Theorist- Levi- Strauss

Binary opposition

In the mid-20th century, two major European academic thinkers, Claude Levi Strauss and Roland Barthes, had the important insight that the way we understand certain words depends not so much on any meaning they themselves directly contain, but much more by our understanding of the difference between the word and its 'opposite' or, as they called it 'binary opposite'. They realised that words merely act as symbols for society's ideas and that the meaning of words, therefore, was a relationship rather than a fixed thing: a relationship between opposing ideas.
For example, our understanding of the word 'coward' surely depends on the difference between that word and its opposing idea, that of a 'hero'.  http://www.englishbiz.co.uk/popups/opposition.htm,

Now I understand what binary opposition means it's basically the complete opposite for example night and day, girl and boy, villain and hero. For my film, I need the gender opposites and I want the villain to be a man and the victim to be a woman. I want the happy section to be filmed during day/ evening time, and I want the scene where she wakes up early in the morning so that is a binary opposition in itself, also I want a binary opposition in the moods for example, it starts off peaceful and happy and then progresses and switches to a tense quite scary mood. 

Make-up #2

http://prezi.com/yr9wwxzvq6m8/present/?auth_key=68nps9z&follow=klzjkqfw0rr4

On this prezi presentation I have summed up very basically what I want to use as my make-up for the protagonist and why, with a picture that I chose as my influence.

Sub genres

Me and Emma, have been discussing the film that we are making, and our ideas we have discovered that they do take on a rather mysterious thriller type film, we want the mysterious element to come in to draw the audience in within the first two minutes, we're planning on doing this by not showing the 'kidnapper' at all except certain things like the silhouette of his body (We would prefer a man as it makes the female look even more venerable, but due to casting problems and males not being available or not wanting to participate in this film, we may have to make it a female kidnapper) and also the hands of the kidnapper as this will give the audience a sense of what gender this person is, so it's a bit of an enigmatic opening which I think would really draw an audience in as that is personally what would draw me in as a viewer. I would also like natural sounds of the sea to open it then eery string/ piano music to set the mood for this opening, I think that would really work and set the mood and allow the audience to realise the genre

Genres

Theorist- Barthes

Barthes' Enigma code:

Barthes' Enigma Code is a theory that suggests a text (whether that be

television, film, a poster etc) portrays a mystery to draw an audience in, pose 

questions and, become intrigued in the piece. For instance, a murder

mystery will often not reveal the identity of the murderer until the end of the

story, which poses the question "Who is the murderer?

I think that this is generally used if a film is going to have a sequel to it, 
which leaves the audience guessing so a result they are more interested in 
what the next film may involve so as a result more inclined to go see the next
film in the sequel. I think that enigmas work really well in mysterys and sometimes horror and sci-fi films but, for comedies, romances, western etc. I don't think that it really suits the film as it adds mystery to the film which doesn't really go along with the genre of the films. If I did an entire film for this project I would make it have an enigmatic ending as I think that I would class my film as a thriller-mystery-horror film. So I would follow Barthes' engima code. 

Theorist- Propp

He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The dispatcher —character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5. Her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
6. The donor —prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.
   
   Trying to figure out in which film who plays what part is actually a lot more difficult than originally thought, some are obvious others aren't. I tried to figure out who each character was from 'Tangled' the Disney film.
   
   1. The villian- Her mother- The old woman fake mother, (mother gothel) she keeps the flower for herself, she cuts Rapunzels hair off, keeps her locked in a tower and doesn't let her out. She has eery piano music playing in the background of the scenes indicating to the audience that she is evil.
   2. The dispatcher- I don't think that anyone in this film really fits this label, she decides herself that she wants to leave the tower to go see the lanterns which her true parents let off, so they might be the dispatchers in a distant way, or Paschal the chameleon indicated to her often to leave so I would say that he was the dispatcher, but I can't decide  
   3. The helper (magical)- Her hair helps her and others get out of dangerous situations, and also the horse Maximus helps her and Flynn out later on in the film. I would class Maximus the horse as the helper for this film, he also has trumpet like music sort of like army music playing indicating to the audience that he is brave and loyal. 
   4. The princess or prize- Rapunzel- She gets stolen at birth, she gets locked in a tower for the rest of her life and doesn't meet her real parents or see any of the world that is not from her view from her window, she is trapped. She married later on to Flynn- who I believe is the hero.
   5. Her father- I do not know who is the 'father', I could not work it out. 
   6. The donor- The only reason Flynn came across the tower is because of 'the lost princess' tiara' which was stolen by the two men Flynn's former cohorts. So I would say to some extent these two characters were the donors
   7. The hero- Flynn Rider, he climbs up the tower and accidently gets envolved with this girl Rapunzel and is forced to take her to see the floating lanterns, he rescues her from her life of loneliness, imprisonment and over the journey they fall in love, and eventually get married.
   8. The false hero- In a way I think that Mother Gothel is the false hero as she tries to convince the princess that she was just protecting her but really she was using her for her own gain.
   
   
   
   I tried out Propps theory on this Disney film to see if it was needed and still happens 30 years after he had figured this out. I think that this does actually happen in the majority of films, the eight different characters are set out, but I also think that not all the characters are easy to label into these categories. In my film, I think that I would like to include these 8 characters to fit in with the norms of film making and make a semi-successful film, but, as I am only making the first two minutes of my film, I cannot include all eight in the first two minutes

Theorist- Gustav Freytag

GUSTAV FREYTAG 

According to Freytag, a drama is divided into five parts, or acts, which some refer to as a dramatic arc: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and dénouement.

Although Freytag's analysis of dramatic structure is based on five-act plays, it can be applied (sometimes in a modified manner) to short stories and novels as well. Nonetheless the pyramid is not always easy to use, especially in modern plays such as Alfred Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy", which is actually divided into 25 scenes without concrete acts.

Exposition or Introduction

The exposition provides the background information needed to properly understand the story, such as the problem in the beginning of the story.

Rising action  During rising action, the basic internal conflict is complicated by the introduction of related secondary conflicts, including various obstacles that frustrate the protagonist's attempt to reach his goal. Secondary conflicts can include adversaries of lesser importance than the story’s antagonist, who may work with the antagonist or separately, by and for themselves or actions unknown, and also the conflict.

Climax

The third act is that of the climax, or turning point, which marks a change, for the better or the worse, in the protagonist’s affairs. If the story is a comedy, things will have gone badly for the protagonist up to this point; now, the tide, so to speak, will turn, and things will begin to go well for him or her. If the story is a tragedy, the opposite state of affairs will ensue, with things going from good to bad for the protagonist. Simply put, this is where the main part happens or the most dramatic part.

Falling action

During the falling action, which is the moment of reversal after the climax, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist unravels, with the protagonist winning or losing against the antagonist. The falling action might contain a moment of final suspense, during which the final outcome of the conflict is in doubt. Summary: The falling action is that part of the story in which the main part (the climax) has finished and you're heading to the resolution.

Dénouement, resolution, or catastrophe

The dénouement comprises events between the falling action and the actual ending scene of the drama or narrative and thus serves as the conclusion of the story. Conflicts are resolved, creating normality for the characters and a sense of catharsis, or release of tension and anxiety, for the reader. Simply put, dénouement is the unraveling or untying of the complexities of a plot.

The comedy ends with a dénouement (a conclusion) in which the protagonist is better off than at the story's outset. The tragedy ends with a catastrophe in which the protagonist is worse off than at the beginning of the narrative. More modern works may have no dénouement, because of a quick or surprise ending. An example of modern elaborate dénouement is The Lord of the Rings

Emotion shots

These pictures are a few examples of expressions and emotions that I would like my actors to show, the picture at the very top is a mug shot, but to me, I think that the eyes partially closed, mouth not doing anything and a feel of relaxation in the face looks like a extremely drunk persons face, I would like for my actor to try and recreate this mug shot. 

I would like to use a shot very similar to this as I think it really captures the actors emotion which I really would like for one of my scenes that I have thought of; which is when the girl wakes up in this unfamiliar house in which she has been kidnapped and trapped there, but in my film I would change the lighting to very dark maybe just the natural light through windows and the light emitted from the camera already, I would have a background of the house looking rather bare with a few normal household items but, I want the lighting to be so     dark that you can barely see the background only her face in a close-up shot. 

Make-up

EYES

 My make-up  idea was to have the girls having party style make-up rather than natural, so a smokey eye look I think would work really well, I think this because it gives the impression that these girls have made an effort to look nice and attractive for this night and also, it would work well if I got the actors to cry(or use water) as the make up would run down their face which emphasises the sadness and shock of the event. The eye-liner and a bit of black eye-shadow underneath the eye will help with this effect.

LIPS

For the lips I think that Hannah my protagonist should be wearing red lipstick as this signifies danger and sexiness and Alice should be wearing bright pink as this is a very party like colour to be wearing which I think sums up the night for Alice, it's all a big party, nothing bad happens to her directly she leaves Hannah on her own and goes home so the night for her is a big party but it's the days after that, that are far from a party but that will never be shown on screen so it doesn't matter... I like the look of the smoke coming from the bright red lips, the only problem with that is the fact I wish to film outside, and Hastings' weather isn't one in which there is no wind, so unless I find a non windy spot this will be impossible to film well as I wouldn't have the clearness of the smoke and it would just look very amateur, this would tie in with the tobacco pouch prop.  

Costume/ Props

Costume-
Costume that I think we need for the Protagonist-Hannah, of opening section of my film would be either black or red in colour; red to signify danger as that is what red stereotypically represents also, if it's red it gives the audience an indication that something sexual might occur during this film, consented or not. I think that black would work well as it signifies mystery which is what I want for my opening, I do not want the audience to be able to sum up the entire film just by watching the first two minutes of it, black is also a rather evil colour showing that either Hannah will be evil or be effected by something or someone evil. I've done some research and it is also believed by 'fashion experts' that black as a colour worn by woman implies submission to men which I found very interesting and thought fits in well with what my film will be about. I think that what she wears will have to show the season of the year so she cannot be too exposed but, then I have to take into consideration the fact that her and her friend are going on a night out so have to look dressed up-dress, heels, hair done, make-up; but also a jumper or something just so it doesn't look obviously fake to my audience.
    I think that I would have my other character- Alice, wearing anything really in this first scene I don't think it really matters that much as she isn't the main focus of this opening Hannah is, but if I was to give my actor a colour to wear I think that I would choose blue, my reasoning for this is, the fact I'm setting it in Hastings which is a seaside town so the blue would represent the ocean, blue is known as a cold and depressing colour which may impact upon the audience and it might get an even better response out of them that it originally had; Fashion consultants say that blue represents loyalty which I think contrasts with my opening and Alice leaves Hannah which might actually work well. I would have Alice wearing similar clothes to Hannah but, a bit toned down as I don't want her to be the main focus of these scenes. 


Props-
The props that me and Emma have decided to use are-
-alcohol bottles- to show that these girls are highly intoxicated and as a result unaware of what they are doing and what their surroundings are.
-tobacco pouch- stereotypical thing that goes along with drinking.
-hand bag- containing personal belongings- purse, phone, keys, ID. This I would bring in later in the film as the person who retrieves the bag can find out a lot about whoever lost it, adding a twist to the film possibly?  

My opening.

I have planned my opening to the film, approximately 35 seconds worth. I will open the film with a long shot of the sea and the sounds of the sea side will slowly fade in, then the titles will come in, stay for approx. 5 seconds and then fade out and then the shot will just stay as the long shot but pan left and hold it for 2 seconds and then go back to the centre for another 2 seconds the pan right and hold it for 2 seconds then cut to a mid/long shot of the two girls with alcohol  their shapes silhouetted somehow, either through editing processes or through the natural light- depending on the time the scene is shot; it will then cut to a mid shot of the waves crashing against the shore for about 3 seconds then with editing software I will make these waves reverse and then the scene will cut straight to a bit of 'animation' with the shoe pictures as  (which I have previously uploaded the images of) dancing, as soon as the scenes change from the waves to the shoes, as soon as the shoes come on screen the soundtrack will start instantaneously, the shoe scene I picture to be roughly 6 seconds long. After I have made the pictures of the shoes look like they are dancing I will cut it to the two girls dancing along the street and the main character (protagonist) do the feet actions that are done on the sequence I create when I edit the shoes. This takes up roughly 30 ish seconds of my film, this is all that I have envisioned in my head at the moment, I may decide to change my mind again however due to the fact this involves a lot of editing and I'm not very capable of editing as I am new to the programme we are using. 

examples of shots

Here, me and Emma, did a little tester for a bit of almost animation by making these shoes which are 'Hannah's' dance, this will look almost comedic providing a bigger contrast in moods for the more shocking scenes later to come, I am not sure whether to use these shots yet due to the fact it doesn't really show off anything I have learnt in my media lessons to do with shots or anything it just shows off my editing skills, I think it will work well if I do it right, but, it may not flow with the film entirely so I will have to test it out when it comes to the actual editing process.

Problems already come across

We went out and did our filming and we had some technical difficulties as in the tripod didn't work (one of the legs wouldn't lock), the battery died after a few hours, the lighting wasn't quite right in some places due to the time that we decided to film, we also didn't bring any of our notes or storyboard down to the place in which we was shooting so we had to try and remember what shot went where and what each shot involved which proved to be very difficult. We didn't have the money to book a camera or tripod so we used Emma's tripod which as previously said didn't go to plan, and we had to borrow a friends camera also, which didn't give us the clearness of a shot taken from a processional filming camera so a few of our shots look a bit 'grainy' but that may work well with the drunken shots. To make sure we do not come across these technical problems again we plan on charging the camera up fully, taking spare batteries depending on what battery it takes, hire out a proper tri-pod and double check everything with it works properly, and hire out a good professional film camera.
      Our actors weren't very good, it may be as it was their first time with this role or it might be because we as directors weren't very informative as we wasn't too sure on our exact plan we only had a brief outline of an idea, so me and Emma as a team are making a decision as to whether we keep this cast or we change and re-start all the shots; it would be simpler just keeping the same cast and add to our already existing shots, but, it's when we can meet up discuss who to change acting wise, who would be comfortable with doing a piece like this and when we all have free time to do some filming.