Film Language

Boyz in the hood

First I will explain some definitions and present some acronyms.

Camera- FAM:

F- Frame.

A- Angle.

M- Movement.

This is what the Frame consists of- Close-up, mid-shot, medium long-shot, long-shot, extreme close-up and extreme long shot.

This is what angle consists of- High, level, low, worms-eye and birds-eye.

And finally this is what movement consists of- Panning left and right(on tripod), tracking left and right(camera and tripod), static, zoom, whip pan, drone/helicopter shots and handheld.

Mise en scene- CLAMPS:

C- Costume.

L- Lighting.

A- Actors.

M- Make-up.

P- Props.

S- Setting.


Sound- MCDOVED:

M- Music.

C- Contrapulantal.

D- Diegetic/non-diegetic.

O- Off-screen/on-screen.

V- Voice over.

E- Emotions.

D- Dialogue.

Editing- STOPS:

S- Screen time.

T- Transitions.

O- Order of narrative.

P- Pace.

S- Special effects.

Straight away in the opening scene there is the sound of gun shots, helicopters presumably owned by police and a general vibrant of violence. Compton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, Compton's violent reputation was popularized in the late 1980s by the rise to prominence of local gangsta rap groups Compton's Most Wanted and especially N.W.A, who released the famous album Straight Outta Compton in 1988. The city is notorious for gang violence, primarily caused by the Bloods and Crips, but they are currently in a truce, In 1991 there were 87 homicides; nearly 1 in every 1000 residents killed. In 2013, the homicide rate was 36.8, a decrease from the 1990s peak. The neighborhood lost residents with the worsening safety problems and, after the 1992 riots in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, many blacks left the city.Crime, though present in lesser degrees beforehand, worsened significantly with the introduction of crack cocaine in the latter part of the 20th century. Crime rates had been declining in the years preceding the crack epidemic of the 1980s and early 1990s. As you can see through the facts and statistics I have provided through research that Compton was embedded with gun violence and drug related crime. If I apply this introduction clip to the definitions and acronyms above this is what I can produce. After the sounds in the first part of this scene we perceive the image of two stray dogs wandering the streets supposedly in search of food, this isn't typical in normal towns and cities so this possibly can be portrayed as Compton's unique environment. The group of four children who were on their way too school were wearing different clothing to represent the two different perceptions involved, one child was dressed in a costume that shows a typical gangsta with the golden chain and baggy clothing; whilst on the other hand their was the smarter more appropriate clothing which should be worn for a school day. This is to show the audience that stereo-typing a young black male in a certain way can have a very negative effect on society. Similarly on their journey to school they stumbled across a crime scene, it was obviously a murder and they understood this but it was if they were expecting this sought of aura because they were not surprised; this is unfortunate and illustrates that this can be apart of your everyday life in Compton. In this particular scene music was played over the top of the children witnessing the after effect of a murder, this was to create sadness. At one point one of the young girls said "at least i know my times tables", this could display the poor educational standards these kids were receiving, because that should be a typical thing someone their age should know. When they arrived in school there was a panning camera shot that showed the pictures that were drawn by the children, they were violent and included a black man being arrested by the police(wearing the typical snap back) and a LAPD helicopter presumably looking for a criminal. The teacher of the class stereotyped a historical event, stereo-typing with the word 'Indians' then apologizing for her mistake. This could be connected with the connection of the huge worldwide stereotype of a black male selling cannabis or being involved with gun violence; this is obviously absurd. Finally we are presented with the young child on his journey home walking past some people gambling, which eventually turns into a fight, once again he isn't surprised and barely notices.

Narrative

First of all I will start with the amazing Greek philosopher named Aristotle who created the primitive idea that narratives had the necessity which are three stages, including:

- A beginning.

- A middle.

- And an end.

Moving on to the next theories of narrative which were introduced by Todorov, these were created in 5 stages:

@ Equilibrium- a state of normality.

@ Disruption of equilibrium- a character or an action causes an effect which disturbs the state of normality.

@ The main protagonist recognizes that the equilibrium has been disrupted.

@ Restoration of equilibrium- the protagonist attempts to restore the equilibrium.

@ New equilibrium- Equilibrium is restored, but transformations either good, bad or neutral have occurred from the original equilibrium.

Next we have the author named Propp who observed that most narratives are shaped and directed by certain characters, and a range of different actions; he set this into 8 exclusive types of characters:

- The hero who typically is seeking something.

- The villain who opposes this rising hero.

- The dispatcher who sends the brave hero on his journey.

- The false hero who as it suggests falsely accumulates the role of hero.

- The helper who gives the hero necessary help.

- The princess who usually needs to be saved by the hero, simulating as the reward for his travels but also she needs to be protected by the outgoing villain.

- The last one is sometimes used, the role of the princesses father who is consumed with gratification.

Last we have Levi-Strauss who studied huge quantities of myths and legends, he then deciphered that binary opposites are literally everywhere. He then further explained that narratives are organised around the conflict of these binary opposites, the main ones include:

- Good and Evil.

- Old and Young.

- Black and White.

- Masculine and Feminine.

- Wealthy and Poor.

- Heterosexual and Homosexual.

This is one of my favorite moments in the traditional Disney film UP, straight away we see the complete opposites of this couple who are getting married; this is shown through the opposite sides of the isle, on one side we have the grooms family who are presented as boring and timid, alternatively the wife's family is blossoming with joy and excitement about the wedding. This portrayal is clear because of the characters clothing as well, the grooms family are wearing all black as if they are attending a funeral which is ironically the opposite of a wedding. Then we see in further detail the the wife's family are wearing bright and colorful clothing which is illustrating their glee for their daughter. The depiction of the couple creating the house is a very memorable one, when they initially make the mail box we can see the clumsiness of the husband who accidentally places his hand on it which produces a hand print, the wife doesn't angry but accepts and joins in: this helps to characterize the couple as loving and accepting. Furthermore when they visit their typical picnic spot the wife moves up the hill in a fast pace whilst on the other hand her husband is much slower and once again introduces the narrative theory of binary opposites. Small details can't be excluded, such as the chairs which they sit in both represent the shapes of each others bodies: one is small and wide whilst the other is tall and skinny. If we look at Aristotle's research we can see that the beginning of this story is the loves and everlasting relationship that this couple have produced, the middle is the sadness which is shown through the loss of the child and as other happiness of once again relighting the idea of the holiday trip that his wife has been dreaming of since a child. Finally the ending is the death of his wife which gives the aura of hopelessness. In conclusion I can accept that the narrative is based upon the theologians who presented how the scenes are introduced and finished.

Representation

How things are portrayed and represented is a key aspect of media. Here are the key definitions involved with this, the contribution of these will serve as the whole post. 

Stereotypes- media institutions use stereotypes because the audience will instantly understand them. Think of stereotypes as a 'visual shortcut'. they're are repeated so much that we assume they are normal or 'true.

Archetypes- This is the 'ultimate' stereotype. For example the white stiletto wearing, big busted, brainless blonde bimbo.

Counter type- A representation that challenges traditional stereotypical associations of groups, people or places.

The general definition of a representation is the way in which people, events and ideas are presented to the audience. To break it down the media takes something that is already there and re-presents to us in the way that they choose.

This video perfectly represents the effects of stereotyping, the adult women have been indoctrinated into a particular image of what a 'woman' is; I personally think this is very sorrowful because every person should live their lives according to them, not what the media has created. Alternatively the younger girls in this video haven't embraced this stereotyping and have their own individual image, which is a perfect representation of how the youth grasp change whilst the elderly stick with tradition. Research conducted for the campaign showed over half the women claimed they experienced a decline in confidence at puberty. The opportunity was clear. Empowering girls during this time of their lives when confidence is at its lowest would give a powerful, relevant and purposeful role.

Semiotics

The task we were given was to upload a film poster of our personal choice, and analyse the semiotics used within it. We must remember to focus on the connotations of the images, colors, etc.

Denotation- What we see when we look at an image.

Connotation- What we understand from this image.

Preferred reading- How the creator wants the audience to view the media text.

Opposition reading- Where the intended meaning of the text is totally opposed by the reader.

These four words that have been defined are key to semiotics and are what i will be using throughout my observations and comprehensive answers.

This is a poster for the comedy film The Guilt Trip which is a personal favorite of mine. The denotation of this poster is a trip with a man and his mother, this can be seen my the textual sentence at the top of the poster, and its clearly a car trip. In further detail the connotation of this poster can be portrayed through the facial expressions. Seth Rogen looks emotionally embarrassed and slightly irritated whilst on the other hand Barbra Streisand seems very loving and caring for her child. Possibly this can show that she is over-caring to the point where it is annoying her child, this could possibly be because he is her only child and of course this is only an observation.

Genre task

The task we were given was to watch the following film opening and apply the genre and the possible features that come with this.



The film opening for Harry Brown was very intense and created an aura of violence and crime. It first of all showed someone in their youth being peer pressured into doing drugs, presumably crack. This is showing message and outlines the outcome of this problematic lifestyle. This film is definitely one of my favorite films as it shows the reality of some youth of this world, the troubles of the modern era and how to approach them; unfortunately it also show the consequences of following the wrong path.

In this particular trailer we are instantly introduced with the 'typical' American girl with her outrageous over the top lifestyle, she has clearly been spoiled my her clearly rich father. Other then the information I have already stated I can not accumulate much about this film. This film doesn't suit my personal liked genre because it is mainly watched by younger children and I suppose that is the secondary audience. From what I can tell from this clip the film will be based upon a teenager experiencing many challenges of youth and overcoming them.

Guardians of the galaxy is one of my all time favorite movies, with is retro based music which sends you back to the twentieth century. This opening sums up the whole film, portraying the comedy side of the movie with the dancing and alternatively showing the serious action side. which involved full guns blazing battles and mysterious unknown alien creatures. My synopsis of the film is rationed down to Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy expanding the Marvel Cinematic Universe into the cosmos, where brash adventurer Peter Quill finds himself the object of an unrelenting bounty hunt after stealing a mysterious orb coveted by Ronan, a powerful villain with ambitions that threaten the entire universe.

This is clearly a horror film because of the sinister movement and paranormal activities occurring in this woman's house. The ghost clearly wants something to aimed at her or someone she knows because it has latched itself to her. I don't know if you noticed but when she looked in the bath there was a reflection of someone else other then her, its the subtle but deliberate scenes like this that create a perverse atmosphere. Horror is a genre of fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle their readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror. I have never actually watched this film but after this very exciting movie clip I intent to watch the movie.

Genre Analysis

The task we were given was to go around the school and take three pictures based on three different genres that were randomly chosen for us in class.

This photograph represents the genre which is a time period drama, you can tell by the old fashioned dresses and the ancient army helmet which would typically be used in the previous world wars. A historical movie genre is comprising narratives that take place in the past and are characterized chiefly by an imaginative reconstruction of historical events and personages.

This particular photograph portrays the genre rom/com which is a mixture between a romance and comedy. The romance in the picture is between me and this person who I thought was a women, so the comedy part is the fact that Rachel's real name was Roger and he was secretly a man. A romance movie typically consists of a romantic love story recorded in visual media for broadcast in theaters and on cinema that focus on passion,emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters and the journey that their genuinely strong, true and pure romantic love takes them through dating, courtship or marriage. These are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement and most often work by exaggerating characteristics for humorous effect.

The third photograph is for the genre which is mystery, this genre was personally quite difficult to create because their is no specific film I can think of that is directly related to this. The actual mystery is why the creepy and suspicious man with the pink wig is watching this couple. Mystery film is a genre of film that revolves around the solution of a problem or a crime. It focuses on the efforts of the detective, private investigator or amateur sleuth to solve the mysterious circumstances of an issue by means of clues, investigation, and clever deduction.

Barthes Narrative Theory

Barthes suggested that there are 5 codes that describe the meaning of a text. These are hermeneutic/enigma code, proairetic/action code, semantic code, symbolic code and referential code.

First of all, the hermeneutic code refers to the mystery that is within a text, where clues are dropped but no perception of a clear answer is given. Furthermore, the enigmas within the narrative leaves the audience eager to know more. Unfortunately unanswered enigmas tend to frustrate the audience because they just want a conclusion to a solution.

Proairtic/action code contains sequential elements of action in the text, like a chain of events; these elements tend to add suspense to the text. Suspense is defined as a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen.

Next is the semantic code which refers to the specific parts within the text suggest that their are additional meaning in the future, these elements are called semes. The seme connotative function in text, whereby it acts as an extra layer of meaning in addition to its literal meaning.

The symbolic code is obviously about symbolism within the text, which are used to represent ideas or qualities. As so it uses opposites to show contrast and create greater meaning, produce tension, drama and also character development.

Finally, there is the referential code which is hinting towards anything in the text that refers to an 'external body' of knowledge such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge.

Edit Practice

This task involved creating a short video with a mixture of clips, we were tasked with showing a a variety of editorial skills. 



This was my first attempt at editing, I found it particularly hard to use all of the different transitions and effects because they were all brand new to me. For future preferences I will need to study and gain knowledge on editing so I can fully appreciate the subject of media. Unfortunately the song 'Heart of the city' which I used for this video was taken down on YouTube due to copyright. I have used a few effects and transitions in this video and I seek to hopefully improve it for the future.

Film opening

Gladiator opening scene

The task we were given was to find an appropriate opening scene for whatever film we wanted and then to describe the effect and overall reaction created by this scene. This is the opening scene of the classical film gladiator, it's one of my personal favorite films because of the desperate journey the main character experiences to avenge his fallen wife and son. The introduction of this film portrays a fierce battle between the huge roman army and the vicious barbarian troops, it creates an intense ambience and the dramatic orchestra music in the background heightens this. Although the main characters journey is very physical, it almost resembles a pilgrimage where he try's to find god and to forgive him for 'taking' away his beloved family.