Genre and Narrative

How far do the american films you have studied for this topic depend on well established narrative and genre conventions?

Badlands and Natural Born Killers both have similarities and differences in narrative and genre, Badlands is set around the 1970's and in this time media had very little influence on americas population. Where as in Natural Born Killers the media has been given the impression that it has complete control over people and it can alter their behaviour and make them violent. Although these films do have similarites they both have similar narratives and themes, Badlands has key features of the dysfunctional family, mass killing spree and a love aspect to the narrative; where Natural Born Killers takes it to an all new exaggerated level, the characters in NBC are more knowing in what they are doing and take enjoyment out of going on mass killing spree's where as characters Kit and Holly in Badlands are extremely naive and are less in tune with what they are doing.

The genre 'lovers on the lamb' has conventions that are present in both films, they both have the run -away couple who are in pursuit of the american dream, the characters desire to become someone else, to become famous, to become a social icon to their generation. A key scene in both Badlands and NBC is the death scenes of the female characters parents. In Badlands Holly's fathers death sequence is a lot more serious and hard hitting than NBC in this scene Holly stays behind Kit as the scene progresses she takes no part in killing her parent, where as in NBC Malory takes enjoyment in killing her parents, this may be because of the abuse that she had gone through because of them, but Malory takes part in drowning her father in the fish tank and setting her mother on fire. We know that Malory was a victim to abuse from a line she said to her mother before she killed her "you didn't stop it" this abuse could be the reason why Malory is as eccentric and crazy as she is and why she does begin her killing spree.

This genre and narrative links very well to the idea of the 'american dream', this dream is represented so many times in both films. Kit and Holly seek this dream through freedom and notoriety, Kit tries to become notorious and "famous" just as his idol James Dean, he tries to reflect his idol in his character and you can see this from choices he makes through the movie, such as choices he makes on his appearance and look. The hat he wears in the end scene where he is caught and how he dresses and presents himself.

Step outline reflective analysis

Step outline  reflective analysis James Fawcett
I produced a step outline featuring six different scenes and sequences, I did this work on my own and I used many different micro features within my work. I used sound to help create tension and make the scene more intense, the non-diegetic sound added to the horror aspect of the story board which helped to unnerve the audience. I enjoyed choosing when and where to put non-diegetic sound in my sequence I believed it worked well because it did everything I want it to do and worked successfully within the step outline. I tried to use lighting towards the end of my story board, I struggled to find the right places to use it so if i was to do a step outline again I would learn to put lighting in with more affect.
I added a lot of camera angles and shots throughout all of the scenes in the step outline, I believed I used the camera angles well to show characters power or vulnerability in certain scenes and shots. I also used close ups to signify importance of objects and items which could link to the mise en scene of the story. The mise en scene could have been used a lot more I think but again I found it hard to find the right places and times to add mise en scene to the story I would definitely go back and re-do this if I had chance. I didn't involve editing in my step outline which I would definitely like to do if i were to do another step outline as Its a different approach to the work and can change the perception of the scene completely.
The narrative I chosen was based off of a mix of previous horror films I had watched in the past, I added aspects of lots of them to put together my own narrative to use for my work. The narrative wasn't the best, it could have been more detailed and thought over more but making a narrative is not my strong point in Film, but I did try to the best of my ability. The audience I believe would follow the early parts of the narrative quite easily, but towards the end of the story it becomes slightly hard to understand and there are many questions left unanswered during the climatic point of the story. This would make an audience confused and not understand alot if the story were to continue from where It left off.
In my narrative I had only one proper character Zoey, I tried to keep it as one character because I wanted to really show the influence of isolation in my narrative I wanted it to be a big aspect of the story as it is a good convention of the horror genre. Choosing a young female character I think adds to the vulnerability of the character, as most audience members would be more caring and concerned for a young girl rather than an older man, this is all adds to the audience feelings and emotions. I could of maybe made two different characters and maybe have them become separated during part of the story which would keep the isolated convention fresh in the narrative and give a larger character list to work with.
The plot wasn't very planned I wrote it as the ideas came, which isn't a particularly good way to plan a narrative so if I were to do it again I would definitely plan out a narrative with key scenes to help build tension then big action scenes to execute all the tension that's been building up through the story.
My initial role was to create a narrative and add key micro features to the plot and plan it all out in the form of a step outline, the strengths of a step outline is that it is easily changeable and if you don't like a certain shot or scene you can edit it very easily. I changed my mind multiple times about the narrative and I found it easy to change everything I had already done to fit the new narrative. Disadvantages are that the step outline has to be heavily detailed else it is hard to get your idea across to someone who is reading it, you have to explain what type of shot is being used, what angle the shot is at, if there is any non-diegetic sound taking place. It has to be detailed and if it isn't as detailed as it should be then the narrative or image you have may not be perceived as clearly as you would hope.
Consequently I believe I did a good job at creating a step outline, If I were to do it again i would try to focus on adding other aspects to the work which I didn't add this time round.

Step outline

Scene 1 Page 1
Slugline - (Present) CABIN - DAY
End Point in Last Scene - N/A
Characters in Scene -  Zoey
Point of Scene - Introduce Zoey to Audience
Allow audience to get understanding of her character
Ending/Central Question - Why is Zoey in the Cabin
What does she plan on doing there
Key Micro Elements  -
Camera will be a key feature of this scene with mise en scene showing importance as well, the mise en scene in this sequence will show Zoey's values and traits and what type of a person she is. Close ups will be used to show importance of certain objects and points that are relevant to the scene.
Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  -
The scene opens with Zoey bringing her luggage into the cabin through the front door, her muddy, dark coloured shoes dragging across the floor(mise en scene) as she enters the small building (camera). Her bags drop out of her hands and crash onto the living room floor of the cabin (camera) Zoey then travels through the cabin checking out rooms and familiarises herself with the area (backwards tracking).
Zoey finds the run-down bedroom and inspects the décor of the room (handheld). She discovers an old vinyl player with multiple records lay next to it, after placing the most modern looking record onto the player and turning it on(close up of vinyl) she lays down on the bed to day dream.

Scene 2 Page 2
Slugline - CABIN - NIGHT
End Point in Last Scene
Zoey day dreaming on bed and consequently falling asleep
Characters in Scene -Zoey
Point of Scene - Introduce mirrors
Unnerve audience
Ending/Central Question -  What is wrong with the mirrors?
Key Micro Elements - In this next scene im going to focus a lot of non-diegetic sound to add tension to the scene, I will also use camera angles to help show Zoeys lack of power that she has in the scene and how she isn't as safe as she thinks she is in this cabin. Also some convections of the horror genre will be made prominent in this scene
Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  - Zoey wakes from her daydream, the vinyl is still absently spinning on the player but is no longer playing a song (camera), she takes the needle off the player and begins to inspect the cabin in more detail. (non-diegetic tension building music slowly builds) She walks into the bathroom and pulls the string to turn the light on, the light slowly flickers on (high angle view of zoey from light perspective). Zoey approaches the mirror (music intensifies), Zoey washes her face in the sink and checks herself out in the mirror, she turns her back to the mirror to leave the room as she does this her reflection stays in place (music/nails on a chalk board sound) her reflection glares at Zoey as she leaves the room. Zoey being completely oblivious to what just happened.

Scene 3

Slugline CABIN- Night

End Point in Last Scene -

Zoey leaving the bathroom

Characters in Scene - 

Zoey

Point of Scene - Further add tension and fear to the audience

Ending/Central Question - Who is the lady in red?

whos at the door?

Key Micro Elements  - In this next scene I will continue to focus non-diegetic sound and I will also make mise en scene more relevant to the scene. Camera angles will continue to show Zoeys vulnerability during this sequence.

Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  - Zoey leaves the bathroom and goes to the living room, (camera tracking as she moves through the house, tracking her from the side) as she walks through the house you can make out her reflection in the windows, mirrors and reflective surfaces,(tension building non-diegetic sound comes back) her reflection is not her own but of a woman dressed in a red dress (mise en scene). Zoey stops in the living room and lights the fire. Zoey goes and gets a book off the book shelf on the far side of the room, on top of the book shelf are religious figures such as crosses(camera) and small angel figurines (mise en scene). Zoey sits herself onto the red sofa(mise en scene) (low angle shot) and begins to read through the book she took off the shelf, (non-diegetic sound intensifies) (camera begins to slowly zoom in on Zoey from low angle). (high angle shot of bathroom mirror) There is a knocking at the front door, Zoey is startled then gets up to go answer the door.

Scene 4 Page 4

Slugline - CABIN - LATE NIGHT

End Point in Last Scene - Door knocking

Characters in Scene -  Zoey

Point of Scene - 

Scare audience

Scare/unnerve character

Ending/Central Question - whos in the house?

Key Micro Elements  -

In this scene I will continue to carry on using the non-diegetic sound to create and build tension for the audience I will also add more aspects of mise en scene to certain objects around the cabin, this will add more understanding to what is happening in the scene.

Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  - Zoey approaches the door to open it, (low angle shot) Zoey slowly opens the front door to the cabin (non diegetic sound peaks), to find that no one is at the door she steps outside and looks around to find no one in sight. Slightly unnerved Zoey walks back into the cabin and locks the front door behind her.  A window smashes in the distance(diegetic sound), Zoey quickly runs into the bedroom and grabs a baseball bat, she walks back into the living room to find the front door wide open. Zoey runs outside the front door to see if anyone is around, as she steps outside the door it slams behind her and locks. (non-diegetic music begins) As Zoey tries to open the front door and realises it has locked all the lights in the cabin go off leaving her in complete darkness and leaving her outside.  

Scene 5 Page 5

Slugline - WOODS - LATE NIGHT

End Point in Last Scene - Zoey being locked out

Characters in Scene -  Zoey

Point of Scene - Climatic point in story

Ending/Central Question - Where is she going to end up?

What will happen to her?

Who is the woman in red?

Key Micro Elements  -

In the next scene I wont be focusing on camera angles as much but lighting and sound. Lighting and sound will help create the right atmosphere during this scene to make the audience uncomfurtable and to scare them. I will also concentrate on performance aswell to help the audience understand how the character is feeling in this certain part of the story.

Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  - Zoey bangs on the door of the cabin (all non-diegetic sound stops) and cannot get back inside no matter how hard she tries. The cabin is located in a woodland area which is very isolated, behind her she hears movement in the bushes. As Zoey turns to face the bushes you can see the woman in red(mise en scene) behind her in the window of the cabin (non-diegetic sound begins very intensly), Zoey turns back to the cabin and see's the Woman behind the window. Startled,(performance Zoey jolts back and begins to run through the woods in hope to find a road. The woods are incredibly dark (low-key) Zoey trips on some bushes (camera) and falls and hit her head. She imediately gets back up and analysises the area round her. Its so dark she can barely see anything but almost as if glowing she can see the woman in red pursing her through the woods. Zoey terrified (performance) begins to run again through the woods as far and as fast as she can. In the distance she can slowly see the sun rising. 

Scene 6 Page 6

Slugline - WOODS - EARLY MORNING

End Point in Last Scene - Zoey running from the Lady in the woods

Characters in Scene -  Zoey

Point of Scene - Ending point to story

Ending/Central Question - Who was in the woods?

Will Zoey ever go back?

Key Micro Elements  - 

In this final sequence I will primarily focus on non-diegetic sound to show that the character has reached safety and to gives the audience a relief to what has previously happened. I will also try to show aspects of mise en scene. Some camera angles will be used to show Zoeys change in power

Scene Description focusing on key micro aspects  - 

As the sun rises Zoey begins to find herself nearing a road, glancing behind her she can see that the Woman in red (mise en scene) is still behind her but further away in the distance as if she cannot go out because the sun is rising. Zoeys wrists and arms are cut from running through all the branches in the forest (camera), Zoey notices the sun coming up into the sky(camera) as the woods begin to lighten up around her.(non diegetic/upbeat sound begins) She continues running and find herself coming up onto a main road through the woods. 

As she runs out onto the road(high angle) she glances back to find nothing is now following her and she is out of danger, a car begins to come down the road (camera) and Zoey signals for help. Zoey gets into the car (longshot) and drives away. 

Independent Case Study - Stoker

Independant Case Study - Stoker
Genre - Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Production Company - Fox Searchlight Pictures, Indian Paintbrush and Scott Free Productions, It is a co-production American/British. The producer for this film is Korean his name is Park Chan-wook this is his first English language speaking movie he has directed

Stars - Nicole Kidman, Matthew Goode

Certificate - This film received a certificate of 18 from the British board of film classification, the film was given this certificate because it contains; strong sex, violence and sexualised violence

Marketing -  A poster of the film is shown at the right hand side, in this poster you can see the family that the story revolves around in a mid shot from the knees up. The characters clothes are very old fashioned American styled which could reflect on the time period the film is set in. The main character (India, Middle) Is shown at the centre of the poster showing she is the main character of the story, she is holding a pencil and her hand is bloodied, this reflects to the films trailer where she stabs a boy with a pencil whilst at school. The Title "DO NOT DISTURB THE FAMILY." Can be a way of targeting the audience, with this title it targets people who are more interested in mysterious thrillers as they would like to find out why they shouldn't disturb the family and if they family aren't as normal as they appear to be.

Budget - $12,000,000 estimated, Box Office $12,000,000

Release date - January 20th 2013

Reception - Stoker received a rating of 69% on rottentomatoes.com this means 69% of critics said this was a good film, on rottentomatoes.com Stoker was described as "Stoker is a pungent mood piece spiced with mystery, murder and plenty of unsettling emotions."
Some critics that voted Stoker to be a bad film said "Subtlety is never this film's strong suit, and any mystery there is quickly paved over beneath a thick layer of stupidity." both this reviews were given from rottentomatoes.com

US Blockbuster Case Study 2013

The Hunger Games Catching Fire

Budget (Production Cost) 130million dollars
In the opening weekend of the films release it made 158 Million

Stars (Audience Appeal)

- Jennifer Lawrence, appears in:
The Hunger Games
X man First Class
Silver Linings Playbook (Won Oscar)
House at the end of the street
Winters Bone (Nominated Oscar)

- Josh Hutcherson
- Hunger Games
- Journey to the centre of the earth
- Bridge to Terabithia
- Fire house dog





Genre - Sci-fi Adventure, the majority of the audience that will be attracted by this given genre would be young adults and teenagers. This is because this genre gives a lot to the film industry, many successful movies in the past have been sci-fi adventure such as; Lord of the rings and Star Wars. Catching Fire is given this genre as it is based in a post apocalyptic future world where children have to fight to the death inside an outdoor arena. This plot line is also quite unique to this age, although there have been other films such as Battle Royale (2000) to feature a similar children death match theme.

Production company - Lions gate they have produced many movies such as; Saw, Cabin fever, Black swan (2002), and more. This production company are well known for producing horror films. They are an american production company which means they will likely work in producing high budget Hollywood films such as The Hunger Games.

Certificate - 12a, The movie was given this certificate by BBFC for containing moderate violence and threat, and infrequent strong language. Having a 12a certificate allows a movie to make a lot more money very easily, the movie will be accessible by all age groups and therefore a higher audience means more people paying to see the movie. 

Marketing -

In this Catching Fire poster you see the main character Katniss Everdeen wielding a bow and arrow aiming it towards the viewer, in synergy with the catch line of the film "Remember Who the Enemy Is" it works well with the action she is taking. The Poster is mainly made up of black and red colours, red is a key signal for danger and love which resembles the plot and outline of the story, black could focus on the unknown and keep the audience guessing what will happen to Katniss in the next movie. The symbol behind the main character is called the Mockingjay which is also the name to the last book in the series of The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, the symbol plays a key role in the movie and books as it become the key icon for the rebellion that Katniss creates in the story, Katniss is often refered to as the Mockingjay and the way they are both placed in the same part of the poster resembles this link. The Title on the poster is a golden orange colour which links in with the fire theme in the poster.

Reception: The rating this movie was given on rottentomatoes.com was 90% approve of the film some positive reviews from people who had viewed the movie were; "The budget is nearly twice the original, and it shows. Great work from the A-list cast, amazing set designs and costumes." "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire takes the narrative and thematic liberties traditionally granted the middle chapter in a trilogy and drives the stakes up sharply." Some other negative reviews stated that "The grand climax, whose elements include a long piece of wire, a lightning bolt, and an electronic force field, is an incoherent, rapid blur that will send the audience scurrying back to the book to find out what's supposed to be going on." There were some mixed views on the movie but overall almost everyone on rottentomatoes.com was very impressed with the progression of the movie.

Reflective Analysis

In groups we were set a task to each film a short film to show to the rest of the class, there were two different film genres that we could of been given, horror or film noir, my group was given film noir. After previously researching film noir in lessons prior to this we understood the conventions of film noir and how to implement them into our short film. Everyone in our group was given different roles there was a camera man, actors, and people to do editing and lighting. I was given the task of being camera man and I also had to act in some scenes.

 Things i liked about our short film was how easily and quickly we shot and put it together. We each had a week to film in our lessons and we finished filming in the first lesson and went on to editing in further lessons. I also liked the editing on the film as it really helped set the feel of film noir and helped the audience know what genre we were given. We included many conventions of film noir in our short film such as spiral stairs, femme fatale, shadows, black and white setting.

Things i disliked was the amount of time given, we were  given a very short amount of time so the film could not have been to an amazing quality, but I still believe we did good job for the amount of time we were given to complete the task.

Overall I believe we did a good job at making our short film and if i had chance to do it again I would spend more time filming so we would have a larger amount of shots to use in editing.

Pans Labyrinth Final Draft

Pans Labyrinth     James Fawcett AS Film

How does the use of mise-en-scene create suspense in the ‘pale man’ sequence from the film Pan’s Labyrinth?

Overview
In the pale man scene the lighting is low key, this is a strange choice for a fantasy film like Pans labyrinth, the low key lighting makes the children’s fantasy film seem dark and uncomfortable, it takes on an almost horror aspect as this scene features many conventions of the horror genre.

The scene initialises with Ophelia entering a dining hall with a table full of red liquids and fruits, the color red is used a large amount in this scene it resembles danger this is a common horror convention. The pale man is then introduced into the shot as he sits dormant at the end of the dinner table, placed in front of him are two eyes, these eyes are red which could tell the audience that the pale man is a dangerous character and is not to be trusted.

In this scene Ophelia is wearing a green over coat, green is often linked with greed and sickness. This is reflected in her actions in this scene as she ends up eating fruit from the dining table.

As the scene progresses the camera pans across pictures on the walls of the dining hall, the pictures are of the pale man eating and killing young children. This confirms the audience’s suspicion on the pale man, it confirms that he is a malicious character and potentially dangerous. It also foreshadows what may happen to Ophelia later in the scene. The use of death and blood in the pictures is a convention of horror which again doesn't particularly match the genre of the fantasy war film. Also the pictures on the wall will un-nerve the audience and make them fear the pale man. As the camera pans these pictures on the wall there is non-diegetic sound of children crying, this also further foreshadows that the pale man is a danger to children and therefore a danger to Ophelia.

The shot then cuts to a close up of children’s shoes the camera tilts up showing the large amount of shoes that are there, the audience will then be even further foreshadowed of Ophelia’s danger whilst she remains near the pale man.

Further in the scene there is a over the shoulder shot of Ophelia looking at the lock boxes on the wall, the stone around the boxes is shaped as faces and the boxes are the mouths, after Ophelia is urged to unlock the boxes by the fairies she unlocks the box by sticking her hand in the stone mouth which is another part of the mise-en-scene that could foreshadow the pale man may try to eat her in later progression of the scene. There is a quick shot of the hour glass quickly ticking down in the other room that Ophelia walked through to get where she is now, the hourglass is quickly running out which would add tension and suspense to the scene which would leave the audience on edge. Ophelia then takes a sword from the lock box, as she does this there is a camera shot where the camera is viewing her from inside the box. This shot would make the viewer feel confined and claustrophobic from the view inside the small hole. There is then a long shot of the dining table compact with red fruits and drinks; the pale man is sitting at the end of the table still dormant. Unmoving. Ophelia then curiously approaches the table of mysterious foods. There is then a close up of her face showing her curiosity and greed the camera then pans towards the fruit. One of the fairies waves in front of her face urging her to stop what she’s doing and leave, this would make the audience curious to the danger that may be linking with the food on the large table. Ophelia then becomes out of focus and the pale man in focus this may be linking the fear with the food towards the pale man. The red fairy then further urges her to leave the food alone, the color of the fairy links to the danger in the scene and the danger Ophelia is placed in.

Ignoring their warnings Ophelia then takes some of the red fruit that is on the dining table, the color red used in this scene is also further linking danger towards Ophelia in this scene. This particular moment also references Alice In Wonderland as it links with Alice consuming things and bad things happen in result of this, for example when Alice drinks the water that says do not drink on the front and consequently she shrinks. As Ophelia eats the fruit the camera begins to zoom into the pale man, which would leave the audience waiting for a reaction to occur on his behalf. The camera shows his hands begin to move the music in this scene changes dramatically from what it was before with hard drum thudding sounds as he begins to come to life at the end of the table. When the pale mans hands begin to move there are high pitch screeching sounds that follow his movement. He then puts the red eyes into the sockets in his hands and places his hands up against his head so that his eyes are in the same place a normal humans would be, this is shown in a close up of his face which would add horror to the scene to intimidate and make the audience uncomfortable. The music highly changes, as it now is a lot more urgent and rapid in pace.

Ophelia at first is unaware of the monster behind her, in this shot you see Ophelia carelessly eating as the pale man slowly approaches her from behind in an over the shoulder shot. This would make the audience feel worried for Ophelia’s safety and wonder if she will notice him before its too late. The fairies then begin to swarm the pale man to stall him from getting to Ophelia.
She catches on and there is then an over the shoulder shot from the pale mans perspective in this shot Ophelia is looked at from a high angle making her seem very superior and weak in this scene, it makes the pale man seem intimidating and dangerous. The pale man then catches onto two of the fairies and eats them in front of Ophelia, blood then runs down the pale mans face which is a classic convention of the horror genre, realising the danger she is in she begins the run and the chase scene begins.

As the chase initializes we get a side view of Ophelia fleeing through the corridor which she came through, the walls in this corridor are stained red which is also another convention of the horror genre. As the pale man pursues her through the corridor the non-diegetic music increases in pace and urgency this fits a chase scene well because it gets the audience’s heart racing and leaves them anticipating what will happen next. As the pale man moves there is an almost crunching noise which could be used to unnerve the audience, he also makes a various amount of screeches and cries which are all high pitched similar to nails on a chalk board which would make the viewer very uncomfortable and on edge.

There is then a long shot of the corridor as Ophelia runs towards the open wall, as she is running towards it the hourglass is out of focus but you can still notice that the time is just about to run out, this leaves the audience guessing will she make it out? As she proceeds down the hallway the door closes shut locking her in with the pale man, this adds to the aspect of isolation that is placed within the film. This isolation is also made to unnerve and discomfort the audience these are all typical aspects of the horror genre.

As the door closes in the wall you hear the distant cries of the pale man getting ever closer to Ophelia, in hurry she reaches for chalk out of her pocket we see this through a close up of her blazer pocket. The chalk snaps on the dense rough texture of the wall we then see another close up of the broken off chalk that has fallen on the floor. There is then an over the shoulder long shot from Ophelia’s perspective of the hallway showing the pale man right at the end of the corridor, this would make viewers fear for her safety and question will she be able to get out in time or will the monster get her. There is a close up of the pale mans hand with his eye looking directly at Ophelia. There is then close ups of Ophelia’s face showing her fear and terror towards the monster that is chasing her. Then we are shown a close up of the pale mans feet moving faster as they approach Ophelia, the amount of closeups in this part of the scene is very high and is a good common convection of horror, in desperation Ophelia begins to open up a door on the ceiling to try and escape. To do this she stand on top of the frame of the chair we then see close ups of the legs of the chair rocking this makes the audience fear because the chair might fall sideways.
As Ophelia opens the hatch in the ceiling and begins to climb through the pale man is shown very close to her we see this through a over the shoulder shot from the pale mans perspective, but this time their positions are switched, Ophelia is looked at from a low angle which could signify her new power in this particular moment. As Ophelia climbs through the hatch in the ceiling the pale man gets ever closer making the audience think will he get her, or will she get out? Ophelia climbs through the hatch just in time and is then placed in a low key environment which may mean shes not out of danger yet.