Fish Tank: Write about genre, narrative and representation and pick 3 scenes from the film Fish Tank and analyse them.

Fish Tank (2009)

The first scene that I am going to look at is the opening scene where you are introduced to the lead protagonist, Mia. 

Before you see anything in the first scene you hear diegetic sound of breathing accompanied with street and urban noise from the surrounding. The first thing you see is a high angle on Mia, who is hunched over with her hands on her knees. You find out that the diegetic breathing that you hear at the beginning is coming from Mia as she tries to catch her breath. 

The mise en scene suggests that the room you see her in is old and abandoned as there is no furniture to be see, the blue wallpaper is dirty and you can see rips near the bottom and there is no flooring. You then see Mia standing up quickly still out of breath. Through the use of the mise en scene of her clothing Mia is represented as someone with a working class/ urban background. You can see this because she wears grey jogging bottoms, big gold hoops and chains. She would be stereotyped as a "chav" because of the mise en scene used. It also suggests a gritty upbringing. 

The camera then pans across the wall of window to reveal Mia's surroundings outside. The camera panning works as an establishing shot, it  establishes that the outer location is of a council estate. This also shows a part of Mia's background. 

You then hear Mia speak when phoning her friend, Keeley. She has a Southern accent and the way that she speaks to her friend is very informal as she is swearing at her. 

The camera in this scene (and the whole film) is a hand held camera. By using a hand held camera you sense the film to be created in a sort of documentary style. The narrative in this scene is basic and through the camera work and that we've been introduced to the main character instantly shows that this film is about Mia. Also the diegetic sound shows that the film is going to be about real life (the camera work proves this also). This film falls under the genre Social Realism as it is about real issues and real life. You can tell this through the technical elements of the first scene because the equipment and the techniques used.

The next scene in Fish Tank that I am going to look at is the scene where you are introduced to Joanne's (Mia's Mother's) boyfriend, Connor. At the beginning of this scene there is a mid shot and a tracking shot used to follow Mia around the kitchen as she boils some water on the stove. Diegetic sound can be heard coming from a music channel on the television in the kitchen. The music played is hip hop, which is a style of music that Mia dances to and finds escapism within. A mid shot is used to show Mia dancing along.

She's watching what the females do in the video and copying them. This represents Mia as easily influenced, as she is copying what others do. First she copies the language used by her mother towards her and speaks to her friends like that and now she is copying the girls dancing on the television.
You then see Mia turn around and the shot cuts to a Point of View (POV) shot to reveal Connor (mum's boyfriend) standing in the doorway of the kitchen watching her.
In this scene you can apply the Male Gaze theory. Connor is watching Mia dancing which is the Male Gaze. However, Connor isn't just looking at Mia, Mia is also looking at Connor. This goes against the Male Gaze theory (Laura Mulvey 1975). The clothing used shows the audience that its the morning as Mia is in her night wear and Connor is topless -looks like he has just got out of bed.The camera tilts up and down Connor fragmenting his body, which is giving the female audience something to look at as well as showing what Mia is looking at.

The last scene I am looking at is the very last sequence of the film where Mia leaves to live in Wales. A tracking shot used in the end shows Mia’s little sister Tyler waves goodbye to her sister as she goes off to Wales with her friend, Tyler chases after the car shouting “See you later skank don’t forget to text me. Say hello to the world for me.” This implies that Mia is lucky that she gets to leave/ escape and it also implies that she (Tyler) won’t be able to leave and that she will be trapped in this “Fish Tank” with her mother.

There is a slight tracking shot used at the end to capture a silver helium balloon in the shape of a heart float away. This shot symbolises Mia leaving the council estate. You see the balloon start from the council estate and then it flies up and out of the way of the council block flats, also symbolising that Mia is going on and up in her life to do better things.

In terms of narrative theory in this film, you could say that it applies to Todorov's theory of equilibrium. The equilibrium before was Mia, her mother Joanne and foul-mouthed little sister Tyler living in the council flat in a block in Essex with their dog. Her mother would swear at the kids and wouldn't be a typical mother figure which is looking after them, she just lets them get on with whatever they want. To them this could be classed as the equilibrium, the "norm". Then Joanne brings home Connor and starts a relationship with him- this has changed her as she doesn't swear at Mia and Tyler as much as she used to. They all form relationships with Connor which brings them all together even more. This becomes the new "norm"- a life with Connor.
The disruption of the equilibrium happens when one night Joanne is passed out upstairs drunk and Connor and Mia are down stairs drinking. Connor then gets Mia to dance for him which then escalates to them having sex on the couch. Recognition that the disorder has occurred when Mia wakes up the next morning when Connor is no where to be seen. She tries to restore the equilibrium by going to his house to confront him, but she ends up taking Connor's daughter Kiera across the fields in promise that she is going to get an ice cream. Keira falls into the river and Mia saves her by holding out a branch. She takes Keira home and as Mia herself is walking home Connor comes after her and hits her.
The return of the new equilibrium is when Mia leaves with Billy (the owner of a Malnourished horse she comes across) to Wales for a new life.