Narrative Theory, Question part b- editing

Narrative Theory

Narrative is the way a story is formed and organized to project that particular story. In relation to narrative, I am going to discuss my A2 media portfolio and how I used narrative theories and structures to create both film treatment and trailer.

I would describe my film trailer to be ambiguous as it is a series of different events that don’t fit together but will ultimately all intersect. It flashes between the actions of a murder, a robbery, drug use and meet ups that display how there is more than one story line being played out. The trailer itself is also blurred; this requires for the audience to understand the basic concepts of gangster films and for them to decide and discuss their own ideas of to how the story will conclude etc.

The soviet montage theory or Eisenstein’s montage theory can be linked to my trailer as it consists of piecing together separate sections with the illusion that they belong together. The metric montage is about cutting to the next shot no matter what is happening within the frame, no matter if it matches or not. It is used to extract any emotional response the audience.  Due to a montage of action my trailer doesn’t fully follow Propp’s theory, as it is hard to distinguish what roles certain characters signify. There is an obvious villain, as the start of the sequence there is a murder so the audience can clearly distinguish between the murderer and victim….

Todorov is a theorist who concluded that every narrative has a basic step-by-step structure. It starts of with everything being calm and relaxed, this is the state of equilibrium, it then moves onto disequilibrium where everything has be disrupted, then it’s the realization where all turns chaotic, the character(s) tries to restore the problem and lastly there is a new equilibrium. My trailer goes against Todorov’s theory as it begins in disequilibrium with a murder scene.

Genre- Part B

Describe your film trailer and ancillary tasks (show pride in your work, tell the examiner what you loved doing)

My film trailer can be described as a montage of actions all pieced together than have none but also a lot in common. Giving it a hint being mysterious.

Explain which genre your film trailer belongs to

The genre I was given to imitate for my A2 portfolio was “Film Noir”. It is a French term that means ‘black film’ which would describe the distinctive feature of the black and white colour filter.

Explain your target audience using demographics and psychographics

Aimed as audiences that enjoy crime, thrillers, mysteries, gangster and film noir movie.

Both genders are targeted, but primarily in with my media product it would be aimed at women due to the fact that I have female leads and more female characters throughout my trailer.

Due to the violence displayed and the normality of other gangster films I would give the certificate an 18.

Fall into the E category- students will be more willing to watch as it has younger actors in.

Audience stay hooked due to not knowing what will happen as there only get to view a face paced montage of the plot line.

·       List 2/3 films that you used as inspiration 

Girlhood

·       Explain why you thought they were good examples to use as a springboard for your planning

Consists of a predominant female cast

The females have an authority

Loyalty for each other- typical of a gangster film where ‘family’ stick together

·       What editing techniques used in gangster films did you imitate and use in your film trailer?

Use of match on action

Events don’t occur in sequence, non-linear structure that is typical for Film Noir

Moving from past to present

     What symbolic codes and conventions of gangster films did you use in your film trailer?

Drugs

Theft

Soundtrack

Steve Neel

·       How would your audience know from watching your trailer that it belongs to the gangster genre?

Through the use of there being past and present, demonstrated through the use of some scenes being black and white and others being coloured

the concept of murder

the use of a vibrant red to write femme fatale

   In what ways does your film trailer mimic the style or conventions of film noir?

black and white effect filter on the opening sequence

the use of flashbacks to give background setting

the basic plot is murder and crime

includes femme fatales- plot full of female characters

set in places with empty streets

theme of murder, betrayal

drug use

·       How are females portrayed in your film trailer?

both weak and strong- in the opening scene it is both female characters, one being the victim and the other being the murderer. Showing both sides to the female characters

·       How would you apply Mulvey’s ‘Male Gaze’ theory to the female characters in your trailer?

I haven't applied the use of the 'male gaze' in my trailer as I didn't want to sexualise the female characters as I had planned for the women to come across the dominant characters  

·       What symbolic codes and conventions of gangster films did you subvert and challenge and what effect do you think it will have on your audience?

that it should be men running everything and have full control

·       Why do you think genres are important for film trailers?

genre is important as it helps audience to distinguish what type of media they are about to process, whether it being action, comedy, thriller etc...

Genre is repetition of certain conventions that fit in with the style of media someone is trying to create

Genre Conventions include:

Setting

Themes

Ideologies

Character Stereotypes

Sound

Narrative

What pleasures would your audience gain from watching your genre?

intensify the sense of mystery due to the lack of information given away but just enough to keep them hooked

Question 4

Brief Summary

I used Web 2.0 as a way of researching for the codes and conventions of what a film noir and gangster film should look like. Through this I jotted down how I could conform and stray from the conventions. The use of social networking sites also allowed for me to view what previous students had created when constructing their A2 portfolio and gave me an insight into the specific and relevant things I should be researching to help me plan for my final media product.

During the Pre-Production stage I used media technologies such as a Canon Camera which allowed for me to film the necessary footage that would help me create my media product. The two problems I encountered with the camera was that they were only three, meaning that me and other students had to constantly take turns in swapping cameras and organising available dates when we were to use them. Secondly with one of the cameras I used the focus wasn't brilliant meaning my footage didn't come out as clearly as I would have wanted.

Lastly, I had to use software's such as Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe Photoshop. The advantage I faced with using Photoshop is that I had previously used it for my AS coursework (the year prior) meaning I could finish my ancillary tasks much more quicker. Regarding the use of Premier Pro it took a little while to be finally be confident and comfortable with using it as I was unfamiliar to it. To help me gain this level of familiarity I watched various YouTube tutorials of regular users of the software to guide me to use it efficiently when editing my trailer.

Evaluation- Question 3

Evaluation- Question 2

Evaluation- Question 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products.

Film noirs portray the mood, style and tone of the film rather than sticking to a rigid structure. The narrative is normally non-linear and based around a pessimistic, disheartened male who becomes infatuated with a seductive female (femme fatale) who double crosses him. I used the idea of females having a new-found independence as a tool for my media product. The idea I visualised for my media product was that it would be based around a female gang rather than male but still using the basic concept of a ‘femme fatale’.

Film noir first evolved in the 1940s, post-world war two and lasted successfully into the 1960s. Film noir consists of themes such as, corruption, mystery, deceit and violence and portrays topics such as murder, sex and criminal activity. The film ‘Double Indemnity’ is a classic example of a film noir that displays all the known conventions, varying from the anti-hero who gets lead astray by greed and lust. The film also uses a common prop ‘Venetian Blinds’ to cast shadows and create mystery. My media product conforms but also strays from the conventions of Film Noirs, I wanted to stick to the characteristic of a film noir but also further develop it to appeal and relate to a contemporary audience. I used a distinctive feature of a film noir, the black and white filter which would make it easy for audiences to identify the style of my trailer. However, my use of the black and white filter was for revealing it as a flashback, further conforming to the non-linear and twisting narrative that film noirs follow. The characters that are first introduced are a murderer and victim, linking to the thematical portrayal of the inhuman and destructive side to human nature, emphasising on the sadistic, unhealthy and brutal acts the characters perform.

My media product goes against the conventions of later gangster films like the ‘Godfather’ and ‘Scarface’ in respect of the value and depiction of women. Within the Godfather women are viewed as sexual ornaments that hold little value, contrasting against my portrayal of women, as I have constructed them to fill the stereotypical role of the males within gangster films. Gangster films much like Scarface can be compared to a certain view that associates it with the ‘American Dream’, leading the impression that directors try to glamorise and romanticise the concept of violence and immorality as it’s a goal that everyone wants to be able to lead and dominate. Whereas throughout my media product I show a montage of violent actions and glimpses of characters that play a role in the murder and obliteration of a character. Rather than glamorise the ‘gangster lifestyle’ I believe my media product depicts and harsh and gritty reality, having been achieved through the choice of location, council estates, rundown and urban areas.

My trailer goes against Tordov’s Narrative Theory. Tordov believed that all films follow the same narrative pattern. The state of equilibrium, disruption of the equilibrium (disequilibrium), acknowledgment of the disorder that has occurred, attempt to repair the damage of the disruption (solving) and lastly a restoration of the new equilibrium. Whereas my media product starts off with a murder scene that is a flashback and then moves to show a montage of various clips that have no relevance to each other regarding that they are not chronologically in order. Which conforms to most structures of gangster films, as it flip flops between past and present.

The overall impression I tried to create for my media product was to show that women within the gangster genre can be represented in more than two lights, one being the loving, dutiful wife and the other being a predatory, lustful, manipulative woman.

Femme Fatale- Film Trailer

Film Poster

Film Magazine