LO1 Task 2 (Notes)

Starter Task:

The Day After Tomorrow is the film I have chosen.

Purpose: Sentence 1. Does it inform, educate, entertain (PURPOSE IS TO ENTERTAIN) - Give an example and why? 2. What is the reason why the film has been made - designed to make money. Type of audience? (mass/niche/national/international)? Commercial gain (make a profit)? How does this link to the type of company that made the film? (3 sentences).

Genre: Genre means type or category. (Daniel Chandler - 2001)
Action
Adventure
Comedy
Horror
Thriller
Documentary
Rom-Com
Drama
Historical
Silent
Sci-Fi
Fantasy
Music
Family
Romance
Animation

What sub-genres does the film have? Prove this.

The Day After Tomorrow is an Adventure film with a sub genre of a Climate Fiction-Disaster Film.

Form: What type of product am I analysing for the task? (Feature/Short)? What is the duration of the product I am analysing? Where would it have been distributed based on the target audience of the film?

Can be watched.. Online (Netflix), DVD/Blu-Ray - Shops (HMV), Cinema (Odeon), Download (iTunes).

Style: Aesthetic Quality - The way something looks. Modern? - From 21st Century.. Old-fashioned? - Set in the past.. Nostalgic?  Futuristic? Creates 'verisimilitude'? It means that something appears realistic. Looks realistic. Reality.

Content: This is the heading where you will be gaining a merit/distinction. How is your narrative put together? What is it about? a) Todorov (1977) 'narrative structure'. b) Kate Domaille (2010) 'narrative types'. c) Claude Levi-Strauss (1958) 'Binary oppositions'.

a) There are 5 stages told in a story. Focus on 3; Beginning, Middle and End. 1) (beginning) Equilibrium - Balance "everything is fine". 2) (middle) Disequilibrium - Unbalanced "problem" "enigma". 3) (end) Resolution - "new state of equilibrium".

b) (See PowerPoint)

c) Binary Opposition = Contrast between two things. e.g. Male + Female. Males seen as dominant in films. This is a stereotype. These views can be challenged in films. Ideology = Views and opinions that are recognised by society. A protagonist is a main character. An antagonist is the enemy to the protagonist e.g. villain (Joker). Is there a woman seen as a sex object? Do they challenge this view?

Content + (Meaning): What does the film connote/signify? Need to include Mise en sene, camerawork, editing and sound. DENOTATION + [CONNOTATION] - Using connotation gets nearer to distinction.

Describe what you see/hear
Say what you see/hear implies, suggests, infers, represents,

Talk about denotation first.

e.g. The image denotes a red heart.
e.g. A red heart is denoted.
e.g. The denotation of the image is a red heart.

Then connotation.

e.g. This heart connotes love.
e.g. Love is connoted through the image of the red heart.
e.g. The connotation of this red heart symbolises love.

(Use signifies if I'd like to).

(Don't use 'This Highlights', 'This Shows'... USE 'This Connotes').

Narrative - People or places
Genre -
Representation -


In my film, what is the binary opposition, who is the protagonist and antagonist. Is there an underdog?
Laura Mulvey - 1935
John Berger - 1972

Production Process: Pre-production, Production and Post-production. What happened in these processes? If has CGI, tell when it took place (post-production). Tell where it's set and how it has been planned for.

Sound: Diegesis - The Story world of your film. How real the diegesis appears is linked to the level of verisimilitude (the appearance of being real).
Diegetic sounds are any sounds coming from the story world. e.g. Sound effects, dialogue, ambient noises.
Non-diegetic sounds. e.g. voice overs, sound effects - e.g. car chase; brakes screeching, engine - connotations (meaning behind it) = danger, conflict, war, denotations (things you can see) = drive by, smoke.
Diegetic sounds are natural to the story world (characters and audience can hear), voice over by story character is diegetic.      
Non diegetic sounds are sounds that only the audience can hear and that are clearly not coming from the story world. e.g. voice over by person not in story.

Incidental music - Music that helps condition emotion (reflects the mood of a scene). Calm? Fast/Slow Paced?

Is there a part where a soundtrack starts playing? Any specific type of music that is in my film?

If the song has words then it's non-diegetic music.

Genre - Pace + Pitch of the music played.
Character Type - Dialogue and what they say (gender roles challenged or stereotypical)
Narrative Stage - Equilibrium/Disequilibrium/Resolution
Effect on the Audience - Sounds are emotive/creates mood - how does your example make the audience feel?

Dialogue - Mode of address (how do they say it)? How the addresser speaks to the addressee.

There are three modes of address:
1) Peer to peer - Formal/Slag, Social Level,
2) Parent to child - Informal, Calm,
3) Teacher to pupil - Formal, Informative,

Someone is always more dominant than the other.

What mode of address does your dialogue example/s have?

Mise en sene = Things in the story world that reflect a scene.  Find 4 examples of diegetic and non-diegetic sounds from my film and what they connote.

Mise en Scene:

STARTER TASK:

Three things in an indie music video:
1) Instruments - Connotes music creation
2) Band performing - Connotes their own performance
3) Stage location - Connotes where they would like to be

Four things in a Horror Film:
1) Dark lighting (Low Key Lighting) - Connotes
2) Characters - Connotes
3) Blood - Connotes danger
4) Secluded locations - Connotes fear

THE 5 THINGS I SHOULD TALK ABOUT!!

1) Locations (diegesis)
2) Costume/Make Up (prosthetics)
3) Props
4) Colours/Lighting
5) Gestures (how the person acts; are they running, fighting a lot?)

1. Stereotypes - (does costume reinforce age?)
2. Narrative - (does the story reinforce narrative?)
3. Genre - (does the story reflect the film?)

MISE EN SCENE = Everything within the frame

1. LOCATION

How does the film's location fit in with the diegesis?
Does it encode verisimilitude? - Is it realistic?
What does the location suggest?

2. COSTUME/MAKE UP

Does it reflect the mood of the character?
Protagonist vs Antagonist

3. PROPS (Something that is handheld) - (Short for 'property')

Any used?
How?

Iconography

Items that create stereotypical representations that become well known and recognised.
e.g. Rain in The Day After Tomorrow as the film is about Climate Change.

4. COLOURS/LIGHTING

They connote moods and emotions.
There are two types of lighting; Low key lighting and high key/natural lighting.

Low Key Lighting = Scenes with shadows. This reinforces the disequilibrium.
There may be characters that only appear in low key lighting; an antagonist.

High Key Lighting = Scenes with bright light. This could connote happiness or victory.

5. GESTURES

Gender of the characters?
Antagonist?
Protagonist?


(Encoded = Embedded on purpose)

(This is England)

High key Natural light outside
Low key lighting inside

The high key lighting connotes warmth.

For the mise-en-scene section:

Locations and Iconography - 2/3 examples
Characters and Acting Gesture - discuss characters; (protagonist, antagonist)
Costume and Make-up - Protagonist vs Antagonist
Props - 2/3 significant props
Lighting and Colour - High Key or Low Key examples.