Gavin and Stacey: (Brief visual aspect exam).

In this lesson we had to watch and investigate certain points from a brief 5 minutes of the program Gavin and Stacey.

Straight away you can see the binary opposites due to the society that they come from, one is northern (Gavin Essex) and one is southern (Stacey Cardiff).
The sections of the program go in a simple ABC, linear and conternutary editing. But with all this simple editing and planning Gavin and Stacey are a project of binary opposites to every little thing you see in the settings (mise en scene).

Looking at the camera shots in this featured 5 minutes mostly they are middle shot, the reason why is the middle shot of the camera focuses on people having conversations, its the easiest format and technique to use for this kind of affect. As Gavin and Stacey is a comedy type most people will be conversations so the middle shot and reverse shot is used. Also the middle shots are mixed with long shots so its not the same repetition and can add another character in the scene, a new introduction to a certain character. lazy technique but works quite well and makes it professional and not to over the top. The examples of middle shots used in this 5 minutes is when Stacey is talking to her neighbour and also when Gavin and his mum and dad are sitting at the table, it's close it's snappy, it's easy, it works.



Also right at the very start it shows the environment of the setting that Stacey lives in, calm quiet and abit runned down/lazy/ old fashioned. A pan shot is used for this kind of effect, a type of birds eyed view from a certain angle to descirbe the setting. More examples are when Gavin droves into his house and also a long shot when smithy enters into Gavin's house.



Looking at the houses in this shot clip Stacey's doesn't look like modern class, outside and inside looks like a lower class, a low angle is used to bring of the character and appearance of the house, it brings out more detail and shaping in the house, this descirbes the environment and lifestyle within the house. Looking inside Stacey's house it's dull and boring and very old fashioned. The leather sofa is worn out and white (an old colour in today view of society) and also they have a very small living room and everything is about crammed in there and the TV is small. Also the dinner table is small and looking rather worn out also. But the shots that have been used within her house show a bond between her and her family, it's close, warm, calm, inviting, and strong as her mother is very over protective about her going to see Gavin when he lives about 6 hours away.

Also when watching Stacey in the house her phones rings and the surroundings of the house goes quiet this adds suspense and intensity of what the audience thinks of Stacey is hearing, her facial expressions and the way the camera has a slow zoom on her face describes this kind of affect. But its only just her friend so this affect is used to trick to audience and add a source of comedy to the audience which may inflict a odd giggle (keeps them entertained). Also in some shot they are delayed, this shows less tension and suspense, it a form used to make it look like the issue is not really that important, this mainly occurs in Stacey's environment so it's shows a more stronger bond in the family and that they are close to each other.

Then when it flick onto Gavins house a straight pan shot of his house is used, this shows all of his house and how nice and modern it is, a high different in their classes. Also the shot is taken at night to make the house glow ans shine out, it brings out more modernness and upper class. They both work in the same job but Gavin family has more higher job as his dad looks and speaks and acts posh and high rated. We see this as the clothes he wears and the mum is made the food and is also serving it, this shows his dominance in status in the house. The mum mostly sits and watches TV so there noting really important in life so she might cook and clean to keep her status balanced and equal, this shows the family is busy and has short fuses of bonding.
Also what is interesting with this family is that Gavin and his dad sits on the same side so maybe this might be a saying off "like farther like son" it shows a bond but has links of arguments as we see over the steak incident, this might add more comedy and interest in the programme.
Also reverse shots are used within this family to make the story easy to read and follow on.

But with these characters the director has made the mise en scene binary opposites to each other for example Stacey's house is dull and Gavins is light. Staceys sofa is leather but tattered and white, Gavins is the common colour chocolate brown and neat and clean, so down to easy perspective and propp Gavin and Stacey are binary opposites in society issues, this is what makes the programme successful and link in some forms of northern and southern motions. But i think their personality's are pretty much the same and this is why they are seeing each other, and its quite typical that Stacey's going to see Gavin, he's a male and he has a higher class and status family compared to her (but that's my opinion on the outlook of the first five minutes).
Also it links with Stacey's and Gavin's friends, they are both fat, not bothered, protective and insecure about the situation and a laugh so it shows a link between them aswel, adds more interest and bumps up the mise en scene and storyline. It says it in the picture aswel that on each on the left and right sides is Gavin and Stacey's, their friends, and then followed by their parents.

Overall i love the programme and i think it has been very successful in it's binary oppiosites and how it links to peoples life envoriment, it kind of sends a message across saying "It doesnt matter where you are and what you are, love,family, and friends is more powerful than anything".

Types of music and sound effects towards our opening scenes.

Kill bill opening:

Kill bill is a fast action straght in your face action, a new style to action film, has a certain meaning but your drawn away from it abit because of the fight scenes and over the top stunts and blood, adds interest and makes the film successful in it's own ways. I like this flim because it is unique in its fight scenes and storyline and and overall point of view.
The overall storyline of Kill Bill — a woman seeks revenge on a group of people, crossing them off a list one by one as she kills them — is adapted from Lady Snowblood, a 1973 Japanese film in which a woman kills off the gang who murdered her family. A unique and an abstarct way to new action and a brilliant opening to over the top action.

The reason why i chosen it for the music point of view is because it doesnt hardly involes the music but from 0.25-0.35 sound effect to show what has happened and is a form of the women seeking revenge after what the villian has done to her, also a sepia mode has been used, the colours tells us about the mood of the chararter thoughts and the close up on the eyes shows how much this character wants to kill her. Also 0.35 till the end of the clip sounds effects such as the glass smashing and the swing of the knife is sharp and intense sound clips to make the stunts more dramatic and powerful which gives an explosive feeling and grabs people attentsion straight away.

Crank 2 opening scene: (00.00 - 00.28)

Looking at the first 28 seconds of crank 2 it's a brilliant example of fast snapping action straight into a themed backing tune, the sound of impact wacks the audience in thier seats and the sudden silence creates supsense and intensity. The bit where the eye blinks shows thats the chararcter is still alive from the impact and there's a hell of alot more action to come.
The thing i also like about the opening is that the action and build up doesn't stop, its a continous sprial of action and i think the sound effects and music makes the perfect opening to thistype of flim.

SWOT on essay work watching a 5 minute clip of Gavin and Stacey

Strenghts: The meaning of camera angles and why they are shown to represent a scene of characters. Also the lighting effects and the use of body language.

Weaknesses: Looking in depth sections such as they have the same sofas but in different colours etc etc.

Opportunity's: To get the in depth notes and find out where they go when writing up and watching the film the 2nd time but in depth. And also making time easier for myself.

Threats: Organising the notes into a exam but shouldn't be too bad.

With this i can now check for any mistakes and i can encounter them and it more eaiser to work from.

Southern and northern stereotypes (TV)

Looking through the northern and southern stereotypes the TV programme that involes the northern side ism eastenders:
The reasonc why i've chosen this is that i don't tend to watch but eastenders i have more understanding cause people tell me what goes on in it and also i find it easier to pick out the northern stereotypes out of it.

Looking at this picture we see a very busy photo, it's a photo of part of London, as we no London is in the south of england so as follows 'southern'. It shows from the picture its based in a city so it's busy and over runned so we know theres going to be alot of dilemmas and different storys inbetween this programme. And proberly why it's so successful in its ratung is thgat London is the capital of the country which shows a massive a tourism attraction and has the most local people that proberly have the same stereotype as the eastenders character and mise en scene within the programme.

SETTING (lighting):
The show is mostly flimed in the day as it's more active in the day time, this shows maybe southerns are hard working and active. Also its mostly filmed in the pub Victorian Inn so it shows a social life and they like an old drink in the daytime, also this has more links to dilemmas due to socialness banta and backstabbers as its a soap, so it's stereotypes the southerns again.


SETTING: (lace)
The series of Eastenders primarily centres around the residents of Albert square , a Victorian square of terraced houses, and its neighbouring streets, namely Bridge Street, Turpin Road and George Street, and which encompasses a pub, street market, night club, community centre, cafe and various small businesses, in addition to a park and allotments..So yet again we are seeing the more typical stereotypes within the fliming as southern have a upper class so they can enjoy the luxary life of spending money and having a good time being socible and well sometimes could occur into a fight due to drinking.
Also Fans have tried to establish the actual location of Walford within London. Walford East is a fictional tube station for Walford, and with the aid of a map that was first seen on air in 1996, it has been established that Walford East is located between Bow Road and West Ham, which realistically would replace Bromley-by-Bow (best example of explanation i can get a visual aspect on the scene also photo shows). The photo is taken in the 1980's but the cartoon version shows you the visual map of the setting of Albert square/ Eastenders.

People of the show: (Stereotypes of southern behaviour)

EastEnders programme makers took the decision that the show was to be about "everyday life" in the inner city "today" and regarded it as a "slice of life" Creator/producer Julia Smith declared that "We don't make life, we reflect it". Also she explained

"We decided to go for a realistic, fairly outspoken type of drama” which it ended up as encompass stories about homosexuality, rape, unemployment, racial prejudice, etc., in a believable context. But above all, they wanted realism, yet again stereotyping the southernism culture of what people are like in life and also the programme.

Typical mise en scene of fliming:
Looking at this picture the backgorund is very posh and upper class and bery up to date e.g. thing on tables, suite that the man is wearing, flowers in backgorund, bright and warm colour which brings room to life. So maybe we see a typical southerner dressed like these people in this photo.

Looking at this photo from emmerdale this is the Northern point of view in th drama, very old fashioned and like a kind of 1980's fashion so there not all up to date and maybe in a lower class communitity as emmerdale is based near a countryside, different type of story. So this could be a typical steorotype visual aspect on the Northern side of life.


But what we see in Eastenders (Southern stereotype ranges) is:

• High upper class fashion scene
• Up to date events and life expectations
• Daily life in light, sometimes nightlife occurs
• Active and busy town
  
• Lots of 'backstabbing' and stereotypeing eachother, arrogant/stuck up with what the charatcter is, upper-lower class (even could be a form of rasism in some aspects and storylines).
• Clean and tidy enviroment to be in, same as most of the characters that are played.
• Vilonce is strong and has a strong meaning, family issues and friendships.
  
• Cleaver minded and very upself about thier jobs.

Music Research

Music i think is a very powerful element of either expressing your personal life e.g. eminem or maybe about the world e.g. Micheal Jackson 'black or white' or other various links with.
Also what i see in music is Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. Its an express of feeling and their spilt up into different sections that people have a high or low interest in as it may relate to them and their life's environment.

The genre that i most like is Rock and abit heavy metal, the reason why is that i have been influenced by electric guitar most of my life and i love what talent you can get out of it. Yes i do play guitar and i have been in a few bands so this is another reason why i have a high interest in this. Also rock a high interest in the business industry which a tiny bit influences me. But when I'm listening to a song that relates to rock i hear out for the rhythm in the sound and does the tempo and beat relate to the songs meaning? Or if its a catchy beat and has a really good chorus i tend to listen to them aswel. Also as my dress sense is red hair either a top with loads of writing or drawing such as skulls or graffiti and colours that are bright and loud e.g. white, black, red and sometimes i copy artists trends such as 'papa roaches' or lead singer from blowing for soup 'Jarret Reddick' hairstyles is like the same as mine, and i do like their music as i seen them both live.

Also i think rock is a type of music where you can be loud and not care about problems in life, it's like your own space and your yourself. It's not like slow and sad and depressing songs of love, yes they have a powerful meaning but sometimes in a negative way, and I'm not saying rock is as it stereotyped for people screaming and being angry which is not really true.

I mostly listen to rock all the time, i love music one of my best hobbies and interests, i either listen to it walking to school or practise at home and with friends, and when I'm in the gym as most of the music they play their is annoying to train to.
The bands that i mostly like in the rock industry is:
Lost prophets, metallica, iron madien, ACDC, enter shikari, bowling for soup, green day, linkin park, killswitch engage, sum 41, slipknot, Hollywood undead, foo fighters, muse, jimmy eat world, paramore and so much more but these are the types of style of guitar and rock I mostly listen to (e.g. alternative rock).

But all these bands have a powerful side of meaning which makes me interested and inspired by there type of story they have to tell, not just screaming and shouting and jumping around because rock is not like that unless it's a heavy metal band such as bring me horizon or lordi or 'a different breed of killer' or a famous one 'cannibal corpse' or 'system of a down'.



This is one of my bestest songs, I don't have a favourite song as all of i can't choose because of the different styles that goes in between them.
But the reason why this is my favourite song is because lost prophets are one band i grew up with in my childhood and I've been inspired by them since they started and the album 'start something' (2003-2004) is probably my best album of all time because it talks about the world and life and has a kind of link to my lifestyle in a small issue as it may affect some people in the same way if they listened to it. And also i born in wales and they are a welsh band we also gives me a interest, they came from pontypridd, 12 miles north from Cardiff.
But the song is so successful of it's meaning and drums snares and powerful chorus, and i like the video as its set in a ruined down street and the lead singer ('Ian Watkins') calls out a generation of people about love and life and could be speaking to his girlfriend or maybe even the government and it's that power i like in the song and we can move on and not be stuck in the same dilemmas. Also the guitar that played is very catchy and clean electric which i love.

But after rock i also have a high ambition on rappers as they talk about there life experience it's either lost prophets or eminem they kind of have a link but eminem is solo and only talks about his life and the charatcers that he's created and become out of them is so successful which makes him one of the most famous people to walk on this earth, his lyrics are very powerful and every sentence he raps he means it and it's like your in his shoes which draws a overwhelming 'wow factor' which inspires fans.
One of my famous songs and probably in my top 3 best songs is:


Very powerful meaning and very powerful video. He talks about how be became what he is today and you chase your dreams and no matter how rough the place you was brought up in you go for it if you believe in it, 'Get rich of die trying' 50-cents tops sayings. But it has a link to me, my dream is to be in a band and be a famous rock artist and like he says you have one shot and you go for it. And the backing tunes has a hard and remembered tune which is very catchy and i love the film of this aswel (The 8 mile).

So these are my main interests in the music industry, past and present.

Clothes and styles of Action films.

When there's always any genre of film the clothes and styles are very important to have. With costumes and suites we can read a part of the characters in the appearance point of view.

Here are some examples from me =) :

• Matrix is a futuristic film so what we see here is that a black leather jacket, trousers, and leather boots are used. I think the reason why these parts are used is because black is a dark colour which socializes with this film, also it's a dark film in some places mostly things are set in dark rooms and night time so this may blend in aswel. Also the background setting for this film is quite alot most dull colours, mostly grey in most scenes and some forms of bright colours but the black is used as a dark colour and also makes the character look evil and sometimes unique, in most film you don't see this type of costume so it links with the futuristic aspect. Also letaher is tight so it brings out the phyical outlook on the charater as a action flim always more or less needs a stongly built or fast moving chararter. Also the glasses are used as a symbol for the film e.g. lightsaber is used for star wars. Also i think the glasses are used for and effect of not noing who this charater is and you'll only see him if he has the glasses, he is unique and different which in a form makes him more dangerous and intimidating.

• Is in type of flim the costume are medevil types of aspects, heavy amour and metal to bring out the strenght aspect point of view and medevil setting.

More heavy equipment needs to be withheld withing this film and maybe a good physic on the character and looks built and ready for battle / derterminded to achieve his goal in the film as this will come across as a good stereotype and role model for the charatcer. I think it will be hard to do a kind of film in our enviroment as it not medevil and the mise en scene would be very hard to to, but from this we can see a layout of a charatcer and what he/ she needs to make him her stand out from the crowd.

I was thinking for my exam to do a gangsta flim so the clothes will have to be taken into consideration in a high outlook upon it and also the mise en scene would be alot more easier to do as today standard is more on that outlook and can make a good opening if the camera shot are placed well and the weather is right to do it.

With this research i can now look at accurate visual outlooks upon character in different types of action flim and needs to there to make the flim successful and professional in its best form as possible.

Looking at different styles of action openings:

Thinking and moving on in our project me and Ian are now looking looking at the different backgrounds in the opening of films that relate to our genre (action).

The reason why we are researching this part is because then we can get a more clear image of what style of film we want if it involves various props, cars, type of clothes, backgrounds, effects, etc.....
We looked at trailers this time as it gives a more in depth position of the film and what it's about.






This clip is from one of my favourite movies Hot Fuzz. This runs under a comedy/action film in this clip i found some resoures that could make our opening suscessful, we found:

• There policemen, uniforms, enviroment that he's in.



• Could have a action scene pause and then snap back into action (action comic books e.g. "Pow" with dramamatic sounds.)



• Sponser straight away in a spin effect "Universal" and then working title after his discription "working title" makes film more professional.



• Discription of main character blended into various character and whats the dilemma and how he can overcome it.



• Action in a silent sppech of comedy to inflict more interestes and makes it more successful and affective and not just a typical action film. (1.10-1.14) (1.32-1.39) (1.50-1.58)



• Comedy speeches can inflict vilonce and action e.g. "three people have died in a week" ... "accidents happen all the time what makes you think it was murrrdderrr?"



• Police badge symbol code effective backgorund and colour that resembles the police society of today/ blue (1.15-1.17)



• 1.28-1.31 to points of view the actual murder and then a character that doesn't no about the murder (enigma and symbolic codes)



• Weapons symbol of power and also the way he has them is over the top action.



• "I'm gonna bust this thing wide open!" Straight forawrd action line.

Gladiator.

The reason why i've chosen gladitor is bescause its an action but in a different genre of action as it's medevil times so the speech and enviroment and life will be a different act to todays look. The weapons and styles of clothes will be different and the defintion of pride and love will be much more stronger as it's old times.

>Looking through this trailer we found these:

• 
  
  Straight away tells you the story of the film and whats it's about.


• 
  
  Bigs the main character up "He became a gladiator ....... THE gladiator"


• 
  
  Starts of with a powerful opening "The general" main man of fighting and protecting, links with the gladiator idea.


• 
  
  0.24 examples of different culture (Rome) and what they did back then.


• 
  
  0.30-0.34 shows the dilemma and situation that starts of the rivalry of the empire and gladiator, short and snappy.


• 
  
  Action skipping to main aspect on story skipping back in to action, shows the story and how the characters role and emotions throughout the whole film. Also it makes the film more intense and exciting to watch, fast acting movements.


• 
  
  0.48 change of colour affect, maybe useful.


• 
  
  Tension slows down for spilt second and asks a question (the little boy 0.48-0.50) and then slowly builds back up again from where he was to what he's become. Creates a powerful and interesting storyboard.


• 
  
  "Russell crow" name of actor and slow motion low shot of him, confetti made as an effect to show he's special and well known.


• 
  
  1.12-1.13 intense action a gladiator on a horse diving out of the fire, shows how intense and exciting the action is going to be. Straight after title of film, snaps audience back to attention of what the film is called so they go and watch it and also shows the ending of the opening.


• 
  
  Crowd roaring, clash of swords, shouting, thuds of feet from amour, strong and effective sounds to make a perfect action scene. Could do a quiet tension building up slowly straight into crowd roaring and sword clashing which they've done.

The matrix.

I've chosen the matrix because it is a futuristic sci-fi action film, so yet again a whole different range of action. The matrix describes a future in which reality perceived by humans is actually the Matrix: a simulated reality created by sentient machines in order to pacify and subdue the human population while their bodies' heat and electrical activity are used as an energy source. Upon learning this, computer programmer "Neo" is drawn into a rebellion against the machines, involving other people who have been freed from the "dream world" and into reality.

Also it's a type of film covers these interest of what people may find interesting to watch for;

Cyberpunk and hacker subcultures; philosophical and religious ideas. Other examples of films which have used these ideas are classics such as "Alice's adventures in wonderland".

Looking at this film we found these:

• 0.02-0.04 logo of company changes to a different colour, maybe the colour of the representation of the film.


• 0.04-0.07 quick bursts of flashing images, grabs attention.


• 0.07-0.14 straight away action, also for effect screen goes blank and then bursts back onto screen, shows quickness of the action, and then slow motion for when she jumps the building to show how powerful the action is. Then flicks onto Neo saying "woah" basically as you think, inflicts comedy and the same wavelenght your on, involves you in the film.


• 0.15 rain used for an affect, dark cold night, street like, maybe a dark film.


• 0.17 shows an affect on the mouth, wried and abstract thoughts make you want to no whats going on.


• 0.20 effect on camera to make as if he's falling of a building.


• 0.22-0.28 using a propp (mirror) to use a powerful and really effective action of him pulling this mirror, shows a 'wow' factor and aspects of 3D.


• 0.31 sudden shot of him screaming, form of action and then cuts into noting slaps tension in straight away.


• 0.41 0.43 green flashes lightens up grabs attention and then goes into questions for audience to answer, question then quick scene to relate to it, useful and effective.
• 0.46 low shot of building rushing cloud, shows speed of film.
• 0.49 birds eye view and actors feet entering on a building futuristic effect and is affective.
• 0.56 when villain lands dust is spread shows a hint of action and maybe shows power and speed and intensity of the character.
• 1.03 three of the same people another effect of them being in the future side and adds more excitement as the three shows this character is powerful and means business.
• 1.04 birds eye view of gun, shows where bullet is going and how big the gun is.
• 1.05 slow motion effect of bullet hitting the floor, shows power and pure cold action/violence.
• 1.08 wall is smashed and the blocks come straight at you, makes the people want to be there. Also shows super powers in the character.
• 1.10-1.14 very quick flashes of characters and description of film and then slows back down and a wise saying is put into use.
• 'The maxtix has you' in other words it wants you so go and be a part of it and watch it.
• 1.23 coats opens and guns are there, camera roled from there to head for effect of costume in the character, maybe a icon for this.
• 1.28 blank bright background for effect, sudden rush of weapons come into place, camera angles and futuristic effect for the film.
• 1.35-1.36 Low shot of them being pulled up, device of action effect again.
• 1.40-1.42 a slice of the cake, the taste of impact and action in this film, guns and crazy moves.
• 1.47-1.49 use of slow motion effect with the impact of bullet and how many are being shot.
• 1.52 effect on speed of villain, futuristic action.
• 1.53 pause action camera rotates, special effective use of how hard the move or power that is provided to do this.
• 2.00 same device as 1.53 but in different aspect, so their are many ways of doing this.
• 2.05-2.-07 low shot of jumping out a building and catching makes the jump more effective.
• 2.08 sudden smash through window (action after action) and close up of her and gun straight up in your face action.
• 2.10 another low shot to make dramatic effect.
• 2.13-2.15 Massive explosion, fire, smashed glass, perfect ending for trailer/ opening and shows you that in 2.16 when screen flicks black.
• 2.16-2.20 amazing and epic effect on use of super power that 'Neo' has can dodge bullets, and slow motion effect shows the impact of action.

Disablity

In this lesson I had to show my power point on views towards disability and physical ability, I teamed up with Jack and overall I think we made a successful development.
We were only aloud to use picture and have less than 40 words in this presentation which made the work more in depth of explaining what we are representing and harder to find resources to link to them, but also it shows our skills in looking into people with these case factors and how we relate them with society and todays life and also what they were treated like in historical contents.

Then after our presentation we went into a more in depth study by looking at a clip from one of Ricky Gervais's stand up comedy's about disabled people.

Looking at this clip we then annotated the main factors and points about he views towards a person with disability in a wheelchair, we found these:

• Soon as he enter " Who's this poor little fella" straight stereotype towards his actions.



• When he wants him to wear the he refuses to and then he grabs his shirt and acts intimidating and uses types of physical violence to get what he wants, thinks disabled people are weak because they have a major problem.



• "Leg mental not head"


• Assumes he's stupid "Would u like me to read you a story?" he replies "I'm 31 mate" then he says for insult to injury "You should be walking then." So he's mean and doesn't really care.


• Messing about on his wheelchair teasing his disability and torturing him as he's sat on the ground defenceless and annoyed.


• Treated like an object "Oo wear this hat" and "oo let me have a go in the wheelchair" he uses his dominance to intimidate his disability.


• He categorizes him straight away basically saying "Which sort are you, and how I can relate to you in your disability". E.g. "so your handicap?"


• " 3 hot potatoes in our society all in this chap" basically saying there a bad issue in today society and get in the way of us and some of our problems.


• Assumes that people in wheelchairs are miserable "bet it must be crap in them"


• Discriminates his sexual life that disabled people can really have sexual contact with females and then he mocks him by saying "so your gay?" which is another form of stereotype in a negative look upon it.

So from these bullet points and notes i taken down about this advert i now have a image and opinion on people don't really care about disabled people, not just Ricky as he's a stand up and people laugh at what he has said to this man in the wheelchair. But then it could just be for comedy but what he says to the man is powerful and harsh and just shows he has no respect for them. Or maybe he's famous and loaded so why not take the mick out of a disabled person cause at the end of the day he gets the money for doing it, its a viscous circle but will continue as it entertains and assumes people.

Planning for the opening of a film:

This topic involves me making an opening scene to a movie:

The genre that i chosen for my opening film is thirller / action. The reason why I've chosen this genre is because it's my most strongest outlook in film and i no what things are expected to be in action films as it tends to be my favourite genre. Plus its easier than some other genres I think and can generate a whole range of ideas that make it even more excititng and adventurous compared to other genres.

First we had to pick the people that we're working with, I pick my friend Ian and Adam the reason why is that he has the same interests as me and properly the same mind set and opinions towards a action film and what need to be included.

Then after i chosen my people to work with we looked at some opening clips and from them generated ideas from them of what we could include in our final project.

From these clips we came up with these ideas:

• What is needed in an opening movie sequence that involves?
  • Big bold title
  • Mise en scene for the type of genre
  • Camera angles, how many shots? (10-20)
  • What clothes for the character, what way should he act?
  • What the character emotions are and the he acts
  • The type of text in the title, font, size, colour, bold, Underlined
  • What editing in the camera we need to do, fade in, fade out, zoom in, and zoom out?
  • Maybe a logo to represent the film like maybe a army film or gangster film etc.
  • Slow motion effects, fighting, gun shot; point of view like someone is watching someone etc.
  • Sudden bursts of noise, silent to loud in an instant, short and snappy.
  • Colour of the background, black and white, bright and bold, colourful and loud.
  • Historical vengeance, Job reference?
  • Point of view with a question to answer, a target on a person?
  • Appropriate surrounding quiet, day, night, sunny, windy, rain, busy, lazy.
  • Where’s it set on a building / sniper. In a street/ cars, gangsters, knifes, guns. In a house: quiet, close combat, anger, scene and signs of historical vengeance / flashbacks.
  • Angle of guns the way they point to represent that they are the main aspect or the character.
  • Maybe sort 20 seconds of background life of the chararacter, family, causes – convicted – shot and left for dead – etc....
  • Is the dilemma set in the local environment or far away in a different country?
  • Maybe a rise of monsters vampires, demons, zombies, aliens and needs to be a very intimidating and big dilemma!
  • Maybe the main character could turn him into the dilemma and be the dilemma without knowing, quick twists.
  • Brief summary of the story and how characters link to each other.
  • An opening scene slowly getting bigger and building up tension of what it includes, e.g. a mystery box, graveyard, symbolic codes.
  • End of movie clip which leaves an enigma code to make the person want to find out what happens next.
  • Abstract clever backgrounds maybe e.g. cartoony, (Sin city) (Kill bill) (Crank)
  • Explosions, powerful and fast or slow moving enrolment and tells the tempo of what the film maybe like e.g. (Crank)
  • Over the top action scene, maybe compare it to real life and then to the main character e.g. James bond.
• Heavy music in backgorund maybe, add supension and makes the actions more powerful and affective.
  

Binary opposites

In this lesson we had to watch the film commando with Arnold Schwarzenegger. The impressions i first had when i saw the title is that he actor needs a strong build (body builder), guns, blood, intimidating to look at, tough, in charge, rugged, and intelligent. Which Arnold was perfect to play this part but i thought he was just abit over the top.

Phallic symbols: Object which represent a penis (quote from Freud) which relates to this film.

In this film he has a daughter so this changes the film settings dramatically and he has to care for her which makes the film different and more interesting to watch.

Now i look for: Loaned farther, over protective, caring, maybe a role model to her/ advice giver, and life problem as maybe busy still with his career.

As the first scene when Arnold enters i saw such a dramatic entrance, we see his boots, green and tough and big like him, and then the camera switches straight to his veins on his arms which is abit over the top but shows the character what he's going to be like in this film and what things he may have done. And also the music gives the characters away aswel with a sudden gong and then the music fades in so its like everything stops and stares at this character. Also there a phallic symbol, thew chainsaw that he is holding is shaped in the of the phallic symbol yet again we see more power in this character and is bigging himself up.

There's a non facial expression at all he keeps it straight and vain, no one nos what he feels and what he's going to do. Also when he carry the tree (another prob to show his strenght) the camera angle is low which makes him look tall and also he wears a tight vest and shorts maybe because he's hot as the suns out or another device to show off his character.

When we see him chopping the wood for warmth the camera flicks onto a shadow and the music goes into a assassin type sound and quiet and then it flicks back onto Arnold but using his intelligence he looks into the axe and finds the reflection of the person behind so we no he's been taught and no's how to overcome this problem. But then we find out its his daughter and the music goes all bubbly and great which i think is a bit over the top.

Then we skip to him and his daughter having a ice cream this may show that the farther can afford to take her out and is rich and spoils her, and again is shows bonding and love. And he dressed like a normal person so he spontaneous to his job and likes to keep it a secret.

Then in the next scene he's teaching his daughter how to fight, for a film like this and how high classed Arnold character is she might be venerable to her-self/ a target and also its a form of following dads footsteps. And then from fighting it goes straight onto a binary opposite which Arnold and his daughter is feeding a deer so it shows a feminine side to Arnold but still i think its over the top. And also the camera zooms in to show more affection.

Then we go onto him giving her a piggy back this shows that's he more dominant and cares for her as he's walking over a log, maybe he doesn't want her to fall, over protective.


The camera now switches to them fishing but this time Arnold brings in the fish so this might be over protectiveness or the girl could not like the fish so he holds it for her. Then it shows them in the pool, rich job well payed. The sunset shows he's been with her all day so he has quite alot of spare time for her. And then we see the girl being threw by Arnold this shows that yet again he's more strong and dominant and can be playful.
Then the music dies down and we see the daughter making the food a prob device to show that shes been taught with simple life aspects and also a prob card on the fridge saying "I love you dad" shows that shes a daddy girl and there bond is very strong. The only thing which is off putting is that they kiss on the lips now this film was 1980's so the films interpretation may be different to today's aspects and views so we no its a pretty old film. And also we see the fire burning in the background this shows a domestic scene of perfectness.

Then when they talk something happens we no this straight away because of Arnold facial expression that he represents. We find out its his commander and pulls his gun from his pocket without notice, this character is smooth and silk and has been taught by the top ranks.
The daughter doesn't like this as her dad has a mission to do and will have to leave her for a period of time, shes like a lost sheep without him.
Then the scene is very quiet which indicates something is going to happen and a villain from the bush pulls out a gun and starts shooting everyone Arnold being the main character doesn't get shot and tells his daugther to hide.

Now the daughter hides under a bed, a typical place to hide so shes bound to get caught. And then Arnold runs to his shed and gets his guns and kills all the villains untill he enters the room with a villain is sitting down in. The villain tells him that he has to cooperate with him to get his daughter back, but then Arnold says "wrong" and shoots the villain in the head, this shows he's a accurate shot and also he notr affraid to kill, and he knows what sitituations are and are they telling the truth or not ands also hes very blunt and gets straight down to the point.

This imformation gives me a visual aspect of character and how to encounter there emotions and actions towards the storyline or other characters within the flim. I now have a more confident backgorund of in depth of characters and now find it easier to read of them.

How are various characters represented in a episode of shameless?

In this lesson we watched the channel 4 drama shameless, we watched the very first episode of the 1st series these were the outcomes of the program:

As soon as the show started i noticed that thew scene was in a council estate In Manchester, this gives me a stereotype impression of this program being informal and aimed at the young adult range. As the music started Frank (the character) started a narrative talk about the culture there so as soon as it starts a person in the culture is giving a view standard of where he lives so we now where we are and whats going on.

Its' like we're looking out of his eyes and the style of music blends into his voice and characters actions which makes the intro interesting and successful to the audience.

Then we were given a task to follow, we had to describe the characters in as much detail as possible. We also paused every 10 minutes to look at peoples different views towards these individual characters in shameless.

My results where as follows:

Steve: Middle class man due to clothes, when was in nightclub he was opened minded and cocky towards the girls and bouncer which also shows over confidence. When he faces Fiona when talking at her house he gives a strong eye contact towards her to show that he's interested and taking notice of her conversation in every aspect/ open minded. And also he's clever in words towards Fiona and Veroina maybe a lady's man (male gaze). He's a open minded and can be sarcastic towards to female genders, he uses this techniques to either win the girl and he plays hard (male gaze) but when he gets the girl ... Fiona he shows his emotions and feelings towards her in more in depth situations. Also we see a hidden back life to Steve that instead of working he pretend to and steels cars, yet again we see is sly emotions appearing but yet again earn him want he wants. Basically a clever man and mostly gets what he wants.



Fiona: A shy and independent character, she maybe feel uncomfortable due to the way of she follows Veriona actions and her lifestyle or could be a quiet and sly character. Her dress sense is red dress and high heals =, form of sex or male gaze as showing curves and body, but also she can dress chavy, this maybe from the family side. Her dad is Frank in shameless but he acts like a child as he's carryed in drunk by police, so shes like the adult of the house. Also tears of frustration as her night is ruined with Steve so she may want freedom in life, also this shows non typical attitude. But she can't be miserable as she has to keep the family in shape, this shows strength and a strong bond in the Gallagher family. Also when she starts seeing Steve she talks to him in a defensive way and also plays hard, maybe she is still insecure about if he enters her lifestyle it might be on extra on the family, so yet again we see her being self aware about life opportunity's.But also i think Fiona uses her depression as a reverse physiology affect and shows it when she is on the phone to Steve e.g. "You can get laid anyway" so it's like she's desperate for the answers of Steve, maybe to move on in life or if she finds the right answer. But at the end of the episode we see Steve as a farther icon when he's serving food to her family so she No's she's made the right choice and benefits from it. And also she easily lead into love aswel and is very forward with Steve.



Lip: Your typical teenage male (16-21 years old) loves abit of the old banta and is a sarcastic and very open character. He acts innocents towards people so that they will show him attention, so he likes to be known. Also as every human insists if something goes bad he runs away from the situation or finds anything to overcome it. Also we find out he is intelligent as he got a high grade in physic's so he may no some points of how people react in every day life this is properly way we see him act in a different type of style towards different characters in the program. And also he can be gobby and speaks his mind. He's also very passionate about his family as when he see's Ian in the shop with another guys trainer on it represents that he's been doing something with him, (the shoe is a prob to represent a dilemma in the episode). But then we see at the end of the episode that he has a go at Ian but then he has a joke with him and accepts the fact that he is gay, also he steps down to his level when Ian is smoking and joins in with him, this could show he's trying to make Ian commutable talking to him and he's in the same zone as him. He cannot win and change him so he follows him and keeps the bond with him but has the banta still going because he's still a bit disappointed.


Ian: Very easy to read from the start, very independent and shy but when he's involved he acts like 'Mr.big' and thinks he knows it all. Body language towards people edgy and static like he's got something to hide, later on we find out he's gay so we have a slight different view when he acts different towards men than girls. Its like he likes to be hidden away from the family, maybe because he the quiet one or he likes to get up to things as we see in the shop. And the shop might be his getaway from problems and situations in his life as you see his character is more sociable and happier when he's in there. Also he's very emotional when it comes to his sex when Lip argues with him. He raises his voice above his this shows that he might be scared of coming to reality with it and what the family will think of him or he hiding away so it shows the Lip you will listen to me and me only. Also violence is involved that Ian pins Lip down to the bed, this could show he's not a sissy boy and also it could show gay forms as he's touching a male, and also it shows more power and dominance. Then when he's sitting in the van at the end he's smoking a fag, this shows stress.

Frank: It is my favourite character as for the comedy point of view and also he shows intelligence in his sayings. Frank is your local piss head, fags booze, banta, "partys!" he's the role model of not being this character. The key aspect we see in Frank is right at the very beginning when he see him muttering on, but what i see is that he describing his life enviroment and how messed up it is and what he's become out of it and questions him self of why i became this. Also he describes his family at the start, this shows he does have a connection with the family and what might other people think of them, so he has a bond with them. But the way he acts and talks people don't really take notice of him because they stereotype him for a low life piss head. The thing is with Frank he's like the famous Gallagher brother but the binary opposites of not having the money. And his solution is to think what life about..... party's and bringing people together so he might be lonely in his age region.

Also in apart of the episode we him carryed in being drunk and disorderly by the police but the police are used to this so we no he's a local in the place for this dilemma, but also he's selfish to his family, he's the only farther and the kids more or less behave like the adult, he's the big kid but also its shows them not to end up like him and get something out of life. It's like he showing this is me and don't be me.

Also in another part of the show we see him looking in a washing machine, he no's his house and this is a new washing machine, but the camera angle is placed in a abstract point of view like the washing machine is looking at him, and makes him look like a caveman wondering what it is, this maybe used for comedy or a interest in the program for viewers.

And he likes to imtimidates people aswel, for when Steve turns up and walks outside his house he stops and looks at him in a strange and confused way, he could be still drunk or thinking what going on, so he does care about the family but is single minded and carry's on his walk to the daily pub. And then later on we see him come in and try to intimidate Steve again, so he's getting to no Steve and what he's here for, he does in a pissed and funny way to keep him in the comfort zone and questions Fiona about the washing machine and, she said Steve, so he may think " I could get things of Steve and more booze and fags maybe?" so he changes his emotions and grabs the keys and locks the house and has a party to make him feel welcoming, also he might be forgiving to Fiona after what he done the other night and they all start going to his level of drinking and fags. But when they steep to his level he talks more intelligently towards them and he looks like the intelligent person out of them all, maybe we see another Frank or he just used to this every day.

Veriona: The loud and i don't care what u think of me character. Your typical stereotype of a "slapper" don't be fooled by the photo she can be a loud mouthed self optioned stuck up women. But this type of attitude gets her somewhere like with men as in the male gaze some men like bad girls. Also she's like a role model for the place she lives in, her accent and her actions towards people and also her body language and dress sense. She's not really open minded as she swears quite alot, she attacks people with the insult and swearing instead of looking at it and trying to sort it out, maybe a lazy character. Also we her dancing in a nightclub typical stereotyping again, either getting drunk or looking for male attention.

Her dress scene is tarty and and tight clothes yet again she's part of the male gaze showing her figure body, curves, bum, arms, shoulders,legs, etc... Her colours are red a black, easy colours to see and also represented as sexy colours on a women. And the way she acts towards people is crud but sometimes kind hearted aswel. But also she can be very forward to views with people e.g. the bouncer she him a "fat twat" as he doesn't let her back in the nightclub. She acts a bit like a kid, if she doesn't get what she wants she'll make a big scene about it, grabs attention.Also she's very cheeky and makes herself at home anywhere as she walks into Franks house and help herself to vodka and drinks, yet again attention to people and also she doesn't care.

But also looking at all these character they have a bond with each other and links, they all live in the same place, they have nearly the same stroylined background but with a few different extra dilemmas and also sometime they all think screw it lets get wasted and have a party as we see in the end of the show. And they all no each other more or less.

Male Gender Research

The 4 typical males in soaps:

1. The hard guy: The male which is intimidating to look at and to talk to, we know his background family lifestyle and he's easy to read through his emotions and what can cause him to crack. He shows dominate and strong emotions for caring for his family and things that are a main aspect to the character. A known slogan for this character is "Don't mess with this guy!"

2. The handsome and screw over male: Girls love this sort of character a self centred and bitchy man. He's the 'smooth talker' and treat girls as if they are dumb to win them and make them look up at him. Not very social to other males and has the 'male gaze' for women due to eye contact, body language and ignorance. Also he treats men as targets to inflict jelously and fights which makes girls want him more.

3. The attension seeker (annoying): This type of character likes to be known and wanted by every single person. He trys to act like the big man which he fails most of the time of doing it. Many people find this character annoying and miserable.

4. The happy one: There's always a character that cheers up the mood in a soap, this character proberly has not got all the moves in social life but remians cheerful and happy and shows it to everyone.

5.

Short essay on representation.

(In this task it has to 250 - 500 words)
The question: Analyse a show that relate to a resemblement of yourself and what actions which may link to you- any moving image of media (programs, adverts, sports, etc ...)

The program I've chosen that has a certain link to me is Jackass. The reasons why I've chosen this program is it's the most popular show i watch on T.V. I don't tend to watch t.v in the daytime i only watch it at night as i have a some spare time to chill and watch it and that is when Jackass comes on as it more adult material based.

The show Jackass shows a bunch of American males aged 19-27 doing stunts that are ridiculous and wreck less stunts and pranks, the reason why i watch it is because it's funny to see some of the stunts. The reason why it's so successful and appealing is because I'm a teenager and some shows you need a bit of crazy comedy in which Jackass is a perfect example to present it and also sometime i like to have a laugh and do a few crazy things for entertainment as also some other people may do i there lifetime.



Also looking at the actors and watching the show they mostly listen to rock music which i love and also there dress sense is like the same as mine some days they dress up formal and some days they wear loud t-shirts and jeans and trainers and also the hair style they have, so it's really the same zone that I'm in.

Now parents don't tend to watch or like this show due to silly and pointless stunts which leads to injury and pain. But my point is that what u get out of it is laughter and comedy and the actors also agreed to do the stunts, and the saying life to young is what Jackass represents. But that what makes this program so successful to different genders and ages because like today's times is hard and slow and dull and Jackass are just guy who want to have fun and earn money in a living for what they do, yes some of the things are stupid and crazy but at the same time its funny to watch.

Overall i think is aimed at people that have a sense of humor and enjoy watching people doing pranks and ridiculous stuff to make people laugh and them earning money and being famous for it. I think it's a talent in what they do and it's funny so that's why i watch it, and i think people around my age to 25-30 would also watch it.

Representation:

In this lesson we had to find out the meaning of representation and what device link to this topic and how its use to make things successful and understanding.

Representation " The process by which shows the media in our "real world" today. The reason why i quoted real world is because i can't always be real and you can't always believe in what people say.

Also there is selection process:

• The decision over what is chosen to be represented and what is rejected.
• The choices made when organising the representation.
• The options taken to focus the audience in a certain way. (e.g big brother it a whole days show but it gets cut down to and hour show on channel 4, this cuts the main aspect out like arguments and views about people which creates a character in a person in the house which grabs popularity and entertainment which makes the show successful.)

Then we got answered a question on how we would ask when analysing representation, we went through and came up with this solutions:

• WHO or WHAT is being represented ?
• HOW is the representation created ?
• WHO has created the representation ?
• WHY is the representation created in that way ? And what is the in tension.
• WHAT is the effect of the representation ?

Then we where looking at gate keeping which is .... A theorist called White (1961) spoke of the 'gatekeepers' that is the people who are part of the decision making process in the cons traction of media texts. We also came up with examples:

• Parental control
• BBC commissioners - head of different genres
• Law makers
• Directors - camera angles and storyline in way of acting
• Producer - in charge of money, locations, actors, editing, etc .....
• Editor - edits every bit of movement and action in the film.
• Audience (recent phenomemron test screening e.g kangaroo jack, people liked the kangaroo in a murder series)

Also when researching this part of the lesson we found out that most of the directors are all men and there in the white race and there jobs are upper class or middle class. This show that may have a different view of representing people as they are in a different lifestyle to them or i could be stereotypical.

Moving on the lesson we came across the:

The Constructionist Approach:

1. The representation is constructed with a set of ideas and values (producers intent/ in tented meaning)
2. The context of the representation is part of the representation ( media language choices, anchorage, media form, placement location, genre, expectation, etc.... e.g MC Donald's Logo is a massive M so that's how the person realizes its the company.
3. The audience reacts to this representation and this depends on their own personal interpretational context: age, gender, political, religious beliefs, nationally, gangs (drugs and guns) etc.... (negotiated meaning).

Richard Dyer also made a statement on matter of imagery. He said

"How we are seen determines how we are treated, how we treat others is based on how we see them. How we see them comes from representation.

From this lesson its gives me more of a imaged mind map of what to overcome when i get my exam questions about a certain question, about a topic which relates to these devices and how i can plan out and find the main factors which will help me get a better grade outcome.

The Royal Tenenbaums

In this lesson we had to research about the film "The royal Tenenbaums", we had to analysis the opening scene of this clip and from the clip we had to consentrate on a certain character and analysis all the devices of "mise en scene" and also find examples on the 5 codes.

I chosen Margo, the reason why i chosen Margo is that from as soon as the first 2 minutes showed it was the easiest to read her body language and the style of acting she was trying to express. Also the camera angles told made a story for her . e.g as shes in her room its just her in a middle shot and also the setting makes it as if its just her on stage so we know she lonely and she likes to keep things to herself (e.g the door "keep out").

How i evaluted the Margo essay was that the class watched the clip about 3-4 times and every time we watched the opening scene we had to write down notes which may link to mise en scene and the 5 codes. When i was looking at my notes i put them into short sentences to make to work easier for my-self and make it more successful than spending more time to come up with things.
After that i put the essay in place as theres a opening main body and closing statement so i done a brief plan on the sentences, where they gonna go, and how they will make sense for e.g on my notes i put "Margo was a .... (describe feelings and ways she acts upon .... CAMERA / SETTING / etc...) and from these ideas i generated a final essay which i think i did rather well in.



What i could of improved from this that i could of maybe introduced some of the colour to show her emotions and also took abit more time being careful with my sentences and spelling that they made sense and people could understand what i was saying and relating to the factors of media.
But overall i think im improved on understand different techinques that people use in flims and how i can read of them in a more easy way.

The male Gaze

What is a gaze?

• A concept of a gaze is that one deals with how an audience views the people presented.

For feminists it can it can be thought of in 3 ways:

• How men look at women


• How women look at themselves


• How women look at other women

Laura Mutray coined that the term was called "Male Gaze" in 1975. She believes that film audiences have to "view" characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male.

Features of a male Gaze:

• The camera lingers on the curves of the female body, and events which occur to women are presented carefully in the context of a mans reaction of those events.


• Relegates women to the status of objects. The female viewer must experience the narrative secondary, by identification with the female.

We also watched a clip for this type of style: Scouting for girls "shes so lovely"

Looking at the video from this song i found this that relates to the "Male Gaze".

• The girl is wearing bright colours in her outfit to make her stand out from the rest of people and girls that are in the blowing alley. Also she is in lane number one, this may refer to her being number one and she's the best girl in there. She also wears red shoes and belt. Red shows a high contrast in colour so it shines out more which catches the eye to look at the individual object or item.
• The man in this video is wearing dull colours and is in the second lane, he is like the complete opposite to to girl. The only that's bright are his eyes so this could show that bright meets bright colours.

Also with the term of Male Gaze they are also shown in many advert in today e.g such as lynx "spray more get more" meaning in a sexual way. Also there's rustlers burgers with a women on the sofa in her underwear when the burger is cooked. Also there's special k but the thing is with the special k advert now is it's coming from a women's response that both men and women have eat this product and it's not aimed at one gender. So there are many different techniques in certain adverts.

Stereotypes

MEDIATION: (30/09/09)

In this lesson we had to look at the aspects of a stereotype and what they are used for in different ways.
In many instances stereotypes are used pejoratively by dominant groups to describe subordinate groups. Stereotyping is not a simple process and contains a number of assumptions that can be changellend for example, Tessa Perkins (born 1979) identifies them:

• "They are not always about minority groups or the less powerful" .. e.g. police-pigs-feds- teenagers don't like police etc.
• "They are not rigid or unchanging" this could go for a person who likes rock, used to be very popular but now there known as shouting and screaming as a new form of music such as r'n'b and electro pop.
• "They can be held about one's own group" e.g rugby players, footballers, appearance.
• "They are not always false" e.g girls like pink, fighters have discipline.

Also going through the lesson we en counted another person who works on the same scene but his views are abit different.

Leon Festinger:

He argued that we resist adjusting our attitudes unless faced with over-whelming evidence against it. He believed in his words that we seek out confirmation of our thoughts/ beliefs. This links to PLURALISM.

Overall out of this lesson I've learnt what different types of stereotypes you can have and how they are used in films to make it more successful and interesting to watch.

Editing

There are man y different types of editing within cinema and films this is to add effects on filming and make the film have more of a meaning and also makes it more interesting.

• Continuity/ Hollywood editing: The viewer should not notice the cuts, shots should flow together naturally. Hence the sequence of shot should appear to be continuous.
• Montage - Soviet: This style of editing has two functions. The highly political soviet style of the 1920's which sought ti create a new meaning out of seemingly in-connected shots. The audience are very aware of the cut.
• Hollywood Montage: In classical Hollywood cinema, a "montage sequence" is a short segment in a film which narrative information is presented in a condensed fashion.
• Transitions: A transition is a term of how the editor moves from one "shot" to another. An inappropriate transition can destroy the mood or pace of the film.
• Crosscutting - parallel editing: Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of actions occurring in different places, usually simultaneously.
• Dissolve: A transition between two shots during which the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears.
• Wipe: A transition between shots in which a line passes across the screen, eliminating the first shot as it goes and replacing it with the next one. A very dynamic and noticeable transition.
• Action Editing: Faster and more snappy shots

With these editing affects i can produce ideas for video projects which will get me more marks. And also i found it interesting.

Mise en scence

Mise en scene is a french term for the analysis of what you see on screen, but it does not include sound !



There are five terms of mise en scene:

1. Lighting - Spotlight on the main character, creates an atmosphere and show who is the main person on stage.


2. Setting - The location of the event


3. Actions - Facial expressions are used and also body language and posture


4. Costumes / Props - Symbol of something of what it represents of the scene e.g school uniform, desks .... etc


5. Camera angles Where it pointed and tell a certain way of the character low = a big character.

We used mise en scene for a our project "The royal tenenbaums" by Wes Anderson from this we had to look at 3 characters in the starting scene and from the 3 we had a choose a character that would suite us best. I chosen Margo as her mise en scene was very interesting and easy to explain from.

Narrative Structures

In a film story music video or whatever there are always 3 narratives:

• Beginning/ Equilibrium
• Middle/ Disequilibrium
• End/ New equilibrium

The definitions of these are as follows:

• Equilibrium - State of normality in the narrative
• Disequilibrium - Something disrupts normality and a protagonist/ hero must go on a quest to restore normality.
• New equilibrium - A new normality is created.

Character Roles (10/09/09)

These are the main factors of a story, film ,or music video .... etc .... etc

• The hero: The person who seeks something, e.g hidden treasure
• The villain: Is the complete opposite to the hero
• The donor: He helps the hero by providing a magic object e.g super powers (Bruce almighty)
• The dispatcher: Sends the hero on his way (e.g a quest/ lord of the rings)
• The helper: Gives support to the hero
• The princess: The reward for the hero, but also needs protection from the villain (e.g money= princess/ problem = taxes, error in favour ..etc)
• And the last the princesses farther: A person who makes sure his daughter/ princess is o.k with the hero and will provide her protection, a barrier.

A person who links with this kind of work is Vladimir Proppacient, a Russian critic and theory and he analysed 100 Russian fairystyles and tales in the 1920's.

With this information it gives me more of a mind map of characters roles within any element of using them, this gives me more understanding and confidence and i look at Vladimir Proppacient work and generate ideas from his success.