Genre- what types are there?

Films have a certain genre which they can be catagorised by, there are some main genres that then have a lot of sub genres. 

The main genres are explained below with examples:

Adventure/Action- A broad category which can include multiple subgenres such as comedy, comic book, thriller, drama, sci-fi, and martial arts. Some popular Action & adventure movies include the Indiana Jones and James Bond series.

Family- A family film is a film genre that is designed to appeal to a variety of age groups and, thus, families. They include family, kids, infants, toddler, comedy, classics, adventure. Popular family movies include The Wizard of Oz and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Romantic Comedy- Romantic-Comedy is a genre that attempts to catch the viewer’s heart with the combination of love and humor. This subgenre has taken over the box office, and has evolved into its own genre. Popular romantic comedies include Sleepless in Seattle and Pretty Woman

Science Fiction- The science fiction genre, an exciting collection of intellectual and physical adventure, overlaps a great deal with all other genres. Popular sci-fi movies include The Matrix and Jurassic Park.

Horror- Horror film is a genre that aims to create a sense of fear, panic, alarm, and dread for the audience. These films are often unsettling and rely on scaring the audience. They include alien invasions, ghosts, gothic horror, comedy, zombies, monsters, nature gone wild, occult, sci-fi, and supernatural. Popular horror movies include The Thing, and Night of the Living Dead.

Drama- Drama film is a genre that relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters. They include heavy subjects like addiction, childhood, adventure, comedy, coming of age, courtoom, crim, family, gangster, medical, melodrama, musical, period, police, presidential, psychological, sports, and tragedy. Popular dramas include The Godfather and Forest Gump.

Comedy- They were originally created to help people forget about their problems, and change the way they see their lives. Comedy movies are available in such subgenres as dramas, thrillers, dark humor, family comedy, heist, horror, military, mockumentarys, romantic, musical, slapstick, spoofs, sports comedy, sketch comedy, among others. Popular comedies range from Classics like the Three Stooges, to comedy spoofs like Scary Movie.

Animation- A popular category for children of all ages. They typically feature popular celebrity voice over work, beautiful artwork, and profound musical scores. Animated movies include Japanese anime, musicals, family, and adult humor. Shows likeSouthPark, Family Guy, and Adult Swim offer animation entertainment for more mature audiences, while Disney & Pixar offer some of today’s children’s favorites.

What Is A Film Opening?

In films, television programs, etc, the opening is shown at the beginning and lists some of the most important members of the production and introduce or give an incite to the main storyline. 

Sometimes they might just be vague clips of video accompanyed by music or VoiceOver or give the introduction to the main character. Openings credits are often included in the opening and are generaly used to identify the major actors and crew. In movies and television, the title and opening credits may be preceded by a "cold open," or teaser (brief scene), that helps to set the stage for the episode or film.

Where opening credits are built in a separate sequence of their own, the correct term is title sequence (such as the familiar James Bond title sequences. A good example of this is Skyfall, shown on the left).

Broken Picture- AS Trial Run

Character Biography- 

Name- Brenden Cross 

Age- 17 in the oppening but flashes back to 8 months with his 2 year old sister. 

Lifestyle- Ran away from home when he found that hi parents were unhappy and wanted a divorce but didnt tell their children because they wanted it to stay a secret until they were old enough and finished education. 

Residency- Ran away from home when he was 14 and now lives in a childrens home. 

Family Life- None, havent seen his family for 3 years but wants to see his sister again. 

Close Friends- Only one friend in the care home with the same life problems and divorced parents. 

Where are they in the first 2 minutes- In the support office of the care home because his partents want to make contact with him again, he has found an old picture when they were happy but it was in pieces, he fixed it with sellotape but when screwed it up again. 

Who Are They With- His personal social worker to discuss his future and his parents making contact. 

Where do they see themseleves in 5 years time- With his sister again but would hope to maybe see his parents again.

Filming & Planning:

The Use Of Narrative

A narrative (or story) 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. In todays lesson we learnt that the use of narration in an oppening of a film can enhance it. The use of a clear voice is very effective and can really help to involve the audience and portray the storyline better. 

 

Morgan Freeman is a good example of a very edffective narratives voice and acting role, here is a video with his to 10 roles which gives examples of his voice:

Is Big Fish a character driven narrative, or does the narrative shapeits characters?

In my opinion I feel that Big Fish is a film that’s narrative is driven by its character. I think that Tim Burton thought of the main character of Edward Bloom and then shaped its narrative around his main personality and character. The story is of an old man who is dying in rural Alabama, his son returns home to see him one final time. He asks his father to tell him the truth behind the elaborate and unlikely stories he has been told since he was a child - but his father insists that every word of his tall tales of circuses, bank robbers, Siamese twins and the main story line of a massive real fish that he once caught.

 The main narratives are: 

•Non-linear narratives – flash backs, flash forwards, dream sequences, alternative “universes”. There are a lot of flash backs that are used for the story’s of Edward Bloom that tell the story to the audience. The use of the dream sequence is also a key part to the ending of the film in which Edwards son finally tells his own story before his father dies. 

•Dual-narrative – two characters “narrate” the story… or two characters show their different perspectives (old and young Edward Bloom). 

•Symbolism: when something gives a larger and more abstract idea/meaning. For example the daffodils above symbolise new beginnings for spring which is what Edward has started) or the attribution of symbolic meaning or character to something. 

•Metaphor: a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to imply a resemblance (e.g. the ‘your quite a catch’ referring to the large fish that Edward says is real and that he caught it). There are a lot of metaphors in the film that help to shape the narrative, the main narrative is driven by the character who wants to people to believe his story’s and his main story of the massive fish in the lake. This idea is repeated throughout the story with metaphors like the quote “truth is I’ve been thirsty my whole life” which is linked to the story of the big fish living in water and this quote links with the fish living in water because its saying the character wants to be the fish a live ‘in a big pond’.

•Lighting, colour and shapes symbolically work to metaphorically convey the themes and ideas of the film via the production design. Most lighting is natural which gives a normal view of the stories and makes them more believable. Before Edward is about to die there is high key artificial lighting that could suggest he is about to be relieved and become free. 

Todorov: 

•Equilibrium- The beginning when Edward Bloom is telling his son his story’s and he is very interested and then the story skips to his son in later life when he is getting married and that his father is still telling the same old story’s and he is now bored of them and realises they are lies and made up. 

•Disrupt- Edwards’s son has now fell out with his father because he thinks he is just telling lies and embarrassing him and his father. This is then disrupted by Edward falling ill and his wife calling his son because she thinks it’s serious. They then talk again, Edward tells the audience and his son’s wife more of his stories and gives his life experiences. 

•Restored- Then Edwards son finds a document and finds a friend from his fathers past and then reveals that not all of Edwards story’s were lies but just changed to make them interesting for him, he finds that his Father helped improve the lives of a lot of people and when returning back to forgive his father properly he finds he has had a stoke and is in hospital. He then speaks with his father before his death and finally tells the last story of his father becoming the fish in the lake that he always used to speak off. This then completes the story with both a happy ending of the father and son becoming happy again and Edward becoming free but sad due to his death.

Propp: 

•Protagonist- Edward Bloom/William Bloom 

•Antagonist- Some friends 

•Heroine- Edwards Wife & eventually freedom 

•Donor- Circus master, tells Edward where to find his wife. 

•Father- Edward to William 

•Helper- Friends (circus, poet, etc) 

To conclude I think that all of these factors contribute towards a large narrative that was driven by the character. The character of Edward Bloom had developed a lot of the metaphors and mise en scene that build the very clever and interesting story lines that work well tougher. The audience is told the whole story first through Edwards’s eyes, which gives the impression that, the narrative is based around this character but then is made more believable and true because of his son that finds the truth. Because of Edwards’s stories the mise en scene is affected like the dark and spooky scene when Edward is going through the woods or the natural scene with the daffodils that has strong feeling and love. This narrative is also affected with the main story of the big fish living in the river that Edward fished in, this story line is brought up through the film with the water/fish related quotes that Edward says like “you’re quite a catch” that then enforces the fish storyline. This could mean that Edward wants to be free and ‘a big fish in a small pond’. Finally I feel that Tim Burton meant for Edward Bloom to shape the narrative based on his character and this is why his character is so strong and clear.

Run Lola Run Analysis

Below is the presentation which myself and Jake gave to the rest of the class. The presentation has two questions for the structure of Run Lola Run.

This is one of the photo montages which the presentation refers to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZueKltTQXOk

Please note to watch the videos in 720p HD so they will be clear and easy to read.

Character Analysis

When looking at a picure of any person a character can be thought up. We were given pictures of three different people and a sheet which we filled with their personal information. There were some similarities in what members of the group imagened the peoples lives were. But mainly people similarly created either positive or negative images from what the picture was like. One of my examples are below, everyone thought of a negative and unhappy life for this person because how the person is and looks like she has been crying.

Name- Jemma Hughes 

Age- 25

Marital Status- Seperated from her fiancée.

Occupation- Unemployed, fired from her last job.

Previous Job- Manager of a London boutique, fired because she told her boss he was an idiot.

Residency- Lived in a flat with her partner before the incident.

Family Life- Was living with her fiancée until the incident, only other family live in Australia.

Close Friends- She does not have ant real close friends except for her old university friends who she hasn't spoken to for 5 years.

Where Is She Now- At a police station in London about to be questioned about the sudden death of her fiancée.

Who Is She With- Two policemen who have opposite personalitys. One is very helpfull and tells her the truth wereas the other blaims her for the incident.

Where Was She At 10pm Last Night- In the ambulance with her dying fiancée. He has been poisoned.

Where Does She See Herself In 5 Years Time- She hopes to be back in Australia with her family but with a fresh start and possibly in a relationship with someone she knows she can trust. 

Todorov:

Equilibrium- The story starts when the main character is very happy with her life until she has a fall out with her boss because he has said that the boutique is loosing money. She then tells her boss that her is an idiot and is fired because of her incompetence. Because she has lost her job and finds that she becomes bored very quickly she gets in contact with her old university friends again. They all have succeful careers and happy life's.

They all are very friendly and think about the times they shared at university. After catching up with her friends on if them remember that she had something to tell her and that all she could remember that it was about her fiancée. This scene ends when the character is now doubting her fiancée and is desperate to find out what her friend wanted to tell her.

Disrupt- Now the character cannot trust her fiancée and questions him about their trust. She asks questions about his love for her. This esqualtes until the fiancée has had enough and cannot believe that she doesn't trust him, they argue and he storms out. She is very upset and try's calling her friend to ask if she can remember what it was that she had to tell her. She only remember it was something terrible. Her fiancée then returns after having a few drinks and is drunk. He falls on the floor and cannot speak, he is shaking and heavily breathing. She quickly calls an ambulance. When in the ambulance her fiancée deteriorates and dies, they tell her he has been poisoned.

The next day she is taken to a police station on the suspicion that she poisoned him, she pleads her innocence and one of the policemen believes her and thinks that there is more to the story whereas the other blaims her. The policmen that believes her thinks that there is more behind the story and tells her to track his movements before the incident. He says that he will reward he for her help in solving the case and that they might antagonize the killer if they do too much investigating. 

Restored- She goes to the bar that her fiancée went to before her died and asks who he was with. The barman tells her that he was with a local woman that is known among bad people. He tells her where to find her which she does. She tracks the woman down and finds she is a local prostitute. She cannot believe this and asks what he was doing with her. She explains that he was not a client and that he bought her a drink and told her about how he loved you. She also said that he was with another man before he spoke to her. The man was apparently a local drug dealer who can be found at another bar locally. She goes there that evening and speaks to him. He was apparently speaking to him because he was looking for work, the dealer told him that her could help him and then bought him a drink. The dealer says that it wasn't his fault and that he knows nothing about his death. She then reports her findings to the police who then question the dealer, they tell him they will not charge him for drug dealing if they tell the truth about her fiancées death. He says he knows nothing. She then notices that when she met the drug dealer he was with one of his helpers who looked frustrated but was listening to their conversation. She is confused about this and then received an annonamous phone call from someone who has information. She meets with them and finds that it is another one of the dealers helpers, he then explains that the dealer helper who was with the dealer on the night her fiancée died was to blame and apparently paid the barman to spike his last drink. He says he does not know why but she cannot go to the police. 

She then goes back to the bar that night and realises that helper is there. She try to speak to him as he is unaware of who she is. Then start taking about their lives and she finds that he is very caring and cannot believe that he is to blame for her fiancées death. She thinks she loves him but cannot believe what is happening. They become very close and commit to a relationship. She doesn't want to tell him that she knows he killed her fiancée but eventually she does. He admits that he did it but doesn't want it to come between them. He explains that her fiancée had slept with his girlfriend at the time and this made him want revenge, she realises that what her friend wanted to tell her that he was cheating on her and knows that possibly her new love is not to blame. They become ever closer and find that they are truly in love. All becomes fine and their love is strong.

Vladimir Propp:

Protagonist- Jemma Hughes 

Antagonist- Fiancée 

Heroine- New love, dealers helper.

Donor- Friend, Drug Dealer, and prostitute. 

Father- Kind policemen who belives the main character.

Helper- Friends 

Run Lola Run

Run Lola run is an crime thriller German film in 1998. The German name is Lola rennt. It is directed by Tom Tykwer. 

The story is about Lola needs to get 100,000 German marks to save her boyfriend's life in time.

Mise-en-scene

In Run Lola Run they are very obvious attempts at mise en scene to influence the viewers feeling and make the story easier to understand. I have explained the main mise en scene examples below. 
 

Setting: The genre is modern. The main setting is in an urban area if which Lola lives and is running through. The main settings is red and Lola's hair is also a bright red colour. One of the scenes is the private bridge. The robbery scene is happens in the public store. Besides, when they are talking, it takes place in the private bedroom scene, this scene happens after Lola has been shot. The urban area adds to the pressure of which Lola is under and is very busy which also adds to the difficulty of reaching her boyfriend in time.

 

Props: There are several props such as the clock, the cash bag. The clock means the time is very limited. The cash bag is the key prop that leads the whole story happens. Besides, the phone also is the key prop in this movie which clearly shows when the next run is about to happen. For example, when Lola was shoot and lays down, the telephone hangs off again, it lets the viewer know that the story is starting again.

The clock is also a main point because everything is based on different timings. The clock also keeps the film fast paced and shows how key the time is in possible events happening. 

 

Sound: Sounds are used in diagetic. When Lola shouts very loudly, the glass breaks and this emphasises how she can be dangerous but also powerful. In addition, when Lola scream to her father, the clock is broken. These sound effects prove the power of Lola's voice.

Colour: Red is a key colour thought the film because it shows that she is dangerous. Her hair colour shows that she might be dangerous but the colour red also is repeated a lot of times as subtle hints but also blocks of colour like when Lola is shot and then the scene changes to the bedroom scene. 

 

Narrative Structure: The film has three version in which has different events and timings. For the first time Lola dies, the second time her boyfriend dies and finally the third time they both find money in time and live.

The narrative structure is very similar to a video game because when Lola fails her mission or dies she just starts over again but then finally succeeds. This can be linked to real life situations in which your lives are are based on accidents and incidents. For example if a person had a car crash then everything would change dramatically whereas if you won a large amount of money your life would also change a lot.

This is linked to Lola's life because within one scenario of getting money there are so many possibilities of what could happen due to timings and choices.

Lola does not realise this and doesn't believe in how random a persons life can be and when her life is coming to an end in the first run she shouts "stop" which tells us she now thinks she has a choice to stop her death.

Mise En Scène

Mise en scene is the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing like actors, lighting, décor, props and costume. Its a French term that means “placing on stage.” The frame and camerawork also constitute the mise-en-scène of a movie. Below is an example:

This still image is from a scene in Pirates of the Caribbean 3. The main character is  played by Johnny Depp's who is acting as Captain Jack Sparrow. He is the closest to the camera and the first thing that your eye is attracted to in the scene. His body language and facial expression also captivate and over power the other characters because there faces aren't seen as clearly. All of the other characters are just in the background following him. The lighting in the scene is high key and natural because it is day light and the characters, though dressed in dark colors are visible, especially Captain Jack. The characters look confident because all of their body language is clear and they are walking in a group of only more than 3 people but there isn't a vast group of people that is to large to count and no one is very close to each other they are all just walking a fair distance from each other. It is more of a dramatic scene and definitely not a romantic or tender scene. The camera angles are personal because the camera is very close to Captain Jack, but he doesn't take up the whole frame so it isn't intimate. Because the frame spans out to include the water and the other pirates it keeps in merely personal. Also you get a body shot not just Captain Jack's face. The message of the frame is to convey a sense of anxiousness of what is to come and what the pirates have to face or find in the next scene. Also a sense of pride and honor because they are obviously sticking up for themselves and focused on the task ahead.

Narnia Scene- Lucy Meets Mr. Tumnus

In the past 2 weeks we have started to learn about camera angles/skills including editing by creating the scene where Lucy meets Mr. Tumnus. This will now be edited in the next comming weeks. Keep checking for an update soon. The scene is explained below including the script and camera angles used:

In this scene Lucy makes her way into the mysterious land of Narnia when she comes upon a lamppost. When she hears a noise and quickly turns around to see a strange looking half man, half goat. They become introduced and Mr. Tumnus soon realises she is a human. This shock is then seen through his facial expressions and body language. In this conversation we are planning on using close-ups and over the shoulder shots. Then Lucy and Mr. Tumnus walk to his house where they have tea together, where Lucy tells Mr. Tumnus about her world while he tells Lucy all about Narnia.

The script and planned camera angles are shown below: