Research: Narrative theory

What is a narrative?

A narrative is a brief description of the story being told and the events that may occur throughtout the film.
A elements that allow the audience to find meaning are; characters, genre, structure and denotation and conotation.

Propp -

Propps theory is based on characters and fairytales. Propp believed that folk tales were about the same basic struggles and therefore the same characters. He then decided on 7 characters from fairytales that can relate to media. These are:

The hero - A character that seeks for better things.
The villain - Who opposes the activety or blocks the hero's quest.
The donor - Who provides an object with magical properties.
The dispatches - Who sends the hero on their quest via a message.
The false hero - Who distrupts the hero's success by making false claims.
The helper - Who aids the hero.
The princess - Acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the vallain's plots.
Her father - Who rewards the ehro for his effort.

Propp analysed faiytales and slip them up into a narrative structure:

1. Preparation
2. complication
3. transference
4. struggle
5. return
6. recognition

Todrov -

Todrov's theory is based on a narrative having a clear start, middle and end structure. This is structured by having an equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium:

1. Equilibrium - Characters appear stable in the beginning.
2. Disequilibrium - Something disrupting happens and a change occurs which needs to be resolved. 
3. New equilibrium - Usually disruption is sorted and the narrative is closed.

An example of this is in the opening of 'Halloween'; the equilibrium is when the 2 teenagers are home alone on halloween and the backdoor is left open when they go upstairs. The disequilibrium is when someone enters the house and picks up a knife. The boyfriend then leaves the girl home alone and someone dressed up as a clown comes in and stabs her to death. The new equilibrium is when the mask is taken off the murderer and we see that it is her little brother. 

Aristotle -

Aristotle said that the beginning, middle and end must relate to eachother. He said that this would arouse emotion from the auidence and is mainly used in tragedy films.

Barthes - 

Barthes said that a narrative can be defined by using the 5 following things:

1. Action - Understanding and resolving the understood by the action seen.
2. Enigma - Teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle that needs to be solved.
3. Symbolic - Connotation
4. Semic - Denotation
5. Culture understanding - Events which can be recognised as being part of a culture.

Research: Sound

Sound in film

Sound in film is used to create an understand for the audience and to create more meaning about the character and emotions.

There are many different types of sounds, for example:

• Diegetic Sound

Sound which is part of the film would. It is sound that is from something visible or present on scene. For example, dialog.

• Non-Digetic Sound

Sound which does not make sense to the film world. For example, soundtrack to a film.

• On Screen Sound

You can see where the sound is coming from. For example a radio

• Off Screen Sound

You can have sound but cannot see where it is coming from, but it makes sense to the film world. For example, traffic sounds.

• Parallel Sound

Where you hear in a film what is expected. For example, a scene with children playing on a beach the parallel sound would be laughter, talking and the see.

• Contrapuntal Sound

Is when the sound does not match the expectations of what you are viewing. For example, in jaws the scenes at the beach are accompanied by the theme tune.

Research: Mise en scene - Setting and Iconography

Setting

What is setting?

Setting is when and where a film takes place. The setting of film is important because it sets the atmosphere and will help make the audience clear of the theme; aswell as organising events and keeping a clear time structure thoughout, allowing them to follow a clear narrative.

Different types of films are likely to have different types of settings. The setting is determind by the theme, genre and sub-genre that the film has to follow. It is important that the setting is appropiate for the sub-genre of the film as one setting may sutible for one sub-genre of a thriller and not another sub-genre of a thriller.

Typical thriller settings:

• Woods/Forest - These areas tend to be very isolated and there is no clear exit. It is full of shadows and has low key lighting which creates an airy atmosphere. This helps create the emotion of fear into the audience. This is often used in supernatural thrillers and Mystery thrillers.

 

• Warehouse - This is normally maze like and gives the idea of the victim/protagonist being trapped. This creates anxiety amoungst the audience as the victim/protagonist fights their way through the warehouse looking for a way out. This often used in psychological thrillers and action thrillers.

• Large house - This image is taken from 'Scream'. A large house makes the audience feel slight discomfort as a home is considered to be some where safe and is used as an unsafe trapped environment int thriller films. This is often used in supernatural thrillers, religious thrillers and slasher thrillers.

• Deserted land - This is taken from 'The happening'. Deserted land is often used in science fiction thrillers involving UFO and alien invasions. This setting is used to make the audience feel sympathy towards the victim who is isolated and far from society and any form of help.

Iconography

 

 

What is iconography?

 

Iconography is any object that causes significance to a scene. Iconography can be used to give the audience clues about what may or may not happen in the film. An example is in the scream opening a young girl is fiddling with a knife, this then ends up being the same knife she is killed with.

 

 

Typical thriller iconography:

• Weapons, Knives, guns, axes, saws, ect - Used by the antagonist to harm or threaten the victim or used by the protagonist as defense. The type of weapon can be determind by the the type of theme and sub-genre the film falls under.
   
• Blood - This is used is most types of thrillers, from action thrillers, to slasher films. This is used to make the audience see the scene as more realistic and really start to believe the storyline more for the duration of the film.

• Phone - This is often used in thrillers when the victim tries to call for help and for some reason cannot get through to anyone. This makes the feel sympathy for the victim as they feel there is little hope for them.

 
 

 

 

Research: Mise en scene - costume body language and facial expression

Costume



Costume is what characters wear in a film and should be conventional to the genre. Costumes allow the audience to interpret the character and the role they are playing in the film.



Here are just a few conventional antagonist costumes:
Dark coloured clothing - The audience is aware that this character has a dark side and bad intentions.
Marks - Hides the identity of the antagonist from other characters and the audience. Humorous marks are also often used; such as clown masks. This causes discomfort amongst the audience as these types of masks are normally associated with children and fun not evil.
Hoods - Also identity of the antagonist from the audience and other characters holding suspense amongst the audience as they are anxious to see the villains identity.
Facial hair/ messy hair - This makes the antagonist look unattractive and helps to make the audience not like him. Someone that looks like they can't take her of their self looks more evil than someone who looks like that take pride in how they look.

Here are a few conventional protagonist/victim costumes:

• Pale coloured clothing - This makes them seen innocent and will make the audience sympathise with the character.
• Young female victim - Audience will stereotype the character as weak, vulnerable and defenceless; again making the audience sympathise and feel empathy towards the character.

Body language and facial expression

What is body language and facial expression?

The characters actions, movement and the way they carry themselves. The way characters hold themselves or act will be conventional to other films of the same genre.

Conventional body language and facial expressions of an antagonist:

• Confident
• Strong
• Good posture
• assertive
• Calm
• relaxed
• emotionless or comes across intimidatingly happy

Conventional body language and facial expression of a protagonist:

• Strong
• worried
• confident (less than the antagonist)
• uncertain/unsure
• emotional

Conventional body language and facial expression of a victim:

• Defenceless
• Confused
• unsure
• emotional
• worry
• moves slow as they are uncertain

 

This scene of 'Prom Night' shows conventional body language, facial expression and costume. The main victim is a blond, teenage girl who is wearing pale pink. Her costume makes her seem very vulnerable and weak; along with the rest of the victims who all wear neutral colours. The girls moves around the house very slow at first with a slightly worried face; this shows her confusion and how uncertain she is feeling.

When she is under the bed we can tell by her shocked facial expression the hurt emotions she feels as she watches her mother being killed; this makes the audience feel sorry for her and sympathise.

At the end when she runs out the house in panic we finally see the antagonist who is dressed in all black and scruffy hair, as well as thick facial hair which made him seem voilent and aggressive. Throughout the seen although we couldn't see him fully it is clear that he felt no remorse for what he was doing  as his voice sounded confident and aggressive. These techniques make the audience develop a negative view of the antagonist and form a dislike towards him.

Research: Scream analysis

How is the opening sequence of Scream conventional to a thriller opening?

In this essay I am going to analyse the wide range of microelements used in the opening scene of scream that are conventional to a thriller.

In the beginning of the scene we are introduced to the victim. She is wearing light pastel colours and has blond hair. She has a pretty face with natural looking rouge lips. The audience are able to recognise the innocence of this teenage girl as she seems to fit the ‘American Sweetheart’ image. This innocent look portrays her as an easy target as she can be stereotyped as weak; the perfect victim.

The lighting starts of quite natural and the editing slow paced to help set the scene. The scene is set in her house where the lights are on as it is night. Next we see an establishing shot of the house and its surroundings. We are shown the large house which the girl is staying in. A home is somewhere we would consider to be safe; however it is surrounded by nothing but tress. The relevance of this is to allow the audience to identify the fact that the victim is completely isolated; she has nowhere to run and no one to come to her rescue. This makes audience to feel empathy for her.

We then see the use of iconography when she begins to receive phone calls and behaves naturally, showing she does not feel she has anything to fear. However, when the antagonist asks for her name  and says he wants to know who he’s looking at, we see a reaction shot, close up on her shocked facial expression as she begins to realise these phone calls are more serious than she initially thought. This allows a sudden build-up of suspense amongst the audience as they can identify something disastrous is about to occur. Another use of iconography is when she’s in the kitchen and we see her playing with a knife; ironically this is the same knife the antagonist uses to stab her to death with. When we first see her touching it the audience can connote that this knife may cause her harm.

The camera then starts panning as she slowly and cautiously around the house. As she moves around the house the camera follows her; often from behind. The house no longer seems bright as she enters areas of the house with dim, low key lighting; creating shadows around the room which connotes danger. Together these techniques may represent her being watched and followed. The shadows representing that she is not alone and is unsafe. The use of these techniques creates a build-up of tension and the audience are aware that the antagonist may appear at any time.

She starts looking the doors in panic and we see a range of close up shots on each lock; this may be significant to the audience so they can identify that she is trapped. As the conversation with the antagonist continues her face looks more and terrified. She continues to scan the room and the editing starts to move at a faster past. This starts to put the audience on edge and makes them feel anxious to see when this villain might make an appearance. The main turning point in the scene is when the victim decides it’s time to make a run to lock the front door and remaining unlocked windows. The editing pace speeds up rapidly which puts the audience on edge as they feel something ghastly may be about to

We see a point of view shot of the front door which then begins to zoom out as she begins to panic and scan the room showing the terror she is feeling. The importance of this technique is to show far away from society she is. She's completely isolated and the use of zoom may symbolize how trapped and alone she is. This may make the audience to empathise with her and sympathise for her as they feel there is little hope for the victim.

Throughout the scene she has popcorn preparing over the stove; as the scene unfolds the popcorn begins to make noise and pop. Throughout the scene the popcorn gets louder and louder and the scene gets more dramatic and editing paste gets faster. It is at the end of the scene when the antagonist murders the victim when the popcorn eventually sets fire. This use of diegetic sound is to put the audience of edge and to build up the tension as the scene goes along.  This creates more and more anxiety amongst the audience until the scene reaches a shocking end.

The opening of scream uses a range of techniques such as iconography and low key lighting; along with different camera techniques such as close up, establishing shot, panning and much more to create suspense and tension amongst the audience. All of these techniques are conventional to a thriller opening.

Research: Narrative themes

What is a theme?

A theme is a topic that the film follows; the narrative the film is telling is based off the theme. Different themes will be found in different genres and sub-genres as the theme has to be determined by the time of film it is.

What is a genre?

A category in which a film would fall into based of its characteristics, for example; romance, thriller, action, comedy and many more.

What is a sub-genre?

A sub-genre is a division of a genre into smaller categories.


Here are a list of themes that are conventional to a thriller:

• Revenge
• Kidnap/hostage
• obsession/stalking
• Good vs Evil
• Investigations (Whodunits)
• Alien invasions/space

Themes are important because they provide the base for the narrative and make it clearer for the audience to understand the story. I know that by deciding on a theme for my own thriller film it will make it easier for my to develop my narrative and structure.

Research: Mise en Scene - lighting and colour

What is mise en scene?

Mise en scene are the characteristics that are used to set the film and tell the story. There are five sections to mise en scene; lighting, setting, costume, body language and facial expression and iconography.

Lighting

Lighting helps to convey mood and atmosphere in a scene in film. It can also guide the audience's attention to a particular object, person, emotion, or gesture.  In a thriller lighting can be used to cast shadows and build tension. There are different techniques to use lighting.

• Under lighting 

This is where light comes from below the person which tends to have a distorting effect on the character.

This can be used in a thriller to make a character look more evil and sinister. This can make the audience assume the character has a dark side and develop a negative opinion of the character.

• Top lighting

This is where lighting comes from above; highlighting the features of a character. This often creates a glamorous look.

In this example the male character comes across heroic which makes the audience identify them as the protagonist and automatically  develop a positive opinion of them.

• Back lighting

This is when the light source is behind the person. If little of no light is used it will create a silhouette. 

This example from the famous scene in 'Psycho' uses back lighting to hide the identity of the antagonist making the audience unclear about who the character is. This technique is often used in mystery thrillers so keep the audience guessing and engaged. 

• Low key

The lighting is dark with areas of light, which creates shadows. This builds up tension in a thriller and makes the audience aware that something thrilling may be about to occur; such as, an attack on the protagonist/ victim.

•   High key

Lighting appears more natural, however, clearly brighter than natural. The use of high key lighting in this image taken from 'Se7en' allows the audience to identify the men as the protagonists. They look more heroic and the audience will have a positive view of them and identify them as 'good'. 

• Natural

When no lighting has been added, it is what you expect to see.

In the image taken from 'Scream', the use of natural lighting on the victim makes the audience feel calm, the tension has not yet started to build up so it seems like everything is okay. This is can be used in the opening of a scene/film while the scene is being 

set.

• Colour

Colour is added in scenes to have different connotations to them and can give the audience different interpretations of the scene.





Research: Editing

Editing is important because the speed of editing can empathise the  reaction. Each film is joined together at certain points. The length of each shot determines the pace of the film and helps determine the mood.

 There are many different examples of editing:

Fast editing:
This is when clips are cut at a faster pace than normal; this can be used to build up suspence in the scene and often happens in a thriller during an attack which creates fearful excitement amongst the audience.

Slow editing:
This is the opposite of fast editing; it is when clips are cut at a slower pace which is used to create a build up of tension and capture action. Often used in a thriller to let the audience know that something exciting may be about to take place.

Straight cut:
When one shot moves into another shot in an edit and it does not confuse the audience. This allows them to keep track of what is going on.

Fade to black:
When one shot goes/moves into another and there is a black filter in between.This can be used to make the audience clear of the separate scenes.

Wipe cut
When the shot slides into another.

Dissolve:
When one shot disintegrates into another.

Reaction shot:
Any shot in which a subject reacts to a previous shot; often used as a cutaway. This can build up suspense and make the audience feel like something bad has or is about to happen.

Montage:
This is the speed of editing, where shots are quickly juxtaposed together to create excitement.

180 degrees rule:
The camera must not shoot on the other side of the line to prevent confusion for the audience. Often used when filming a conversation between two characters. This makes it clear to the audience what is going on in the conversation scene and not leave them confused.

Shot reverse shot:
This is used in film where a conversation is taking place and it is when one shot quickly followers another. Again making sure the audience is not confused and making the conversation scene clear.

Jump cut:
A drastic camera movement that is noticeable to the eye. This is when  the shot almost 'jumps'. Can be used in thrillers so create suspense and excitement into the audience.

These techniques have given me a wider idea of what i would consider using in my own thriller, such as, slow editing then fast editing, reaction shots and fade to black.