Essay Format: Fast and Furious 7 is a 2015 American action film directed by James Wan and written by Chris Morgan. It is the seventh installment in the Fast and the Furious franchise. The film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, Michelle Rodriguez,Tyrese Gibson, Jason Statham and many other characters who are extremely famous. Furious 7 follows the protagonist Dominic Toretto (Diesel), Brian O'Conner (Walker) and the rest of their team, who have returned to the United States to live normal lives after securing forgiveness for their past crimes in Fast & Furious 6 (2013), until Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), a special forces assassin who is looking for revenge for hurting his younger brother in Fast and Furious 6, puts them in danger once again. With the previous three installments set between 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003) and The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift(2006), Furious 7 is the first installment in the franchise to take place after Tokyo Drift. The film also marks the final film appearance of Walker, who died in a single-vehicle accident on 2013, with filming only half-completed. Following Paul Walker's death, filming was delayed for script rewrites, and his brothers, were used among others as stand-ins to complete his remaining scenes, all this was created using CGI effects. The film is a mainstream cinema film, as it had an interestingly diverse audience. Despite the main audience demographic that action films typically advertise to is adult males, Furious 7 ended up being very evenly distributed along gender lines as the film ends with a wonderful tribute to Paul Walker, the actor who was killed in a car accident in the middle of filming this movie, which attracted a lot of females to watch this particular film for its emotional touch. To add, the film follows a nonlinear narrative, that goes from flashbacks that happened years ago really making the audience feel on edge as it brings them back to the other series from the past. The ending, displayed as a plot twist, is an open ending. Leaving unanswered questions for the viewer as it ends with Paul walker and Vin Diesel saying goodbye to each other which then we wonder whether there will be another series. Narrative: In this short clip, we perceive a dialogue between Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, two tough characters who are very ionic for many reasons one of them being that they both know how to fight. Jason (Deckard Shaw) is hacking into Dwayne Johnson (Agent Hobbs) computer trying to find out for the team that took his younger brother down. That same code persists throughout the series; it’s all about manly men showing unfailing loyalty to one another while putting two fingers up to The Man, whoever that may be. This thick sentimental streak sets the series apart from many of its rivals and much of cinema in these cynical times. These may be criminals, sure, but their word is their bond and they’ll do anything for those they elect family.
Techniques: The scene begins with a wide shot/panning shot, showing us the audience all the setting in the room so we are aware of where this is taking place. The scene proceeds to use a variety of close ups of their faces and many other objects that are needed in order to fight, the director does this to make us aware of who this two characters are and how dangerous they can be. The shots in the in the room move at a faster pace as to show that the story there is a moment of tension. As Jason Statham gets up there is a quick change of camera angles going from left to right to show all the action that is about to happen. A quick change from a high angle to a low angle to illustrate that at that moment Jason Statham is superior to Dwayne Johnson, then it quickly changes to an establishing shot to make us aware of the setting and all the things they are breaking. The shots used throughout the fight scene are just the same 3 shots; close ups, establishing shots and low/high angles this is to display the two tough characters colliding. The fact that they have decided to use a very known move from WWE which Dwayne Johnson is famous for called the ‘Rock Bomb’ , we see this move in a very effective way as the camera angle moves to a 360 degree angle, this move was most likely used because of the amount of people that know about this fact and maybe this is why they even watched the film. Low key lighting has been used throughout the whole scene, to make things more uncomfortable and to make it seem more violent.
Sound: From the beginning of the scene, commentary sound very low-key background music is played (non-diegetic sound) throughout the whole scene to illustrate the theme of secrecy, slowly building up in pitch as the scene becomes more distressed. The score is moderate paced and builds up as the action continues, to back it up. It lasts through the majority of the scene, however there is still a variety of diegetic sounds such as voice overs, sound effects etc. The background music and other sound effects carry on till the end of scene as this way it makes the
audience feel the tension in the room. The majority of the sounds were created on studio (post-production) with techniques such as Foley to create all the realistic sounds such as punches, breaking tables, sound effects etc. The reason why the producer and director achieve such an amazing sounds is because of the facilities they have as there would be high quality equipment, where as if they were to film it on stage the voice recorders would catch others sounds that would interfere with the main sounds.
Format: In the last fifty years, television/media has shown family in all sorts of light. But one family, being the traditional family, has started to make a comeback on television in an American sitcom (situation comedy; a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same environment, such as a home or workplace, with often humorous dialogue) that premiered ABC on September 23 rd 2009, which follows the lives of Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) and his family, all of whom live in suburban Los Angeles. Pritchett's family includes his second wife, his stepson, and infant son, as well as his two adult children and their wives and children. The series is presented in mockumentary style (a type of film or television show in which fictional events are presented in documentary style to create a parody) with the fictional characters frequently talking directly into the camera. The series premiered on September 2009 and was watched by 12.6 million viewers, which interprets that this particular TV show is mainstream as a wide range of audiences watch it. Early on, it was named as a key holder for the 62nd Primetime Emmy Awards. On October 8, 2009 the series was picked up for a full season. The series has received positive reviews from critics.
The show has won many awards, including the Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series in each of the past five years and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series four times so far as well, twice for Eric Stonestreet (Cameron Tucker) and twice for Ty Burrell (Phil Dunphy) ,as well as the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series twice for Julie Bowen(Claire Dunphy) It also won the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy. The success of the show led to it being the tenth-highest revenuegenerating show for 2012, earning $2.13 million an episode. Refrence: http://www.indiewire.com/article/television/5-years-in-is-modern-familystill-making-an-impact
Narrative: With a documentary type feel, Modern Family follows three fictional related families, and their everyday lifestyles with testimonies of the families discussing the scenes occurring or about to occur. The first of three families is Jay whose biological children are Claire, who is married to Phil and has three children, and Mitchell, who lives with his partner Cameron and their adopted girl. Jay has also remarried to a Colombian woman, Gloria, who already has a son, Manny. In the television show Modern Family, Claire’s family portrays the American family as traditional. Claire, Phil, and their children are a great example of the traditional family that experiences everything together. At every episode a message is expressed for the audience to relate to of what it means to grow up and be a parent in today’s world. Modern Family’s structure is fairly traditional in the sense that it almost always uses the A-B-C story structure in a multi-stranded narrative form. However, where most sitcoms tend to focus on the A story, while the B and C stories are
smaller, more supplemental storylines, Modern Family tends to craft the episodes with two or three stories of equal weight and importance. This isn’t the case in every episode, but it certainly happens more often than not. Each episode has a different plot or issue that the character’s deal with. Modern Family definitely speaks to me on the narrative criticism and analysis level. To put it simply, the show, as the text, is structured in a comprehensible cause-andeffect series of events and each episode contains a beginning, middle, and an end. Observing at the show as a whole, it is a very honest portrayal of today’s families, which can appropriately be labeled modern families, like the name of the show itself. Whether a family is very traditional with two heterosexual parents, very unusual with two homosexual parents, or floating between traditional and unconventional where there are two heterosexual parents but with a noticeably large gap between their ages, they are still a family and all three parts create one whole. This is all illustrated through narrative criticism and the structuralism theory of internal equilibrium in this case Todorov Theory, where each episode’s storytelling chain closely follows the fivepart model of equilibrium.
Techniques: In the short clip of the TV show ‘Modern Family’, as an audience we perceive all the codes and conventions of a mockumentary for example at the beginning we see ‘real footage of Phil walking across the wire coming from his son’s camera, we also see Phil the main character talking directly to the camera (piece to camera) with direct gazing which shows that is like an interview, however each episode always introduce a specific theme that the characters discuss at the beginning of the episode (for example, their greatest fear), and then as the plot advances, it depicts how each of the characters or the families as a whole deal with this issue and in the end, resolve it and give their final thoughts on it. The show is also set up to have a kind of reality show quality, where the characters will be directly facing the camera and talking into it as if they are being interviewed (like The Office). Additionally, other codes and conventions are shown throughout the whole scene such as authoritative voice-over narrator, 'real' footage of events and the other
familiar ways of representing reality this is to reinforce the fact that is in a mockumentary format in other words a documentary style to create a parody which then links to the TV show’s genre. Sound techniques: In this clip , there are many codes and conventions that the TV
show pursue linking it back to its genre, there are mainly diegetic sounds used throughout such as dialogue when talking directly to the camera, however there is usually some sort of background music playing at the back to make the scene feel comfortable for the demographics whilst the characters are in direct conversation. In addition ,the use of narration in the scene, not only helps to continue the narrative through these scenes, but also allows the audience to set up a more personal relationship with characters, this is also gained by the use of single camera setup to again reinforce the mockumentary style.
Reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWXfX4mIPuo https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HeIHY-BO4skmhLX8Gwy98LU5z7zoQmvirngIhmH7n0/edit?pli=1 http://www.ukessays.com/essays/film-studies/the-modern-family-on-tv-filmstudies-essay.php
https://mmarzo.wordpress.com/2011/03/10/blog-assignment-2-narrative-criticismin-modern-family/ http://imranqureshimedia.weebly.com/unit-22-single-camera-techiques/narrativestructure
Narrative: The Inbetweeners is British sitcom (situation comedy; a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same environment, such as a home or workplace, with often humorous dialogue) that originally aired on E4 from 2008 to 2010, produced and written by Damon Beasley and Iain Morris, the show followed the life of teenager Will McKenzie (Simon Bird) and his three friends the at fictional Rudge Park Comprehensive. The episodes involved situations of school bullying, broken family life, indifferent school staff, male bonding and largely failed sexual encounters. Although the show only aired for two years, the show was nominated for ‘Best Situation Comedy’ in 2009 and many other awards. The Inbetweeners like The Office are all examples of extremely relatable comedies that could easily and realistically happen in real life, this is why they are referred to as 'realist' narratives. There is a high number of people who have worked in office jobs and millions of people who have been a student in the UK, which is why shows like this type are realist, they take place in real life and it would not be considered strange or out of the ordinary for it to happen in the real world. Other programmes such as 'Doctor Who' use Non-realist narratives; this means that the overall narrative is not compellable with real life and it would establish to be out of the everyday if it
did happen in the real world. Shows such as this use a variety of CGI, visual effects and even on set special effects in order to put across the anti realist narrative. These programmes involve a lot of imagination and are all 100 percent fiction in its whole, where as The Inbetweeners would be trouble-free to generate. Format: The Inbetwenners TV show uses many codes and conventions related to its genre and it uses many aspects to appeal to its target audience. The fact that the TV show was very successful the producers decided to make a film, which was a hit on its first day of release it grossed over £2.5 million in 409 cinemas, outperforming many other British comedy films. The main target audience are young people between 15-26.This can be seen from its use of young characters and its implementation of the characters within a modern social and school environment. It appeals to its target audience through its 'mise en scene' in a variety of ways. Firstly, the use of costumes on the main characters in the section, help appeal to the demographic, the fact that its mainly aimed at young people it implies that the show/movie is Alternative mainstream as it first started with a low budget but it gained a lot of attention so it became popular to a wide range of audiences. The referent of the main characters costumes, are what would normally be considered ‘trendy’ or 'in fashion 'clothing. This signifies that as these characters are ‘trendy’ in appearance this show must also be ‘trendy.’ This is a marketing technique used to engage the target audience more so as it makes the characters seem more attractive, and more people can relate to them. The suburban setting/location of the show also remains appealing for many, as this again allows more people to relate to it. This setting also signifies a more realistic factor to the show, which in turn makes it more immersive. The performance within the show is appealing as the comedic value of it offers a sense of escapism. Furthermore, the simple humor used in the show appeals to the target audience far more than other comedy shows. The fact that this humor is also used in the context of situations, (like having an embarrassing first car) further assists in enabling more people to relate to it and it is overall more appealing for the target audience. Reference: http://www.e4.com/inbetweeners/film-application.html http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-inbetweneers/40d
Techniques: In many scenes, there are many codes and conventions that the movie and TV show follows throughout such as the use of no 'non diegetic' music whilst the characters are in direct conversation, makes the dialogue and conversations so more realistic and as much more immersive. This ultimately offers a greater sense of distraction, which makes the show more appealing to the viewer, which means they can forget about everyday life more easily. Furthermore, the use of 'non-diegetic' and 'diegetic' music when the characters are traveling in a car, makes the traveling seem instantaneous, thus creating a larger sense of enthusiasm and interest for what would otherwise be seen as an uninteresting, pointless scene. In addition to this, the use of narration or “voice of God� in these sequences, not only helps to continue the narrative through these scenes, but also allows the audience to set up a more personal relationship with characters. This appeals to the demographic more, because the characters are put into situation, which the target audience can easily relate to; the more private link with them causes the viewer to feel as if they too are experiencing the characters experiences with them. Additionally, the shots are predominantly 'medium close ups'. This fits in with the fact that most of the scenes are mainly dialogue. This connotes a more individual aspect to the conversations, and makes the audience feel more wrapped up almost as if they themselves are part of the discussion. Furthermore, this element is developed further by the large use of' shot reverse shot' editing to keep the conversations fast paced and to again keep the audiences concentration and attention. This also helps the dialogue seem quicker and more realistic. Other camera angles are in use for comedic effect, like long shots focusing on the yellow car (a figure of fun, and main joke point of the segment). This helps add to the
comedic aspect of the show and ultimately helps the show fit into its purpose of making the audience laugh and amusing them. However, the yellow car is only successful as a comedic device, in the context that it has been given to a young adult male, whereas stereotypically, the color yellow is linked with females. The editing (as previously mentioned) is mostly 'shot reverse shot' as the programme revolves around and relies upon its dialogue for comedy. When not using 'shot reverse shot', mainly regular cuts are used. This is because the genre (sitcom) does not typically try to convey messages through editing; rather the main aim is to just try to entertain the audience. Finally, the lighting is kept high-key. This is to fit in with the genre and humor of the programme, to appeal to and entertain the target audience. The high-key lighting, promotes general light heartedness, which links to the crude humor in the TV show, as it connotes that it is not something to be taken too seriously and is generally there to be laughed at. This light hearted atmosphere achieved from the lighting, also helps to anchor the shows in the comedy genre. This appeals to the target audience as they find that with this they can simply watch this show, be entertained and laugh at it, without taking it too seriously. This appeals to the target audience as they, (young people aged 15-25), are people who are stereotypically thought to enjoy comedy shows more than drama. In conclusion, this particular TV show uses a closed narrative, which is where the storyline dilemma is resolved in a clear and certain manner leaving the next storyline dilemma to introduce itself in the following episode. This means that each episode is completed in its entirety before the ending of the episode, these usually almost never leave at cliffhangers and most notably the dilemma does not usually carry on into the next episode, this show also uses numerous aspects to appeal to its target audience, entertain audience, and to overall immerse the target audience in the programme more. This is gained successfully as the show occurs in a realistic suburban environment. Given the regularity of this setting, this creates another simply forged link that the audience can form between themselves and the show, making the events and occurrences relative and ultimately making the show more immersive and entertaining.
Format: Pan’s Labyrinth (2007) directed and produced by Guillermo Del Toro, is a dark Spanish/Mexican fantasy film that has a horror sub-genre, the narrative unfolds on multiple levels, switches between creepy fairytale interpretations and a horrific reality to effectively create a film that expresses persuasively the value of imagination when confronted with Ofelia’s(protagonist) sadistic antagonists, and that “we live in a world where choice and disobedience are obligatory” in order to survive and defend our own individuality as Del Toro decidedly. The story took place five years after the Spanish Civil War, during the early Francoist period. The storyline/narrative is about a girl named Ofelia(protagonist) who escapes from the strict realities of war into a magical land where she is a long-lost princess who must recover her title through chains of tasks given to her by a enigmatic faun. It fits precisely into the category of the fantasy genre, where magic is often a driving force of the plot. The genre of fantasy uses a number of codes and conventions such as the ‘binary oppositions’ in this case good vs. evil. This particular film is a Mainstream movie as it is not aimed at a precise target audience but instead for people who are facing this type of problems in society also because of the fact that it had a $19 million budget and it then went tot make £83 million on the MOJO Box office draw highlights the fact that its for mainstream rather than alternative cinema. Narrative: The fantasy genre works often when we have the hero or superwoman drawn into a magical world, where they must complete a job in order to leave, such as Dorothy destroying the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. The theme of good VS evil is one which is frequently used in these sorts of narratives. In Pan’s
Labyrinth, Ofelia moves between the real world and the fantasy world quite a few times, and her responsibilities in the fantasy world parallel those in the real one. The fight between good VS evil takes place in Ofelia’s world, where the evil leader is her own stepfather, Captain Vidal (represents Franco in the Civil War in Spain) He is part of the cruel government that has just won the Spanish civil war, but are still fighting groups of rebels. Dismissive of his new wife and stepdaughter, all he cares about is the legacy he will leave behind as his wife is pregnant of his son to be “in a new, clean Spain”. Ofelia takes her brother away from Captain Vidal, but declines to spill his blood (the blood of an innocent) in order to achieve her last job. Captain Vidal shoots her, and it is Ofelia’s own blood that allows her to finish her mission and obtain her crown. It is also her death that leads to Vidal’s defeat, and the evil ruler of the story is beaten.
Reference: http://deltorofilms.com/
Technqiues: The imagination is one of the greatest unique tools used to achieve an improved reality in both Pan’s Labyrinth and in part, the world around us. In what could be seen as a noted the director’s specific style.
Pan’s Labyrinth persuasively conveys these ideas and messages with constant reference to gothic fairy tale references, themes and techniques such as the mixture of color, lighting and transitional links to create a seductively sinister tone that both warns us as an audience and draws us further into the abnormal depths of Pan’s Labyrinth. Guillermo Del Toro establishes a quantity of cinematic art that traces horror right back to the basics of our childhoods and human conventions; fantasy and fairytale. Del Toro utilises fantastical elements -commonly seen in traditional cinema in the real world. This combines both worlds and causes them to remain inseparable throughout the film. The transformation of real creatures into fairies, and the noting of time in both make a bridge between the worlds that reflects the freedom of Ofelia’s underworld in comparison to the weakness she experiences in real life, this was created by the use of CGI effects and perfect make up artists with a mixture of Biology as Del Toro was always a fan of this subjects. The insects’ transformation to the three fairies of the underworld act as associations between imagination and reality, representing that the insects are fairies in camouflage, waiting for the right person to awaken their true character. This happens to be Ofelia as she screams that she “just saw a fairy”, at this point in the film we can perceive the techniques used related to its genre, in addition to this various close ups of the moon’s endless presence and the references to Vidal’s watch and being punctual are reference to the claustrophobic feel that the director makes us feel also the fact that Del Toro employs make-up, animatronics and CGI effects to bring life to its creates it makes it even terrifying for the demographic. We can see the Pale Man’s consumption of innocents likewise to Vidal’s consumption of Ofelia’s and Carmen’s lifestyles. The background music (non-diegetic sound) accompanying the Pale Man in his home is similar to that of Vidal’s; unsettling and suspenseful when he is home, which immediately suggests that they both similar. The fantasy world allows us an audience to understand and explore the feature of rebellion and time as well as the likeness and hints of it in reality. Her sacrifice for her brother, who “has caused [her] so much pain and humiliation” is rebellion against the faun and highlights del Toro’s wish to teach us about the value of ethics in the face of obeying “for obedience’s sake” and risking the loss of what we love most. Guillermo uses formal techniques and plays with our expectations about the representation of light, composition, camera angles as well as characters and sounds to make his point, one of the techniques he mostly uses are jumps scare techniques which are often used in horror films and video games which attempt to panic the viewer by surprising them with a sudden or unexpected event, to conclude Del Toro uses many Foley sound techniques such as gun shots, scary noises and sound effects are this type of sounds can not be recorded on stage but rather as post-production.