TASK 3 Short Film Ideas

TASK 2 Film Tropes

Christopher Booker is the writer of the book 'The Seven Basic Plots', which is a length book describing his theory of tropes of TV and Film. A trope is another word for an important or reoccurring theme, a convention. In his book he mentions that there are in fact seven of these, these are:

Overcoming the Monster

The protagonist uncovers a threat to them and others around them. Often it is a single thing, such as in Alien or Godzilla.

Rags to Riches

The hero starts at the bottom, however as the underdog manages to rise to the top. An example of this would be Slumdog Millionaire

The Quest

The hero uncovers an item which he desires or needs, and goes out to find it. An example of this can be seen often in Indiana Jones films.

Voyage and Return

The hero finds themselves lost in a strange new place, but eventually survive, and find their way back to safety. One example of this would be Alice in Wonderland.

Comedy

This is where two protagonists dislike each other, however throughout the film they grow closer together, mostly though comedic situations.

Tragedy

Where the hero slowly succumbs to a tragic flaw of his, which can often be pride, anger or jealousy with at the end leads to the characters demise, sometimes at his or her own hands. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith has elements of a tragedy. 

Rebirth

To an extent similar to a tragedy, however the hero is able to realize what he has been doing wrong at the last minute, and is reborn as a new person. An example of this would be Bruce Almighty.

TASK 2 Music Video Research

Music videos were not really a concept that people had really saw as people today. Nowadays any major musician will have a music video to promote a single or an album . There had been recordings of live performances before, but they had not really been "music videos" as we know them today. The first thing close to what we call a music video was actually a promotional film, for the Beatles : Hard Days Night. However, even though this was the first of its kind, music videos didn't become popular till the creation of MTV.   

There are three types of music video :
Performance: Where it is the musicians just performing the song.
Narrative: Where the video follows a storyline, with the music playing in the background.
Abstract: Where the video has no storyline or performing it is just things happening, also known as Artistic.

Often a music video is a blend of two of the three types. However the most common seen in mainstream media is a mix of performance and narrative, also the least used is often abstract, as very few bands use this. It is more common for more underground groups to use this, however in mainstream media it is not often you see a popular star using this form of music video, as it is less accessible and more "arty". However some artists mix other times of videos with abstract, such as a performance abstract and maybe abstract narrative.

TASK 2 Christian Metz's Theory

Christian Metz was a French film theorist who categorized stages of the development of film. He wrote that there are four stages in the film industry: Classical, Experimental, Parody and Deconstruction phases. This theory is easily applicable to mainly the horror genre

Classical is the first stage of his theory. This would be just around the start of Hollywood, where there was no real definition to genre, and if there was, there was very little. It was before any real conventions were set out, and people were just making films. However these classical films would in fact set the standards on conventions, some examples of this would range from the very earliest of horror films up to later films such as Psycho, films that defined the genre

Experimental was the phase where conventions were followed and slightly adapted to what audience wanted to see at the time, this phase ranges from around the time of the start of the slasher genre, with eventually became tired out, with countless sequels for nearly identical films, which made way for Parody.

Parody was taking the tied and worn conventions of horror, in this case, as audiences were tied of slashers, which in the time before dominated horror, Films such as Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, which took a more humoured twist on the genre. This could be consider a sort of break period in genres, a gap of which would leave a break, to leave room for new ideas to develop.

Deconstruction could be considered as the rebuilding of the conventions of a genre, and even the blending of them. In horror, it was clear that newer films re-imagined the genre for modern audiences, films such as Saw and even more recent films such as Signs.

TASK 2 Wasp (Short Film Analysis)

The short film Wasp by Andrea Arnold's is about a single mother trying to raise four children on her own while also wanting to have a social life, as she seems rather young. The film can be interpreted by the audience in a few ways. One of these could be shock and disgust from some viewers, maybe more upper class viewers, who would see the parent as a terrible mother, whereas other viewers my sympathise with her, understanding that times are tough for her and it is only unfortunate she doesn't understand what is best.

The very first shot we see is the mother, Zoe, who is running down concrete steps barefooted carrying her baby, followed by her other kids. The way it opens up by showing the bare feet set the world of the film well, we know this is a poor area, and that someone is in a rush to get somewhere, we don't know where yet.

This next major shot demonstrates the mothers children in a gathering sitting on the grass while the mother, Zoe is in the street. This is intense, as it demonstrates the mother on the possibly unsafe street, while the children are staying safe, and this could show that see tries to care for her children, but cannot in proper way. In the next shot they seemed grouped together while walking, almost like a pack of wolves or other wild animals, this could be used to shows an untamed nature about them, that they are outside of the social norms but still care for each other even though times are hard.

In the next major shot we see inside the cramped and messy looking flat apartment, which further shows how deprived these people are. We can see from the walls childlike pictures alongside a photograph of a man. It isn't exactly clear but it could be assumed the photograph is of David Beckham. This could be assumed because of how often he is mentioned. It would be seen as this that the people in this still have dreams for something better, that they are not satisfied with the life they have but somehow want to make it better. In this same sequence, we see a shot of a wasp trying to get out though the glass. This wasp could symbolise the mother, as the wasp is trying to escape from its confinements, so too is the mother. As well as this, when a wasp strings someone they die, so it could be as when she hurts her children, via bad parenting, it hurts her also, as she wants to take care of them the best she can, as she loves them. In this shot she lets the wasp out and this could hint that she is going to try to break from from this.


In the next shot we see more pack like attitudes, as when the mother leaves the children to fend for themselves outside of the pub them seem huddled together, they don't want to be there, they just have to accept that they have to be there, as their mother instructed. We can see from this that their innocence as children is still there, but worn, it would seem.

TASK 2 Lady Gaga-Bad Romance Music Video Analysis

Lady Gaga's music video Bad Romance was directed by Francis Laurence in co-operation with Gaga herself. The video was filmed in LA. To many critics of the video, it seems like the video compares the music industry to human trafficking, and generally found the video impressive.

In the opening establishing shot, we see Gaga on a throne surrounded by people wearing white. She herself is wearing gold, this show us that she is the star, the most important person in the video, whereas everyone else in the video is at her bidding. There is also a Great Dane to the side of her, it looks like it is the same dog as in the Paparazzi music video. Dogs can symbolise power and loyalty, which both can be reflected in this shot. A criticism which was raised about this video was the use  of product placements, especially dealing with matters as controversial as Gaga often does. Straight away we see product placements for alcohol. In the next shot we see strange pods.

This give religious connotation to Christianity thought the cross symbol on one of the pods, such it is one, which contains Lady Gaga. In this shot she is wearing white. This would symbolise innocence and purity.
Later on in the video, we see how Gaga portrays her views on the music industry thought metaphor in the video. She makes it out to seem like she is transformed into something completely different. She shows this though the scene where it is like Gaga is drugged by two women. Through this, Gaga blames women as well as men, to conforming to possibly misogynistic practices in the entertainment industry.  She compares the industry to human trafficking. Gaga is presented in a room to wealthy looking men, the room seems similar to something like a car show room. This objectifies the women in the room, making them seem like possessions.  Quite jagged movements are made in the dance, this makes the women seem broken and damaged. This fits in well with the theme of the video, as Gaga gas been broken to fit with what is expected of her, this is how she portrays the music industry.

Soon after this, this is a transition, which seems to be outside of the narrative in the music video, where Gaga is spinning around in a gyro like ball. This might be symbolic to say that the narrative is about to go full circle, with Gaga on the top. The way the gyro spins makes it look like she is the centre focus, that she is in control of her own world. In the next part, she has took control of the situation and killed the antagonist. In this scene she is wearing all white. This takes a twisted comparison to the first time she wore white, as now, we know she is no longer innocent and the colour no longer carries these connotations. Behind her there is a fire, this is seems similar to a phoenix, as if she were reborn from the fire that consumed the person who was holding her down. There is also large use of animals in this scene. She wears what looks like the hide of a polar bear and a white rat or mouse in her hair. This might symbolise that she might look weak, but she is powerful.

TASK 2 Lady Gaga-Paparazzi Music Video Analysis

Lady Gaga's music video "Paparazzi" was released in 2009 along with the song, which was a hit single. The video was directed by Jonas Akerlund. The song and the video received very positive criticism though some outlets found features of the music video controversial.

The video opens up with audience positioning. The audience is positioned as one of the paparazzi in the music video. This lets people connect more to the video, almost like they are experiencing it, as audiences likely cannot relation to a pop star, they might more easily be able to relate to a spectator of sorts. We see that the setting is a large mansion building, with lavish decoration and furniture. There is also a title sequence, which makes the video seem like a noire film. With the main title for the video, there is also a pink blossom in the middle of the screen. This could be used to make the shot stand out, to add the idea of romance. This part seems to be a sort of interlude to the actual music video, as it plays out like a short film.

There is also an abstract transition, which leads into the music video. It is a black and white swirl, with Gaga in the middle. It could symbolise hypnotism, that everyone around her influence and control how and what she does. We can see this in the next scene, where she is bound to a wheelchair, and has bodyguards around her. This seems entrapping, as it seems quite closed in. This also show representation of disability, as Gaga is wheelchair bound. However, the video tries to glamorise this with a jewelled neck brace among other things. The black they wear symbolises loss which in the music videos context could be loss of ability, independence and love.

The next segment of the video takes a much darker route. It explores the topics which the video is mainly about. It looks at violence against woman but also what wealth is actually worth. It does this through second long shots of dead woman. The shots are show as like photos being taken by a camera, matching the theme of paparazzi taking photographs. These shots on their own seem picturesque, even with their dark nature. One picture in particular there is a dead maid on the floor of the mansion. Instead of blood from her corpse, it seems to be in fact gold. This raises the question of what is life actually worth.

Near the end, it somewhat looses the meaning it started with, and becomes more like a stereotypical pop music video, however it, still does have meaning. As in a dance scene, Gaga and the dancers are wearing similar costumes, this could symbolise adoration and idolisation

TASK 2 "The Hedgehog" by Alexandra Tsareva

This is a Russian Short film based around the idea of childhood. The film was awarded in various film festivals, such as in the 'kinOmetr 2011" which is a all Russian film festival.

The film at the start makes little use of non diagetic sounds such as music tracks, it relies on the sounds of the room to build a calm atmosphere. In the opening shot we can see a man working on what looks like wooden toys or decorations. One of these happens to look like a hedgehog, which is also the title of the film. The table it is on is also wobbling, as a man is working on other wooden items, this could connote the dilemma which happens later in the film, caused by the hedgehog. The man is sitting hunched over. The only things that can be heard is the sound of the man working with wood and the crackling TV. As one of the first shots, this sets the tone for the film as a simple, slice of life film.

In the next shot, we see him go up to try fix his old tv set, which considering the film was made in 2011, makes it very out of date for modern technology. As well as this, it is the first major shot of the room, giving a claustrophobic feel to the setting. We can also tell it is set in a less affluent area. We can also see that the only source of lighting is the light coming from the window. This gives the film a very natural effect

Here we see a close up of the hedgehog, being held inside a hat. It has full focus on the hedgehog, as it is pivotal to the plot of the story. Also there is a slight high angle shot, from the perspective of the father, looking down at the child while trying to watch the TV. Though high angle shots of after used to make something seem weak, in this, due to the close up of the hedgehog, it somewhat breaks this and makes the father seem less powerful in this situation.

Here there is a close up as well as a over the shoulder shot to show the fathers anger through the eyes of the child. This somewhat levels out power, as even though the father is telling off the child, we still feel that he isn't in control of the situation. There is no sound but the two at this point, as the TV breaks, with leads on into the next scene.

In this scene are is more outdoor ambient sounds, such as a barking dog, and birds chirping. This adds to the more natural feel to this film, as there has yet to include any non diagetic sounds. The camera again is shot in a way to make the father seem less powerful, at the whim of the children.

In this scene there is a spy like music track playing while the father is climbing the wall, this helps build tension and also gives the scene a comical effect, as it exaggerates the situation, making it seem humourous to the audience. The music also reaffirms the light hearted nature of the film.

At the end of the film, there is somewhat of a montage as the family work together to build a small wooden house for the hedgehog. A light hearted song is playing in the background ends the film on a positive note. Many of the shots taken at the end include both the father and the son, this shows a love and connection between the two, as only at the end the father seems like a fatherly figure.

Mr Judge Feedback

Not enough work has been evidenced on your blog thus far. You know you are too far behind at this point and this will have a negative impact if you return onto the subject. We require a stronger work ethic and commitment to the subject, and this level of work fails to meet any criteria at the moment.

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