Any discussion of the way a story is told is considered narrative ‘theory’
Roland Barthes theory is that there are narrative codes. The codes are combinations of technical features that are meant to have a specific meaning.
The hermeneutic code refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained. This therefore created a mystery code and makes the audience start asking questions. The purpose of this is to keep the audience guising till the end then closure is achieved. Dexter uses this as they do not show the character until the end of the title sequence so throughout the audience is kept guessing.
The proairetic code also builds up tension, referring to an action or event that indicates something else is going to happen. It makes the audience start guessing. Dexter is simply a man getting ready but the way objects are shown close up before zooming out they can look threatening.
The semantic code refers to the way images and music is used in addition to what is being shown. The music sounds quite sinister in Dexter, this builds up some tension
Levi Strauss introduced the idea of binary oppositions as a useful way to consider the production of meaning within narratives. He worked out that taht things were paired but they were opposites of each other.
For example:
Good v evil
Rich v poor
Male v female
You can see binary oppositions in individual film and in film genres. In the Dexter film titles it is not as clear what the binary opposition is. The opposition for Dexter could be his world v the normal/ordinary world.
Neale declares that ‘genres are instances of repetition and difference’ (Neale 1980, 48). He adds that ‘difference is absolutely essential to the economy of genre’.
I applied Neale’ theory to the ‘a Cinderella story’ title sequence and could apply the theory to the opening sequence. Elements typical to a chick flick were common in this sequence. The main character being a female is very typical. The film is always focused around a female lead. The pink credits are typical for a chick flick as it is commonly a feminine film and a feminine colour. The fairytale storyline which we are introduced to in the narrative is typical of a feminine storyline. You would rarely see a fairytale movie focused around a male or ‘the prince’, it is most commonly a female character. The setting of the film in a town in America is very typical of the chick flick genre and is a common setting for a teenage ‘girly’ film.
The theory is also supported in this trailer. Especially in the mise-en-scene. Girls in chick flicks are usually confident, popular and well known. The girl in the title sequence is a girl on the outside who does not even wish to be noticed. The costume for the girl also challenges the theory as the outfits in chick flicks are usually elegant, expensive and elaborate. But the main characters costume was old and simple. Although the people around her were quite typical. The attitude of the main character challenges the theory as we learn she is not known and she is isolated. Chick flicks usually centre on popular, bitchy, cool girls but this film is following a well known story in a modern way so it is immediately different.
Overall i think that Neale’ theory applies to the title sequence in ‘a Cinderella story’.
When analysing ‘a Cinderella story’ title sequence, I considered the different elements that were shown to establish the character, surrounding, genre and time.
A Cinderella Story is a well known chick flick movie, released in 2004 featuring Hilary Duff who is a well known actress in the chick flick genre. The target audience for this film is mainly teenage girls aged from 12 to 16 years old. Chick flicks are stereotypically about young girls who fall in love, with the occasional comedy moments. Therefore openings usually revolve around the characters and their typical life. Within the first seconds of a chick flick you are most likely to see something girly.
A Cinderella story initially starts with a view of some mountains, at first the audience cannot tell the genre immediately which you can in other films of this genre. Then the camera moves up the mountains using a tilt movement, this then reveals a castle. The title is shown and then the narrative starts. The camera then continues to zoom in towards the castle, turning outwards to reveal the castle is actually inside a snow globe. Then a young girl is looking at the snow globe. This is when we are first introduced to the main character that is with her dad. The title sequence then speeds up as the scenes change taking us through the girls’ life with her father. Most people know the story of Cinderella, and this film is basically a new updated version. Therefore on the title sequence we meet the evil stepmother.
As this film is a modernized version of the old fairytale the mise – en- scene is different to the original story. The original story explained Cinderella as a servant girl who wore rags. The new version shows a normal teenage girl whose father dies and so she has to live with her wicked stepmother and her evil step sisters. The main character who is called Sam wears casual jeans and a t-shirt; she also wears a cap as she tries to not be noticed by people around her. There are still similarities to the fairytale as Sam is still a servant to her stepmother, they live in a big house and her father dies leaving her. The title sequence also establishes Sam’ dad’ diner, this place plays a big part throughout the movie. The girl also has a book of fairytales; this shows her connection to the story.
The sound is very important in the title sequence; the sound in the title sequence immediately tells the audience that this film is a chick flick. The film starts with a piece of music, music that you would usually associate with a fairytale, which are usually aimed at females. The music is diegetic as the characters cannot hear the sound. After we see the castle the narrative starts, the girl who is shown tells the audience her modernized version of the fairytale. In those few minutes we get to learn about years of her life. When the girl talks about her dad’ diner non-diegetic music starts, the song is ‘this will be’ by Natalie Cole which is well known for being a female/diva ballad. After the music fades out we are left with a scene between the girl and her father, after this scene we find out the girls father has died. The diegetic sound then returns in the forma of a slow/sad song. The music going from girly to sad is very common in chick flicks as females often link feeling to songs.
The first writing on screen is the title of the film which is shown within the first 30 seconds. It is written in calligraphy, old English way. We would link this writing to fairytales; we would then link fairytales to girls as you would not see this writing in an action film. The credits are written in afont similar to Script MT Bold, they are all written in pink as well which is a traditional female colour. The credits fade in and out of the scenes and travel quite simply. These are fairly obvious signs to the audience that this film is of the chick flick genre.
The opening titles of a film are supposed to indicate to the audience a number of things: the film genre, the time, the characters, and tone. I feel the opening title sequence to ‘A Cinderella story’ does this. The storyline is made immediately clear and the audience are left asking questions like ‘what will happen next?’ and ‘how will this relate to the original fairytale?’ These questions are what inspire people to watch the rest of the film. So if the opening titles succeed in getting their message across, the audience will then want to watch the rest of the film.
Our task is to create the opening titles of a movie that we have created. It must be 2 minutes in length. I am working in a group of 3 consisting of myself, Lucy and Lutzy. We are going to base our film around the chick flick genre, focusing on teenagers and high school within this genre.
- Stick to our plans when going out filming
- Double check we have included all elements needed
- Stay calm and patient when it comes to uploading and editing.
I have learnt about continuity editing and what it is, I also got to practice it when filming which helped me understand it a lot more. I learnt that planning helps when it comes to filming as you already have an idea and a structure that you can follow to help you. I have learnt how to film properly and how to do match on action shots, and practice the 130 degree rule. I have also learnt about filming cut-ins and cut-away. I have learnt a lot about editing, I learnt how to capture the clips off the camera and how to use the programmes, I also got to learn how to cut clips and how to put them together properly. I think that the cut away in our video is quite good as we added video transition to make it look like a flashback. I also like our match on action shot as it is quite smooth editing. The next time we film we will probably make sure we have filmed all our clips and filmed the elements we need and film from more angles, apart from that I would not do a lot differently. I do not think we need to plan any more as we planned enough and we followed the plan in order. Another thing we may change is practice time, next time we will probably run through it a couple of times before filming, although it ran quite well without practice, if we practice the actors will probably be more comfortable.
Editing went very well and we were able to use most of our clips, we learnt how to add special effects which was an visual transition. The only problems we had were problems that we could not help, for example camera cords not working properly and computers failing to work properly. I have learnt how to record and cut clips, I also learnt how to use some effects and how to take sound away from a clip. I have learnt how to turn down the brightness of a clip which is not something that I really wanted to do, but now I know how to do it if I ever need it.
Filming went very well, we captured around 7 minutes of film which we eventually edited down. We did two to three takes of every scene just so that we had enough to work with. We also took the shots from different angles. Our storyboard did help us as it gave us a guide to the story, there are not as many scenes in the clip as what we put in our storyboard but it helped us keep on track and we could see what order we had to film the clips in. Not a lot went wrong but the first time we filmed we did forget to to film one clip but we went back and filmed it afterwards then edited it into our video. I learnt that a plan can help you to know what order to do things on. I also learnt about how to film properly and where to put a camera when filming. I was able to practice filming match on action shots and the 130 degree rule.
We found a location in a classroom as we knew we would need screens so a classroom was practical. I created a story board which covers the events in the video, we will use this to help us when filming. We decided to have a flashback of Lucy as our cut away as it tied in well with our story and ran smoothly.
There are risks involved in filming, firstly the camera strap could get caught, trapped, or pulled which could be dangerous for the person wearing the strap around their neck. To prevent this we will be careful how the camera hangs around our neck. Another danger is the tripod, if the tripod is in the middle of the corridor someone could trip over it and hurt themselves. To prevent this we will not leave the camera unattended and we will be careful when moving the tripod. Also if someone picks up the tripod they could accidentally hit someone with it. We are filming on a floor that could become slippery if it gets wet. To prevent any danger we will alert people if the floor is wet and will tell a member or staff. Another danger is that we will be filming next to a construction site. There is a barrier but in order to prevent any danger we will tell people about the construction site and make sure nobody enters it. The classroom we are filming in has lots of tables and chairs, these can be a danger if someone walks into them, to prevent this we will be sensible and be careful of where we are walking. People may trap their fingers in the door which could cause injury, to prevent this we will all be cautious when opening and closing the door.
Continuity editing is basically invisible cuts, it engages the audience. It combines 'match on action' cuts, 'eye line' matches, and '180 degree rule' to create a smooth flow. Continuity editing was invented by Americans to create a cinematic experience. The 180 degree rule is a rule that must be followed, if you break the rule people will be the wrong way. The 180 degree rule is used when there are 2 people in a scene and they always have a right/left relationship to each other. They are always on the same side even when the camera moves. A match on action is when a person makes a gesture or a movement and it has to match between shots. So when the shot changes they are still matching the action. An eye line match is when a person looks towards off camera in one shot and then the second shot shows what they are looking at. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdyyuqmCW14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHh12_JHjTg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VPMEKCITvs
Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.
Cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and editing can all contribute to the way people are presented in programmes. In life on mars the main character Sam is presented as a masculine, dominant character. Cinematography is used in the scene when Sam chases the suspect. The first establishing shot is the police cars with the sirens on outside the estate. The first character we see in the episode is Sam, who goes and bangs on the door to show his authority. We immediately know he is the main character and he is in charge. When Sam is chasing the criminal a hand held camera was used to make it seem more realistic. We can tell this because it wasn’t smooth, the scene was bumpy. The sound in scene 1 is what attracts the audience attention, as the sound creates suspense. Sound effects were used, as the dog barking was louder than it usually would be. This makes the scene seem more dangerous for Sam; he is taking the risk which makes him seem more masculine. There is some dialogue in this scene when the kid says “Smash his face in,” this also emphasizes his masculinity as fighting is quite masculine. A jump cut is used when the suspect is running away, this builds up suspense and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. In the car journey scene cinematography is used, the extreme close-up shows his emotion as you can see the tears go down his face. This challenges the look of masculinity as men do not really cry; the high angle shot looking down on him outside the car, the car shows his masculinity again. There is non-diegetic music used in this scene when he is crying. This makes the audience feel sorry for him. A car horn sounds and the sound turns deigetic again and brings him back to reality. Before Sam is run over the Life On Mars soundtrack is played, and once he is on the floor the non-deigetic sound of a heartbeat is played to show he has been hurt. Continuity editing is used in this scene when the cinematography changes this creates a smooth cut. It also makes the time seem longer.
The shots were quite jumpy this showed his excitement in the danger of the game with the knife. The camera panned from Ben to the girl when they were playing the game which made the situation seem quite intense. The only sound in the scene is dialogue, the dialogue is quite sharp. When they are playing the game there is very little dialogue, they use their eye contact to communicate what they are thinking. When the knife goes down it is a bit louder than what it would usually be, so sound effects has been used to amplify the sound when the knife hits her hand. This shocks the audience and intensifies the atmosphere; the audience will be waiting for the game to go wrong. There was probably continuity editing during the conversation and short take as it cut quite frequently. Action match was used when the man stabbed down and then we saw it in the woman’s hand. The audience becomes aware of how dangerous the game is. At this moment Ben is feeling quite bad that he has hurt her as he was reluctant to do it in the first place. The game excites him though as it is dangerous, and with the girl encouraging him he feels he has something to prove. The alcohol in the scenes shows the audience that they are not themselves and they are probably drunk. The knife is the most important prop in the scene, it starts the danger, when Ben sees what the girl does the first time he is shocked. The lighting in the scene was quite dim and it gave a relaxed feeling but the relaxed feeling disappeared and became uneasy once the knife came out. Near the start there is a master shot to show where they are, and then it goes to a close up of the girl taking off her necklace. The audience sees this as something of importance. At this point Ben is having a good time, this is just before it all goes downhill.
