to a wider audience as they relate to so many people and making This is England an 18 restricted the audience and wiped out a demographic that the film was targeted at.

The BBFC certified this British social realism film a 15. Their given reason for certifying 15 to The Kid was as follows:

The frequency of the strong language in the film went beyond what is permitted by the BBFC's Guidelines at '12A'/'12' and required the '15' category at which the 'frequent use of strong language (for example, 'fuck')' is allowed. The film also contains a scene in which a jumble of words and pictures are seen scrawled on a wall which reflect the state of mind of the lead character and this includes an example of very strong language. No particular attention is drawn to the word and its isolated appearance met with the allowance of the Guidelines at '15' which state that 'the strongest terms (for example, 'cunt') may be acceptable if justified by the context'.

The strong violence in the film occurs in two distinct contexts. Firstly, there are scenes of domestic violence as the lead character's parents fight with each other and child abuse where the boy is seen being beaten by his mother. Although these scenes are harrowing they are presented with a lack of detail and were permitted at '15' since they do not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury beyond the point at which the circumstances of the boy's terrible home life are established. Strong violence with bloody injury also features in sequences when the lead character is an adult and has become involved in illegal bare-knuckle fighting contests, but the violence is once again delivered without detail that invites the audience to take pleasure in the pain and injury being caused.
The film also contains scenes of alcohol and prescription drug misuse, as well as scenes of moderate sexual activity.

After looking at the guidelines for a 15 certificate on the BBFC webstie, it is clear that our film is to be certified 15. This is because our film will include frequent strong language but the use of the strongest lanquage will not be used excessively and repetively in an agressive tone. The film also includes mild domestic abuse which includes some violence however it is justified and no sadistic or sexulised violence will be shown in our film and no strong gore will be evident.