Analysis of Fish Tank

Themes and Situations
In fish tank there seems to be a lot of arguments or disagreements, even the opening scene is of a girl apologising to a voicemail. As a family, the mother, Mia and her little sister Tyler ten to argue a lot, and the use of strong, bad language is quite frequent. Every tends to curse at each other as if it is a norm, the mother uses strong words towards the children and even Tyler, the youngest sister is using bad language. Dancing is seen to be a big part of Mias life as we see many shots of her in a room, alone, dancing but seems to take a liking to her mums new boyfriend as she alows him to see her dancing. Animal cruelty could also be a them as Mia seems to keep going back for a horse that is tied up on a traveller’s site. Alcohol, smoking and sex is also very often seen in Fish Tank. The mother smoke and we also see in a scene where the youngest, Tyler is smoking and drinking alcohol. Mia also seems to be drinking, she takes a bottle of vodka from the kitchen and also helps her self to a beer when she breaks into Connors house. The sex scenes in the film are quite open also, Mia sees a man and women doing things in her kitchen and also when Connor and Mia have sex. The family seem to be very open towards each other, as Mia and her mum can be seen walking around in a pair of knickers quite often and also Connor gets unchanged in front of Mia, who is only 15. Dancing, at the end of the film seems to be the thing that brings the family together and is the only time that they are not arguing.

Representations
Right at the beginning of the film we see a young girl, who seems to be a bit chavy as she is in tracksuit bottoms and has lots of gold jewellery and when she speaks we hear she has a very cocky, Essex accent. The scenery behind her is a council estate, this gives the representation of Britain being full of council and that all people from an estate will be like Mia. One of the first things we see of Mia is her telling her ‘ friends ‘ dad what she thinks of him, she then goes on to head-butts a girl and break her nose. This gives a rough, troublesome view of girls from a council estate. The group of girls that she causes trouble with are dressed very revealing and a bit tarty, they are also dancing, in front of what seem to be older boys. Giving a negative view of these young girls.
As the film follows Mias life we see that her mother daughter relationship is not the best. Her mum calls her names and pinches her and tends not to be very nice to her, this telling viewers that this is how families in councils flats are. The mother also seems to be a bit of a tart as she has a new man come home with her, who in the morning helps himself around the house. She also has parties at there flat where she tells her children that they have to go out or stay upstairs as there is ‘ no kids allowed’. She also seems to be a bit of an alcoholic as she is seen, a lot of the time, to be drinking, and on a nice day out says to Connor, ‘ I want a drink ‘ . This representation of Mias mum is very negative as she looks like an unfit mother, especially when she has a women visit the house because Mia ahs been kicked out of school, and even then she cannot control Mia.
This we see has a rub on effect on Mia as she is also seen a lot of the time to be drinking or drunk. She asks an older boy to buy her drink from the shop, she steals vodka from her mums friend at the party and also helps herself to a beer from Connors fridge, of which she has broke into . In the house Mia wees on his carpet after finding out he has another family, this gives a really scummy representation of her and where she comes from as this is very un lady like. She also kidnaps Connors daughter which makes her look even worse as this is such a bad thing and a 15 year old girl should not do it. Although we see Mias other side when her hard, chav side if broken down when she finds out that the horse has died and her emotions seem to get the better of her and she starts to cry.
The younger sister, Tyler, acts older than she looks, she’s quite mouthy and upfront with what she says. She, as well, smokes, drinks and uses bad language in every other sentence she says. Although she is quite mature in her words, once in the room with her friend she seems childish as Mia says she is leaving and Tyler says ‘Yes, say yes’ urging at her friend to agree with her. This gives the stereotypical, and also negative, view of British council estate families, especially the girls. It makes them look very scummy and rude.
Connor, the mum’s boyfriend, has an Irish accent and seems to be very different to Mias family. He seems to be more calm, have manners and be a generally nicer person, this gives off the impression that any one from outside of Essex or England is more respectful, which is not necessarily correct. Although Connor is seen in a better light, this changes when starts to give Mia a ‘hiding’ which is wrong as she is only 15 and he is not her father or does not take any fatherly responsibilities for the children. Also when Connor and Mia have sex, the opinion of him changes completely, we do not see him to be respectful or kind because of what he has just done. Although the blame is partly on Mia, and gives the representation of council estate children being ‘ slags’ she is not to blame as he is a man and should know it is wrong.
In the film we also see Mia go to what looks like a travellers site on the side of a main road, the boys living on it are the typical stereotypes of a traveller as they are quite horrible to Mia for trespassing and trying to free the horse that is on their land and also seen to be stealing from a scrap yard. This is a negative representation and not necessary true although people believe it.

Mis – en –scene
A popular view that the audience see in Fish Tank is an over view of the council estate, which looks very busy and crowded, making Britain look like they have just stuck everyone there together. All the flats look very dirty and not looked after, telling us that they are not bothered about where they live and that the council have left them to themselves and do not try to make it a better area to live in. There is a little park seen in the centre of the estate, this is also very un clean and not very good as well as unsafe, once again showing that no one is bothering with the ‘council estate kids’. Inside Mias flat, the same as the rest of the estate, is not very homely, Mias room is very plain and basic and looks like she doesn’t really have a lot of stuff, obviously because they could not afford it. Tylers room is very messy but seems a bit more homely and comfortable, she has also drawn over her walls, showing no respect for where she sleeps and that the mum does has not taught them that this is wrong. The rooms in the house are also very cluttered, but we see a change when Mias mum tidy’s up for Connor but still it does not look very nice.
Outside the council estate we don’t see much better, there is the travellers site which is not at all nice, and makes Britain look even more dirty and makes believable that people are left to fend for themselves and no one helps them. When Mia visits Connor at work it is full of big tall buildings, like an industrial estate, which itself is still not very clean or pretty to look at. Making Britain look like it is just built up of big buildings that no one has took care in building.
The majority of the film is set in and around Essex and when Mia ventures out of this area, to Connors home, in Tilbury we see a huge change in scenery. The house are a lot more posh, they look cleaner and well cared for. The cars are newer and shinier and make it look like a generally nice neighbourhood, in comparison to Mias environment. As Mia turn on to Connors road there is a girl in a pink top coming out of it, she helps in the better neighbourhood view of Tilbury as she looks a lot more respectful and does not mouth off at Mia, like a girl would probably do back in the estate. This young girl is also presented herself in a nicer way.

Music and Sound Effects
Throughout the Fish Tank we hear a background music of a busy background, whether it be on the estate where you can hear children shouting and general background noise or whilst Mia is walking on a main road and you can hear cars rushing by.
Also included in the films are songs that Mia listens to and dances to and known songs a video on Mias tv of Ja Rule and Ashanti that we she starts dancing to. That the young girls seem to be influenced by like, for example ; Cassie. Me N You’ when we see Mias ex – friend, Keily, is dancing to outside in the estate with a group of girls. The music is very hip hop and R ‘n’ B, connoting that young white girls are influenced and learn from young black music artists.
When there are scenes in the film where the clip is in slow motion, mostly the scenes of Mia and Connor, Connors breathing gets louder and deeper. This is made obvious to the audience, showing what Mia hears when she is with him.
Opposite to the stereotypes of the estate people, Mia receives a voicemail and the women’s tone of voice is a lot more soft spoken and she sounds more respectfully. This send the message that the women is higher up than Mia, or of a better class maybe connoting the importance of the message.

Camera work and Editing
The camera seems to follow Mia everywhere she goes, the story is based on her and her life this makes the film more like a documentary than an actually. It allows film 4 to carry out there social realist ethos and show a true kitchen sink view of British life, they carry this out well. The camera tracks Mia when she is almost running after the traveller boy who she seems to of taking interest in, this shows how Mia wants to be around the boy and wants to be involved in what he is doing. The view through ‘ grey tinted glasses’ is also showed when there is a close up of a couple in Mias kitchen at her mums party who are performing oral intercourse.
When Connors breathing is more distinct on the scenes the footage also is in slow motion, emphasising the moment ant letting the audience feel the emotion, this is evident when he carries Mia to the bedroom and has her on his back after cutting her foot in the pond scene.
In the scene of Mia dancing in front of, or even for Connor the camera is at an angle where the moonlight is almost silhouetting her, making her look and seem older than 15 and giving her a sexy, more appealing side. It also shows the audience Connors view on Mia at this moment.
The director shows Mias point of view which we see when Connor is undressing Mia and putting her into bed. This is one of the very little times that we are seeing it from Mias eyes and not following her and seeing it as an on looker.
Also in this film, animals seem to be quite a big part of. The camera close ups on the horse that Mia sees, the hamster in Tylers room and also Tylers drawings, on her wall, of cats and also at the pond where the camera is zoomed din on the dragon fly and the fish that Connor catches.

Dialogue
Most of the dialogue in Fish tank is of a chavy, Essex accent, with the acception of Connor and also his family that we briefly hear, as well as the voicemail elf ton Mias phone. This is due to the fact that it is based on the people in the council estate and so it is more effective in getting their point across. The dialogue of the chavy tone is usually bad or rude, down putting language, towards family, friends and enemies. The mother has a very demanding and ‘ hard-core’ tone and attitude.
The travellers tend to have a more calm tone their dialogue, although when they speak it tends to undermine Mia, accept the one whom Mia becomes friends with and eventually leaves to go to Wales with.
Connor, the mother’s boyfriend, has a smoother tone to his voice and his dialogue is less explicit than the others in the film. He has an Irish accent and this gives him a different view and has a different effect on the audience.