Fishtank Rev

Fishtank is a film directed by Andrea Arnold, also known for directing another film called 'Wasp'. She's also known for winning an award at the Oscars and Bafta awards as best film director. The film 'Fishtank' is based on a 15year old girl who has an ambition in life to actually go ahead and make something of her life. Her goal is to audition and become a dancer however she is let down several times by her chance of becoming a dancer and by her mothers friend who she believed liked her. The film title relates to the film as the girl is stuck in a position where she dreams to things but can't as she is always portrayed throughout the film. 

The actors Katie Jarvis (Mia) and Michael Fassbender (Connor) are the main stars. The audience understand that Mia has been kicked out of school due to unacceptable behaviour however we find out that when she wants to block everything out, she locks herself into a room and practises dancing. Mia lives with her mum and her little sister in a council flat who she does not get along with as her mum doesn't care about her. Mia's mum meets a new male friend whom stays over in the evenings, until he started becoming more closer to her mum and herself. Then we see that something is going to happen between Mia and Connor as we notice that they keep making sly eye contact. Later on during the film, the two actors begin to kiss, later on Connor leaves Mia's mum and goes back to his secret family. However, Mia does not give up easily as she finds out where he lives and kidnaps his baby daughter. 

Mia then sends his daughter back and finds a way out to be set free from the life she hated. She leaves with a friend that she made while she was out walking. The plot of the film is quite unusual as there was no storyline. This connected with the main character Mia as she had to story to her life. Also, the genre is Drama as we see the dramatic side to Mia's life which Arnold did to show how society is changing and how people go through rough times in life. 

My personal opinion on the film is quite positive because the fact that there is no storyline, fits in and related to Mia's character as she is not in a fixed position. Her life is turned upside down and things seem to get worse and worse each time something good comes along. For example, when she received the phone call giving her the chance to audition, however when she went, it was not as she expected because all the other contestants are strippers rather than hip hop dancers hence why she left the audition.

Arnolds target audience is most likely at young people who may be in the same position as Mia, who got sexually abused by a middle aged man whom she was inferior. My personal rating on the film is 8.5/10

Media Awards Video Analysis.

Inner Redemption -
In the short video, the mise en scene was smartly considered as they used great lighting, sound, angles, props, costume, make-up and actors.
They used low key lighting when the camera was looking directly at one of the actors, in order for the audience to focus on her and to notice her facial expressions which in this case was scared. This was a great affect as the audience were put into the actors shoes as we felt the emotion of the actor due being in direct contact with them. This is called identification. Also, the sound was well co-ordinated with each scene. For example, when a love scene came on, the sound was according to the scene which fit really well. Another time is when a horror scene comes on, the background music is of a nursery song which sometimes comes across as quite strange and scary. It worked well in the scenes of Inner Redemption as the audience were drawn into it as it turns into tragedy.

Furthermore, the props used were tarot reading cards which gave out an even more scary feeling as it showed the woman was able to tell the future of her life within those cards. The look on the actors face when she was reading them were very clear as the audience were automatically able to sense that something bad was going to happen. A dramatic cause was created when the actor stopped the entire meeting with the other actor because she witnessed a tragic cause in her life through the cards.
The costumes were well chosen as the actor reading the tarot cards was wearing a traditional outfit which made the scene more realistic.

Overall, the film was well worked on as the entire mise en scene was brilliantly done. The storyline was clear that she was forced to be with someone who was controlling and whom she didn't love. Therefore, she was in the process of committing suicide but did not proceed as a witness stopped her. In the end, she ends up killing her parter and ends up getting possessed. In addition, the possession scene worked well as the actor was giving direct mode of address which connotes confidence within the actor.

The Watchful Eye

The mise en scene was well done as the actors were well played as their aim was to act scared. The main actor who was the woman was confused as where her boyfriend/friend disappeared to after hearing a knock on the door. The lighting was efficent because it was slightly dark creating tension as to how she was scared.
This caused a great effect as the audience were drawn into the scene being in her position.