Textual analysis - My sister's keeper

Analysis from beginning to 2:36

The first shot the audience see is a medium long shot of the main character. The character is sat on a picnic bench looking out over a lake which we can see in the right of the shot. The mise-en-scene is used to signify the emptyness in the character's life which we soon find out is due to the death of her sister. The non-diegetic sound is a piece of piano music that connotes the sadness and emptyness the main character is feeling. By experiencing these emotions the audience feel more connected to the character.

The film opens with a montage of clips and still images which feature images of the main characters and events from their life. All of the images appear to be shot on a personal video camera and are sequenced as if they are in a photo album. This allows the audience to feel connected with the characters on a personal level as photo albums often feature images to remind people of an event in their life. The images are in a random pattern which suggests that the main character is confused with what has happened so far in her life. The montage is narrated to tell the story so far so the audience can follow what has happened so far.

Editing is used throughout the opening to emphasise the feelings and emotions of the main characters. For example the opening shot lasts for aproximatley 15 seconds. This shot is used when the main character is sat looking over the lake. The length of this shot not onlly makes the audience emphasise with the main character but also makes them feel slightly awkward. Also the style in which the montage is edited allows the audience to feel a deeper relatinship with the character.

Use of Garageband

In some of our lesson I was allowed to use garage band to create a soundtrack that will feature in the opening of our film. I decided to use some of the prerecorded bars of music and use them to create our track as I don't have the ability to play the keyboard. I hoped to create a soundtrack which will relate to the characters emotion as we move to the opening of our film. So the beginning of our film starts with some devastating news, so I opted to use a deep sound played by a piano and strings to represent this feeling.
Overall I believe our soundtrack will fit well with the video and it will represent the feelings of the characters, as this is a convention of drama films.

Textual analysis - Pursuit of Happyness opening

The film begins with the opening credits which are in plain white writing on a black screen. The simplicity of this opening sequence allows the audience to interact with the soundtrack more. The soundtrack connotes a light happy feel which introduces the film and allows the audience to connect with the feeling of the film.
The next medium shot is of a dark bedroom where a young boy is led in his bed. The only light entering the room is coming through the window. This is significant as the lack of curtains shows that the characters are poor and the light is white and harsh which is how the characters are treated by the outside world. We then hear the lead male entering the room and he wakes the young boy. A two shot then displays that the two characters have a close relationship as the lead male, the father, is touching the young boy, the son, on the arm to wake him.
We then see an establishing shot of a city, this tells us where the film will be set and also a low angle shot of the American flag flying on top of a building. This relates the film to the American dream which the main character is going to pursue.

Drama Films

As further research into the genre of film in which I will be producing the beginning two minutes of I have decided to analyse some posters which are from drama films.

All of the poster include a two shot to display a relationship between two characters, whether its a mother and a daughter a husband and a wife or old friends. This shows that the film will be centered around these characters. Also all of the posters have a warm colour scheme. This connotes a sense of happiness and also signifies the warmth the characters feel for each other.

Conventions Of A Drama Film

The main conventions of a drama film is that the storyline is usually a serious, plot-driven presentation, showing realistic characters, settings, life situations, and involve intense character involvement and interaction. Drama films usually do not focus on special-effects, comedy or action but focus on telling a realistic, relatable and emotional storyline. The beginning of most of drama films start by revealing the ending of the story. This allows the audience to identify with the characters and the emotions that they are feeling.

An example of a drama film is "The Bucket List". The beginning of this film starts with a helicopter shot of a mountain range. This shot establishes the setting and also the harsh terrain shows how the characters journey has not been and will not be an easy one. A voice over is then introduced and it is a man telling the audience the story of a character. The next sequence of shots we see are of a man walking up the mountain the audience then assume that it was him providing the voice over. Also the helicopter shots are then put into perspective as it appears as if it was a point of view shot from the character that has died looking down on the man climbing the mountain.

This combination of shots and voice over fits with the conventions of a drama film because the story line is dramatic and is emotional as already we can see that the two characters had a friendship and one of them has died leading the surviving one on a long and difficult journey which is connoted by the mountains. It is also a realistic storyline as everyone in life suffers the pain of losing a close friend or relative and they also have to go on the challenging journey to get through the pain.

The Importance of an Opening Sequence.

Opening sequences are important because they set the feeling of the film. They also give the viewer a valuable insight into what the film is going to be based on. It also sets the atmosphere and intensity.

The opening of a movie can be considered one of the most important pieces in a film. Other than trailers and marketing elements they are the first thing the audience see when they start watching the film. These clips lasting usually about two to three minutes outline the filmmaker's intentions and set up the expectations of those watching. Saul Bass, a graphic artist in the film industry said, "making a main-title was like making a poster, you're condensing the event into this one concept, this one metaphor·a back-story that needs to be told or a character that needs to be introduced."

Here is an example of a film with an iconic opening:

Saving Private Ryan

Reference: http://myweb.cwpost.liu.edu/paievoli/finals/505Sp_03/Prj2/MataP2.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZJANhWizUY

Suitable institutions.

If I was to make our idea into a full length film I would need a production companies support. New line Cinemas are a hollywood company that has often made drama films for example they funded the film, 'My Sisters Keeper". New line cinemas is a subsidiary company of Warner Bros. Because they are a large production company they can provide a large budget which will be required if we want to make a typical drama film.

Common Features when using titles in a Drama Film.

The opening of a drama film is key in conveying emotion and aligning the audience with the main character. They generally do not cut into the main action as the back story is often complex. Therefore they usually use a montage of clips and images to illustrate the basic story-line. This short montage is usually accompanied by a voiceover which tells the story so far and starts to set out the films intention. The titles are usually small and appear in the bottom left corner of the screen. The actors names rarely coincide with the images of the actors, so unless you already know the actor/actress it is not clear who plays which part. The titles are very subtle so they do not disrupt the feeling of the film.

Music in Drama films

Drama films feature strong emotion and intense story-lines. This often leads to the music also creating a strong emotional feeling. The music in the opening is generally slow and low in pitch. The music is used to tie all of the different images together, so as one clip feeds to the next the music keeps a constant feel. However when there is a voice over the music is quieter so the speech becomes the more important aspect. The genre is usually classical is played by a large orchestra.

Preliminary Task

My preliminary task

Evaluation of preliminary task.

Overall I am pleased with our preliminary task dispite the lack of time for shooting. I included all of the required elements which included match on action, we used this when one of the characters looked down and a phone was ringing, however the audience could not see the phone at this point, this is where I decided to use the match on action shot. I also used shot-reverse-shot as the conversation was happening. I found that our plot for our prelim was weak and boring, however I included all that we needed to. The lack of time also proved to be a problem as I could not develop our ideas as much as I wanted to. Another problem that I will learn form is that when I shot our film there are voices in the background which makes the film seem very amature. So when I come to shoot our real film I will ensure that I film in a quiet area. Editing was not to difficult because most of the shots had been taken in order so I just had to cut them to size and run them one after each other. The editing together was easy which I understand when I do our film opening editing may not be as easy, but I feel by creating this prlim task I now have a basic understanding to how imovie works because I have never used it before.

Parallel editing

Parallel editing

Definition:
An editing technique that allows two or more simultaneous sets of action to unfold within a single film sequence.

Uses:
Creates tension, can show multiple points of view and can create dramatic irony when characters are unaware

of events unfolding away from the main action.

Film clip
In this example parallel editing is used to link two related sets of simultaneous action taking place in different locations (e.g. Zipper Doyle is searching for Al and Nikki while they are arguing about the stowaway. This creates tension through dramatic irony, as the audience knows Zipper is closing in, but the characters do not.)

The Active Audience/ Mode Of Address/ Ethnographic Model

The Active Audience:
The active audience theory is based upon the view that audiences decode messages and do not simply use the madia for gratification purposes.
Morley's view that the audience reads text in a dominant, negotiated or oppositional way is a semiotic approach due to the fact that it recognises the importance of the analysis of signs and particularly visual signs.

This model is basically proposing that:

• The audience accept or agree with the encoded meanings.
• They accept or refine parts of the text's meanings.
• They are aware of the dominant meaning of the text reject it for cultural, political or ideological reasons.

Mode Of Address:
The mode of address theory refers to way that the text engages with us in a style that encourages us to identify with it. For example Friends is targeted to a young audience because it uses music and the opening credits to create a sense of fun and energy that a young audience can relate to. However this does not mean that other audience groups are excluded, it just simply means that the dominant mode of address is targeted at the young. Mode of address can be applied to entire media industries.


Ethnographic Model:
The ethnographic model is where the researcher enters into the culture of the group and uses interviews to try to understand what the group engages with. What emeges from this is engagement with media is often structured by the domestic environment. It appears that there are issues about:
- Finance for purchase of media goods,
- Control of the remote,
- The gender nature of watching television,
- The 'flow' of tv that fits in with domestic relationships.
Texts can be identified as belonging to a genre that has a gender appeal. E.g. soaps are usually seen to have a strong female audience.

McQuail and Katz - Uses and Gratification

McQuail and Katz's model on audience theory is based upon the idea that the audience choose what media they want to encounter through out the day which is designed to satisfy needs. These needs being entertainment, information or identification. The psychological basis for this model is Maslow's hierachy of needs.

The main areas that are identified in this model are:
1) The need for information, (news and drama). The need for information about our social and geographical world.
2) The need for identity, (film and celebrities). By using characters and personalities to define our sense of self and scocial behaviour.
3) The need for social interaction, (soaps and sitcoms). Social interaction through experiencing the relationships and interaction of others.
4) The need for diversion, (game shows and quizzes). Diversion by using the media for entertainment and play.

The Hypodermic Needle Theory.

The hypodermic needle theory (the effects theory) is based upon the idea that media is being forced into our minds subconsciously. For example if we seen a leader represented as God like then we would immediately asume that he has God like power and holy-ness. It is also has the idea that we would see an image and try to recreate it sub-consciously. E.G if we played violent video games then we would commit crimes.

Some critisims for this theory is that a large number of studies conducted on this topic have been proven inconclusive. Also this theory only works if everyone is prepared to absorb the information they have seen and are prepared to follow it, where there are actually some people that are prepared to follow, however there are also alot of people who are not and will not follow the media they are presented with.

Ideology

Ideology is the set of ideas that sums up a persons goals, ideas and actions. For a celebrity the media can create an ideology to represent a person.

Michael Buble has a positive ideology as he generally stays out of the media. He is also seen to be talented and determind. The goals he appears to have set are positive which leads the public to believe he is a good alround role model.

Katie Price has a negative ideology due to the bad media and negative press attention she recives. Also the way she is represented as vain and self centered promotes her negative ideology.

Genre as a marketing tool

Genre can be used as a marketing tool as people generally have a 'favourite' genre of film whether its horror, Comedy or Romantic-Comedy. Each genre of film has its own marketing conventions, for example if a film is a Rom-Com then the advertising usually features the colours pink and/or red as they are romantic colours.

This poster for "The Orphan" shows that the film is going to be a horror. Horror film advertising uses dark colours with heavy shadowing. This film poster includes both of these generic features. Also horror movie posters which feature the main human villan emphasises a feature to make them appear less human/ "normal". In this poster they have made the young girl very pale and made her eyes very dark so you can not differentiate her pupil to the rest of her eye.

Text also plays a key part in marketing. The text for the heading, 'ORPHAN', on this poster looks as if it has been scratched into the picture, which gives a sinister feel. Also at the bottom of the poster the words 'CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET?' are in bold and in red, the bold text makes it stand out and the colour red is associated with evil and suggests that the secret is going to be an evil twist.

Theorist and Theories.

The Theory of Propp:

Vladimir Propp was a russian literary critic who analyzed the basic plot of many Russian folk tales to identify their simlpest narrative elements. He noticed that they were about the same basic struggles and they appeared to have stock characters. He identified a theory about characters and their actions which give them a narrative function.



Propp's Characters that perform a function:

• The Hero - a charater that seeks something
• The Villan - who opposes or activley blocks the hero's quest
• The Donor - who provides an object with magical properties
• The Dispatcher - who sends the hero on his/her quest
• The False Hero - Who disrupts the hero's success by making false claims
• The Helper - who aids the hero
• The Princess - acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain's plots
• Her (the princesses) Father - who acts to reward the hero for his effort.

However this theory does NOT apply to all naratives, it only applies to Fairy Stories and other similar narratives based around quests.

Freud and Lancan:

Freud and Lancan's theory of the mirror stage is based upon the idea that we construct our image of our identity by looking at ourselves and at eachother. It states that as children we derive pleasure from looking at other people's bodies, which is summarised by the term scopophilia.
Also that until we fully see ourselves (in a mirror) we do not understand ourselves as people.
Freud and Lancan also highlited the enjoyment humans gain though voyeurism and how cinema allows us to look at other people with out being seen ourselves.

Laura Mulvey (1970's):

Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze implies that films are made with the idea that the audience will find identification with the male lead and that female characters are there as an opposite to the male and serve no key roll. She also states that the male leads actions become a surrogate for our own part in the narrative. However she does state how the male lead desires the female form.

Mulvey stated that there are two roles for women:

• The Madonna - women who are represented as the object of reverence, symbolise purity and genrally wear white.
• The Whore - female characters that are shown as sexual objects to be desired and have a promiscuous attitude.

This theory has been contadicted by many of Ridley Scott's films where the lead role is a female character and she is searching for the adventure and the male characters act as the Madonna and Whore.

Why i took media studdies.

I am taking media at A Level as i have already took a GCSE in it. I found the GCSE course enjoyable and extreamly interesting. I am considering a carrer in media and/or marketing so i believe this A Level would be highly valuable to me. I am also a big fan of television and films so media will give me an insite into how it is created.

Camera angles

 

This shot is a close up which lets us see emotion and introduces characters.

This extreme close up shows intense emotion and allows small yet significant detail to be shown.

This high angle shot creates the feel that the characters are not so important.

This long angle shot allows the character to be fully shown and to be introduced.

This low angle shot makes the character seem powerful and dominant in this image.

A medium close up shows emotion and detail and still lets the upper half of the characters body to be shown.

A medium shot allows us to see more of the character enabling us to see more emotion and also allowing us to see the surroundings.

An over the shoulder shot allows us to see what one of the characters is seeing, it also helps with continuity and shows the relationship between two characters.

A two-shot is a shot with two characters in it, it allows a relationship to be shown and surroundings to be seen.



This is a very long shot which shows the character in the distance, this shot is often used as an establishing shot to set the scene.