Stock characters & classic Hollywood narrative

V:

Anti hero - fights for a right cause but      is technically immoral 

Lone vigilante - takes responsibility for crime, when he has no authority to do so.

Villan - he uses terrorism as his tool.

V doesn't conform to stock characters, why? 

For us to realise their is no stock characters in real life. Essentially to make us think.

Classic Hollywood negative 

•Cause & destruction 

•Character driven| psychological motivation 

•3 act structure ( E- equilibrium. D- disruption. R- resolution )

• positive end| closure

• believable ' realism ' 

The dark knight:

Character driven| psychological motivation 

Opposition & conflict 

Cause and effect

Donkey kong: 

three act structure

Mario skit:

Realism

Character driven| psychological motivation 

Sneeze and disease:

Cause and effect

How it should have ended- The Dark knight:

Opposition and conflict

Positive end and closure 

     

Analysis grid

1.5.1 key themes - exam prep

Themes: what are the characters doing and why are they doing.

Dystopia: a distorted vision of the near future, of a fallen government, which effects society. ------ this is a warning to us about our government and its systems 

Totalitarianism: a police run state which dictates all aspects of society. Mostly occurs in times of need e.g economic struggle. ---- the society in VFV is run by a dictator, which is still common in society.

Revolution: protests wether they be passive or aggressive, for a cause or for freedom. ----- relates to us as we constantly taking to the streets for personal causes.  As in VFV when they blow up parliament for freedom

Conspiracy theories: a belief by an individual/ group that may be responsible for a particular event. Usually circulated on social media, claiming that the governments message or intent is untrue. ---- we relate this to 9/11. Links to VFV as we cannot trust our government.

Democracy: a system where society votes for a representative to run for them. ---- we live in democracy. The party Thant runs in VFV was voted in

Fascism: a nationalistic right wing system that want only their race to be superior.--- relates to us as we thought against fasicm in ww2. In VFV the leading party is fasict as they belive the British race is superior.

22 September 2014

V for vendetta 

It has a Fascist/Nazi dystopian future which is the films theme as it could happen to society. As the government despises homosexuals, immigrants or disabled people. It's also plays on the theme of conspiracy as the government played dirty to get into power and V is going against it.

Why all 3 genres?

Appeal to different demographics, Mostly boys. Because we follow an attractive female ( who is the hero ) V is not a conventional hero 

Is it a sc-fi?

It's set in the future in a style of life we aren't familiar with. However the chances of the events in the film of happening are realistic e.g no/fallen democracy with a terrorist going against them. So I believe it's not a sc-fi because it's in the future but it's a for see able one. 

It could also be a superhero because he is tested on which makes him essentially a mutant. So it has an element of sc-fi.

Why is it a thriller?

It has an ongoing investigation on V where we find out his shady past which makes it the other aspect of a thriller 'mystery' this also leads us too seeing other sides of the story, the detective.

Is it an action?

Yes because of the faced paced knife scenes which are the coriagraphed. 

But the film does not have the conventional criteria of one e.g no up right protagonist (hero). Everyone is essentially a antagonist but we follow those of represent the good idea.

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Themes

Planet of the apes 2011

•evolution

•rebelling 

15 September 2014

Voyeurism

Is the sexual interest in or practise of spying engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing l, sexual activity or other other actions usually considered to be of a private nature.

Voyeurism is where the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of his/her interest, who is often unaware of being observed.

The Male Gaze

Is a feminist theory that was developed by Laura Mulvey in 1975. The gaze occurs when the audience or viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male.  Mulvey stressed that the dominant male gaze in mainstream Hollywood films reflects and satisfies the male unconscious: most filmmakers are male, this the voyeuristic gaze of the camera is male.

2001 space odyssey ( significant camera work )

•[Close up] from below to show how the Ape is powerful shows how it is important. Show how the Apes are progressing. EVOLUTION [Narrative] from Darwin's idea of Ape to Man. 

•GRAPHIC MATCH: bone to spaceship, millions of years of evolution in 1 cut.

•The mysterious block may be from the sky or space as there are many long shots of the sky. Could it be the reason of our EVOLUTION?? 

•Unusual shots could give answers to questions in a sequence 

CINEMATOGRAPHY

•the use of camera shots: angle, movement, depth of movement & composition.

Inglorious bastereds opinion

•close ups build tension, they only happen when tensions are raised.

•Guns under the table symbolises anger and aggression.

•All three characters are in the shot, shows that the situation revolves all around the characters.

•Shallow focus shows how he is paying attention to his cigarette instead of the man who is threatening him (shows that his in control.

Saving private Ryan 

Terminology:

extreme close up

Frame rate slows down

Muted noise

Close up

Point of view shot shaky cam  

Low angle

Analysis: 

show he's scared 

Makes you focus only on what's going on (what you can see)

Connect with the character you see what he sees

Shows chaotic point of view, as if we're there 

Losing their power 

8 September 2014

 BLOCKING IS MISE-EN-SCENE

Micro: =textual

Edit, sound, cinematography, mise-en-cens

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Blocking- Kane 

Citezen Kane scene: power? Retaliationships?

•Boy is the bond between mother and farther

•Mother is in charge and is always centre and right in front of the camera

•Banker or lawyer (mr thatcher)  is the middleman 

•the farther has very little power and little space in the shot as he is overpowered by all characters but his son

Analysis of the same scene:

Technique | term 

1. Relationship between characters

2. Occupy more space

3. Position in centre 

 Power? Relationships?

Analyse meaning

1=. Mum & dad - opposite ( both oppose each other) 

2=. Importance/ power

3=. lawyer 'in between' ( middle man )

      Boy playing in the background

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Limitless bar scene- intro to the drug:

1: colour- gloomy to show that he's not getting anywhere

2. Costume- dealer is wearing a fancy suit to show wealth. Opposed to the writer who looks like a part of the crowd

3: props- tumbler full of whiskey to show depression and how he feels sorry for himself. 

4- performance: Bradley copper ( author ) gets intrigued near the end.

The dealer is very cool and calm kind of arrogant

5- lighting: very dim to represent that the scene has a dark tone

6: location: bar as the author finds solace there from his boring life 

7: hair and make up- the author is messy to show his negative attitude to life 

8: space- both rarely are in the same frame

Important definitions

Voyeurism

Is the sexual interest in or practise of spying engaged in intimate behaviours, such as undressing l, sexual activity or other other actions usually considered to be of a private nature.

Voyeurism is where the voyeur does not normally relate directly with the subject of his/her interest, who is often unaware of being observed.

The Male Gaze

Is a feminist theory that was developed by Laura Mulvey in 1975. The gaze occurs when the audience or viewer is put into the perspective of a heterosexual male.  Mulvey stressed that the dominant male gaze in mainstream Hollywood films reflects and satisfies the male unconscious: most filmmakers are male, this the voyeuristic gaze of the camera is male

CINEMATOGRAPHY

•the use of camera shots: angle, movement, depth of movement & composition.

Limitless scene analysis

Bradley coopers character is always in the centre of the frame showing that he is dominant, we can also see that he looks much smarter than what he looked like before he took the drug. 

The lighting has also changed to a much brighter shade to reflect that he is more aware of his surroundings and that he has a more positive attitude. 

The character is now in a more controlled environment, his apartment, which he cleans, this represents that he is finally moving forward and progressing from his boring mundane life.

We can see that Bradley's performance has changed as he is more upright and alert. His makeup and hair have not changed due to the fact that the scenes are close together in sequence.

Paranormal activity sweed

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-XvXp0IaPMQ