Social Realism

Social realism 

Noun

A style of painting, especially of the 1930s in the U.S., in which the scenes depicted typically convey a message of social or political protest edged with satire.

Social realism is a genre of film. The main aim of this genre is in its name, to be real. It focuses on topical conversational issues, such as drugs, sex, money, discrimination, class, and many other realistic issues. The conventions of social realism affect most parts of the production process including the shot sizes, script, location, props, costume, etc. social realism productions often use unknown actors to make the story seem more realistic. ‘This is England’ is a good example of a social realism film as it addresses issues such as casual sex and drugs, class and discrimination. The way the footage is presented is in a subliminal way and appeals to teenagers. 'This is England' also uses another common convention of social realism films by using unknown actors, this is a useful as people don't know the actors to of done anything else, making the film seem more of a documentary.