Thursday, 3 February 2011
War Genre - Codes and Conventions
Firstly war films need to have some sort of conflict scenes. An example of this would be in Jarhead when the soldiers are attacking the enemies there is explosions going off everywhere and they get shot at by jet fighters. If the film does not have any real battles scenes then the tradgedies and results of war can be shown in the film instead. An example of this would be MASH where although no fighting is seen, many injured and dead soldiers are seen in the camp. Jarhead is also an example of this when the soldiers are walking in the desert they find a mass of burnt people along a road. Most war films also have a soundtrack to fit in with the film. These peices of music are usually quite slow and meaningful to help the audience connect with the film. Another convention used in war films is the emphasis on masculinity. good examples of this would be both in Jarhead and MASH. In Jarhead the soldiers are frequently talking about girlfriends and wanting to go and fight however this film also shows more of a sensitive side to the soldiers like Fergus who seems quite weak and Troy who tries to look out for the rest of the squad.
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
Todorov's Narrative Theory
A film which does follow Todorov's narrative theory is Avatar. This movie starts with an equilibrium where the character Jake is arriving on the alien planet. For a while everything seems fine however a distruption to this equilibrium happens when the humans set out to destroy the native species and Jake is left to decide who he will stand with. The recognition of this distruption could be when one of Jake's friends is killed as he has chosen to help the native species of the planet. the attempt to repair this distruption is when both sides have a great battle where in the end Jake and the natives win. This then leads to the reinstatment of equilibrium as Jake and his friends have won the battle where the humans are sent back home.
A film that doesnt follow Todorov's theory is Paranormal activity 2. This does start with an equilibrium where everything is fine in the characters household. The distruption is when the paranormal happenings begin. There is an attempt to solve this distruption when the characters try to cast out the demon but this ends in failure as a few weeks later some of the characters are killed by this demon. There is no reinstatement to equilibrium as the film ends when the possesed sister of the woman in the house kills the two of the characters and walks out with their baby. The film ends with us not knowing what will happen to the woman and baby and we do not get all the answers we want.
A film that doesnt follow Todorov's theory is Paranormal activity 2. This does start with an equilibrium where everything is fine in the characters household. The distruption is when the paranormal happenings begin. There is an attempt to solve this distruption when the characters try to cast out the demon but this ends in failure as a few weeks later some of the characters are killed by this demon. There is no reinstatement to equilibrium as the film ends when the possesed sister of the woman in the house kills the two of the characters and walks out with their baby. The film ends with us not knowing what will happen to the woman and baby and we do not get all the answers we want.
Monday, 20 September 2010
Peformance Analysis
Shia Labeouf - Disturbia
Shia Labeouf starred in Disturbia released in 2008 and directed by DJ Caruso. I have chosen to analyse this actor because he is my favorite actor and disturbia is a really good film. Shia's character in the film is a teenage boy called Kale who is under 3 months house arrest after assualting a teacher. To stop his bordom he starts to spy on the neighbours from his bedroom where he sees many suprising things but eventually things start to get suspicious with the man next door who Kale beleives to be a murderer. The sequence I have selected is the point where Kale is looking at his neighbours but then hears someone screaming. Here he sees a women running around the house next door trying to escape with what looks to be the owner chasing her.
The point when Shia first sees the women banging on the window and running around, is where we can see his confusion very clearly from his facial expressions. There he grabs the camera and starts filming the house. His eyes at this point are wide open and his mouth his also slightly open adding to his confusion and suprisement. When the owner of the house comes behind the women and grabs her Shia tries to take the camera of the stand, panicking and suprised, Shia accidently hits the flash button which stuns him for a second. Scared that the owner saw he crouches under his window adding to the great amount of suspense created during this scene. At this point from Shia's face we can tell that he doesn't know what to do as he is looking around quickly also adding to his fear. He then grabs the camera and shakingly takes it of the stand, looking over his shoulder, then opens the side screen. He puts the camera over the window and points it towards the house. We also know he is scared from his fast heavy breathing adding to our belief that Shia is really his character. Shia then looks at the house through his binoculars scanning the house which he then sees the owner in the window looking straight at him. Shia instanly jolts back with eyes wide open and mouth dropped making a very beleivable performance at this point. His mobile phone then goes off, so Shia quickly crawls over to his desk slipping as he does due to his fear. When Shia answers his phone to his friend he instantly tells him about what he has seen very quickly and stuttering while doing so. This is great as from his fast sloppery speech we know very clearly that he is scared and confused. He then hears the door close from outside where he sees the women leaving the house nextdoor. At this point his speech slows right down and is very quiet when he tells his friend that she has left. This shows a great change in the characters feelings as although he doesn't seem scared anymore he is still confused and is not sure what has just happened. The long pause after he lowers his phone and his facial expression shows just how confused he is. The scene ends with Shia not knowing fully what has just happened and very confused.
Overall Shia is very successful and suspending our disbeleif during this scene. this is mainly due to his quick body actions, confused and frightened facial expressions and quick speech to his fiend which all add to our suspense during the scene.
Shia Labeouf starred in Disturbia released in 2008 and directed by DJ Caruso. I have chosen to analyse this actor because he is my favorite actor and disturbia is a really good film. Shia's character in the film is a teenage boy called Kale who is under 3 months house arrest after assualting a teacher. To stop his bordom he starts to spy on the neighbours from his bedroom where he sees many suprising things but eventually things start to get suspicious with the man next door who Kale beleives to be a murderer. The sequence I have selected is the point where Kale is looking at his neighbours but then hears someone screaming. Here he sees a women running around the house next door trying to escape with what looks to be the owner chasing her.
The point when Shia first sees the women banging on the window and running around, is where we can see his confusion very clearly from his facial expressions. There he grabs the camera and starts filming the house. His eyes at this point are wide open and his mouth his also slightly open adding to his confusion and suprisement. When the owner of the house comes behind the women and grabs her Shia tries to take the camera of the stand, panicking and suprised, Shia accidently hits the flash button which stuns him for a second. Scared that the owner saw he crouches under his window adding to the great amount of suspense created during this scene. At this point from Shia's face we can tell that he doesn't know what to do as he is looking around quickly also adding to his fear. He then grabs the camera and shakingly takes it of the stand, looking over his shoulder, then opens the side screen. He puts the camera over the window and points it towards the house. We also know he is scared from his fast heavy breathing adding to our belief that Shia is really his character. Shia then looks at the house through his binoculars scanning the house which he then sees the owner in the window looking straight at him. Shia instanly jolts back with eyes wide open and mouth dropped making a very beleivable performance at this point. His mobile phone then goes off, so Shia quickly crawls over to his desk slipping as he does due to his fear. When Shia answers his phone to his friend he instantly tells him about what he has seen very quickly and stuttering while doing so. This is great as from his fast sloppery speech we know very clearly that he is scared and confused. He then hears the door close from outside where he sees the women leaving the house nextdoor. At this point his speech slows right down and is very quiet when he tells his friend that she has left. This shows a great change in the characters feelings as although he doesn't seem scared anymore he is still confused and is not sure what has just happened. The long pause after he lowers his phone and his facial expression shows just how confused he is. The scene ends with Shia not knowing fully what has just happened and very confused.
Overall Shia is very successful and suspending our disbeleif during this scene. this is mainly due to his quick body actions, confused and frightened facial expressions and quick speech to his fiend which all add to our suspense during the scene.
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