Film Analysis

Film Analysis

Verisimilitude: How real the world of a story appears to the audience - how realistic and believable it is.

Diegesis/Diegetic World: The world in which the film takes place.

Juxtaposition: Placing one object next to another to create meaning.

Narrative Theory: Theories that categorise narratives and find features to common them.

Levi-Strauss' Binary Opposition: Narrative tension is based on opposition or conflict. This can be as simple as two characters fighting, but more often functions at an ideological level.
E.g: good vs evil, girl vs boy, peace vs war, etc.

Vladimir Propp's 8 Character types:

• The villain - against the hero
• The helper - assists the hero on their mission
• The princess/prize - prize for the hero. Usually faught over between villain and hero
• Her father - rewards the hero - usually identifies the false hero
• The donor - the character who gives 
• The hero - the character who saves everyone from the villain
• The false hero - takes credit for the real hero's actions - usually tries to claim the 'prize'
• The dispatcher - the character that sends the hero off on their quest

Laura Mulvey - 'The Male Gaze' Theory

• White, heterosexual men control the media
• They objectify women
• They create media to appeal to white, heterosexual men 

Todorov's Equilibrium Theory:

• Equilibrium 
• Disruption of equilibrium by an event
• A realisation that the disruption has happened
• An attempt to repair the damage or disruption 
• A restoration of equilibrium

Examples of this include disaster movies, such as '2012' and 'Independence Day'

Action + Enigma Codes - Roland Barthes

Action Codes - What will happen next...

Enigma Codes - The audience question 'why?'...


Sound:

• Diegetic sound where Carly throw a picture in the bin.
• Non diegetic the music playing in the background
• Parallel sounds, the music changes as she dance, when she slows down the music slows down and vice versa.

Camera:

• Close shots - showing the emotion of character
• Tracking shots - slow paced
• Lots of close up showing her face
• When she's dancing - long shots
• When she is getting changed it is a close up of her face.
• Long shot from outside and when she is outside thinking.
• Close up of her crying - showing her emotion to make the audience feel and empathize with her.
• Close up of face, abs. 

Editing:

• Short cuts through out but speed up during the dance sequence, when she was dancing 3-4 seconds.
• Cuts run paralle to the music, creating face pace. 
• Lots of intercutting during the dance sequence. 
• Elliptical editing to create a montage of her day within 3 minutes. 

Mise-en-scene: 

• The clothing she is wear is considered 'street' and as 'hip-hop' clothes. She wears a snapback (hat), baggy jumper, shorts and 'street' dance shoes.
• At the beginning of the scene she is at home and her home is urban and hip hop, this shows that she different and quite urban. (industrial chic) 
• The setting is in London as you can see the BT tower and she is in piccadilly circus, tower bridge and in a ballet studio. (London is a character itself as it represents the culture)
• In the dance studio the lighting is quite dark and blue as they are using natural lighting.
• When she is outside they are again using natural lighting as they are outside and it is day time. 
• Her make up is natural and plain and her hair is made up put still looks natural and sort of messy.