Narrative and Film‘Discovering legends in his own lifetime’ A memo for Disney analysing storytelling acquired cult status in Hollywood and has been turned into a book. Rupert Widdicombe (Sunday Times 4.9.94), abridged by MM. Christopher Vogler in 1985 penned a famous memo, as newly appointed ‘story analyst’ for Disney’s animation division. Buried deep in almost every story from almost every culture, Vogler wrote, there is a universal story form – a ‘mythic structure’. It has existed since stories were first told and is present in today’s blockbuster movies. Disney’s development executives took up the memo, to be followed by other studios. Vogler wrote up his findings as ‘The Winter’s Journey’. Many writers had managed to hit on the same formula before, more by instinct than anything else. Vogler’s jobs had led him to read fairy-tales epic poems and Norse and Celtic myths as well as novels and comics. He noticed common elements including familiar characters and situations. “I became aware that there was a pattern or template, but the overall plan eluded me,” he said. Reading ‘The Hero with a Thousand Faces’ by American mythologist Joseph Campbell was another inspiration. Campbell had discovered a ‘monomyth’ which he called the Hero’s Journey. Vogler identified 12 stages of the journey (see below). The Journey begins in the Ordinary World. The hero is in some ways incomplete or unsatisfied, and is presented with The Call to Adventure. Hero’s first reaction is Refuse the Call. Enter the Mentor to encourage the reluctant hero to prepare for the journey. Hero becomes committed by Crossing the First Threshold into a world where different rules apply and Tests, Allies and Enemies are encountered. After many adventures the hero comes to a dangerous place, where that which is sought resides – the Approach to the Inmost Cave and inside faces the Supreme Ordeal and takes possession of the Reward. The dark forces regroup to endanger the Road Back. There is one more ordeal of death and rebirth – the Resurrection, which must be faced before the hero can return, transformed, back to the ordinary world, with the treasure or lesson learned – the Return with Elixir. Campbell produced a complex narrative model, but Vogler simplified this to an ‘adaptation for film model’. “Campbell believed every culture takes the basic structure and puts it into its own landscape. I suppose that is what I did with his work, I translated it into movie terms.” OTHER NARRATOLOGISTSEstablished Media Studies Structuralists, Propp, Tordorov, Levi-Strauss, Barthes. Aristotle’s ‘Poetics’ and Ronald B. Tobias’s ’20 Masterplots and How to Build Them’ . Kipling defined 69 types of story, Northrop Frye (American critic) said four. See also Cadwelti. Campbell said there is only one, and prefers to define archetypal elements rather than classify plots. The Mentor could be more than one person such as Obi Wan in Star Wars, but might be more than one person, an object or piece of advice remembered. Call to Adventure might be Romeo meeting Juliet or warning ignored by Julius Caesar. The Supreme Ordeal might be on drill square in Officer and a Gentleman. The adventure of Luke Sywalker aboard Death Star is based on Campbell (George Lucas was a fan). Vogler says this scene (Luke escaping from the Deathstar sewage pit), the Supreme Ordeal, lies at heart of Hero’s journey. “The secret is that heroes must die so they can be reborn.” In many stories, this ‘death’ is metaphorical, an experiences that transforms. Death and rebirth is the ‘story’ that has been told and retold through the ages of man. Campbell, who was deeply influenced by Jung, traced it back to the earliest myths and believed the journey was an inherited form, part of the “collective unconsciousness.” Vogler says these stories with structures evolved as survival tools. Storytelling was a way of preparing the young for the ordeal of leaving the community to hunt or gather. The Resurrection, the second ordeal at the climax of most stories, may have had origins in ritual purification of returning hunters (MM takes this with pinch of salt), often involving period of quarantine in a dark place, a symbolic death before rebirth into the community. Stories appeal to urban man because they appear “genetically encoded. We can identify with the story because we are all on the journey.” Vogler worked on the Lion King, which he called Bamlet – Bambi meets Hamlet. During production he stressed importance of baboon shaman as Mentor to the hero lion. Vogler warns that the formula is a buried roadmap rather than a cookbook. The deeply embedded story should act as a blueprint. With more outlets for stories via cable and satellite, Hollywood cranked up its output to produce so called ‘software’ to fill its schedules. By 1994, Disney was turning out 40 features a year from 15 (and was aiming at 60).The need to create satisfactory stories in bulk has made creating stories a big business. Writers now rely on story analysts’ books explaining the three-act structure with advice on where to put turning points and inciting incidents for maximum effect. Software has been evolved including ‘Plots Unlimited’. Writers can browse its data file. This method has been called ‘creative bankruptcy’ and is responsible for formulaic form of modern films. It was claimed lazy executives used Vogler’s work as a cure-all. Writers defend themselves by pointing out how difficult it is to produce a really good script. Director Brian Gibson said: “Writing one is extraordinarily difficult to do – a good script needs its own voice, its own vision, thematic consistency and novel characters…and all in 110 pages.” “Understanding the archetypes can help you to make your story more powerful – and avoid the clichés.”

The 12 Steps of the Hero’s Journey

CASE STUDIES – see original article for Four Weddings, Wizard of Oz, Star Wars and Romancing the Stone. 1. Ordinary World. L. Skywalker bored on remote farm. His parents are assumed dead and feels incomplete. 2. Call To Adventure Luke finds Leia’s plea for help in R2D2. 3. Refusal of the Call. Luke won’t take up Obi’s challenge because uncle and aunt need him. 4. Meeting the Mentor. Luke puts himself in hands of Obi and learns about The Force. 5. Crossing The First Threshold. Luke takes up challenge when stormtroopers barbecue aunt and uncle. 6. Tests, Allies, Enemies. They meet Han, Wookie and Jabba. 7. Approach to the Inmost Cave. Adventures which culminate in breakout from Deathstar. 8. Supreme Ordeal. Series of adventures in Deathstar including near-death in garbage compactor. 9. Reward (Seizing the Sword). Luke and Co escape with information about Deathstar destruction, but lose Obi-Wan. 10. Road Back. Worst not over. Deathstar is in range of rebel base and must be destroyed. 11. Resurrection. Luke trusts the force and sacrifices old part of personality – his dependence on machines. 12. Return with Elixir. Luke and friends decorated as heroes. Luke’s internal elixir is new self-knowledge and control of the Force.

Categories: A-level Media · AS Media · Film Studies

64. SOME THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A FILM

January 7, 2008 · Leave a Comment

SOME THINGS TO LOOK FOR IN A FILM

(1) MISE-EN-SCENE

what is in front of the camera:

ie settings, characters & costumes, props

iconography – elements can fit into pattern (typical for a genre)

time & place established and characterised, characters identified (through codes)

emotional impact

typical or not of genre realistic/conventional/expressionist (emphasising emotional states)/fantasy/anti‑realist (deliberately non-realist)/ anachronistic (wrong time)/minimalist/ documentary look/painterly etc

location/studio (almost always different lighting will distinguish the two) /SFX

high or low budget – production values

lighting: Hollywood, film noir (chiaroscuro (dramatic play of light & dark)), video (flat), available light (from actual location light sources), motivated light sources (eg as if from lights in room or windows), expressive effects (eg Jimmy Valentine lighting (from below)), glamorising of stars & definition from background (backlighting)

harsh, soft, warm, cold, coloured filters

remember: film is painting with light

colours and shapes in movement, that’s all it is

(2) GENRE

typical mise-en-scene, style, characters, situations, settings and narrative

more than single genre – cross-genre?

how following conventions, how innovating or twisting conventions?

intertextuality

genres, cycle (number of films produced over brief period with similar themes etc), sequels, franchise (marketable formula, may be used across media, or for indefinite sequels

(3) NARRATIVE

straightforward conventional chronology or not:

flashbacks, flashforwards, cross-cutting, real time, expanded time (slo-mo), condensed time (normal editing effect), montage sequences (quick sequences of images edited to show passage of time or typical activity), freezing action

fabula (story)/syuzhet (plot)

closure: Hollywood ending (he wins & gets the girl), open ending, serial ending (more promised); comic or tragic endings (wedding or funeral)

- are themes or issues solved by ending – or just wound up?

opening: hook (device to grab attention & interest)?

narrator, point-of-view, impersonal, omniscient camera (sees everything – not tied to character’s pov), subjective camera (represents character’s pov – may be fantasy or emotionally tinged), chorus (commenting on action), exposition (stopping to explain what’s happening or happened)

single-strand (1 plot only), sub-plots, multi-strand

enigma(s), resolutions, partial resolutions, clues, false clues, chain of cause‑and‑effect, climax, coda, 3 act pattern

high concept (idea of film can be summed up as a single simple situation), archetypal story (story is one constantly told even if in different forms)

backstory (explaining character & motivation)

binary opposites (very good for revealing underlying themes): conflict narrative roles (Proppian: protagonist, antagonist, helpers, despatcher, false hero, princess, princess’s father, donor, magic sword)

plot devices, McGuffins (the doohdah everyone is chasing after) adaptation or original screenplay? – relationship to original text – values/attitudes + details

(4) STYLE camerawork:

high angle, low angle, tilted framing (how what is shot appears in the picture frame)static or mobile camera: tracking (dolly) shots (camera mounted on moving trolley, smoothly moving on tracks), panning shots (camera swivels round horizontally on tripod), crane shots, helicopter shots, zooms in & out, steadicam (camera moves smoothly with mobile operator), handheld camera (as you know, it wobbles)deep focus (all characters in scene in focus), soft focus (soft & slightly fuzzy), wide-angle lens (big & distorted close up, background further away), telephoto lens (background near, everything flat)people in

shots: ECU, CU, MCU, MS, LS. ELS, two‑shots, crowd scenes, over‑the-shoulder, subjective camera, reaction shot (wordless, of character’s reaction to words or event)

editing: continuity editing: matches on action, eyeline matches, establishing shot

/shot‑countershot/re‑establishing shot, 180° rule, 30° rule

pace and effect (rhythm), MTV or advert editing (very quick editing)

jump cuts (so you notice the cut), whip pans (moving camera too fast to get a blur), match on action (cut from one action to another that is connected or similar)

cross-cutting (switching rapidly between 2 scenes which are parallel), montage sequences

cuts, fades (usually to black), dissolves (one scene fades out over the next one fading in), wipes (moving transition across screen between image from one scene & image from next), split-screen (split between different images), iris (areas of screen blacked out to focus attention on part of image) shots, sequences, scenes (apart from shot – loose terms)

SFX: models, back-projection (image projected onto screen behind characters, eg as out of car window), travelling mattes (blue-screen) (enables flying shots before CGI), time‑lapse (stopping & starting camera), CGI (computer generated imagery), morphing (shifting shapes from one appearance to another)

AUTHORSHIP:

director (or other’s?) typical style, narrative devices, dialogue, trademark elements (little clearcut device always used)

(5) SOUND music:

diegetic (as part of screen world, eg music from radio onscreen), non-diegetic (background music)

sound effects

dialogue: one-liners, cross-cutting dialogue (not waiting for previous speaker to finish line), routines (usually comic)

natural sound (recorded live), dubbing (added afterwards, requiring lipsynching)

voice-over (offscreen narrator), direct address to camera

continuous sound over cutting (unifies action)

character or situation themes/motifs

marketing of soundtrack

(6) STARS

stars, actors, supporting actors, extras

star persona (the “character” of the star as constructed from their roles & publicity), casting against type, cameos (small appearances by major actors playing usually a quirky character)

character actors (playing not major roles, but with a strong sense of the character’s individuality), typecasting (by appearance or because always playing those roles), stereotypes

underplaying, overplaying

age, gender, ethnicity, sexuality, body image - of stars, villains, sex‑objects, extras

active or passive femalesare minority group negative or positive stereotypes – victims, villains, saints or exotics? do they survive? are they paired at end with same or majority group partner? What relationship has minority group hero with mainstream girl? relationship of stars to marketing of film

(7) AUDIENCE

who? what tells you? – use demographics, lifestyle etc, comparable other media audiencesmainstream, niche (for specific restricted demographic), blockbuster (heavily hyped, high production values, usually high concept), event movie (so hyped going to it is an event), independent (small production company, usually open narrative, nongenre, sophisticated niche audience), crossover (independent production becoming mainstream success), cult (small band of intense aficionados), alternative (critical of mainstream values, social or cinematic)changes in audience since original release?multiplex (will show mainstream), arthouse (will show independent, alternative, revivals & foreign language)

Censorship – how affecting film (pre-censorship or cuts)? Rating? (film may have shots or language added to prevent too low a rating) (8)

PRODUCTION

studio (production facility, large production company with own facilities, or just Hollywood majors), production company, independent (small company not part of a larger group or studio)finance, production (preproduction, production [shooting], postproduction), distribution (incl marketing), exhibition any controversies surrounding film? – as publicity or uncontrolled?critical response, awards, boxoffice (instant/hot or sleeper/slowburner (becomes a success over time))

(9) CREDITS

what do the opening credits tell you about the film? what is established or hinted at? what is their style and mood? - images, music, typography, design, colours, shapes

(10) THEMES AND MEANING

OK – so what’s it about? what themes or issues are raised by the characters, settings, conflicts, action, enigma, closure?

are there values underneath what the plot or characters say it’s all about? (use binary oppositions here; look for ways in which the closure is satisfactory/unsatisfactory)

is it the plot or the visuals? the action or the actors? the dialogue? the SFX? total novelty? a clever twist on established conventions? clever use of low budget? good use of big budget? a powerful message? a clever entertainment?

and none of this is prescriptive or a checklist – just some words that enable you to see things and identify what is giving the film its effect. Watch the film several times, take notes, think about it, study the scenes that most interest or please you. It’s about your convincing someone else to pay attention to this film by drawing precise attention to what it is that is good, interesting and enjoyable.

(11) FURTHER HELP Stuff you should know already, like narrative terms, is left unexplained; likewise continuity editing terms. Most other things are explained. For further help with technical terms (including details of the types of shots) – see Film Art, which also has a very good glossary. There is some of this material in Studying Film, which is also very good on the organisation of the industry.

Categories: AS Media · Film Studies

63. Introduction to Institutions

January 7, 2008 · Leave a Comment

good-intro-institutions.ppt

Categories: Audiences and Institutions

61. 2734 Critical Research Study

January 7, 2008 · Leave a Comment

Have a point of discussion – a coherent hypothesis in the form of a question. E.g. How does Hitchcock represent women in his films?

Topics:

nAdvertising

nChildren and the Media

nCommunity Radio

nCrime and the Media

nPolitics and the Media

nSport and the Media

nTelevision Drama

nWomen and Film

n World Cinema

The exam: Question One:

Introduction – What specific area of study are you considering?

What is your specific focus/hypothesis/problematic? Briefly outline the types of research that you

have done. Use words such as primary/secondary, academic/popular, qualitative/quantitative

Conclusion for Question One:

The response to Question One must conclude with a summary of how successful the research has been.

Question Two: Analysis and presentation of the researchundertaken, to include the following:The investigative process and the findings of the researchThe presentation and development of an argument or thesis, with reference to research and textual evidence. Where appropriate, conclusions.

Categories: Critical Research Study