Learning Objective: Identify 10 shot types in this trailer for SKYFALL.
1.Long-Shot at beginning - This shot is used to show that James is very familiar with his surroundings. This also shows he has an emotional connection with his surroundings as he is looking forlorn. This scene is also used to establish the setting as it shows the geographical marker which is Big Ben. This also makes the audience feel safe and at home as they are familiar with the setting.
2.Close-Up: 0:31 - This shot is used to show James' emotion in his face, it allows the audience to feel as if they are getting to know him more. This shot allows us to see just how tired, and sullen he has become over time, as we can clearly see his unshaven beard.
3.Up-Shot: 0:54 - This shot is used to create a sense that the helicopter is exceedingly powerful and will create a problem for someone. This also creates quite an uncomfortable, dark atmosphere as the lighting is cold, dark colours. This makes the audience feel the tension.
4.Two-Shot: 0:27 - This shpt is used to show the seriousness of the conversation the two characters are having, as they are both keeping eye contact with each other and both have serious expressions. The lighting is quite high-key so that wee can see their faces, whilst still having barely any back lighting or fill lighting to keep the atmosphere tense and sad. This makes the audience feel uneasy and on edge.
Learning objective: To explore film trailers and how enigmas are used for audience appeal.
Roland Barthes
12 November 1915 – 26 March 1980
Barthes argued that a text (from the Latin Tissue) was not one thing but a weaving together of various strands and processes. Some of them internal to the story, some of them making connections to the outside or real world.
It is interesting to consider how many different ways readers are given access to stories, often depending on their different life experiences.
Barthes suggested that narrative works with five codes, which together 'activate' the reader.
The two codes which are internal to the text are:
The Enigma (or hermeneutic) code which sets up and usually solves major puzzles. Often, a big event occurs at the beginning of a show and the audience ask themselves ' why did this happen?'
At least two kinds of pleasure are involved:
It can be as enjoyable to 'know' the answers as it is to have those predictions confounded by twists and surprises in the narrative. Of course this doesn't apply to all genres, musicals for example.
The Action (or proairetic) code which makes complex actions 'readable' through the edit (jump cuts) so the audience don't have to have everything spelt out. For example, the victim of a crime can be shown on a stretcher can signal a whole sequence of getting to the hospital, so it will be of no surprise to the audience when the character is next shown on a hospital bed.
Enigmas. The purpose of a trailer is to make the audience want to go and see the film. The trailer will be put together to show some of the best bits of the film but leaves out bits of information so the audience will have to go to see the film to find out what happens. Task 1: How has the following trailer used enigmas that keep the audience hooked?
Audio codes. The film trailer will include music, for example a theme tune that is used in all marketing for the film. It may be recognisable song. There may also be music that gives a clue to the action, for example sinister music to show an evil character on screen. This is called a sound motif. The trailer may also include sound effects that link to the genre. Howling wolves for example for the vampire/horror genre. A voice over is usually used to explain some of the storyline to the audience. This tells the audience what to expect from the film.
Task 2: Can you recognise the following sound motifs and the genre of film they suggest? State why the music suggests the genre. Orange books.
Technical codes. Trailers use arrange of camera shots and angles to hold the interest of the audience. The shots will be edited together to show the audience the storyline and to make the trailer more interesting. The pace of the trailer will link to the genre; an action film will be fast and dramatic, a suspense thriller may be slower and more thoughtful.
Editing. The aim of the trailer is to catch the attention of the audience. In a trailer, scenes from the film are chosen in order to introduce the narrative and the characters. These are put together to create an effect and are often accompanied by music, sound effects or a voice over to help the edited scenes make sense to the audience. It is sometimes the case that a good trailer that is edited well can make the film seem more interesting than it actually is.
Learning Outcome: You will investigate how audience lifestyles influence the films they watch and how film trailers compete for a particular audience. Key words: Demographic, psychographic.
Product
A film needs to be clearly identifiable in its marketing — genre, stars, story, special effects, style all need to be presented to the audience so they can select the film on the basis of content
Placing
A film has to have the right release date — Christmas for a Christmas movie etc. Its release date will also depend on what else is being released at the same time - films have to fight it out for cinema screens. It would be pointless releasing any big action adventure movie the same weekend as another one simply because cinema goers would choose between it and the competition, thus halving the box office takings. It makes more sense to put a romantic comedy in that release slot, to mop up the movie-goers who are not interested in big screen action
Promotion
Promotion for films takes many forms:
Print advertising (posters + ads in newspapers & magazines) Trailers (screened at cinemas + on TV/radio) Internet sites (including Facebook 'fan' pages) Viral Videos Merchandising — the list is endless books, t-shirts, food, soundtrack CDs, computer games, toys, cars, mobile phones, anything that can be associated with the brand of the movie
Publicity
The publicity department of a studio can use the talent (actors, director, screenwriter) attached to a movie (they have contractual obligations to do what the studio asks) and will try to gain maximum benefit from the following:
Star Interviews — in print, online and broadcast media
'Making Of' documentaries, set reports and viral videos add to the hype
Gala Premieres — who's wearing what frock
Reviews and profiles —Empire front cover anyone?
News stories - who did what on set and what records has this movie broken
Task 3:
Research the way the new James Bond film Spectre has been promoted
Vladimir Propp was able to create a theory for almost all fictional stories by deconstructing and analysing Russian fairytales and folktales. His theory was that all stories had up to 31 functions, which would happen at some time in the story, and in the order stated.
He concluded that each story and fairytale would have 8 main identifiable character types:
1) Villain - challenges or opposes the hero 2) Donor - gives the Hero a magical object and prepares him 3) Helper - helps the Hero during the quest 4) Princess or Prize- marries the Hero, often sought for during the story. 5) Dispatcher - sends the Hero off into the journey, often makes the 'lack' known 6) Hero - reacts to the donor, marries the Princess 7) False hero/Usurper - takes credit for Hero's actions, tries marrying Princess
8) Father of the Princess or Prize - Rewards the Hero upon completion of a successful mission.
Task 1:
Identify character types from Propp's theory as applied to the feature film The Matrix.
Use visual and technical codes to describe how you decided on the character type. Remember that a character can take on more than one role. Orange books.
Tuesday, 6 October 2015
Learning outcome:
To explore the 180 degree editing rule then study clips from the films Goodfellas and Leon before discussing the effect the camera work has on the audience.
Key words:
Post production.
Edit.
Sound Effects.
Below is a basic camera set up for conversation between two people.
Task 1:
Watch this to help you get a grasp of the 180 degree rule.
Task 2: Watch how this clip from Leon The Professional breaks the 180 degree rule and consider how the audience decodes the message of the sequence. What is the director trying to convey? Write a paragraph in your orange books.
Editing Pace
Picture an action scene. Do you see: A gunfight? A car chase? A battle?
All of the above are prime examples of an action scene, which has one major defining characteristic: A fast pace. But who sets a scene's pace? While the director, actors and cinematographer affect the timing within each shot, it is the editor who ultimately creates the rhythm of a scene.
SETTING THE PACE
An editor establishes pace through his or her selection of static and moving shots, as well as the length and placement of those shots, Long shots and wide shots contain more information, so they are usually held on the screen longer, allowing the audience to register everything they're seeing. Since the audience grasps close-ups and medium shots mare quickly, they don't need to be on-screen far as long as a wide shot, making them perfect for action scenes. Short shots can heighten the dramatic tension of a scene and keep an audience an the edge of their seats.
The cuts in action scenes tend to get shorter and the angles closer until the editor pulls back for the next big moment, For example, the notorious shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho spreads a whopping 50 cuts over three minutes before ending with a still shot of the murdered Marian Crane. But it's not the number of quick cuts that makes an action scene effective, it's the juxtaposition of these shots=short and close, long and wide--that sets the pace.
REPEATING THE ACTION
A common tactic when cutting action scenes is to repeat the same action in two or more shots. This is done to milk the dramatic impact of same incredible event, be it an explosion, bridge collapse or car crash. By intercutting different angles and slow motion shots, an editor can prolong the action far as long as it sustains the story.
Editors also regularly repeat frames when cutting between shots. Since viewers' eyes don't instantly catch up when watching fast-paced sequences, repeating a few frames of the action bath at the tail of a long shot and the head of a close shot results in a smooth cut that the audience will perceive as one, continuous action,
Frequently, the repeating of action is obvious due to the editor's duplication of longer portions of the action over a series of shots, frequently from different angles. This over lapping amplifies the action far dramatic or comic impact and expands time. In the three frames below from "Burn Notice," the hero's descent from a helicopter repeats over three cuts to increase the drama.
IT'S ALL IN THE TIMING
The way you pace shots renders the action either shorter or longer than it occurs in real time. In the former case, making short, quick cuts, employing jump cuts or using a dissolve compresses time and moves the story along. In the scene below, from Zhang Yimou's Hero, the editors employed both short and slow motion shots to speed up time and hasten the hero's journey across the plain, while still giving the scene a feeling of timelessness.
Conversely, by repeating action, setting a slower pace and using dissolves or other effects in different ways, you can expand time, letting the audience absorb informa tion, savor a fun or exciting bit of action orfully experience the emotion of a scene. The three shots below from Sylvain Chomet's The Triplets of Belleville employ long, languorous dissolves to take the audience not only through the seasons, but through the years as a town grows up around the house at the center of the film.
KEEP IT EMOTIONAL
I was the assistant editor on a sitcom with Dann Cahn, a television editor famous for his innovative comedy editing on "I Love Lucy." We worked on an episode where a boy got a tractor going and couldn't stop it until it smashed into a partially constructed house. There were many camera angles and takes of the action, but no reaction shots of the boy. Dann brought this omission to the attention of the director, who claimed that it was too late to go back to the location. But Dann persisted, suggesting they put the actor in a chair. So the crew stepped outside the soundstage, hoisted the actor into a chair above their heads and wiggled him from side to side against the sky while the camera caught him in a close-up. When this new foot age was cut in, the boy's reactions made all the difference in the scene.
Cutting in a character's reaction heightens a scene's emotional intensity, therefore increasing the level of drama, as a character's response to the events in a scene can send the plot in unexpected directions. Reaction shots can also help bridge locations, cover up for continuity errors, speed up slow sections and skip over unnecessary action. Ideally, you should include reaction shots from minor participants and bystanders as well as those of all the scene's vital characters.
The frames below from James Cameron's Avatar illustrate how the editors dropped in a reaction to increase the audience's concern for the characters and the story.
FINAL APPROACH
There's a lot more that goes into editing satisfying action scenes than just cutting shots, together. While I haven't touched on how sound and music can affect an action scene, I have tried to hit the highlights in order to place you on firm ground as you move forward.
If you are still unnerved about cutting an action sequence, remember this: An action scene is a mini-story, and each cut-no matter how long or short-must advance that story. If you're buried in a ton of footage (which is normal for action scenes shot. using multiple cameras), organize the shots meticulously on your digital system and become thoroughly familiar with the script or outline. Most importantly, familiarize yourself with the footage and know all the angles, literally. With knowledge and organization you can access a clip instantly and not lose your train of thought in the heat of editing. So go for it; your audience looks forward to experiencing the result.
Task 2: watch the clip from Goodfellas then write a short paragraph on what you think the director was trying to convey to the audience.
You will consider how text producers think about nationality before targeting their audience.
The Representation of 'Britishness'
When considering the concept of representation in Media Studies whether it be places, people or events, you need to be able to identify the following:
The role of selection, construction and anchorage in creating representations
How the media uses those representations
The points of view, messages and values underlying those representations
Representation is a process for constructing identity and can lead to a collective identity. The concept of a collective identity refers to a set of individuals' sense of belonging to the group or collective. For the individual, the identity derived from the collective shapes a part of his or her personal identity. It is possible, at times, that this sense of belonging to a particular group will be so strong that it will trump other aspects of the person's personal identity.
To put it another way, Collective Identity is the idea that through participating in social activities, individuals can gain a sense of belonging and in essence an "identity" that transcends the individual. One can derive great satisfaction and sometimes great risks from participating. Within a typical collective, agreement is often valued over debate. Quotes to consider if Representation is your concept: “Identity is complicated- everybody thinks they’ve got one”- David Gauntlett “ A focus on Identity requires us to pay closer attention to the ways in which media and technologies are used in everyday life and their consequences for social groups” -David Buckingham
Task 1: In your orange books create a spider gram of all things British.
Here is a list of some of the things you may have thought about:
British people live in the past and are proud of Britain's history
They don't care what others think about them
Are patriotic
Don't speak foreign languages
Aren't sure about geography, even their own. (What does Great mean in Great Britain?)
Are polite and reluctant to complain, in restaurants for example
Fascinated by scandal and gossip
Have mixed feelings about fellow Europeans
Weather, tea and national sport are important
It is often suggested that Britishness is ultimately about shared values of tolerance, respect and fair play, a belief in freedom and democracy.
Britain has a population with a diverse heritage.
However, the concept of Britishness is much more complicated than the stereotypes you may have identified.
As A level students, you will need to show that you can recognise and analyse representations • demonstrate an understanding of the concept of representation and its importance in analysing and understanding media texts. • develop a response beyond a description of simple representations • be aware of the more complex issues underpinning a discussion of representation for example the issues surrounding stereotypes, construction, mediation and ideology.
The media texts you have been researching should be discussed with consideration given to the various audiences involved.
Task 2: Discuss the way individuals receive and interpret the texts below, how does their individual circumstances (gender, class, age, ethnicity) affected their reading?
Consider Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model, the relationship between text and audience.
The text is encoded by the producer, and decoded by the reader, and there may be major differences between two different readings of the same code.
e.g. gender affects the reading as boys may laugh at violence in a film but girls find it upsetting.
• Preferred/dominant • Negotiated • Oppositional
For example; gender can impact on the reading: Boys often laugh at violence in a film but girls may find it disturbing.
Learning Outcome: To explore how mise-en-scene manipulates audiences by creating expectations.
Key terms: Mise-en-scene: What is put into the scene. Denotation: Literal meaning, what the audience can see. Connotation: Hidden meaning, symbolic meaning.
Task 1: Examine the images below and write a paragraph on each about how the mise-en-scene creates expectations or conveys a message about the narrative. Blogs.
Consider the following:
Setting
Props
Costume (include hair, make up, jewellery).
Facial expression
Body language
Lighting (temperature)
Colour connotations
Positioning of characters
a:
b:
c:
d:
e:
f:
This is an assessment task. You will be marked on the following criteria:
Year 13 written tasks success criteria:
Knowledge of the concept of audience/representation/narrative
As well as Aristotle deciding that 'all drama is conflict' in the 4th century BC, 20th century theorist Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that all narratives had to be driven forward by conflict that was cause by a series of opposing forces. He called this the theory of Binary Opposition, and it is used to describe how each main force in a narrative has its equal and opposite. Analysing a narrative means identifying these opposing forces.
It means understanding how the conflict between the opposing forces will drive the narrative on until, finally, some sort of balance or resolution is achieved.
Levi-Strauss used the ‘Western’ film genre to develop his theory of Binary Oppositions.
HomesteadersNative Americans
ChristianPagan
DomesticSavageWeakStrongGardenWilderness
Inside societyOutside society Task 1:
List binary oppositions that you can think of from the crime then the horror genres?
Give specific examples from texts you know.
Post onto your own blog for feedback.
You will list binary oppositions from two given genres giving specific examples.
Examples of Binary Opposites Good vs Evil, Black vs White, Boy vs Girl, Peace vs War, Civilised vs Savage, Democracy vs Dictatorship, First world vs Third world, Domestic vs foreign/alien, Articulate vs inarticulate , Young vs Old, Man vs Nature, Protagonist vsantagonist, Action vs inaction, Motivator vs observer, Empowered vs victim , Man vs Woman, Good looking vs Ugly, Strong vs weak, Decisive vs indecisive, East vs West, Humanity vs technology, Ignorance vs wisdom
Levi Strauss
Claude Levi-Strauss suggested that all narratives had to be driven forward by conflict that was caused by a series of opposing forces. He called this the theory of Binary Opposition, and it is used to describe how each main force in a narrative has its equal and opposite. Analysing a narrative means identifying these opposing forces.
It means understanding how the conflict between the opposing forces will drive the narrative on until, finally, some sort of balance or resolution is achieved.
Levi Strauss is less interested in the chronological plotting of a single story than in repeated elements and their systematic relationship, usually across many stories. He called these the paradigmatic aspect of myths. A Levi Straussian approach to a particular film/TV crime drama might place it in the binary of crime/law and order. When analysing a crime text you should ask yourself: How does it embody this binary through contrast of characters, settings and actions? It can be argued that there has been a recent shift in crime drama. The progressive defence attorney crime fictions of the 60's and 70's featured compassionate fighters for the underdog. This was replaced in the 90's with texts becoming more focussed on prosecutors. Perhaps due to a shift to the right in US and UK politics but also due to the difficulty of presenting defence lawyers sympathetically after their role in such high profile cases as OJ Simpson. (See the jaded view of the law in Murder One (1995) and LA Law (1986) if you are using Crime drama for MS2. We could also point to the different detection methods of characters such as Megan and Horatio in CSI, she insists on staying strictly with the evidence, he goes with a gut feeling. They are consistently opposed, a narrative that can be seen in other crime fictions such as Life on Mars.
Many of you refer to binary oppositions in very vague terms. To tighten up your answer, always refer to the original thinker behind the concept, Claude Levis-Strauss, and then explain that binary oppositions reflect contemporary ideologies and fears, with specific and named examples to show your understanding. Here are two examples of how exemplification and detail can transform a response:
1) “…In I, Robot we see binary oppositions at work such as robots against humans…”
2) “In I, Robot we can see Claude Levi Strauss’s binary oppositions at work such as the hero, Detective Spooner and the ‘evil’ robot Sonny, representing good humanity versus cold, evil machine. This reflects contemporary fears of the increasing power of technology…”
Task1: Watch this clip of Luther and apply Barthes' and Levi Strauss' theories where you can. Consider how you will apply the use of narrative theory within your own production.
To identify genre and narrative conventions within film trailers.
Key words: Genre: Type of media text Conventions: The expected elements of a genre Denotation: Literal or basic meaning Connotation: Hidden or symbolic meaning Representation: How people, places or events is portrayed Stereotypes: Labels, generalisations Context: The circumstance, reason, background
Task 1: Watch these trailers and identify the genre conventions as set out above. See if you can also list Proppian characters or narrative structure as set out by Todorov. Indicate if the characters conform or challenge the stereotype for the usual representation.
Learning objective: To be able to apply the narrative theories of Propp and Todorov to texts Key words: Narrative, Todorov, Equilibrium, Propp, Characters
You will Learn about Todorov’s theory of equilibrium and Propp's character functions and identify how the theory has been used in a short animation.
Narrative
A narrative (or play) is any account of connected events, presented to a reader or listener in a sequence of written or spoken words, or in a sequence of (moving) pictures. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to tell". Telling stories is that thing that makes us human. Stories ignite our imagination, and let us leap over cultural walls and cross the barriers of time. They bring us to other worlds and let us explore other lives and yet, at the same time, give us a better understanding of our own time, place and emotions. Narrative theories suggest that stories (in whatever media) share certain features. They suggest that there are underlying structures to stories.
Narrative Theory 1: Todorov
Todorov saw underlying structures to narratives. He argued that stories all begin in “equilibrium” when all forces are in balance. This is disrupted by a problem to cause “disequilibrium”. Then more events take place before a“new equilibrium” is established.
1. Equilibrium 2. Disruption of equilibrium 3. Recognition of disruption 4. Attempt to repair disruption 5. New equilibrium. Often with a lesson learned. Many film makers today don’t bother setting up the normal world in order to disrupt it with a problem (a killer shark, etc.) and go straight for the problem and disequilibrium. However, there will always be a sense in the film of what life was like before the problem came along and therefore what the characters can return to if they can only sort the problem out.
Vladimir Propp: “Characters have a narrative function,they provide a structure for the text”
Propp looked at folk tales and saw some structures they shared in common. He found 8 character roles and 31 functions that move the story along.
The 8 character roles can also be types of action because they are not the sort of roles which appear in the cast list. One character in the film or play can occupy several of his character roles or types of action. They are:
The villain
The hero (not always good but always carries the story along, the central character and not always male)
The donor (who provides an object with some special property)
The helper (who helps the hero)
The princess (the reward for the hero and object of the villain’s schemes)
Her father (who rewards the hero)
The dispatcher (who sends the hero on his way)
The false hero
The 31 functions include events such as:
The hero is prohibited from doing something
The villain learns something about the victim
The villain is punished, etc.
Applying Propp’s theory Propp’s theory can applied to all kinds of narrative
For example, in TV news the audience are exposed to what the broadcaster wants us to believe to be “heroes” and “villains” – Osama Bin Laden (villain) or Princess Diana (hero)
The theories can also be applied to promotional posters, computer games and advertisements.
Task 1: Write down Propp's 8 Character functions in your orange books.
Write down Todorov's theory on narrative structure in your orange books.
Task 2:Try to apply Propp's theory to the characters in this Indiana Jones film.
There is a link to IMDB with the storyline here to help:
Task 3:
Watch the short animation 'The Wrong Trousers' by Aardman.
Indicate the Proppian characters where you can and apply Todorov's states. Task4: Homework Apply the theories of Propp and Todorov to a feature film of your choice. Suggestions:
