Todorov's Theory

Narrative Theories

                                                  Narrative Theories

Narrative is the media term for story telling and is the way the different elements in a story are organised to make a meaningful story. Some of these elements can be facts as in a documentary, or charters and action as in drama. Narrative shows us the audience how the story or plot unfolds; an open ending means there is no final conclusion to the story.

Todorov’s Theory

Todorov’s theory has three main parts, first one is that the text begins with a sate of equilibrium which is everything appears to be normal or calm. The second part is there can be some kind of disruption this often a threat to the normal situation to it could be just a setback. Third and final main part is a new equilibrium. Which is produced to end the narrative, in the best narrative there is some kind of change for the better perhaps in the main characters behaviour or outlook on life.

In the todorov theory narrative is not seen as near but as circular. The narrative is driven by the characters attempts to restore the equilibrium, although the end result is not quite the same as the beginning.

Levi Strauss Theory

He introduced the notion of binary oppositions as a useful way to consider the production of meaning within narratives. He argued that all construction of meaning was dependent, to some degree, on these oppositions. For example light VS dark, good VS evil, noise VS silence, right VS wrong, poverty VS wealth, strength VS weakness, inside VS outside.     

Detailed Textual Analysis of 3 Music Videos

Ajda Pekkan - Yakar Geçerim


Genre: The genre of this music video is Turkish pop, electro music. 
Film language:

  This is a long shot of the singer in a coloured version of the music video,this particular long shot has many meaning for example you can clearly see through her legs which is very sexual and also to show femininity. Also the man at the background symbolises that the singer Ajda is more powerful than him and she is stronger because she is facing up while the man face is down.


Medium shot: 

 



This particular medium shot shows Ajda in a white elegant dress leaning on to what it looks like a burned rusty staircase and the sun shining at the background, this symbolises that Ajda is pure and that she is the sun shine that will get through her pain and over come her sorrow. 


close up shot: 

 


This close up shot you can clearly see Ajda in full detail and everything at the back including the man is blurred, this is towards the end of the music video.This symbolises that she is the main start of this video and everything at the back is not as important as her.

This is shot above of the main star sitting on the bonnet of the car and the camera  is a rotating shot which is symbolising that even tho she is a women she enjoys cars which is stereotypically a male interest. 
Genre characteristics: The genre of this particular music video is a Turkish pop music by Ajda Pekkan. So people will expect the singer to sing in the Turkish language because her audience is mainly Turkish, also people will expect her to wear revealing and elegant clothes and dresses because that sums her personality and her character.

Mise -en-scene: The main colours that were featured in this music video was grey and black to symbolises the burnet colour and the sadness, the music video was set in a dry rocky place to add the effect of isolation from the outside world. Costumes in this music video was a black holed cardigan with a black skimpy dress and black boots, and a white and golden dress. There was only one main prop which was a car and a burned rusty staircase. The lyrics of course was not in English but was in Turkish so people who don't understand will be difficult to understand the music video. The song is called  "yakar geçerim" which means in english "I burned through" by knowing what the song is called you can then instantly know that the lyrics, the music and the visuals all com together and make sense. 

Representation of the artist: In the music video the artist is represented as a powerful and sexual at the begging because of her revealing cloths and how she is always at the front and the man at the back, later on in the video she then becomes elegant with her pure white gold and white dress.

references to voyeurirsm: I believe that the artist wanted to grab the attention of both male and female audiences because in the past the public said that she needs to act her age but she wants to show the people that even though she is old she still has a perfect body. 





































   

  






















































   

Music video history

Music video history from kinghamzaa

Lady Gaga music videos

Lady gaga stareimage hamzaa from kinghamzaa

The Conjuring Film Marketing

                            

                           The Conjuring

the synopsis of the film is paranormal investigators Ed and Lorrain Warren work to help a family terrorised by a dark presence in their farmhouse.

The director is: James Wan.

The writers are: Chad hayes, Carey hayes.

The casts are: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingstone, Hayley Mcfarland, Joey king, Mackenzie foy.

the starts who were in the film attracted a lot of audiences because there were in previous movies, but the starts were only half the attraction. The real attraction was the fact the actual movie was based on a real life story that someone experienced and Ed and Lorrain warren were real people who was involved with this. also the director directed saw and insidious both blockbuster horror films.  

 

The picture above is the first poster they used which as you can see is very gloomy with a dead tree almost pointing at the house with a noose which connotes hanging death were the witch hanged herself. Just by looking at the poster you can almost feel the horror and loneliness. Also the title means conjure which is magic were performers will magically take stuff out the hat but in this film this is dark black magic, the house is surrounding by mist and dead leaves which shows the emptiness and mystery.
This is the second poster that they released but this time it gives the audience more of a fear of what the movie will be based on and what will they expect. the poster is very horror detailed for example you can clearly see a some sort of demon sitting on a old rocking chair which indicates this was set in the past. The demon is also holding a doll which signifies that the doll might be cause of the demon like it is cursed. This makes the audiences wonder. Also the wall of the room were the demon is sitting is very damed, dark and mouldy which signifies the olden and death in the room also brings more horror for the audience.
The video above is the trailer of The Conjuring. this shows the detail of the movie and almost explains what happiness but still show some part which is a mystery. The filmed is mostly targeted to audiences aged 18 and above because its horror with violence and gore, also it is targeted to people who love horror. We can tell the targeted audience are adults because the poster has gloom and death which is not for kids and people who don't like horror. The budget of the movie was $20 million but made $318 million. This movie was rated out of 10 and came out as 7.5, these are the following reviews.  I got a chance to see this movie at the film festival, and boy was I Terrifically surprised! James Wan's 'The Conjuring' is one of those rare gems in the horror industry that finds a spot beside the classic titles of horror, 'The Shining', 'Poltergeist', and 'The Exorcist,  Advance word that this would be the scariest horror since Amityville proves well wide of the mark. The Conjuring's use of tension, atmosphere, and suggestion prove that the scariest thing to an audience has nothing to do with what you see, but what you don't. The Conjuring simply takes a standard story comprised of the usual components, and with warmth and commitment makes them not just palatable, but successful. The trailer for The Conjuring is scarier than most horror features of recent vintage, and the feature makes good on the promise

  

This is the home page of the conjuring as you can see it had a little clip of the movie on the front page which will attract people to watch more of the film and see what happens.

 

also the website has a gallery which shows some pictures of scenes in the film. 

The website also has a soundtrack page were all the music and sound that was in the film is in this page so you can listen or download the music, this will attract people who use soundtrack frequently. 

This page of the website is very unique compared to other movie websites because this allows fans of the movie to summit there paranormal experience and submit there story which is great for people who relate to this movie or anything paranormal. At the bottom you can see three stories that fans have already submitted. 

This is the official Facebook page of the conjuring movie, its official because its verified by Facebook with a blue tick. this page has full information of the movie and even dates when the dvd will come out. Also the page is posting other horror movies which is made by the same company for example you cans see a up coming horror movie Gallows. 

This is the official twitter page of the conjuring because its verified the the blue tick, again its promoting the film and even promoting there second film related to the conjuring called Annabelle. 

Unit 26 film studies report

Unit 26 film studies

                                                Assignment 2: the contexts of production

                                                                       Final report

                                                                      Hamzaa Zamir

Brief

I was asked to find out about how the contexts of production can affect the final product, in this case,films.contexts I was to investigate were:

·       Historical

·       Technologic al

·       Cultural  

Methods

a.)   Historical & technological

     Firstly I watched a documentary called The Birth of Hollywood narrated by Paul Merton which explained about how the Hollywood film industry started, the people the places and the technology and also some clips from the earliest of films. Then I explored a PowerPoint called film history which explains and shows all the historical events that happened I the early stages of film and Hollywood, it also shows and explains the first ever camera that records. From these I constructed a leaflet and a short silent film. The silent film was very simple just me drinking water for 30 to 40 seconds which was the length of an actual silent film back in the day.  

b.)   Cultural

I investigated how ideology and culture can be represented through a country’s film output. This involved looking at some clips from different countries and conducting further secondary and primary research into the films of one particular country of my own choice from which I constructed a prezi about my foreign movies that were Japanese. I also compared representation made to my own experiences.

c.)    Remakes (historical, technological & cultural)

Firstly I researched 3 films and their remakes noting similarities and differences between them. This includes points about their production/ technology; narrative; setting; characters; make up and script.

Secondly I focused on back to the future II and looked at historical contexts to construct mood boards then chose a scene and planned how I would remake it 30 years in advance to reflect the changes in the years. For example I chose the scene in Back to the Future when they be in 2015 so I remade it and was in the year 2045.

            The screen shots above are my leaflet about the birth of cinema. It explains who were the Lumiere brothers, kinaetoscope, world first cinema and the Birth of a Nation, which caused a big uproar because it was about the KKK, and the persecution of black people in America. I learned about when people one at a time used to watch a shot black and white clip in the kinetoscope then as the years went on from the kinetoscope then was the projector invented by the French which the movie was projected on a wall which can be viewed by a larger audience. 

This is a screenshot of my silent film, which is basically a 30 seconds clip of me drinking water with a Turkish flag at the back. I did this because the very first cinema was invented by the Lumiere brothers and they were of course black and white and the length of them were 30 seconds so that’s what I did. I also added silent movie music and my title was in French, which was l’homme turc, which means the Turkish man,

Because the original movies were in French. We modern audiences understand these old stories because we can see the impact that the story has, we know this is because we watch modern movies with plots and stories so we can understand a short clip which has a story in it.

                               

The screenshot above is my prezie on the country that I chose which was japan.  I chose japan because the Japanese film industry is very big and popular; in this prezie I explain the Japanese culture and just a quick summary of japan like the population, its economy and why japan is famous. By researching the Japanese culture I have found lots of information on how the Japanese are influenced, I have found that the Japanese culture influences the Japanese film a lot. Because many Japanese movies include Japanese cultures and beliefs like monsters and spirits which is a major in the Japanese culture.

While doing my research on japan I have crossed on people’s perceptions on the Japanese culture, some are true and some are stereotypes. Large amount of people describe the Japanese movie based on there own culture, and some included some stereotypes of the Japanese culture. For example like anime and monsters and samurais. 

 

This particular part of my prezie about japan I explain the Japanese film industry and how big it is and why is it still growing.  I also include famous Japanese actors and actress. I have also included Japanese stereotypes based on what people have heard of japan and their movies.  Lastly I have included the five Japanese movies that were very popular and some even remade in America, all the movies were horror. This shows that japan and the culture are very interested in horror and paranormal. I explain about the Japanese film industry and I said its still growing because I have looked online at number of websites and many people from around the world enjoy Japanese movies, the most popular genre that attracts many people from around the world is horror and anime.

The Japanese films I chose were, Ju- On, which is a classic Japanese horror movie that was so big that it was remade in America. The second movie I chose was, carved another classic Japanese horror, one miss call was a big sell out in japan again it was so big that the Japanese horror was remade by America with American actors and spoken in English. My other Japanese movie I chose was infection which was not that big, lastly my fifth Japanese horror was the Ring, this movie was so big that it attracted a wide range of audiences across the world, couple of years later it was remade in English by America.     

            This screenshot is the PowerPoint of different years from 1955 to 2015; I have also included the year 2045.  My task was to put pictures and news articles that happened in the years the screenshot above is an example of 1955.  I included all the news articles and pictures in each year except for 2045, in the slide 2045 I have only included pictures of what can happen or will exist in the year 2045.  This shows that fashion and technology will change throughout the years, also the media and movie industry will advanced and change as the years go on. In 1955 you can clearly see that women dresses represented feminism, and the cars were old school American. In the 2045 slide the car is more futuristic almost look half machine and the women clothes do not look feminine at all but look more sexual, and the city looks like a space city. Comparing the two slides it shows that women will dress more sexual in the future instead of more feminism dresses in 1955, and cars will be more developed than ever and buildings in city’s will be like futuristic space city with robots.  

            Conclusion

Overall I believe the representation of ideology, culture, identity and power changes throughout the years because the technology advances which changes the production of film in different cultures and will be a major impact because of new technology that will be available in the future.  The cultural values are transmitted through the narrative and acting, also the representation of the country’s ideology.  For example 50 years ago the Japanese movie industry was very big on martial arts and samurai movies, this reflected on the world, which then stereotyped japan as being samurais. Now today japan movie industry has grown massively because now its horror movies and anime, also this now reflects the world and now the stereotypes of japan is now anime.  Remakes influence films production because it shows the directors vision and how they would improve the movie it also keeps classic movies alive which means they want to make a great movie into a greater movie and this will generate more money and show the original movie in HD with better quality.   

I chose Scarface because it has a remake that people don’t really know; the original Scarface was in black and white and was made in 1932, whilst the remake was made in 1983 and in colour. Between the original and the remake there is a big difference for example the main character in the original was Italian and in the remake he was Cuban, the script was changed and colour was introduced, the movie was a big blockbuster and made a large amount of money.

This is the second remake I chose which is the Texas chainsaw massacre, comparing the original and the remake there is only a slightly bit od difference between the two. For example the original had colour and music and of course the remake had colour as well but the pictures was more HD and up to date, many people who watched the two voted that the original was more better even though it was not HD.

My last remake I chose is Dawn of the dead, the original was made in 1978 and the remake was made in 2004. I compared the two trailers and I can see that the first Dawn of the Dead was not HD and had like small pixel stuff in the movie, the music was very bland. And in the remake the script is changed but the plot is the same just with more improvements, the actors were changed and the movie was remasterd in HD.