Paula Averkamp Media Studies

WHAT WAYS ARE WE GOING ABOUT ATTRACTING OUR TARGET AUDIENCE TO COME AND SEE THIS FILM?

We have found from research that social media is probably the best way to spread the attention of something you want people to see. With the way things can go viral and people can view and share interests from different parts of the world means that our target audience isn't limited to one place. Also, our target audience are the types of ages who use things like social networking sites so we can gain their attention on these. The fact that with one click of a button, a stranger can share our posts to all their friends, and then they share it to their friend and do on is a very powerful and effective way of spreading what you want people to see. Things like Twitter and Facebook are two of the best sites for spreading word.

We will also attempt to attract the target audience throughout the film as well. Our characters, setting and outfits are all able to be related to by our target audience. This means that they can put themselves in the characters position, making them feel the emotion and environment around them. This should be able to attract target audience and make them want to watch more.

(LM)

WHAT IS NARRATIVE?

Narrative is seen as the art of storytelling. Narrative is the structure of a story line of a film. It's how the film contains a start, middle and end and how they link together. Also the different ways of structure, for example: having the ending at the start then going back in time before that point for the rest of the film until you finally get back to that point and carry on. There are many other ways to structure a film as well. As a result of there is so many films that have been produced, many directors have to come up with new, original ideas so that its makes their work unique and stand out to the target audience from the rest. Here is a typical narrative structure:

1. Opening: establishes setting and introduces character
2. Build up: Relationships established. Development of characters and their world
3. Problem: a dilemma or series of complications.  Characters are faced with an obstacle to overcome a mystery to solve, or often more than one
4. Events: a series of events/action as characters try to overcome obstacle, solve problem, discover truth and so on.  Further complications may arise in the process
5. Resolution: the protagonists are victorious, problems are solved, truth revealed
6. Ending: characters reflect on events, reinstate relationships and look forward.

WHAT ARE THE CONVENTIONS OF NARRATIVES IN EACH OF THE GENRES:

COMEDY...

The narrative of comedy is that it is trying to engage the audience by making them amused and laugh. It is trying to entertain the audience to keep them watching. An example of a comedy would be 'The Hangover'. Throughout The Hangover, there is humour from start to finish. This is done in many different way from jokes to funny props. You don't have to really focus in order to understand the film and the change from start, middle and end is very smooth. Typically comedies are known by starting in the middle of the film plot then starting at the start to explain how they got to that stage then working to the end of the story.

HORROR...

The narrative of Horror is that it is scary and sinister, also overly realistic for the audience to watch as they feel that they are in the characters position and can feel heir emotion first hand. An example of a Horror movie would be Paranormal activity' which encourages the audience to feel freaked out as it is very dark and has a realistic plot. This film is an account of a friend and goes from start to end creating tension, giving no hints of what's going to happen or any indication of the future which make the audience use their imaginations and think about what will happen next. A way of doing this is by including cliff-hangers. Horrors are also made to get the audience involved through fear factor and tension.  Horrors typically begin at the start or can begin as something 'scary' happens to engage the audience straight away.

ACTION...

The narrative of an Action film is that they are fast and packed with lots of different bits of action. This engages the audience by giving them the adrenaline from the action and the tenseness from the 'what will happen next' scenes.  An example of an action film could be 'Die Hard'. This film keeps the audience on edge throughout, wanting to know what will happen next. The audience can become really engaged with this film as there is a lot of heart racing scenes such as fighting, explosions and near death experiences. Action films can either begin at the start then the audience sees where the plot has started, or they can also go straight into the action. For example, in Skyfall we are introduced to a character dying and James Bond trying to find and chase the people responsible. Then throughout the first half of the film, we find out everything that has lead up to that point.

DRAMA...

The narrative of a drama film is to spread the characters emotion. During the start and middle of the film, Dramas can have any different types of emotion shown from love to hate, but typically at the end, dramas aim to make the audience feel either happy or sad. For example, in 'Toy Story' everything is all going well until Andy gets Buzz, a new, (controversially) better toy. Woody gets jealous immediately of Buzz and he is no longer the favourite toy so the audience feel for Woody.  however, at the end Woody and Buzz are friends and it is a happy ending as they made it back home together after Woody was accidently left at Planet Pizza. In Dramas, the film typically starts at the beginning of the plot leading to the end therefore the  audience know the build up and can use their imaginations to think about what may happen in the future. Additionally, Toy Story's target audience is mainly younger people, therefore the simpler narrative structure of start to end is easiest for them to understand and therefore makes the film more enjoyable.

ROMANCE...

The narrative for a romance film it to share feelings and emotions between the couple. An aim for a Romance is to make the audience capture the moments of love, hate and heart break etc. A usual romance narrative structure would have the start at the beginning, an introduction to the characters emotions such as love towards another, then further on there is typically a change in emotion such as love to heartbreak and it finally ends with a 'happily ever after' or an emotional moment for a character and even the audience if they were engaged. An example of a romance film could be 'Titanic'. During the Titanic the audience is introduced to many emotions such as love, lust and hate during the middle and it finally ending with heart break.. This rollercoaster of emotions can captivate and audience very easily in my opinion and the ending stays in peoples minds for a while which means they are still thinking about the film even after watching.
 

NARRATIVE THEORY - PROPP, TODOROV, BARTHES AND LEVI-STRAUSS.

•  Propp: Vladimir Propp broke up fairy tales into sections. Through these sections he was able to define the tale into a series of sequences that occurred within the Russian fairy-tale. Usually there is an initial situation, after which the tale usually takes the 31 functions -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp (Under the sub heading: Functions)

• Todorov: Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian-French historian, philosopher, structuralist literary critic, sociologist and essayist. Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.http://dictionary.reverso.net/english-definition/equilibrium%20film (equilibrium meaning)
  These are the steps for all traditional stories:
  1. Equilibrium (everything is as it should be)
  2. Disruption (by an event)
  3. Recognition of disruption
  4. Attempts to repair disruption
  5. Return to equilibrium

• Barthes: Roland Gérard Barthes was a French literary theorist, philosopher, linguist, critic, and semiotician. Barthes' ideas explored a diverse range of fields and he influenced the development of schools of theory including structuralism, semiotics, social theory, design theory, anthropology and post-structuralism. Barthes theory was that any narrative can be narrowed down into 5 codes. 1. The hermeneutic code (HER.) 2. The proairetic code (ACT.) 3.The semantic code (SEM.)  4.  The symbolic code (SYM.) 5.The cultural code (REF.). https://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/theory/narratology/modules/barthescodes.html (what each code means and how they link together)

• Levi-straus: Claude Lévi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist whose work was key in the development of the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology and many other things. His theory was that all narratives could be reduced down to binary opposites. Examples: weak vs strong, boy vs girl and good vs evil.

WHAT IS NARRATION?

Narrating is what you do when you're giving a spoken commentary on the action taking place during a drama. It's a useful technique when you want to inform the audience of what is happening.

Narrating can make a drama more understandable in a number of ways:

• an actor can speak the commentary over the action happening in the drama.
• a character can speak out what they think the audience needs to know about the characters or the situation of which they are a part - this is called self-narrating.
• an actor can just tell the audience what they need to know in-between scenes.
• a character can read or write a diary or letter that informs the audience what is important for them to know about what is happening or going to happen.

EXAMPLES - USE OF NARRATION IN:

COMEDY...

Narration is used in comedies to keep the audience entertained while informing them about the characters and the setting. In the Inbetweeners movie, narration is used to set the scene and tell the audience about the characters. In this film, the narration is spoken by Will - a character in the film who talks about all of his friends current life situation, saying his own opinion and what the others think. this is good because the audience learns about their lives and engages them by wanting to know what happens to them next. Comedy is introduced during this by jokes and 'subtle comments' said by Will. this clip is not from the movie but from the series however there is still narration in this scene.

HORROR...

In horrors, narration is used to make the film seem more dramatic and add more tension. This is also used to give all essential background information to the audience. By using narration, it keeps the audience engaged as it makes them guess what is going to happen next when something may have been suggested in the narration. The audience is kept guessing and on the edge of their seats in American Psycho which shows that narration has worked effectively in this film.

ACTION...

Action films also use narration as an attempt to engage the audience. In action films, narration is used to emphasise the characters emotions and thoughts during each situation. This keeps the audience watching as they feel like they get to know the character and they want to see what happens to them in the action. Narration can also be used to set the scene about why that scene is happening what happened in the past without having to spend time showing it. Narration is used for al these reasons in Kickass and this could be the reason why it is such a popular film. The audience can feel the emotions of the character through narration, which then leads to an adrenaline rush in scenes like this.

DRAMA...

Narration is used in dramas to show what the characters are thinking. For example, in Titanic, the character Rose is the voice over however this is Rose from the future looking back at what happened. This is very effective because throughout the film we learn about her unusual love for a stowaway boy (Jack) and by the narration and dialogue in the film; then by the end, everyone feels for Rose as they have captured her change in emotion when Jack dies. Even thought there was very little narration where Rose is looking back, it is used effectively in the right parts. There is enough dialogue here to engage the audience as well. Many Dramas also have narration where it is looking back at events, this can engage the audience because they get to see a new viewpoint, where the characters talk about the situation and how they feel about it now that it's happened. As a result, the audience is trapped in the situation in scenes like this.

ROMANCE...

In romances, narration is used to let the audience know the characters true emotion so that they also feel these emotions. This means the audience can capture and feel the change when different things happen during the film to flip the characters emotions. Many emotions ae felt by the audience due to narration along with dialogue Bridget Jones Diary.

WHAT IS REQUIRED FOR A GOOD FILM NARRATION?

A good film narration has to keep the audience engaged to the film while also staying linked to the genre. For example, a comedy film would have narration with things such as jokes and sarcasm; whereas this wouldn't be used in romances as the aim is not to amuse the audience but make them feel the characters emotions, therefore the feelings would be spread to the audience instead. A good film narration also needs to be able to pull the missing pieces of a film together so that the audience get a full understanding of it. This is done by including background information and explanations of why thing are happening etc. Personally, in my opinion, I believe that the best films with narration are those where the characters are the narrators. I really enjoy this because you can feel there emotions better first hand and can see the difference between what they say in the narration compared to the dialogue which I find interesting.

ARE WE CONTEMPLATING USING NARRATION IN OUR COURSEWORK?

We have thought about using Narration in our film opening, however we have decided against it due to the fact we do not want to give too much information away. We will engage the audience instead by making them wonder what will happen next and leaving cliff-hangers. We also believe that the characters, dialogue and setting will all provide the audience with enough information to understand what is happening in our film.

(LM)

Character: 

Character 1- 

Character 2- 

Character 3- 

Horror: 

Sci-fi: 

Comedy: 

Romance: 

Action:

(JN)

What are the conventions of music in film openings in the following genres?

• Comedy:

 Sound is important in comedy films, both diegetic and non diegetic sounds are both important. Diegetic sounds like dialogue needs to be clear so that it can be heard and laughed at. Non diegetic sounds such as edited sound can be used to place emphasis on certain scenes.

• Horror:

Audio is key when editing horror films because it helps build suspense. Exaggerated diegetic sound will allow tension to be created in the film. Fast and loud non diegetic sound can add to making the audience jump or feel scared. It creates intensity.

• Action:

The music in action films is usually very loud. It is often upbeat to match the on screen action and editing pace. It plays a vital role in helping to exaggerate the on-screen action to the audience which creates a more thrilling experience. Sound effects occur greatly in the majority of action films as they help shock and make the on screen action more life like to the audience.

• Drama:

Music in drama films can be technical and symbolic. Is technical because needs audio techniques to create the right ambient and tone to match with the actor's emotion and film's action becoming a symbol of this genre, like classic, sharp raw sound, dramatic music.

• Romance:

The music used in romance films tends to build the atmosphere with the audience and the music is most often soft pop music. Soft, classical music is generally used when the characters actually meet or fall in love. If a break-up occurs then the music tends to start out soft but increases in dynamics to emphasise their breakup and build anxiety among the audience.

(JN)

What is dialogue?

Dialogue is a conversation between two or more people as a feature of a book, play, or film.

Is dialogue necessary in the opening 2 minutes of a feature film?

No, dialogue is not always necessarily needed in the opening two minutes of a feature film. For some films words and conversation are not needed because maybe they do not want to give away too much of the plot so it makes people try to read into it more and use their imagination. Other films do use dialogue in the opening two minutes because they want to maybe say something that will get the viewers hooked early on so that they want to watch more. 

Find one example for each of the following genres where dialogue is NOT used and one example for each where it IS used in the opening two minutes.

•  Action- There is dialogue in the opening two minutes of suicide squad.

There is no dialogue in the opening scene of Ghost in the Shell

• Horror- There isn't any dialogue in the opening two minutes of The Woman in Black.

 

There is dialogue in The Blair Witch Project opening scene

• Comedy- there is no dialogue in the film opening of Devil Wears Prada.

There is dialogue in the opening scene of Finding Nemo

• Drama- there is dialogue in the opening scene of Inferno.

There is not dialogue in the opening scene of The Revenant.

• Romance- There is no dialogue in the opening scene of The Notebook

There is dialogue in the opening scene of Love Actually.

What are the positive effects of dialogue in the example you have used? And what are the negatives?

The positive effects of dialogue in the examples I used are that it advances the story and develops the characters so we begin to see in the first few minutes what will follow in the next couple of hours of the film. In the opening two minutes of love actually it gives us an insight to the character's feelings towards love so we are able to tell that that's what the film is going to be about. The negatives of having dialogue in these film openings is that some people say that it gives away too much of what's going to happen and they don't want that to be revealed that early on. It often does this by foreboding for example in the opening of  Finding Nemo we see who we think are going to be the main two characters talking about how much they love their new home and neighbourhood which leads us to assume that something bad is going to happen. 

What are the positive effects of no-dialogue in the examples you have used? And what are the negatives?

The positive effects of no dialogue in the examples I used are that it doesn't give too much of the plot to give anything away but it gives enough to get the viewers hooked. There isn't any dialogue in the opening two minutes of women in black and this creates an eerie feeling in the film which enables us to tell that its a horror film and it is going to be scary. There is also no dialogue in the opening sequence of The Notebook and it gives us the feeling that the film is going to be emotional and this makes viewers want us to watch more.

What issues do you think you would face in your own coursework by not using dialogue?

The issues that we might face in our own coursework if we did not use dialogue is that we would not be able to convey to our audience what our film plot is going to be about. This might result in our audience not being able to engage with the film and our characters and they might not want to watch more.

What issues do you think you would face in your own coursework by using dialogue?

The issues which we might face in our own coursework if we did use dialogue is that we might make it boring for the audience. The dialogue might come across as awkward and slightly forced if we cant get proper actors to be in our film opening. We want our film to look professional and sometimes when there is dialogue in the student film openings which we have seen it looks cliché and fake. We want to avoid this so it may be easier for us to avoid using too much dialogue.

What is it?

The Fourth Wall is a term for the imaginary “wall” that exists between actors on stage and the audience, to keep up the illusion of theater, the actors pretend that they cannot hear or see the audience. The same effect often occurs in movies, where the fourth wall in that instance is a camera. By breaking the fourth wall, the character is talking to the audience and looking straight into the camera lens instead of ignoring the audience and just letting them watch the events.

Examples:

Is it something you would contemplate in your own coursework?

What is a target audience?

What is the target audience for each of the following genres?

What would be the target audience for you 'idea so far'?

And how would you attract these people to watch your film?

Our target audience would be younger people from the age of 16 - 20 and probably both genders. By using a young boy, a middle age women and an old man as the main characters we have a person representing nearly every generation which could attract other age groups as well. But because of the storyline it would be more suitable for a younger audience.

(PA)

What are the different types of camera shots and angles?

BEHIND THE SCENES of our 2 minute opening practice

- To film a two minute film opening using miss en scène elements that we were given.

more ideas that came to Paula which she had to write on a piece of tissue

1. The perks of being a wallflower

2. Harry Potter and the philosopher's stone

3. The Breakfast Club

Student made opening scenes

A film opening should...

Based on now reading the mark scheme, my/our AS Level coursework (a 2 minute opening sequence to a film) should...

"I never had any friends later on like the ones I had when I was twelve. Jesus, does anyone?"

The older version of Gordie starts off by telling the story of how he and his three friends found a dead body. The flashback of all of them as 12 year old boys starts with them already being in a very close friendship. The way they talk to each other, very relaxed and not thinking about what to say, you can tell that they already know each other for quite a while.
When you are twelve you do not really know what serious things will expect you when you are older and I especially remember the summers when I was younger, where I lived each day without thinking about the next, and I think that is what Gordie and his friends did. The idea of finding a dead body would seem ridiculous when you are older, but when you are still a child you do not think about any consequences and just do it.

In your childhood you go through many changes and experiences that influence the outcome of you as a person. Especially their relationship to their dads is a main topic and something they seem to worry about. Their dads are their biggest role model even though they do not have the best impact on their sons. Gordie's dad blames him for staying alive and thinks he should be dead instead of his brother and Teddy's father is know as being a 'loony'. Still they are both defending their dads because they are a big influence on their childhood.

The film gives a great impression of how it feels to be young and enjoy your childhood. Thinking about my younger siblings, who grow up with social media and smartphones, I feel very sorry for them for not experiencing such great adventures.

"All people ever see is Marilyn Monroe. As soon as they realize I'm not her, they run."