Analysis of mise-en-scene in Ill Manors

Ill Manors

Above is a scene from the urban film "Ill manors" set in London.Today I will be analysing how mise-en-scene is used in this BSR film to represent the film's characters and how it displays the British Social Realism genre.Ill manors happens to be one of my favourite films so I am looking forward to analyisng this for you today! 

 

Production Design
(At 2;21 and 2;23)

Above we denote lots of cars,city lights and alleyways from 2;21 to 2;23.The roads are denoted to be dirty and murky with underclass houses.This connotes that this film is set in an urban estate area in London,representing the characters to be from a lowerclass background as the area is not of that of a higher class which would have more colours and bigger houses.This links in with personal identity as the director, Ben Drew (otherwise known as Plan B) wanted the audience to connect with the film on a deeper level, adding context to the location as well as being personal for the audience who are from this area.Drew specifically chose an estate area that was real rather than a production set to give the audience a representation of themselves and to enhance the realism.

Lighting and Colour design

At 4:36 we denote two men standing in a closed off area.One male seems to be looking around whilst the other has his hands in his pockets.Ed , who is looking around, is connoting someone quite suspicious who is on the look out for trouble,which mirrors Arrow who has his hands in his pockets because he is trying to keep a low profile whilst looking shifty.The lighting used here is natural,to add to the realism of this film.There is no artificial lighting here and the shadows across Arrow's face highlights this further.The natural lighting helps give you the time of day it is,in this case,night,and the natural lighting makes the situation look more realistic.Standing by a closed off area whilst looking shifty and looking around determines the audience's view that these characters are up to no good.In fact,in this particular scene, Ed was selling drugs to Ted.The drug dealer vibe is well represented here because what do you expect from two men standing in the shadows.Drugs is also a common theme in BSR films,from drug dealing to full on drug abuse!

Another aspect of Mise-en-scene that we can study here is the costumes they are wearing.They are wearing dark clothes so they can easily slide into the shadows and their clothes are easily accessible that anyone can buy.This connotes to the audience that these characters are lower class.A factor that is great for any Director of a  BSR film is that the wardrobe worn can be the actors own clothes which is the case here.

Actors

At 3:48 , a  man who was at the local shop here was drinking, this is not an actor but just an everyday male from the area.

"The Actors used in this film were all from the local area that we found from around the estate" Ben Drew states in an interview.Unknown actors who were just kids from the area were used because Drew's ideas were to establish your everyday yob,literally from the streets,put into a situation that the audience could take in as suveillence of Britain and to gain a first hand perspective on the gritty life the storyline follows.Unknown actors are used in BSR films in general because professional hollywood actors would take away the realism,because as a viewer you would know they were acting,if the actor was unknown you could believe the scenario was more realistic.

Colour

Screen grab from 7:29

The colours used throughout this film were all dark or bland.The colours used were prominently grey and blue which is often used as an overcolour in post-production of BSR films.The characters wear dark colours to distinguish them as mundane people you would often walk past in the street and to illuminate how there is nothing special about them.This also mirrors the setting in London because London is connoted with dreary rainy weather, so they interlink.

Era

At 3:43 we denote an iPhone,which connotes that these characters are in the new digital age.Phones are used alot in this film because most of the characters use them for dodgy dealings.However,looking at some of the phone models used back in 2010 when this movie was made,a few things have changed,such as newer iPhone models.Regardless of this,the BSR film was used to represent the present day and how the youth socialise and make contact today.


In my own production

Given the research across the three texts of A room for Romeo Brass, My Brother the Devil and Ill Manors,I will use similar mise-en-scene in  my own work.
Taking inspiration from A room for Romeo Brass, I will use a blue overcolour to give a cold tone to my work.
Taking inspiration from My Brother the Devil , I will use an urban area such as some estate flats to give my footage a gritty feel.
Taking inspiration from Ill Manors, I will use everyday actors from the local area.