Blackpool - Representation of Age, Family and Relationships

At the very start of the clip, the camera pans slowly from the floor upwards to reveal a couple sitting on a sofa. This movement of the camera from a low point, in combination with the fact that the shot is a medium shot and that the camera's moving slowly gives off the impression that the couple are quite average, normal or even boring. I think this is because it indicates that there is nothing in particular about them that stands out, or that we should focus on and also, the speed of the camera shows that there is nothing spontaneous or exciting about them. The non-diagetic music that is being played over this scene supports this belief, as it has a slow tempo, and the notes are dragged out. So far, in my opinion, they embody the stereotype of a middle aged husband and wife. As far as their relationship goes, it seems they are equals, due to the fact that they are both given the same type of close-up shot and that they talk to each other in similar tones of voice. However, the fact that they are sitting up straight, and slightly apart shows that they are either on edge about something, or are concerned with coming across 'properly' (well put together, and not too affectionate) to whoever is visiting.

Next, we see their daughter come into the house, and introduce her new boyfriend 'Steve' to them. During this scene, I think that the sound and mise en scene really affect the representations of the relationship between the characters. When Steve entered the room, I immediately notice a stark difference between him and the parents - whilst they are wearing warm, bright colours such as orange, pink and brown, Steve is clothed completely in black and dark blue. This shows the audience that he is the 'odd one out' in situation, and is an outsider in their household; it may also show the sense of reservation that the couple feel towards this man, which is also reflected in their shocked expressions. In contrast to this, the daughter is wearing a light grey top and black trousers, showing us that she has a connection to both her parents and Steve. The quiet, non-diagetic sound creates an 'awkward silence' type atmosphere, as does the flat tone of voice that the couple use, however Steve's tone of voice shows that he is confident and wants to impress.

During the conversation scene, more about the structure of this family is revealed. This is mostly due to the contrast between the tone of voice of the 'mum' and 'dad' characters, the woman's voice is much more gentle and open, whereas the man sounds skeptical and slightly irritated. This could hint at the fact that the mum is the one who gives her daughter more freedom, and wants to be accepting of her new boyfriend, or at least give him a chance. The dad, on the other hand is clearly hesitant to get to know Steve. This is a common representation of family life, the father who is very protective of his daughter and the mother who understands more what it is like to be a young girl.

As far as representations of age go, there is quite a diverse range, the camera seems to move more slowly around the two middle aged parents than it does around the daughter. This could show that they are more old fashioned, and are set in their ways. There is a larger range of camera angles and shot types when it comes to the daughter, and the editing is faster, making her seem more spontaneous and unpredictable - it seems that the usual representation of young girls is that they live fast and their parents don't really understand their choices in life. However, the diversity is increased with the fact that we have another older character, Steve

Representation of Gender - Primeval Clip Analysis

How is gender represented, through aural language, in this clip from Primeval?

From the beginning of this clip, we are provided with representations of gender through aural language - the very first thing we hear are two voices having a conversation, one female and one male.  The male voice sounds calm and in control, whereas the female one sounds panicky and flustered, this is then followed by another male character saying 'Let her go', indicating that he is not too concerned about the emotions of the woman. It could be argued these are quite stereotypical representations of the two genders - an overly emotional, distressed woman and two men that seem in control of the situation, and not too bothered, but in my opinion too few characters have been shown at this point to gauge the overall representations.

Shortly after this scene, these stereotypes are shattered when we hear the diagetic sound of a JCB truck, and on screen it is revealed that another female character is driving it. Although a male character - who I assume to be the protagonist due to the amount of screen time and close up shots he recieves - at one point shouts instructions at her, she seems to be completely confident in her ability to resolve the situation, or at least help him out. In the rest of the clip, this woman is shown to be strong through her association with the most loud and powerful diagetic sounds  - the sound of the JCB truck, the sound of the rifle being shot

The Narrative, Protagonist and Antagonist

The Protagonist

 The protagonist within a narrative, whether in film, television or books, is the main character whom the plot revolves around. Although typically a hero or heroine that the audience would root for, it is also possible for the protagonist to be an antihero, or just an average person that the story is based around. 

The Antagonist

 The antagonist of a narrative is the character who's the main opponent of the protagonist. They may be, fighting against the 'hero' of the story, or may create obstacles that distance the protagonist and their goal. However, this could change if the main character of the narrative is a villain plotting destruction, then the antagonist would be the person trying to stop them.

The Narrative

 Th

The Prestige - 9 Frame Analysis

The Prestige Opening Scene from Media Clips on Vimeo.

In this frame, we see the title in a bold white font over a shot of many black top hats lying on the floor of a woods. This odd combination of item and setting indicates that this film may be mysterious; the fact that it is quite dark / shadowy would also support this idea. The hats are not placed carefully, instead seem to have landed there naturally or just appeared, and they also look like classic magician's hats, which might be a hint at the plot of the film.

In the second frame I have selected, we see a male character, who I presume to be one of the main characters of the film due to the camera's focus on him. He is holding a small yellow bird in his hand, and is talking about the steps of a magic trick. I think that there might be connotations in that the small bird is trapped, it may indicate that even the most innocent tricks / acts of entertainment have a victim.

The little girl in this frame is the audience of the other character's magic trick, her expression is curious and she looks happy to be there. Her surroundings are dark, but there are lights and the colours are all warm (yellows, deep browns and red). Her style of dress is very old fashioned - she is wearing a pastel coloured blouse with a full frilly collar and her hair is pulled back neatly - and she also looks quite wealthy. I think she may represent the point of view of the viewer - left in the dark and trying to figure out the mystery.

In this frame, the scene has changed completely and we have another male character which the camera is also focusing on. I think he might be a main character in another story / another part of the story, indicating that this film may have a multi-strand narrative.  He appears on a stage with a spotlight on him, dressed in a smart suit, holding a baton - a typical magician's costume. In contrast to the other magician, who was performing a small scale trick to a little girl, this character is clearly a showman or a performer and is in front of a huge crowd. I think that this is meant to show the audience the difference in their personalities - humble and wise, compare to bold and outwardly confident.

Here we have the introduction of another character, perhaps a third main character? It is interesting that a protagonist and antagonist has not yet been established, particularly since so many characters have been shown. In my opinion, this is part of creating the enigma code of the narrative - leaving the audience wondering why all of these characters are being focused on. There only seems to be the theme of magic connecting the three - maybe this will bring about conflict (or even friendship) later on in the film. The character shown here raises his hand to volunteer to check that the equipment onstage is as it appears. He is wearing a dark suit, but also black gloves which tells me he might be suspicious and have another motive for wanting to go onstage.

In this frame, the magician is performing his act onstage, he gets shocked by blue bolts of electricity which come from the contraption above him. This shows that this magician is a risk taker, and works hard to impress his audience - if he is willing to go to these lengths, he is probably somebody who is also competitive and wants to be the best.

The character who was previously an audience member is now backstage, confronting a man who questioned why he was there. Obviously, he is not meant to be there, therefore the audience is left wondering what he is doing and why he is so jumpy / on edge as soon as somebody gets in his way. The other man pulls his wig and false beard off, leaving us knowing he was wearing a disguise. Previously calm, the character has suddenly switched to being very angry, showing that he has a short temper when people try to get in the way of what he wants.

In this frame, it has switched back to the first scene we saw, with the little girl and the older man who made the bird disappear. He then completes the trick and the bird reappears on his hand. The little girl is mesmerised as he is doing this, and after the trick has finished, she claps and is extremely happy. I think that this scene symbolises the full circle of a magic trick as it is meant to be - the audience is left thrilled and happy, and the outcome was as expected.

In contrast, the last frame I have chosen shows the performer has fallen down into a tank of water and cannot escape. He is silently screaming, panicking and drowning as the other character watches through the glass. The fact that the second character doesn't also panic and try to help shows the audience that the two do not have a positive relationships, and the trick may have failed due to the second character's interference. Maybe they are competitors, or maybe the man outside the tank is out for revenge (he is in shadow, which indicates to me that he may be the antagonist in the narrative and the drowning man may be the protagonist).

Submarine - Film Activity

Through having Oliver speak directly to the audience through voiceover, I think that we are able to empathise more with him and understand his actions. It brings a different feel to the film; it adds personality and quirkiness, and allows us to experience the events as if we were involved in them. Therefore, I think the film engages the audience more than it would have without Oliver's narration. Also, in my opinion, the voiceover is what makes the film so funny - Oliver's dry, witty and sometimes precocious lines are the film's best feature!

There is definitely a gap between how Oliver sees himself and the reality that we see onscreen! His self pity and self importance is hilarious, but at the same time his view on life is quite bleak and sad. He talks almost as if the world revolves around him - however at the same time his humour is quite self depricating - and he seems to think he can orchestrate everybody's life and solve everyone's problems. Contrary to what I would expect, this makes him very likeable and real and also makes the audience sympathise with the awkward situations he finds himself in. I also think that everybody could relate to thinking that you've the ability to solve every problem in the world, whereas in reality you have trouble sorting your own ones out!

I think that the film is quite literary in a few ways; it has a clear beginning, middle and end, it is narrated by the main character and it sets the scene in quite a lot of detail. In addition to this, it reminds me of books that are set out like a journal or diary; it's very personal and the impression you're given of each character comes from the point of view of one person (Oliver). However, I think that there are many things that stand out in the film that could not be in a book; the music, the quick cuts between different clips, the freeze frames as a character is introduced or a scene is described by Oliver.

I think it is important for British films to show real landscapes / cityscapes of everyday life, because it makes the film easier for the audience to relate to, and it allows them to 'see themselves' in the characters more. Although more 'grand' landscapes may be necessary in some films, in films like 'Submarine' where it's intended to be realistic and personal, it's much better to include places which are more recognizable to the people watching. In this film, I don't think an overly polished location, or one that was too run-down or gritty would have fit in with the tone of the humour / irony used.

Submarine - Before Watching The Film UNFINISHED

Before watching the film 'Submarine', I looked at some of the director Richard Ayoade's previous work directing music videos. The videos I looked at were for Kasabian's 'Vlad The Impaler', Arctic Monkey's 'Fluorescent Adolescent' and Vampire Weekend's 'Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa'. I saw definate similarities between the style in which these videos was filmed and that of 'Submarine'. For example, the colours were bold but not bright and vivid, instead they are dull and drained out.

Planning for Preliminary Task - Script

INT: Hall in Curie Block
We see a long shot of character 1 walking down the hallway, through a small crowd of people. They are carrying a school bag and approaching a classroom. As they near the classroom, they turn to their right.


Character 1: [Tired/Fed up expression, unenthusiastic about carrying the heavy bag]

Medium shot of character 1's back as she opens the door to the classroom and walks in.


Medium shot of Character 1 entering the room from the other side of the door (face on to camera), shuts the door behind her. Walks towards a table, sits down and puts her bag on the floor.


Character 1: [Sits down on chair, looking bored]


Shot of crowd walking in corridor, diagetic sound of crowd.
Changes back to medium close up of character 1 in classroom.


Character 1: [Typing on her phone, puts phone away in pocket, crosses arms and leans on her hand]


We hear the door opening and change to a shot of Character 2 coming into the room, carrying a plastic bag. She puts the bag on the table whilst sitting down.


Shots then alternate between the two characters for their conversation


Character 1: 'Hey, how are you?'
Character 2: 'I'm good thanks, how are you?
Character 1: 'I'm just stressing over exams'
Character 2: 'This is for you'
Character 1: 'Oh, is that for me?'
Character 2: 'Yeah, Happy Birthday!'
Character 1: 'Aww, thank you!'