Filming & principal photography for began Fish Tank began on 28 July 2008 over 6 weeks and was filmed in chronological order on location in Essex: the cast were given the scripts for their scenes at the end of each week so that they would be unaware of what happens to their characters when performing each scene.
Interestingly, Katie Jarvis had no prior acting experience before the film, but was scouted by one of Arnold's casting assistants at Tilbury Town station , the railway station featured in the film, while she was arguing with her boyfriend.
Cinematography for Fish Tank was carried out by Robbie Ryan, who first worked with Arnold on her 2003 short film Wasp and then her first feature length film, Red Road. Throughout the film, the filming technique, lighting and colour scheme is very reminiscent of Wasp, particularly Arnold's seemingly favoured handheld filming technique; this creates a strong sense of realism in the film, as it seems as if someone was really there filming Mia's endeavours. This sense of realism helps us as an audience to connect with Mia's character more. The similar (to Wasp) lighting and colour scheme in Fish Tank creates a theory that perhaps the characters are connected somehow, even though they are set in different locations. Although the aesthetic of the film bears some similarity to Wasp, it still differs itself by showcasing a lot of cold colour and lighting schemes, which sort of create a sense of sadness or depression. This helps to show the audience how Mia is feeling, as often in the film the lighting shifts with Mia's apparent mood: for instance, when Mia is taken out for a drive with Conor and her family, the lighting and colour warms up from the grey, melancholy setting of their flat (this also creates the idea that Mia feels better when she escapes from home and doesn't feel so lonely anymore, therefore enhancing the theme of isolation). The final shot of the film features some warm lighting and some pink colours, showing a heart shaped balloon floating away to represent Mia finally escaping her isolation.Performance in Fish Tank helps to create that sense of realism that the handheld filming technique does. As this was Jarvis' debut role, as well as the circumstances in which Jarvis was cast, it shows the audience how authentic Mia's character is, almost as if Mia was slightly modelled off of Jarvis herself. This again connects us as an audience to her character. The other cast members' performances are also authentic and convincing, particularly Mia's younger sister Tyler (Rebecca Griffiths) who is portrayed as both slightly mature and childish simultaneously without making it seem too false.
Editing throughout the film is minimal and low-key, a clear use of invisible editing, again adding to that sense of realism. The aspect ratio of the film remains square and smaller than most feature length films, which immediately shows the audience Mia's feelings of isolation as well as the feeling of being cramped in.
Sound and music play a very big part in Fish Tank. For example, throughout the film, the majority of the time Mia carries around a bag containing a CD player and speakers, which get taken from her by Billy's (Harry Treadaway) - Mia's second love interest - friends or maybe brothers, prompting her to later go back to get them, showing the importance of music to her. Music also seems to be a way the characters can really connect with each other and relax around each other. For example, an awkward and almost spiteful tension is clearly held between Mia and her mother Joanne, but even music can make the tension fizzle out and break the barrier between them; this is obvious in one of the final scenes in which Mia is saying goodbye before she goes to Cardiff and ends up dancing with both her mother and sister to one of her favourite songs. Music also helps bring certain characters to the audience's memory, specifically California Dreamin', Conor's favourite song which appears several times in the film, which suggests that Mia is thinking of Conor in those moments.Fish Tank was received extremely well by critics and audiences, receiving a 91% positive review from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an average audience rating of 7.6 out of 10. The film also received almost double its budget of $3 million in the box office and was described by the New Yorker's David Denby as a 'commanding, emotionally satisfying movie'. Fish Tank also won the Cannes Jury Prize with the consensus stating that the film is 'gritty British realism at it's best'
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