Cherries

Characteristics of British Social Realism

 Whats the storyline?
There is a class of teenage boys who are oblivious to Mr OBriens
attempt of questioning them about the wider world. Their teacher
then distributes letters to all of the pupils, whilst the boys are all
joking around with each other. When Mr OBrien is finally able to
grab their attention they open the letters which gives each of the
boys details about their compulsory military training that they are
required complete om support of the nations war effort.
From this point forward there is heated discussions followed by a
video that has to be played to the boys. The boys are then
instructed to file down the stairway to the school hall where they
are having their identity cards swiped. Whilst this is happening
Clint is running across the park enjoying his temporary freedom.
 Subject Matter
In the short film we very quickly learn that they are students aged
16-17 and they are all being forced to go the war. Eventually, after
some arguments they all go down to the hall
The image on the left shows the title Cherries being
surrounded by blood, it looks like blood on the floor of
a crime scene. This leads to the negative connatation
of death and the thourght of something bad
happening. Previous shots also showed the school and
it looks more like a army base than a school which also
The pictures below are consecutivegets you thinking
scenes, about
they show thepoweruful
a very scenery. story. It starts of
with a Union Jack flying high in the sky, then it shows a boy running to school, the
background is of a dark brick wall and barbed wire on top. The next sequance is off the
school and has a big sign saying CCTV. These pictures show us that Brittain are trapped
in the big brother society and that means everyone is being watched.
 Tone
The tone of this short film is quite serious and this is shown
through the fact that the storyline is realistic and is something that
could occur. The teenage boys within the classroom are not
keeping up to date with current affairs which leads them to being
clueless about what the letters are about.
Something that should be taken into consideration is the fact that
the film is set in the near future when Britain has become
increasing embroiled in the war and the number of casualties are
rising.

Mr OBrien is holding the stack of letters that he knows

he has to hand out to the individuals of the class
 Change Agency
The film is trying to show that people dont have a choice
anymore, everything has to be done a certain way.
This is trying to prove the point that people do not choose what
they do anymore. This is trying to change that rule. The boy
running away from the school emphisies how hard people are
willing to try and do what they want to do. Rather than what the
goverment want him toThe do.picture on the left shows Nick after he
had found out that he was going to be
forced to complete basic military training.
You can also see the emotion on the actors
behind him and how they feel about the
situation.
 Social Class
You see the boys very smartly dressed apart from clint who was
dressed a bit scruffy and was having to run to school because he
was going to be late.

The fact that everyone was dressed very smartly suggests to the
viewers that these are working class people. On the other hand
Clint is very scruffy and gives us the impression that he is off a
lower status than the rest of the boys in his class.
 Representations
Within this classroom the actors/charcaters are predominately
male and this is because all males sixteen or over are to be
military trained as requested by the government. The focus of this
film is around an average class of teenagers who are oblivious to
the worlds events as they are more fixed on petty rivalries. This
could suggest to the views that they need to consider the ages of
the suffrage in the United Kingdom.
The classroom contains a variety of different races and cultures
(Greek, Asian, Africian/Carribean and Jewish communities). This
shows the viewers that there is a lot of physical confrontation
between the boys and this is because they all have different
opinions on the war.
When the boys are in the school hall they are presenting their
 Casting
This short film uses actors that are unknown or are amateur actors
and this could suggest that the film had a very low budgets and
not a lot of companies that were involved with the production and
this is because they wouldnt have had enough money to pay the
well-known actors and this is because there are not a lot of
institutions thatMoustafa
would haveChousein-Oglou
supported the film.
There was one actor who was featured in the short
film although he didnt have a main part.
Moustafa was very popular on the BBCs M.I.High
show. This would have allowed the film to be able
to attract a variety of people to watch the short
film and this is because the film links to teenage
boys and at this time they would have been
 Budget
When carrying out research it was difficult to obtain the actual
budget for this short film and this can suggest that it wasnt
evident because it was low budget. This is typical of a British
Social Realism film and this is because the director wants to
ensure that it is realistic and so they dont need to spend a lot of
money on everything.
One of the main conventions that is seen in this short film is the
Kinetic handheld camera work and this is because it is very similar
to that of a documentary and so this feature is able to contribute
to the realism of the short film.
 Audience
The demographic of this short film Cherries is teenage boys and
this is because of the realism of this film. Although it is set in the
near future it is able to put everything into perspective for them
and this is because it will become evident to them that
themselves, just like the teenage boys are oblivious to watch is
occurring in the real world.
This short film can almost been seen as a wake-up-call because it
will scare the teenagers that watch it now as it is such a realtable
situation they all go to high school, they are rebellious, they
focus on petty rivalries and they could in fact be forced into
military training and eventually war.
 Director
The director of this short film was Tom Harper
and throughout the film he is able to portray the
way in which teenage boys stereotypically act
and how this has an effect on them they are
not involved with current news affairs yet it is
something that is going to have a massive
impact on their lives.
He is now a BAFTA nominated British film and
television director and producer who was born
andtelevision
on to direct film and brought up in North
work London.
including His careerBook
The Scouting
began(2010),
for Boys (2009), Misfits by making
Thisshort films such
is England as Cubs
86 (2011), Peaky
(2006)
Blinders (2013), The and in
Women Cherries
Black: (2007) and
Angel of then(2015)
Death movedand
the BBC TV mini-series War & Peace (2016).
 Institutions
The institutions that were involved in helping to make this short
film are: Free Range Films for Film London and UK Film
Council. As it is a small independent film there was no need for a
lot of institutions.
The fact that there are only two companies involved in the making
of this film, it could suggest that this film will not strive as much
and they wont be able to make it as far as other films and this is
because they have the low budget. Another connotation is that this
film is likely to be shown in the UK and this is because the two
companies that contributed are both based in the UK.
 Cinematography
Mise-en-scene the clothing that is worn by each of the characters fits the
situation. For example, the boys are in uniform, the teachers in smart wear
and the officers in their work wear. Some boys dont wear ties and have
sunglasses which have been selected to show them as rebellious. Props
such as scrap paper for students to doodle on fit the scene.
Lighting effect - when the boys are in the playground the lighting is bright
but when the scene switches to the classroom the lighting is noticeably
dimmer and this is because the director wants to mirror the mood.
Film Quality the quality of this film is quite low and this is because only
two companies have contributed. However it does have all the aspects of a
films such as music, actors and a short storyline to show its potential.
Realistic location the location of the film is realistic and this is because
they are high school boys and they have the stereotypical behaviour of
them and so the film has been shot in a high school.
 Cinematography (2)
From the variety of different types of cinematography that has been used the
audience is able to infer that the director wants them to be able to put
themselves in the situation of the young boys and this is done with the changing
of the lighting and the music. Moreover, the location fits perfectly and this is
because the actors are all dressed to their role which allows the audience to be
able to see that the boys are attending a school and this is shown from the first
shot. Another reason for this being a realistic location is because of the age
range of the boys. Furthermore, the audience is able to infer that that the film is
realistic and this is because of the quality and the storyline. This will help the
film to become popular and get noticed by a variety of different audiences.
Another aspects that the director has included is that the boys are rebellious
and this is shown with their language and lack of interest when the adults are
talking. The audience would not be surprised by this but it will create a negative
impact as the audience might think that this is how all teenage boys behave.
 Sound Quality
Cherries uses empathetic sound frequently which continues to help
mirror the mood of the short film during particular scenes.
Moreover, the short film uses non-diegetic sound as well as
diegetic sound throughout.
Audience members will infer from this that there are frequent
mood changes and the director wants the audience to be aware of
the empathetic sound. Furthermore, using non-diegetic sound,
which comes from outside the story, also creates a mood and fits
the picture of specific scenes. On the other hand, diegetic sound is
the actual voice of the sound coming from the film which can be
from the characters or the noise that is made within the scene.
This allows the audience to be able to get a first-hand account to
what is actually happening within the short film.