Propps Narrative Structure

·         The Villain - Cinderella’s evil step mother and step sister who treat her as a slave after the death of her father.

·         The Hero – The Prince, who saves Cinderella from her evil step mother and step sisters and marries her.

·         The Donor- Gus and Jaq, the two mice. They both help make Cinderella’s dress for the ball and steal the key to save her from the attic.

·         The Helper – The Fairy God Mother who enables Cinderella to go to the ball after the ugly step sisters ruin her dress. She makes her a new one along with a carriage and glass slippers.

·         The Princess – Cinderella, who is treated like a slave by her step mother and sister and is told she’s not allowed to go to the ball but has to stay behind and clean up.  

·         The Dispatcher- The Princes Father who encourages him to go out and find Cinderella by using the glass slipper she left behind.

·         The False Hero – The Ugly Step Sisters try to claim that the glass slipper is theirs while Cinderella is locked in the attic.

Coursework Blog

Heres my Media Coursework blog :)
http://kayleighsmediacoursework.blogspot.com/

Todorov's Narrative Structure

Last week we were told that most film and stories fit into Todorovs basic narrative structure. We were given a task for homework to choose film that fit the structure and I chose to do Pixar's Toy Story. 

Equilibrium

Woody the cowboy has always been Andy's favourite toy. All the toys are worried that they are going to be replaced by new toys that Andy may get for his birthday. Woody assures them all that they shouldnt worry and that Andy wouldnt ever replace them.

Disruption
Buzz Lightyear, a toy that belives hes a real space ranger, arrives and soon becomes Andy's new favourite toy. This leaves Woody jealous and angry about being replaced, so he plots to get rid of Buzz but accidently knocks him out of the window.

Recognition of disruption

The other toys realise what Woody has done and threaten to get rid of him too. But before they can, Andy comes back into his bedroom. He is going to Pizza Planet and is looking for Buzz to take with him, but since he couldnt find the space ranger toy, he takes Woody instead. Buzz climbs into the car and both he and Woody end up lost in a gas station. 

Attempt to repair disruption

With Buzz as his only compainion, Woody tries to make it back to Andy, knowing he was heading to Pizza Planet. When they finally get there, they are picked up by Andys neightbour Sid, who brings them back to his house. Sid torchers his toys and plans to do the same to Woody and Buzz.

A return of restoration/ A new equilibrium

Woody comes up with a plan and both he and Buzz escape from Sid and only just manage to reach Andy as he leaves for their new house, thinking he has lost both his favourite toys. Buzz and Woody put aside their differences and after having to work togther, soon become friends.

Axels Visit!

This time last week, our Media group was visited by a successful camera man called Axel who had worked on filming many huge films! It was really good to have him look at all of our preliminary tasks and give us his professional advice on what we could have improved on and what we need to watch out for when we film our coursework piece.

The first thing Axel pointed out about my task was the headroom above the actors. He explained that the camera should show as much of the person as possible if it is them that we are focusing on and not teh surroundings. And so there should only be a small distance above their heads when filming, whereas in my piece there was quite big space above Shereen and Lizzie.

Axel also explained that because of the varying heights when actors are standing and then sitting, the camera needs to be moved in order to reduce the headroom. However we did have trouble with the Tripod which was missing the part that held the camera and so trying to move it while filming would be tricky as it tended to slide.

Having Axel in to speak to us was really helpful and it would be really great if he could come in and help us with our main tasks! Thanks to him for taking the time to come and chat to us :)

Review of My Preliminary Task

Filming my Preliminary task was a very good exercise to practise using the camera and doing different shots.  I learnt a lot from the task about different angles and ways to make the film seem realistic and believable, such as the door shot when I had to film someone walking up to the door and then film them entering from the other side. It also made us aware of the 180 degree rule, which is useful as it shows the characters having the same left/right relationship and so doesn’t confuse the audience. A new shot from the opposite side would be called a reverse angle.

Another shot that was necessary for the preliminary task was an over the shoulder shot. This is a shot that helps establish the position of each person and gives the audience a feel of looking at one person from the other person’s point of view. I used over the shoulder shots during the conversation between my two character’s and found that it was effective and was useful to change the shots, giving the piece more variety.

At the beginning of the task, I had to make sure that continuity was kept when my character walked through the door. It had to look smooth and so this took quite a few takes before I could get it right and make it flow. The editing of this movement was also difficult; as I had to make sure that the door was pushed open at the right time so that it didn’t look unrealistic to the audience.

During the filming of my preliminary task, I found that holding the camera still maybe a problem and so I used a tripod. This was very helpful particularly for the first two shots where the camera needed to pan and follow the character as she first walked to the door and then walked into the room and sat down. The tripod helped to keep the shot steady and still, avoiding the shaky feel of hand holding the camera.

When filming the over the shoulder shots however, I chose to hand hold the camera, because the shots were so short. At the time they seemed to be quiet still but it wasn’t until my final piece was shown a big screen that I could see that the handheld shots were a little shaky. I think in future projects I will defiantly use a tripod more because it keeps the shot steady and looks more professional.

Before I began filming my preliminary task, I realised that the camera wasn’t charged. This was not a major problem and didn’t seem to affect my filming as I simply continued to film with the camera still on charge. In the future I will make sure that the camera is fully charged before hand, because it would become a huge problem if the setting of the film was outside and there was no way of charging it. That would be a huge waste of time and so better preparation would prevent it.  I also learned how the camera worked during this task, including how to record, rewind and record over something that was wrong.

By the time I got to edit the piece, I found that there was a lot of editing to be done because of all the retakes I had done. This was quite time consuming and using the program final cut express was difficult at first. I watched a tutorial video for the program and once I got the hang of editing, it didn’t take that long.

During my filming, I was careful to make sure there was no background noise while the camera was recording. At some points people could be heard walking up the stairs or talking and so these clips were not used and I simply retook them when it was quiet again.

There were also some practical issues when filming my preliminary task. Firstly, I found that although the Tripod was very useful in keeping the camera steady, I had trouble making it the right height and keeping it straight. At times it looks to me like the camera is at a slight angle rather than being straight on. The camera also slipped while on the Tripod, but this was less of a problem as I could keep hold of it the hold time to make sure it didn’t fall.

Another issue with our filming was that we had to film over two days and so although I began filming in a room the first day, the next day it was being used and so I couldn’t continue there. Also there was the problem that the characters’ clothes had changed between the two days and so I felt it was best to simply start the filming again. Since we had only done the first two shots anyway.

Also, when filming we came across another glitch. While I filmed the person coming through the door from the inside, the reflection of me with the camera was clearly visible because of the light from the sun. I overcame this however by moving the tripod and camera to the right slightly, so that it was out of the reflection.  We found that in one of the rooms the lighting was too dark, and so turned on the lights directly above so that it would be brighter.

To help establish meaning to my task, we wrote a short script. This was followed but not word for word as I felt that if the actors improvised a bit, it would seem more realistic. I also used props during my filming, such as the computer in the background had the x factor live tour dates up on the screen. This was just to add effect and back up the script.

Doing this task helped my group to build up teamwork and work together to produce our separate pieces. This was good as it meant that we could all help each other by being the characters’ in the films. Another limitation was that at times the acting was unrealistic but for my piece, I wanted it to be more of a comic scene than a serious one and so over it was okay that it was over exaggerated.

My Preliminary Task

Heres my first essay on 'Children of Men'

Analysis of the film opening of Children of Men

The film Children of Men directed by Alfonso Cuaron is set in London in the year 2027. Women have become infertile and during the opening scene we learn that the youngest person in the world, ‘Baby Diego’, has just died at the age of 18 years and 4 months.

The scene is set in London, although it is not the London we know today, as it is based in the future. The colours during the whole opening are dull and drab, representing the fact that the human race seems to have just given up on chance of survival. The street are left to go to ruins, with bags of rubbish dumped outside and dirty path ways. Everyone around is also dressed plainly with almost no effort, their long coats and outfits seem to suggest going back in time instead of it being in the future. You can see the smoke and fumes coming from the cars and there are a lot of police that pass by, suggesting there is increased crime and violence on the streets of London. There are also Rickshaws that are used for transport that are old fashioned and give a sense of going back in time.

However, despite this, technology seems to have improved a lot over the years. The television screens are almost see threw and are very high tech and the bus advertisements move rather than just being pictures. There are also clips being played on screens across buildings, all on the same subject of Baby Diego’s death.

This is a bad representation of London and shows how the infertility affected the people, who seem depressed and hopeless.

The main focus of the opening scene is Theo. He doesn’t seem to have any typically heroic characteristics and seems quiet plain and ordinary. He almost blends in with all the other people, looking sad and drawn with a long black coat, tatty hair and seeming to have no power. But we are made to think he is the main hero of the story as the camera seems to follow him, giving us a clue that he is important. Theo also results in pouring alcohol into his coffee, showing how he realises on it to get through the day. This is also not something we would expect from a hero.

In the film opening of Children of Men, women are represented as being equal to men. They are among men around the street and do work, although they are seen to be crying often, which the men are not. It is shown that Baby Diego’s death and the infertility seems to have taken a more emotional effect on the women than it does on the men as they are seen tear faced and crying into tissues.

Throughout the beginning scene of the film, the lightening is mostly dull and dark. There is no sigh of sunshine or light colours at all and it is all black and grey. However there is a red banner across one of the buildings, which is the only source of colour in the whole scene. There is also a misty, smoky feel to the street, with also emphasises the feeling of depression for the audience and how everyone has given up hope on continuing the human race.

The Opening scene is most likely to have been shot in a made set rather than in the streets of London. This is because it would be hard to shoot a film along such a busy street and it would be easier to get the futuristic but depressed feel to the scene.

There are mostly short shots in the beginning scene which shows up close the expressions on people’s faces and the television screen. The camera then follows Theo out of the coffee shop and goes down to his level, almost giving the impression that the audience are also moving through the crowd to get out the shop. There is then some long shots of the streets of London which pans around, showing the dirty smoky area before focusing on Theo again as he walks a little way before putting is drink down on the side. At the explosion, the camera follows Theo as he jumped backwards before quickly moving forward to where a woman emerges, giving the sense that Theo is running towards her.

The pace throughout the opening scene is very slow. It is almost like it is building up the tension and your waiting for something to happen. Even after the explosion the pace only speeds up a little but mostly remains quiet slow and steady.

There is little sound in this scene other than the sound of the news reporter’s voice. Neither Theo nor anyone around him actually speaks and they all seem very separate. There is some quiet music as Theo leaves the shop, but it is slow and low violin music, adding to the depressed feel of the setting. It suggests that the scene is based mid day, perhaps during a lunch hour as it is and there were many people stopping at the coffee shop.

You can tell from the beginning scene that the genre of the film Children of men is action and drama. The slow build up at the beginning and the news about Diego’s death suggests that the film is a drama and the explosion of the coffee shop also suggests action. It could also be a tragedy by the gloomy sadness of the setting and people around the streets of London. 

The opening scene gives you an idea of the basic story line and of what the film will be like. It continues being dull and depressed as Theo goes to work and everywhere seems to be the same, hopeless. The first scene also tells you about Diego’s death, as well as giving clues and showing the audience that it is based in the future, giving a picture of what the story will be about.

There would be quiet a large age range for this film, as it is a drama that would interest both males and females. Not one gender would prefer it as it is not just all action but has a good storyline to it too. The film would properly not be suitable for anyone under 15 as the idea of infertility and it being set in the future may be hard for them to understand. But anyone aged 15 upwards would enjoy the film and this age range would have been targeted.

The film Children of Men does give a message to the audience. It says that the infertility is the result of a flu pandemic and so suggests that we should do everything we can to prevent something along those lines happening. It shows the audience that you should never lose hope and that miracles can happen, which is shown when Kee becomes pregnant after 18 years.

The fact that the film Children of Men was made by Universal Pictures, means that it would have high expectations. Universal had a good reputation and are a large company, which means they would have a lot of money to spend on getting the film perfect and just how they wanted it. The audience would be more likely to watch a film that was produced by a good, reliable company that had produced many good films before and so would expect a lot from Children of Men.