Social Realism Analysis of ‘Half nelson’
The four technical elements within film have all been considered in the production of the film Half Nelson. The four elements are: Economical, Cultural, Regulatory and Technological.
From studying the first five minutes of the film Half Nelson, I feel it fits the social realism genre because it contains real life events. For example, the film is based around the main characters double life of a teacher, but also a man recovering from drug abuse. Another factor about this film that made me feel it was a social realism film was that it had very natural lighting in the main character’s living room and naturalistic settings, just like the typical conventions of a film in the social realism genre.
The early events in this film suggest that it is aimed at young people and over. This is because the man was walking around in just his underwear smoking cigarettes, these events would not appear in children’s films, such as a Disney film for example, or a film aimed at old aged pensioners. Furthermore, social realism films are typically aimed at people aged around 15 and over due to their content and knowing this made me feel that it was intended to be a social realism film.
From the first five minutes, as a viewer, I would expect the film to progress and show the teachers life in more detail because the camera seems to follow he teacher the most, through the use of close ups and pans as he walks around, carrying out his day to day life, which I feel are generically encoded conventions, because social realism portrays real life events.
The use of close ups of the teacher from the opening scene engage the audience because they want to know why close ups are being used, for example, to show his facial expressions. Also, the camera is very shaky, as if it is being hand held, this could represent his life because the camera is unsteady, just like his life. It seems as if his home life is not heading in a particular direction by the way he is just slouching on his living room floor in his underwear in the opening scene as if he had not really slept all night because his alarm was ringing from another room, but he was just sitting in the living room this also makes the viewer expect him to perhaps lead a life of unemployment and maybe that he has nothing to aspire to because a master shot of his living room shows an untidy house, as if he has given up on life. This is also shown through the way he does not react quickly at all to his alarm, but however, as the opening sequence progresses, the camera follows the man and portrays to the viewer that the man is on his way to work – as a teacher. The character codes represented in this sequence shows those within a social realism film because the teacher has secrets that no one knows just like people in real life.
The way the film has been edited together makes the viewer feel as though the teacher is two completely different men at home and at work, because at home, long cuts show an effortless, repetitive lifestyle, but at work, as a teacher, he does everything he can to encourage and empower his students, which is shown in shorter, quicker paced cuts, as though he enjoys his teaching life and that is what keeps him going. Also, the use of lighting portrays his two different lives because, in his home, there are dim lights as though it is quite an isolated place, like a prison cell, but on the other hand, in the class room, there are brighter lights as though lots goes on in there and is well used. Also, a well lit space, like the class room, signifies happiness, warmth and smiles, just like the summer, where as badly lit spaces, like his house, signifies sadness, seclusion and depression.
In the opening scene, I understood that the film was about a teacher who lives for nothing but to encourage his students as he has nothing else to look forward to in his life except for those students.
Sound in the opening scene suggests that it is a social realism film because there are naturalistic sounds such as general chatter, birds tweeting and cars driving past.
Another factor indicating Half Nelson to be a social realism film is that the mise-en-scene follows that of the social realism genre because there are no explosions, fast chases or major crimes, and although these things may happen in life, they are not everyday events, so they might look out of place in a social realism film.
The genre of social realism represents a low budget through setting, mise-en-scene etc. The low budget in Half Nelson is shown by the way everything is naturalistic, with no over-the-top, out of place features, such as extreme lighting, stately homes, dramatic car chases and big explosions.
All of these factors and observations have helped me decide that the film, Half Nelson falls under the genre of social realism.
