G325 Sec A: Theoretical Evaluation of Production

G325 Section A Revision

Term

Example

Explanation

Representation

• Character being privileged in frame through the centre of many shots – this makes him come across as the voice of reason. Narrative is delivered through him (there are several POV shots of him, close ups, etc)
• Moment in which PI Andrews discovers the bloody relic – the angusjh and clear shock on his face is clearly shown through the centre of the shot.

Editing

• We used lighting and colour filters for the flashback to make it evident in the film that certain events were taking place in the past. (this takes place through the first ‘act’ of the trailer.
• Lighting is further used in the scenes in which PI Andrews is exploring the abandoned farm with nothing but his torch, which connotes the single ‘beacon’ of light amindst the darkness surrounding him both literally and metaphorically.

Sound

• Opening sounds that are heard are the voiceover that plays straight away at the beginning, thus shedding some light on the story. As soon as this first person voiceover ends, orchestral music begins to play which signals to the audience that the story is one that is serious and dramatic. This narration is from the protagonist’s viewpoint
• The orchestral music we use is slow piano music, which gradually gets faster as the trailer progresses and adds string elements to create tension. The piano music is originally very melancholic, almost mourning, whereas once the strings begin to get faster it signals a shift towards danger, tension, and an unsettling atmosphere that depicts the protagonist in great peril.
• Diegetic sound is used to great effect in our trailer. An example of this would be in the quick fight scene between PI Andrews and the cultist, in which his head is smashed against a metal wall. This use of diegetic sound is tense and thrilling and conveys a real sense of threat. Further use of diegetic sound includes the dialogue between PI Andrews and the police chief, originally in the scene in which they are arguing but later in broken up moments throughout the trailer. The use of this is that it provides background to the film as well as curiosity from the audience – they want to know more about what will happen to these characters

Visual Codes

• A prop that we use as a bloody artefact represents a visual code as according to Barthes. This is used in a scene in which PI Andrews finds said object on the floor and his reaction connotes to the audience its importance. The effect of this visual code is that it not only ties the film into the thriller/horror genre, but also creates a threatening and almost occult feel to the film that signifies the genre.

Representation

• PI Andrews can be considered a stereotypical private investogator through his formal attitude, dedication to justice, naturally curious and instinctive nature and his bravery in the face of danger. However, he can be considered anti stereotypical for various reasons, as rather than being assigned to this case by a client like most Private Detectives he is recklessly taking the case out of a personal vendetta. This presents him as relatively reckless and brash, and a key theme throughout the film is whether or not you can really trust everything that he says.
• On the other hand, the corrupt police chief is represented as arrogant, formal, and dismissive, warning Andrews to 'stay away from the case'. He is dressed in a much smarter and more formal suit that is far cleaner, juxtaposing his dirty morals in comparison to the opposite effect of Andrews, whose oft rugged and dirty clothes juxtapose his moral righteousness.

Mise-en-scene

• The gun helped to signal the thriller genre through its visual code of danger and the mysterious artifact conveyed the supernatural and the occult, which is effective in creating a sense of unease when it is displayed on scene.
• As well as the props, the costume helps to stoop the trailer in realism, with PI Andrews wearing what can be oft described as a typical 1950s Private Detective outfit. His long overcoat as well as worn out suit and tie is important in representing Andrews as a dedicated man who is professional and determined to follow the case through, with its rough edges connoting the suffering he has had to endure to finally find leads on the murder case.
• An example of mise en scene includes the scene in which PI Andrews is using face recognition software to try and decipher the identity of the killer. The effect of this is that it makes the film look much more realistic and much more grounded in the crime/police genre as the software used is reminiscent of the actual software that the police uses in order to discover what criminals look like in real cases. This in turn makes the film more believable, making the stakes higher.
• The dilapidated farm serves as a great example use of mise-en-scene in our set. The farm is abandoned, almost crumbling, with overgrowth littered throughout the area and rusting metal encapsulating the farm. This is present from the second act of the trailer right until the end and was an important use of mise-en-scene because it perfectly represented the fear that is running through the mind of PI Andrews and the threats that he faces on his journey.

Examples of editing include:

• colour filters,
• restrospect,
• flashback,
• camera editing typical of genre,
•  hard cuts,
• shot-reverse shot,
• reaction shots

remember to talk about your magazine cover and film poster too. Visual codes are used in all three products.

• The protagonist is equally represented in the poster and film magazine, as he is prioritized in the centre of the image in mid shot for the poster. The image of the gun from both the poster and magazine cover signifies danger and tension as he is bending the rules to his own will and will have to use the weapon to survive the dangerous atmosphere.
• Talk about this when you are talking about representations of the protagonist.

 

 

Practice Section A Question
At A2, I made a trailer for the film The Damned as part of a promo pack consisting of a trailer, film poster and film magazine cover. My film genre is Psychological Thriller. As such, there are genre codes and conventions that shape the narrative, such as a focus on ellipses and mystery which leads you to judge whether characters are telling the truth and whether you can really trust what the protagonist says. The nature of the film as the investigation into a murder also increases this mystery as it serves as a ‘whodunnit’ narrative. Narrative is handled significantly diferent in a trailer from the way that it is done in a film because a trailer is only a marketing tool for a film rather than the film itself. Therefore, a trailer can't reveal the entirety of a film, rather using snippets from the finished film to generate excitement about the film in the short amount of time (usually around one and a half minutes) a trailer has.

A trailer must convey to its target audience who the central characters are very rapidly and efficiently, in particular, major narrative frameworks such as the heroes and villains, the central protagonist and his / her concerns, the central thrust of the plot. For Bordwell and Thompson, narrative is a chain of events which follows a cause and effect system that drives the plot of a film forward. This theoretical framework fits with the way that I have handled my narrative because my central character is featured very prominently in both the camerawork and the editing. He is usually depicted in the centre of the shot and features in more shots than any other character to connote his importance to the narrative. My film also reflects what Barthes called the enigma code of narrative because although some detail about the protagonist is given in the trailer, the antagonists are left completely unexplained as the plot of the film revolves around the mystery of who they are.

A trailer must establish rapidly the values and beliefs of the central characters, to draw in the audience. For Levi – Strauss, this means establishing a set of binary oppositions that are clear, such as, in my film trailer, the tension between PI Andrews and the more corrupt police chief, whose corruption is believed to have put the previous murder investigation 10 years earlier on hold. The conflict between these characters is not greatly present in the trailer but would make a substantial part of the film as you begin to doubt which of these two men are actually telling the truth. Character ‘types’ are often used as part of a narrative framework as a short cut to help audiences grasp complex narrative. In a film, this often means stereotypes (such as in my trailer, the role of the detective and the bent cop). For Propp, all narrative had a set of recurring character types. In my trailer, although the characters of the detective and the bent cop are initially portrayed as relatively archetypal characters, these lines would become blurred as the film progresses as more revelations are made.

Sound and vision editing are important in shaping the narrative structure of a trailer: the audience has only a couple of minutes to identify who the overall central characters are and what their aims and plans are. I achieved this in my narrative by using devices such as privileging my central character (PI Andrews) in the drama and through the use of a close up. For instance, PI Andrews is in the centre of the vast majority of shots in the trailer which ultiamtely signifies the importance of the character to the story. I also used sound carefully – there is precious little room for diegetic sound in terms of dialogue in a trailer, so a short dialogue exchange between PI Andrews and the bent cop is heard towards the beginning and towards the end to give context of the story to the audience. The voice over speaks for my central character to reveal his innermost thought when the trailer closes, with the shot of the mysterious figure holding a saw behind Andrews. the intertitles clearly position my central character’s concerns by stating "nothing will ever be the same", in order to raise tension.

all trailers use elliptical narrative, that is, present the broad brush strokes of the action (in order to hook the audience) whilst deliberately withholding the detailed mechanics (which would constitute a spoiler). In my trailer, a great emphasis is placed on ellipses rather than straight fact as it is up to the audience to interpret the events of the film as the mystery unfolds. As Todorov suggests, narrative starts in a state of equilibrium (the status quo) which is disrupted (disequilibrium) before a series of challenges and upheavals that finally settle into a new, often hard-won equilibrium. The satisfaction of knowing ‘how it all ends’ and the ‘whodunnit’ element are important to audiences, but a trailer must both intrigue or engage an audience but never reveal the final twists and turns of the plot. In my trailer, the interchange between PI Andrews and the mysterious hooded figure is left on a cliffhanger, not revealing his identity or the result of this interchange in order to draw the audience to see the film to find out what happened. Trailer editing is very specific to the genre as it must build a sense of compelling urgency and invite audiences into the world of the film by hooking them through the narrative. I used sound codes to support my narrative when sharp, loud sound effects accompany the appearing intertitles and the music used in the trailer towards the end gets gradually louder as the tension gets raised and then cuts out to leave the voiceover in the final scene.

REPRESENTATION:

Analyse media representation in one of your coursework productions.

I will analyse my A2 production. At A2, I made a promo pack of a trailer, a film magazine cover and a film poster to promote our film The Damned. The genre of my film is a dramatic crime/police thriller in which a former detective PI Andrews, frustrated with by the police's failure to bring his brother's killer to justice, sets out own his own quest to discover the truth. Our protagonist is hindered in his journey by his suspicious, dismissive and curt former boss, the police chief, and his life is directly threatened several times by the mysterious and elusive robed figure who regularly appears.throughout the film, which creates the tension and oft horror present in the film.

Mise en scene is a very important element in our film trailer as it effectively presents the tense, often bleak nature of the film. Most of our filming took place at the abandoned farmhouse in Cobham, which offered the threatening and dilapidated environment that perfectly represents the fear that is running through the mind of PI Andrews and the threats that he faces on his journey. In my film, I took particular care to maintain a solid use of props, evident through the use of a gun and a custom painted 'artifact' covered in bloodstains. The gun helped to signal the thriller genre through its visual code of danger and the mysterious artifact conveyed the supernatural and the occult, which is effective in creating a sense of unease when it is displayed on scene. As well as the props, the costume helps to stoop the trailer in realism, with PI Andrews wearing what can be oft described as a typical 1950s Private Detective outfit. His long overcoat as well as worn out suit and tie is important in representing Andrews as a dedicated man who is professional and determined to follow the case through, with its rough edges connoting the suffering he has had to endure to finally find leads on the murder case.

I constructed careful representations of particular characters in my trailer through casting, clothing and dialogue. PI Andrews can be considered a stereotypical private investogator through his formal attitude, dedication to justice, naturally curious and instinctive nature and his bravery in the face of danger. However, he can be considered anti stereotypical for various reasons, as rather than being assigned to this case by a client like most Private Detectives he is recklessly taking the case out of a personal vendetta. This presents him as relatively reckless and brash, and a key theme throughout the film is whether or not you can really trust everything that he says. On the other hand, the corrupt police chief is represented as arrogant, formal, and dismissive, warning Andrews to 'stay away from the case'. He is dressed in a much smarter and more formal suit that is far cleaner, juxtaposing his dirty morals in comparison to the opposite effect of Andrews, whose oft rugged and dirty clothes juxtapose his moral righteousness.


For Barthes, visual codes are signs which have specific meanings. We use the visual code of broken buildings such as the abandoned farmhouse and the dilapidated farm area. These visual codes help to connote a sense of danger that is paramount to the film as it creates the tension that is so important to a good thriller film. Visual codes of the strange symbols littered throughout the abandoned farm help to represent the idea that everything is not as it seems, as they represent almost horror like stereotypes akin to the Blair Witch Project and the supernatural. This is paramount as they are chilling to behold and make the film feel much more realistic and present much more danger to the protagonist, which ultimately makes for a more interesting and gripping story.


GENRE

Analyse one of your coursework productions in relation to genre

For A2, I made a promotional package of a film trailer, a film magazine cover and a film poster. The genre conventions of a trailer that I used included intertitles, fast paced editing, voiceover, main actors, high amount of footage, release date, non-diegetic sound, institutional information, less dialogue, elliptical editing (need to hint at the narrative arc but make sure lots is left out. Many show off the best bits as the purpose of a trailer is to create excitement for an unreleased film), protagonists (audiences see who is at the centre of the action. They also have the centre of the visual interest of the poster and magazine cover). Trailers might feature endorsements that the film has one or ‘from the makers of’. On all three products, a tagline often appears to expand on the type of content in the film – it really attracts audiences.

In my film trailer, the thriller/crime genre is signalled through its focus on one individual’s struggle to seek justice for a murder victim whilst unknowingly being hunted by a mysterious cloaked figure. My trailer is fast paced and uses frequent elliptical editing. For example, the montage in which several fast shots are edited together with hard cuts that involve mysterious runes and the cloaked figure. This ultimately conveys the genre as its use of elliptical editing sparks curiosity from the audience and leaves them feeling unsettled and hungry for more information about what this ellipses means. For Rick Altman, genre is divided into two aspects: semantic elements, and syntactic elements. Examples of semantic elements in my film involves the scene in which my protagonist, PI Andrews, picks up a bloody artefact. This is clear to the audience as its position in the centre of the shot signifies its importance to its story and the overarching mystery surrounding its circumstance. Syntactic elements of my film includes themes such as ignorance, fear and determination, for instance the scene in which you see a close up of Andrews’ face whilst he is holding a gun shows a clear sign of distress, which clearly signals to the audience the fear he is experiencing. Altman suggests that syntactic elements such as these can be generally more subtle and harder to recognise. For my film poster, elements of the thriller genre are clearly connoted through the fire that engulfs the protagonist as he holds a gun in his hand. This connotes a real sense of danger

Trailers use intertitles to provide tiny elliptical pieces of narrative to support the plot and genre of a film. Although our thriller film focuses on both action codes and enigma codes, the enigma codes are greatly frequent throughout the trailer and our intertitles greatly convey this. As well as featuring institutional information in the intertitles, they also feature the tagline of the film from my film poster and film magazine cover. The tagline reads ‘how can you fight what you can’t understand’. This conveys the thriller genre as it leads the audience to question what they see and offers a sense of escapism into a world that is different from our own.  For blumler and katz, audiences use thriller films such as mine to meet their needs for escapism, diversion and entertainment: our film offers the genre pleasures such as being frightened in a safe environment, tension, excitement, suspense and jeopardy through the theme of an unknown entity constantly being one step ahead of the protagonist on his mission for justice. This is clearly evident through the moment in which our protagonist is running through a stairwell with a gun in his hand, chasing the mysterious entity. It creates excitement through action codes and therefore signals the thriller genre as thriller films constantly need to keep the audience in the edge of their seat.

Utilising sound in a film trailer is a great way to signal the genre of a film through the pace of the music as well as the types of instruments utilised. For example, in my film trailer, non diegetic sound in the form of music is utilised to create tension in the film that is a staple of the thriller genre. For example, in the scenes in which our protagonist is exploring the dilapidated farm, fast paced orchestral music with strings is used. Its increasing speed and volume helps to raise the heartbeat of any viewer and thus creates tension as it makes us feel suspenseful – we do not know what the outcome of the film will be but the fast paced music automatically makes us feel nervous as it is associated with danger. Diegetic sound is also used to create tension, a familiar theme in the thriller genre, as in the montage scene full of hard cuts, the sound of the protagonist being punched in the face and thrown against a wall is loudly heard. This diegetic sound is effective in signalling the thriller genre as along with the fast paced music it sets the tone that this is going to be a violent film and that the protagonist is always under threat. This creates a fear for the safety of the protagonist, which is ultimately present in many thriller films such as The Silence of the Lambs in the scene where the protagonist is forced to find the murderous antagonist in the dark without night vision equipment. Therefore, my film trailer greatly signals the thriller genre.