Silent Films

A silent film has no recorded sound synchronised with the performance of characters within the story. There is no spoken dialogue in it although diagetic sound can be used. The only type of diagetic sound there may be in these films are screams or breathing. Silent films will often use the non diagetic sound of music just to portray and set the atmosphere, fun jumpy music may be used for example to reflect a happy mood, or slow and scary music may be used to reflect an situation where tension is built.

Dialogue in silent films is shown through gestures and mime. This also usually meant body language and facial expression were sometimes exaggerated in these films because it was one of the only ways to show the audience how the character was feeling, or the relationship between two characters.

I believe silent films are good for the comedy genre because you don't necessarily need dialogue to be funny, actions speak louder than words in that sense. My film is a much more serious and dramatic one, I feel like I need some form of dialogue to help my audience understand the situation as its much more complicated than a general 'funny film', due to this I don't feel like filming my opening idea in the style of a silent film is very fitting or suitable, I also don't personally enjoy silent films as I like for a film to have dialogue and therefore, I will not be using it.

Looking into Drama #1

Looking into drama I have decided to focus on one of the most dramatic and intensely emotional films I have ever watched; Titanic. The opening has no dialogue in it what so ever however I personally believe that it is immensely powerful. 

The scene starts with the sound I can only describe as the shore on a stormy beach, this sound lasts for about 3 seconds before we hear a very low base instrument and a woman who begins to sing. As she is singing one note she goes into many keys, however on the third as they are getting higher a sound of a base drum hits.

On this base note, a sepia film appears where we see a cruise ship (the titanic) thats about to depart as there are masses of people waving goodbye on land- they are the first thing we see as the camera zooms up to the boat and the people on it. Knowing the the tragic story this film follows, a sense of irony appears as the camera zooms up, in an upward shot as this would usually signify importance and high status of the people on this cruise ship - which in order to afford this holiday they thought they were, however we know the real end, which is even more upsetting.

The shot then moves to masses of people on the boat waving goodbye, with joy and their hats in the air and then focuses on more specific parts of the boat for example the deck, then the corner, then people at a stairway and so on. I believe this is because the film shows how this disaster affects many people, old couples, upper class, lower class and young families. One very well done thing in this film opening was showing people waving goodbye as a close up rather than many in a widescreen makes the film become more personal, making people emotional and causing them to connect more with the film.

The opening carries on with music throughout and its significance is almost beautiful when shown in an emotional light. Everyone knows titanic is an emotional and romantic film, revealing a beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking yet heart warming storyline. It is a juxtaposition. Just like the film, the music can be portrayed in this light too, the background instruments are low and convey an underlying sadness that is about to come whilst the higher singing voice can be seen as calming and happy - together they create something very bittersweet. I think this is definitely a positive as it immediately gives off this atmosphere letting us indirectly know how this film might make us feel as the audience

This opening also talks brings history into the scene, as it is also common knowledge that Ireland was the titanic's last port of call, the tune being sung particularly up until 11 seconds is extremely comparable to traditional Irish music. The sepia effect (filter) also emphasises that it is an old event as this and black and white were the colours people would watch the tv in, in the olden days - almost making us feel as though we were back there with them.

Another thing noticeable with the music is that it is very in time with the camera movements, at many of the higher notes there is a transition, either from masses of people or individual people. This is particularly meaningful as soon after the shot moves from daylight to darkness of the sea where we can see its movements in the wind and can guess that this disaster will have something to do with the water, which they show for 11 seconds all together after finally revealing the title of the film above this water 'TITANIC". As this appears the woman singing is at her highest note in the section of that song as well as the song all together, this is highlighting the importance of the actual titanic in this film, almost honouring it or the people inside it, again rising emotions.

As the womans voice continues we hear the sound we heard at the beginning again beginning to almost overpower it, and we see that the shot has moved into the deeper parts of the sea with a submarines lights as the shot gets higher and begins to be a downwards shot looking down on the submarines. After a few seconds, with now two submarines with many lights on them almost looking for something under the water it becomes clear to us that this is due to an accident and the voice then drowns out for almost five seconds before continuing and coming to an end as these submarine become further and further into the distance.

This five second pause also portrays a message of silence, respect and -you could say- sympathy. Similar to the two minute silence, it is almost something honorary and it is something whereby people feel connected to what has happened and feel the sorrow and effects of the accident through this emptiness.

Overall I think it is an outstanding opening and can not be competed with. I can genuinely find no fault whatsoever apart from that I would have liked to get a glimpse of the shipwreck at the end of the opening as it could add to reason and complete and answer the question we've been contemplating throughout the opening - if there was a disaster, what was it? However I believe the producers decision to not put this in was clever as it doesn't reveal everything right away, it lets us wonder and fear and feel for the people we saw at the begining more for a while longer.

Any inspiration I would take from this film would be the use of angles to portray different kinds of emotion and contradictory/ironic emotion as explained above, and the use of music to deliver the message of the story. Both of these are very powerful.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Two 11 year old twins who are also the best of friends find out that they're being evacuated, but separately as it is the only way they can be safe. They live for 5 years with no contact allowed and both go on a desperate journey to find one another at last.

Looking into Documentary #1

The documentary film I have decided to look into is 'This is Us" by One direction. This is a documentary about each of 1D boys and their tour life.

The documentary stars off with a blank screen and Niall Horan talking about his life, this then leads on to each of the other boys doing the same thing. They initially talk about their life as young children and their background and Niall perfectly starts this off as the voiceover begins with "When I was small I had a desk", he goes on to say that on this desk he had carved "when I grow up i wanna be a singer" into it. This sets the rest of the opening up very well because each of the boys begin to talk about something when they were younger in relation to their career now, for example "When I was little, I knew I wanted to entertain" - and they are now entertainers.

When each boy begins to speak a picture of where they were brought up is shown along with a signpost for the place, for example when Louis Tomlinson comes on the train station sign of Doncaster comes up. After the pictures of their location appear, baby pictures or videos follow with relevance to what they are saying - when Harry Styles talks about how he always wanted to perform a clip of his younger self singing on a school stage is shown and when he talks about his sister, pictures of them together as children are included.

As each boy has their turn we hear faint screams from adoring fans and a guitar strum, signifying they achieved their musical dream as we see the production for their tour being set up with hundreds of seats only on the floor. There is slightly more background to their lives delivered to us through another voiceover and the guitar strums at a higher key when a photo of one of the boys standing on a stage looking out to a very big crowd comes onto the screen. We are then shown more pictures but of the boys as older children, we hear more screams and the guitar strums at a higher key again. There is then a pause where each of the boys are having a group moment on stage as they put their hands in together, after this there is a very fast montage of photos of them all from their childhood up will now and it is at this point where the voice over ends with Zayn Malik saying "That is when the dream started".

I really like that the guitar strum got higher and higher in key in the opening at each stage, the first strum, like i said, was when the set for their tour was being set up. I think this is very clever as it is meaningful and marks the beginning of their musical career as well as the fact they achieved all those childhood dreams they were talking about just seconds before in the voiceover and photo montage. The second strum was when one of the boys were facing a crowd with thousand of people screaming in excitement that adore him and his band, this is in a higher strum from the tour because its more personal and individual to that specific member. The third, final and highest key strum is before there is a pause where the boys all group together, showing their friendship and the emotional journey they have all had together through their dream. These three strums signify three elements to the film, the boys growing up and reaching their dream, how each individual boy's life changed and their friendship and life together. It gives an amazing and inspiring story emotion as you see these stars as real life people rather than robots who sing - and so the plot is revealed.

I wouldn't say there were any cons to this film opening because it is very emotional and enticing, especially for fans of this band. I would have said it could be improved by everything happening in order for example all pictures and stories to be shown then moving onto the tour rather than going backwards and forwards, however I feel like this adds to the emotion and intensity as showing the present day are just little flashes to constantly remind us how far these ordinary boys have come.

Like i said for the twilight film, I also really like the idea of voiceovers, whether it is to give thoughts away or things that have happened - I think it adds a more personal touch from the characters to the film, without breaking the fourth wall. However in a documentary it is almost necessary to break the fourth wall because it is real and therefore people expect a bigger connection to the people in it, this is mainly done through interviews during the documentary etc.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre

Casie is 16 years old getting bullied by not only her peers, but by her work colleagues and customers too. Get an inside look as we follow this young girl letting her express how society has destroyed her confidence and investigate why body weight is something society feels is important enough to judge someone by.

Looking into Fantasy #1

The film I will be looking into for the fantasy genre is the first film of the series Twilight, this film was released in 2008 with the key character revealed in the opening being Bella Swan - played by Kristen Stewart.

This films opens in quite a 'dark' manner, however not dark enough to be considered a horror. 

The first words we hear are "I'd never given much thought to how i would die". This immediately tells us that this isn't a typical happy and joyful fantasy film, it is clearly intense - we can also see this from the nervous and uneasy tone in her voice. She continues her monologue with "dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go". This tells me that the underlying base of the film will be about romance and possibly not a healthy relationship if it were to cause her so much pain.

As she is giving this monologue about death we see a hunting scene between a wolf and a deer. The deer is unsuspecting and alone when the wolf jumps up at her she runs away as he runs faster towards her, they change directions and suddenly when the deer reaches 'the light at the end of the tunnel' the wolf jumps out and kills her. We know that this must be significant in order to have made it into the cut however different meanings can be interpreted from it leaving a few questions in the audiences heads. My interpretation of it is that she is the deer and her lover is the wolf, initially when she sees him she tries to avoid him because she senses that he is dangerous and she begins to run however when she thinks she has gotten away she realises she loves him and he takes her on this almost dangerous relationship ride where she ends up getting physically hurt - or worse - dead.

The deer also symbolises innocence, vulnerability and being scared which can all relate back to Bella in terms of the hunting scene, which is the producers way of revealing the character indirectly.

In the opening we also hear Bella talking about leaving home to be with her dad, the last words she says in the opening is that its a "good thing, I think". The 'I think" doesn't give us any reassurance that the story line will be happy, instead it sets the story line on a more negative foot because Bella herself isn't sure that this is the best thing for her. The voice over could also be in the present as she's telling us a story about her past which we could then relate what she said back to the relationship she may find at her dads and that she thinks whatever she sacrifices for it is a good thing, because like we found out at the beginning she would sacrifice herself for love.

In this opening a voice over is used whilst clips are playing in the background, like the hunt. To emphasise the danger in this hunt the voice over is paused so that the audience are 100% focused on it. We also see a clip of her and her mother hugging before she leaves with her step father saying he loves them both in the background, this is used to show us the close bond she has with them and that leaving them is a big step.

I personally really like the way this film has opened, it has given us indirect information about the character. The voiceover and clips enable the baseline of the story to be revealed to us without too much being given away, there is a mysterious feel about it and the fact a deer and a wolf were used add to the fantasy element because both of these animals in different forms are known to be magical e.g. a reindeer and a werewolf.

I don't think there are any negatives to this film opening because enough characters have been revealed and we are briefly shown Bellas strong thoughts about love so it is enough for us to have an idea about what the film will entail. The only negative could be that a voice over was used for the entire opening however this is made up for by the fact there was none in the hunting scene and there was conversations being had by the step father, mother and Bella in a quieter volume over the voice over.

From here, I have taken the inspiration to include a voiceover into my final opening as i feel it is a perfect way to start the story off and give people an idea of what is happening but still having the capacity to be mysterious.


A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre

Natalie can read minds, this is passed through every fourth generation in her family and she is unaware of this until she sees that her father has committed a terrible crime that could jeopardise the entire families lives. Will she stick by her fathers side or will she do what is really the best thing for them all?.

"Looking into..." Disclaimer

I will be doing a series of blogposts  'Looking into' many different genres so that I can get more of a feel for the kind of opening i would like to make, as well as taking inspiration from different elements of film that I would like to incorporate into my own.

You will see I have already done textual analysis' of some student and professionally made films all in different genres, looking at how much of the plot was revealed in the opening, the characters introduced in it, the dialogue and more, however in this series although i will also be looking at the plot, i will also look for meaning and some techniques used to portray meaning of the story in the opening. I will also decide what i liked or disliked from these openings and may include pro's and con's of films and making them in that genre.

In addition to this I will also give a brief plot synopsis for a basic idea that I have for an opening in each genre, but this is just an idea - not final by any means.

Within these posts I may talk about the sound in them or the camera angles too, however they may not all be labelled.

Planning and Pitching Practice

In a media lesson we were given the opportunity to practice planning and pitching a film idea in groups as if it was our own final film idea. I was in a group with James Huxtable and Harriet Watson.  In our groups we were given 4 elements to a film that we had to incorporate into our opening, these were:

• Character: 'Jack' 26 years old
• Character: 'Jane' 20 years old
• Genre: Horror
• Prop: a Knife

We immediately decided we wanted the location to be a working environment and that Jack and Jane would be romantically attracted to each other. From this, many ideas spiralled and below is our final one. We all had the same basic idea, however due to lack of time together during this lesson we may have come up with different character names (not types) and slightly different ways in which each character dies and how, although the idea of 'stages' remained the same. Below is the final idea.

Location

Relatively small call centre in a skyscraper building in New York.

Characters

Jack= Jack is well liked, he blends in within his workplace and has a romantic interest in his new colleague, Jane, who he knows from outside the job.

Jane= Jane is new to the call centre and no one knows her however, respect her. Jane got the job mainly her skills however unknown to her, as a trusty employee Jack recommended her to their CEO, Joseph.

Jimmy= Physically weak and angry due to the fact he is always underestimated. He turns to crime and is the criminal mastermind behind all the deaths.

Dominic= Office bully, not particularly liked. Dictates to and intimidates other workers in the centre, particularly Jimmy. Has a love interest in Kate who he has had a one night stand with previously but admits to genuinely liking. Aside from this he does have a sensitive side revealed in the film

Stan= One of Dominic's side kicks. He enjoys violence, power and feeling important.

Philip= Phillip is gentle and emotionally week, however likeable and kind.

Mary= Mary is the mother figure within the call centre, she is elderly and close to retirement.

Patrick= Patrick is the calm and level headed supervisor who is very much liked.

Kate= The 'attractive' secretary, she has a history with Dominic and reveals she still has genuine feelings for him.

Joseph= Joseph is the CEO of the call centre, he is the ultimate boss. He is friendly, a straight talker and very good at his job.

Plot

The opening scene shows it is a Monday morning, it is Jane's first day in the office and as the CEO introduces and welcomes her she appears exited and he appears normal. Ridley is being teased by Dominic and his sidekicks and casual conversation starts. A scream is suddenly heard from the Boss's office, workers walk in to find Joseph hung dead in the cupboard which is put down to a suicide, everyone tries to call the police and escape the building but for some reason are unable to.

In the first stage a pre-recorded message plays from a tannoy explaining that the 27 in the room must go down to 9. Suddenly the real reason behind Joseph's death is played on every computer scene, followed by a covered+masked face and body from an unknown location showing that it wasn't actually a suicide, but a murder. Stan goes on a murderous rampage as Jack and Jane manage to hide in the small bathroom connected to the room. As he is about to kill someone for the last and 17th time making Kate his newest victim, Dominic decides to step up, deciding enough is enough and risks being killed for her, prevailing and choking Stan to death.

In the second stage workers are given a few minutes to breathe whilst they wait to see what happens next, as Phillip goes to the bathroom his weak and sensitive nature gets the better of him as well as fear, causing him to jump out of the window due to trauma and the unknown of what will happen next. The voice from the tannoy returns explaining the 9 remaining must turn to 3 and workers are told to find a letter in a draw next to where Joseph was murdered in order to find a twist. Jimmy steps up to try and prove himself and in a letter it is revealed that there is an electric chair made to slowly kill at least one of the workers that they must use in this stage, also revealing that the one brave enough to open the letters life should be spared...in order to try and show a form of twisted decency. Mary sacrifices herself as she declares she has had a wonderful life and is satisfied with her decision, she asks Patrick to pull the trigger and even though he relents, he knows it is for the best. This is one of the saddest points of the film and also the point where Dominic and Kate decide to tell each other how they really feel, that they do love each other. Much to Dominic's distress this results in Kate sacrificing her life because all she wanted to do was make him happy. Dominic becomes increasingly distressed and begins ordering others to sacrifice their lives just as the one he loved did, particularly the other forming relationship, aiming his anger towards Jack and Jane. It is at this point where Jack lies to save Jill by saying that she is pregnant and therefore should be saved, everyone is agreement and therefore Dominic himself decides to take the slow painful death of sitting in the electric chair and so 2 more need to go. Charlotte is deeply wounded by an attempted attack from Stan earlier in stage 1 and is loosing blood quicker now, she deciders it is time to give up as with the locked doors she is not going to make it, she pulls the trigger on a gun for a quicker and easier death after saying goodbye and good luck to the remaining workers. Patrick, Jack, Jane and Jimmy are now in the room and they know one needs to go out of Jack and Patrick. Patrick see's that Jack cares for Jane and could possibly be the father of her baby, and so being the level headed man he is, decides it is his time to go.

It is finally the third stage where only 3 are left, Jack, Jane and Jimmy. Jimmy feels sick and runs to the bathroom to be sick, it is at this point when Jack and Jane look at the computer screens with the frozen image of the killer...they notice a watch...the same watch that Jimmy is wearing. As Jimmy realises they have discovered he is the killer, he shoots Jack in the head before he can confront him, Jane is helpless and distraught as Jimmy explains how powerful and clever he is and as Jane insults him we hear a bang and see Jimmy walk out wiping blood off his jacket.

Dialogue in an opening

Rather than using music or a monologue, some films are opened jumping straight into dialogue, 'Mean Girls' is an example of this.

The film opens with a low angle shot of Cady's parents looking and talking to her, her dad passes her her lunch and tells her she can "ask one of the big kids" where she can buy milk, and her mum passes her a note with her phone number on it. Her mum then asks if she is ready to which Cady replies with "I think so". From the dialogue we would assume Cady is starting her first day at school, and as a voiceover starts we learn that she is.

The voiceover lasts for around 30 seconds where Cady tells us about her experience in africa and why  she lived there and as it stops theres more dialogue as she nearly gets hit by a bus but turns to tell her parents that she is ok.

A good thing about dialogue here is that it allows you to see the relationship between characters, we can see that Cady and her parents have a close relationship and that they still see her as a baby but care for her a lot. Even though there is only a bit of dialogue in the opening two minutes, it is a very good introduction to the film as the entirety of it is about an innocent homeschooled girl joining a 'scary' high school and the dialogue between the parents and Cady at the start show this, as well as the patronising low angle as Cady's parents are looking down at her.

In this particular opening there is a very good mixture of techniques, there is dialogue to start with, then a voiceover with flashbacks and towards the end of it there is music too. However, a problem with an entire film opening consisting of 100% dialogue is that it doesn't set a mood, it only delivers information either through the conversation between characters or their relationship, that is part of why I think the opening and entire 'mean girls' film is so successful, the different techniques used and the layout of it makes it interesting to watch.

Flashbacks/Forwards in film

In a film opening, flashbacks/forwards can be used to make the audience aware of time or events that have happened. For example, there may be a flashback to a time in the characters childhood that is relevant to the current scene, or there may be a flash forwards showing an event in the future, or even a montage of future events so that the film opened in the past but by the end of the montage they are well into the future and the films narrative remains in that time.

Mean Girls

In this film there is a brief flashback as Cady tells us about her time in africa. Rather than inserting clips of the time Cady lived in africa, there are photos and at the transitions between these photos there is a flash which i think is very original and different. The voiceover also matches with what the pictures show, for example when she says she had a "great life" she is smiling, but when she talks about her mum getting offered a job she looks confused and worried.

The use of flashbacks here are to inform us and give us insight into what her life was like, but there are different ways of using flashbacks/forwards to portray meaning, as you will see below.



Up

In this film there you can the little boy taking a picture and at the flash of the camera, there is a flash forwards to the day of their wedding, both characters are young and in the montage we see them grow older until the mans wife dies. The montage isn't really a flash forward as such its just like a fast forward of their lives, however the camera flashing with the wedding scene after it definitely is.

The use of flash forwards here is very touching because we see that the two characters were childhood friends that grew up together and fell in love, the gap of what happened between then and their wedding day doesn't need to be filled. The montage is also very touching as it is portraying a message that the love these characters have for each other is timeless.

As you can see from the two examples, flashbacks/forwards can be used for different purposes, showing time and change or showing how someones life used to be. There are also many different and unique ways they can be used but the two above are my favourites.

Music in Film

Bride Wars

You can see the opening of bride wars by clicking here

This opening starts with a fun up-beat tune and then a close up shot of a wedding scrapbook covered in fun colours and materials is shown, there is then a montage of shots all relevant to a wedding shown for example a bride and groom cake stand. Throughout all of this the fun music is playing and that too is also relevant.

The first lyric is "I found so many things I dreamed of" followed by lyrics including "days go by and were still laughing" and "he's all mine and were never alone". All of these lyrics are positive and are strongly linked to romance, as well as weddings (from the shots and clips as the music is playing). This immediately tells the audience that the story is upbeat, like the tune, and is about love.

Aside from the lyrics, the tune itself is infectious, it instantly makes you feel happy and positive, it sets a light hearted and fun atmosphere and personally, would make me want to continue watching.

Titanic

I have done a post about this film opening and I talk about music a lot in it you can find that here however to summarise, the music is very depressing, it has a low base and instead of singing lyrics, notes are sung in a very slow but moving way. Unlike the opening for "Bride Wars" it doesn't make the audience feel happy and it isn't upbeat, however still very powerful and informative along with the shots in the background telling us it will be a sad story as the sad music plays in the background of people on the titanic waving goodbye to their families. Another thing I mentioned in the post is that at most of the higher notes there is a transition in shots moving from different people on the ship waving to their loved ones, it heightens the emotion and sets the mood making us feel as if the film and storyline itself may not have such a happy ending due to the strong focus of the 'goodbyes' in the opening. Finally, the music resembles traditional Irish music and Ireland was the last 'port of call' before the titanic set sail, so it is very fitting

Music does an incredible job of setting the atmosphere and mood, it is something people listen to everyday and they will listen to different songs depending on their mood, which is why I think having music in an opening is a very good way of letting the audience know what the overall mood, atmosphere or feel of the film may be, people strongly connect to music and therefore I believe its a powerful thing to include.

The only disadvantage to using music for the whole opening is that it may not give enough information about what the film is going to entail, the titanic is a very well known story across the world therefore it isn't really a problem in the film's opening, however if a less known film only  had music in it for the first few minutes the audience may get bored or make an instant judgment about the whole film based on the music, therefore I think in an opening it would be better to only have music in the first half.

Secret Intelligence Service - Student textual analysis

'Secret intelligent service' is a student made film coming under the genre of sci-fi/mystery/spy. You can see the opening for this below.

In the opening to this film we see there is a Sci-fi element to it between 0:7-0:11, we can also take a guess that the plot may be sad as well as mysterious as the sad music plays in the background of this ident as if something devastating has occurred. The shot then cuts to a man writing what seems to be a very important letter headed 'SIS Intelligence Report: Potential London Threat' with the date of 2005. From this we can tell that the film is quite serious and could be about a spy. We then hear a baby cry and the atmosphere appears to be stressful for the man due to this and the fact that, unknown to him, the important letter did not save. We are shown a clip of a bombing that cuts straight to news reports overlapping each other emphasising the stress levels by doing so and showing devastating pieces of news, we also see an ambulance come in. This is all done in black and white which is very clever as it shows something in a raw and plain state where emotions are heavier and duller, there is more focus. We then hear an alarm clock go off and this man we think could be a spy, get ready. After he is ready there are establishing shots of London showing iconic buildings and the classic red London busses, letting the audience know the exact location. There are also very good shots and angles, particularly as the man is crossing the bridge in order to get to his final destination. We see a big building and at this point the title comes up across it with 'Secret Intelligence Service' so we therefore assume this is a spy building - especially as the man comes up to it and we get a point of view from a security camera.

The plot theme is revealed that the film is all about mystery and secret intelligence, it is very enticing as the London Bombings are such an important topic, so when brought up and people are given the directors theory or take on a story behind it, it is likely they will want to watch - even if they know it is not a true story. We can see that the plot will most likely revolve around these bombing and that some form of a secret mission is included later.

Only one key character seems to have been introduced, being the man, there is also a shot with his wife or girlfriend sleeping beside him who could become a key part later on in the story, however as far as the opening is concerned the main character is the man who appears to be a spy, as we see that this 'secret intelligence service' plays a critical part in the story. We see that this man is also a family man because we hear his baby cry through the baby monitor at night and he gets up from writing the letter to attend him/her. So overall, 3 possible key characters have been revealed.

There is no dialogue except for the news reports, this also emphasises and highlights their importance, especially due to he fact it is the only thing the audience can here and have a full understanding of. In cases like this, less is definitely more as a lot of the plot or themes of it are not hard to guess, so I think that the silence is a good thing here.

A way in which this film challenges the usual conventions of a Sci-fi film is that at the start there is no harmony, it jumps straight into an issue and stress unlike others which usually slowly build up to it. It conforms to the usual genre because straight away we see there is some kind of a fight between good and evil right from the start where we see the potential spy write a letter to the intelligence service about a threat. Another way it conforms to the usual conventions is that the lighting is dark, which emphasises the dark intentions and situations of what the film is based around (the bombings).

I really like the use of angles here and the fact that only relevant speech is used. I also like the use of lighting, again to only highlight the important things such as the bright computer screen with a letter about a potential threat. Even though I find sci-fi and mysterious spy films enticing, I don't personally want to use this as a genre in my final film opening as so far it is not my favourite. I also feel like in order for any sci-fi film to be good, it has to be professionally made with professional equipment and access to certain locations or tools to make it, as technology plays a big part in it and as students we don't have access to this kind of material therefore I would rather make an excellent film in a different genre that appeals to me more.

Insanity - Student made analysis.

Below is a horror student made opening called 'Insanity'.

From the start of the film we can tell that the main character is taking a journey, we can see this from the backpack and the map he pulls out pointing to his destination. When he reaches his destination he looks up at it as if it is highly important, almost with hope and fear. As he trips up the entrance steps we see a silhouette figure behind him, as if they caused him to fall. As he turns around a scary, possessed looking face appears making the audience jump. The only part of the plot revealed is that he was on a journey and as he reaches it a dark character appears, the only question we are left asking is 'where was he on his way to?' because everything else seems basic and predictable, there's some form of a 'monster' that will harm him in some way. Due to this it is not something that really creates suspense, instead it just causes the audience to jump a little bit. Even though the story may unfold to be very good, I don't feel like the opening is very enticing and not enough of the story is revealed to make me personally want to watch.

There are two key characters revealed, one the man that is shown for the majority of the film and the second being the 'monster'. This isn't usually a bad thing because in a horror film these are the only two really important characters (the protagonist and villain, good/evil) and in the first two minutes we can be shown a possible reason behind this however in this opening we aren't given much insight, which I think is important, even if it is just a bit.

There is no dialogue except for when the man falls and expresses his pain, there is a very quiet tense background noise playing that is unidentifiable however it is not complete silence. I do believe this goes well with the horror genre as it doesn't emphasise fear alone, it shows something bad may be coming and there are other things going on through this minimal noise. The man is unsuspecting, therefore complete silence would be portraying the wrong message - that he was afraid.

Another way the conventions of a horror film are conformed to is the idea of the 'calm before the storm' as at the beginning the sequence and atmosphere appears to  be particularly calm with only a hint of nervousness, presumably due to the location he knew he was travelling to, with the storm coming as the mysterious and horrifying figure appears.

Even though the idea of showing contrast between good and evil or rich and poor (Barthes symbolic codes) appeals to me and that is a big part in horror movies, I have decided that for my own media opening I will not use a Horror film as I don't enjoy watching them and I find them quite predictable and pointless, I don't feel as though the opening can give the audience much insight in order to entice them like other genres can and for that reason I am not interested in looking further into this genre with the intention of making a Horror myself, although I may look at some for inspiration in terms of the narrative.

Inner Evil - Student Textual Analysis

Inner evil is a student made thriller opening, you can see the video for it below.

In terms of how much is introduced, there is not a whole lot however it makes us ask questions and learn a bit about the character. There are two assumptions that we can make from this plot

1. The girl is constantly paranoid, she has scary visions or dreams where she is getting or has been abused that we can not yet tell apart in terms of whether they could happen or are only her imaginations, the plot could be about this girl constantly living in her own fear worrying about things that could happen and 'what if's and that is the concept behind her idea of the inner evil - she is her own worst enemy.
2. The girl is living in fear due to consequences of her own actions, she may have done something where she knows she will be taken vengeance to and for that reason is always on the look out.

Either way, we can assume that the plot will be full of tension and suspense, therefore quite thrilling, there are questions to be answered such as 'why is the girl so afraid' and 'who is the girl following her, is it imagination or reality?' which is a good thing because it keeps us guessing and therefore cause us to keep watching.

We have only been introduced to two characters, one being the paranoid girl you can see for the majority of the video and the other being someone we are unsure of resembling that girl who we can guess that is either a figment of imagination, inner evil character or a real life replica of her out to get her.

There is no dialogue in this opening, it is mainly heavy breathing and gasping. I personally believe this is effective because silence emphasises fear, when you are quiet it is like you're constantly listening out for something or someone to jump out at you, just like the girl seems to be. It fits in well with the story.

Usual conventions or themes of a thriller is that no answers are immediately revealed, once one question is answered another appears, it keeps the audience on constant edge. I would usually expect a mystery to have been solved, new information to cause a rage or a fight between the good and evil. This film seems to conform to this aspect due to the fact there is an obvious line between who the good and evil is, especially due to the evil wearing dark and the good wearing light clothes, however it challenges the typical element of this genre as it seems that the good and evil are the same person and the girl is fighting a battle against herself, which I find very interesting.

I really like the use of flash-forwards and flashbacks to visions that this girl has whether they may be real or not, for example in the video above from 1:55 - 2:05 where we are shown the girl being kid-knapped for a second as she turns round the corner and then realise that we were seeing a worry she had after the real life version of her turned the corner and there was no one there. This is a clever technique as it causes the audience to believe something bad has happened when in fact it hasn't, causing the constant 'rollercoaster' of tension, suspense and relief. This is a flash-forward, an example of a flashback to a vision or a dream she may have had is from 1:36 - 1:43 where she seems to remember seeing someone cut her throat with her key and looks down at it as if she feels she is about to have de-ja-vu.

Overall I think this is an excellent film opening, I like the concept of a thriller however if I decide to incorporate the element into my film opening I would only mildly include it as I would like there to be suspense however I wouldn't like the audience to be strongly on a constant edge as I personally feel the film becomes less enjoyable.

Fast+Slow paced film openings

Jurassic Park

In the opening of jurassic park, particularly for the first two minutes the editing is quite slow paced, the first shot for example of the leaves rustling lasts for 5 seconds and then from 1:12-1:19 there is a zoom shot of a man holding a gun. This pace lasts up until about 2 minutes into the opening, however this isn't a bad thing, it adds to the intensity of the mood and atmosphere and audience as they wait to see what it is the army of men are waiting to fight.

The fast paced editing style begins around 2:44 as one of the men fall and gets attacked by the monster, there are high levels of suspense and stress at this point, therefore the editing style fits in with the story. You will see this below.

Fast and Furious

Below you will see a one minute clip from the film 'Fast and Furious', the fast paced editing begins around 0:25 seconds where we see many different short shots of different parts and angles of the car, for example we see the man accelerating, changing gear, the car moving off, a different angle emphasising the car's speed, the speedometer and so on.

Unlike some films, in this particular clip the editing style doesn't increase tension or stress, instead it is used to emphasise how fast the car is going and rather than being something negative causing the audience to worry for a character, its positive and brings excitement.

However, before all the fast paced editing begins, from 0:00-0:17 in particular the editing style used is quite slow with one pan shot lasting 12 seconds followed by a slow downwards tilt lasting the remaining 5. This sets the scene and time of day as we see night has just passed during the pan, letting us know it is the morning. It is also useful as its an establishing shot, we know the location of it is in the city due to all the buildings and lights we can see.

Editing Styles

Editing is mainly categorised into two parts in terms of speed; fast paced and slow paced.

Fast pace editing: This is where quite short clips are put together lasting no more than around 2 seconds perhaps of different things to give an effect of speed, or to show high action levels for example in a chase scene - it is mostly used in action and thriller movies

Slow paced editing: Here relatively long clips will be used giving the film a more relaxed feel in comparison with fast paced editing, it'll consist of shots that are around 5 or more seconds long, it can be used to portray intimacy between characters or a serious conversation as well as showing any emotions the character might have.


Other types of editing are...

Continuity Editing
This aims to create a sense of reality with time moving forward. It has been nicknamed 'Invisible Editing' because the technique doesn't draw attention to the process of editing.

Jump Cut
This is an abrupt cut in the middle of a continuous shot where the action is very noticeable and advanced in time and/or cut between two similar shots, this is usually done to create an artistic effect of discontinuity

Cross Cutting
This technique either alternates, interweaves, or intersperses a narrative action (scene, sequence or event) with another that's usually in a different location or place, combining the two.
This technique most often suggests parallel action (events simultaneously taking place) which can be used to build dramatic tension, for example in chase scenes

Cutaways
This is a brief shot that momentarily interrupts continuous action by briefly inserting another action related to it, its followed by a cutback to the original shot.

Freeze frame
This is an effect where the frame is temporarily frozen in order for the focus to be on one particular element or event

Eye-Line Match
This type of edit cuts from a character to what it is they've been looking at, it can be compared to a point of view shot

Graphic Match
This is an effect such as a transition where two different objects of the same shape are dissolved into one another

Juxtaposition
This is the placement of two opposed images on either side of either side with contrasting meanings in order to create an effect, this can be done in the editing process as well as placement of objects before they're filmed

Montage
This is a rapid succession of shots that show events moving through time, for example there can be a montage of someone training for a race which would consist of different shots from different times of the person training which would give the overall effect of showing this person has been training over a long period of time.

Big Fish - Story telling/Narrative

The storytelling in Big Fish is told through a series of flashbacks. Edward Bloom tells and narrates stories to people in his family, particularly his son and daughter in law. Before finding out that his father was dying of cancer, Will (Edwards son) had not spoken to his father for 3 years due to his inability to connect to him. Due to the exaggerated and almost impossible stories Ed had told his son, Will felt as though everything his father had told him was a lie and that he didn't really know who he was, this angered and frustrated him as he believed the only reason Edward would tells these stories was for attention.

When Will receives information that Edward is very ill, he travels back to his home town in the hope to reconcile and find out the truth about who his father was and what he did in his life, and it is at this point when we begin to see flashbacks as Ed retells and relives his life.

The first flashback we see is a young Edward with friends in a dark and scary location where there is witch, and if the children wish to see how they are going to die, they must look into the witch's eye. Ed explains that he looked into the eye and saw his fait, however this was never revealed in the story. Due to finding out his fate, it was shown through the narration of Albert Finney (old Edward) that he would go on many adventurous and exiting journeys with many risks because he knows they could not kill him. This sets the theme for the rest of the movie because it shows and tells us that a common theme in it will be to do with taking risks and new exiting ventures, that for any ordinary man could be harmful.

The quote "a goldfish will remain small if kept in a small bowl, but will grow bigger if kept in a larger area" is used to show the ambition young Edward had, and meant that he felt he needed to leave to a bigger area to match his big ambition. Here, a giant is brought into the story who is eating livestock in the night, Edward volunteers to talk to him and when he solves the issue, is seen as the local hero and moves out of town with the giant as they were both destined for 'bigger things' either literally or metaphorically.

As Edward and the Giant approach a forest, Ed decides to take the dangerous short cut as he knows it can't kill him. At the end of this road he reaches a town called Spectre, a perfect town, where he meets a little girl Jenny who is very disappointed but hopeful as he states that he needs to leave and carry on with his journey.

Edward then tells his daughter in law, Josephine about how he came to meet his wife. He explained that him and the Giant came across a circus where the giant was immediately employed by them. Ed then catches his future wife, Sandra, in his eye and says he fell in love at first sight. He explained that Sandra was a student and already engaged to one of Edwards rivals, Don Price, however this did not stop him from openly declaring his love for her which ends in Don brutally beating Edward as Ed promises Sandra that he wont fight back. It is at this point where Sandra leaves Don for Ed after seeing just how cruel he could be.

It is at this point where Will begs his father to be himself and just tell the truth about his life and background and to simply be himself. Edward is hurt by this and tells his "I've been nothing but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that, it's your failing, not mine!" - making us question if all these stories do have truth to them or that there is a chance they really are fact, and did happen.

Old Edward then goes on to tell a story about at the recieval of war enrolment letter, even though he was sad to leave his new wife, he decided to take the most dangerous position as he knows nothing can go fatally wrong. He parachutes into an army camp during a performance for troops and tells his daughter in law a story about meeting two Siamese twin singers who he offers to help break America if they can get him home. As they escape, the US army believe Ed is missing and a flashback of Sandra getting an MIA letter in the post is shown before Edward finally re-joins his wife, becomes a travelling salesman and buys them a better house.

Ed has yet another flashback and tells a story about bumping into an old friend from spectre at a bank one day, Nother, who was robbing it. Edward said he didn't have much choice but to help in this robbery and Norther later sends him £10,000 in which he uses to buy a new house for his family.

Many years later, Edward is becoming a middle ages man. He reconciles with Jenny who is the little girl  who lived in spectre, and he decided to save their town by buying it out but letting them keep their houses. Jenny doesn't want to sell her home so instead Ed redecorates it and fixes it with the help of his giant friend. Jenny misinterprets this action and leans in to kiss Edward however he tells her Sandra is the only one for him. - again, in a flashback.

Back in the present day in Ashton, Edward is only getting weaker, but he continues to tell everyone that this death was not the one he saw in the eye of the witch. Will is saddened as, as they spend time alone he believes he will never really know who his father really is and he slowly, but resentfully, begins to accept this. Shortly after this Edward has a stroke and is taken into hospital. Will asks his family doctor the real story of his birth, as he has only ever had the exaggerated version and at hearing that it was a regular birth he decided his fathers story was more comforting and entertaining, and decides to reconcile with Edward, who is in the later stages of dying.

Just before Edward dies, he asks will to tell him the story of how he dies however Edward never shared what he saw in the eye so Will couldn't. After he pleas Will takes his fathers place and begins a spontaneous story. He finds himself telling a heart warming, comforting and entertaining story to make his dad happy, just like his father used to do. He tells his father that he regains strength, crazily escape the hospital and fastly drive to a river where all Edwards family and friends are, including characters Ed had spoken about in stories to his son. He tells him instead of a funeral they host a goodbye party and as Will places him into the river he is happy and content, turning into a big fish, swimming away. Edward is pleased with this story and is at rest, shortly after he passes away.

Will feels like him and his father finally connected, and he finally understood all of these stories and why his father delivered them the way he did. Will goes on to find a letter to his mother from the army that his dad was MIA, this brings Edward comfort in the fact there was genuine truth within his fathers stories. At Edwards funeral Will can not believe to see the people/characters from all of the stories Edward had told him, he saw the man Ed described as a giant to see he wasn't actually a giant, but very tall. He also saw Ping and Jing, the korean twins however not conjoined as well as seeing Jenny, Norther and many others from what he believed to be lies. Will is very comforted and feels at rest that all along he really did know his dad , he realised Edward combined his passion for telling stories and bringing joy to people with his real life events, and when his son is born he carries on the family tradition and passes on the stories.

The storytelling in this film delivers us a story, through telling many little ones. Tim Burton directed this film and showed us a whole life story and a transformation of relationships in under 2 hours by showing us flashbacks of the main character Ed, and the realisation Will came to that after all, his dad really was himself. I really like the idea of flashbacks used and realisation from these flashbacks with a form of truth, as I feel like it is something that warms the audiences heart especially at the fact in the end it was a happy ending, therefore I may take inspiration from this film when I come to plan my own and make an opening for it.

Narration

To narrate means to give an account, a story or a narrative. It is usually going through a sequence of events in chronological order to inform the audience of what is happening or has happened, it is direct contact with the audience and can be considered a form of breaking the fourth wall in terms of audio only if one of the characters are narrating.

From memory of watching them, there are two particular film openings that include narration/voiceovers which really stand out to me, rather than talking about the films openings and the story/narratives themselves I will purely talk about the voiceovers and positives and negatives of it as well as why i like or don't like it and why i think having a voiceover may or may not be useful.

Twilight

I did a blogpost where I looked into the fantasy genre and twilight was the film I analysed, in this post I spoke about the voiceover in this film which you can find here

From looking at the voiceover in this film I learnt that using one can be very powerful as it can give you an insight into the characters mind who is giving it, rather than just introducing you to the story. In the monologue, Bella says "Dying in the place of someone I love seems like a good way to go". This not only gives us insight into the story telling us it may be depressing or intense, however it lets us know a lot about the way Bella thinks as well as her personality, she seems like a very thoughtful person and we can also gather that love clearly means a lot to her. We immediately see from her tone and dialogue that she is a very intense character and so is the storyline.

This type of voiceover/narration isn't necessarily letting the audience know a background story, however its letting them know how a character feels through a monologue, this doesn't always mean the character is directly talking to the audience as sometimes the audience are not addressed by a "you" etc however most of the time it is for the audiences benefit or to set the mood of the film, for example, the mood twilight sets is a dark, heavy and painful one.

Tangled
I did a blogpost analysing this film and for part of it I spoke about the voiceover which you can find here

In this opening a voiceover is used to tell a story, one of the main characters, Flynn, introduces himself in a friendly and relaxed tone. Instead of telling us how he feels or his opinion on a situation he begins to tell us a story about a girl named Rapunzel. He begins his storytelling with 'once upon a time' and gives us the background to it telling us what had happened so many years ago. As he is telling the story we know it is in the past, therefore his relaxed tone at present is reassuring that the film has a happy ending, which will encourage people to watch it. Throughout this voiceover we find out that an old woman was keeping herself young by singing to a magic flower, the magic then transferred to the king and queen's baby girl - specifically, her hair - and the only way she would be able to stay young was if she kid-knapped the princess, raised her as her own and sang to her - activating her magic powers. This immediately tells us the story could be a 'roller coaster' in metaphorical terms, with an underlying sad storyline which we hope will be resolved but also a fun one, with the journey Rapunzel may take from start to end with her powers.

The main difference between the two types above is that tangled directly tells a story and on the screen, voiceovers like this will usually have clips of this story from beginning to end, whereas just a voiceover with no real narration of an actual story usually delivers thoughts and will show a significant event or a clip of something relevant that could be a metaphore for what the voiceover is saying in order to set the atmosphere rather than to inform. I like both forms depending on the type of film and what the producers are trying to convey as they are both very useful however I do prefer the voiceover used in twilight's opening as I feel like it is more emotionally effective and it doesn't give too much away however is all relevant to the story and the audience will realise this as they reach the end of the film - it is more mysterious.

There is an importance of clarity when it comes to narration, as the purpose of it is to inform or make someone aware of something, therefore it should be easy to understand and the message producers are trying to portray should be clear to the audience. Below are pro's and con's of narration

The pros of narration/voiceovers are...

• it can inform the audience of any background story or what is going on
• it can set a mood and atmosphere
• it can let you know more about an individual character
• it can emotionally connect with the audience

The cons of narration/voiceovers are...

• The actors voiceover could be very monotone and boring therefore make the audience become less interested
• It may only give one characters point of view or feelings, being bias

I believe having a voiceover or a form of narration is important and adds to the effect of the film, I think it is a perfect way to portray emotions and I would like to use it in my opening.

Exploring Stop Motion Animation

In class we were set a task, this was to get into groups of two or three and make a stop motion animation based on an original idea in order to explore the field further to see if we might be interested in using this for our final film opening piece. 

I was paired with George Huggins and we both decided to take the virtual game 'Pac-Man" and make that the theme of out animation. We started by making the models out of play-doh, ensuring that measurements and colours were correct according to the original, we added googly eyes to our models and proceeded to make the background set - a maze. After this we set out our characters on the sheet of the A3 paper background, moved them to where they needed to be and took a photograph, we repeated this process until we had reached the end.

The idea of this stop motion animation was that, like in the game, ghosts would be chasing pac-man, trying to trap him so that the individual playing the game looses, we played on this and initially let pac-man run free until he took a wrong turn which lead to his death and loss of game. In the end you will see some shots saying 'Game Over', as the original would had you lost.

As this was practise we didn't want to make the film too long, in fact we underestimated how short the film would be even though we had taken what had seemed like a lot of shots. Through making this film pro's and con's of stop-motion animation films became clearer to us and easier to understand. Below is our final end product (Pac-Man stop motion animation film) and further below it is a list of pro's and con's of a stop motion animation film both in terms of making it and the final result.

Below you can see some pro's and con's I have come up with of stop motion animation...



PROS	CONS
Brings an image or virtual game to life	It takes time to make the models + set and get them the exact way you want
Can be fun to make and watch	If you accidentally move a model too far and take a shot when you play the film the model moves unrealistically quick
It is a different and unique method of making a film	Having too much animations and models can be distracting and cause the audience to lose focus
It is controlled, you do not have the hassle of finding ‘actors’ that may turn out to be unreliable	This genre mainly appeals to children only, which results in a limited audience

Stop Motion Animation

Stop motion animation is a film technique that lets a physically manipulated object appear as if its moving alone in a video. The idea behind this is that an object will be made whether it is virtual, an object out of clay or a doodle, and photos will be taken of this object step by step as the object is adjusted in increments so that when the photos are all joint together and quickly played, it will look like the object is moving.

Examples of existing films that use stop motion are...

Wallace and Gromit
Wallace and Gromit is one of the most well known films and programmes that use stop motion animation. The producers produced a detailed storyboard, set and models of the characters made of plasticine and shot the film one frame at a time (taking one photograph and altering the models position). The cast (voiceovers) include Ralph Fiennes, Peter Kay and Helena Bonham Carter.
Below is an opening to a Wallace and Gromit programme, the production was very clever because the tea pouring out of the mug genuinely looks like liquid flowing out, which would almost seem impossible to shoot one frame at a time.

Coraline
Coraline came out in 2009 as a childrens film, in my personal opinion, even though it is a stop motion animation, I don't think it is suitable as it is relatively creepy, I can imagine this is a type of film that would scare children due to the mystery, deceit, tension and the fact part of its genre is Horror fiction. Dakota Fanning is the voice over for Coraline and Dawn French for Miss Forcible. Below is the opening of this film which includes the following genres:, Horror fiction, Children's literature, Horror, Fantasy and Speculative fiction.

Below are photographs that were taken behind the scenes of Coraline. In the first you can see someone moving the cat ready to take the next frame on the surrounding cameras, in order to have a variety of angles. In the second you can see a man moving just Coraline's hands, this shows just how precise and important each frame is and how each frame is thought about in the detailed storyboard. When watching the film one wouldn't consider the amount of effort that is needed just for a character in a stop motion animation too twiddle their thumbs. In the third you can see the set of Coraline, in the film it appears to be a big kitchen due to the fact the characters are in a realistic proportion to the room however you can see that in actual fact, it is all one small set.

The Corpse Bride
The Corpse Bride is a fantasy, animated and romance film directed by Tim Burton. The cast/voiceovers include Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp and it is a very popular and well known stop-animation film. The plot is that Victor and Victoria have an arranged marriage and whilst Victor is practising lines for the wedding, he is dragged into the land of the dead. A dead girl called Emily witnesses this and assumes she is now married to Victor and so he ends up with a corpse for a bride. Below is the 2 minute opening for the film.

Below are photographs taken from behind the scenes in the making of this film. In the first you can see a man changing the position of the characters neck through a miniature window, one turn of the neck could have taken up to 5 frames occasionally, possibly even more. In the second you can see the set that has been created and the camera that is taking a shot of each frame. Finally, in the third you can see the female character that has been made and the mans hands finalising the detail in the hair.

BBC Fairytales Cinderella - Narrative

How does this film play with (or change) original narrative elements and how does this coincide with Narrative theories (Barthes, Todorov, Propp)?

The BBC have taken a classic Disney fairy-tale and have completely transformed it into a modern day, possibly realistic Cinderella. The original narrative element has been taken and turned on its head, delivering a story both similar to, and quite different to, the original story.

The plot synopsis for the original narrative is as follows; Cinderella lives happily with both of her parents until her mother dies. Cinderella's father remarries a wicked, evil woman who is a mother to two girls, that become Cinderella's ugly and cruel step sisters, Drizella and Anastasia. When the father passes away, the cold hearted step mother  turns Cinderella into a servant in her own home. Cinderella is unhappy and is wishing for a miracle.

In this same town is  a castle, where the King is adamant that his son (the prince) should find a suitable bride and marry her in order to have a certain number of grandchildren. The King invites every eligible single woman in the entire kingdom to a ball, where he expects his son to choose his future wife. Cinderella's wicked step mother is absoloute in her decision that Cinderella can not attend the ball which results is her step daughter giving up because her evil step sisters tear her dress apart on the evening of the party so that she has no suitable dress for it.

It is at this point when the Fairy Godmother enters with a pumpkin carriage and a dress, making it her mission to ensure Cinderella attends the royal ball, however she warns that at the stroke of midnight all magic will wear off. Cinderella attends the ball and catches the prince's eye, they meet and it is clear he has taking a liking to her, however it is about to strike 00.00 so Cinderella runs off leaving only a glass slipper behind. The prince takes this slipper and is determined to find the bride of his dreams, he searches the kingdom trying to find her whilst Cinderella's evil step mother has locked her away. Eventually, the prince finds Cinderella with the help of her animal friends and they get married and live 'Happily ever after'.

The BBC delivered a similar storyline in terms of type of event, but changed what the actual event was. In the beginning a cleaner named Cindy dreams of going on an anthropology trip to Borneo with a principle people refer to as Prince, when the opportunity arises her boss, Charlotte and her research students do everything they can to take the attention off Cindy and onto them so that they would get the place/job on this trip to be Prince's assistant, they go as far as trying to put Cindy down using phrases like 'people like you' and sabotaging her chance of an interview. Cindy is on the verge of giving up when Mona helps, guides and mentors her along the way to finally getting recognition from Prince in order to get the job. Unlike every other candidate, Cindy challenges princes theory and he admires that in her, over the course of the story he starts to fall in love with her and when he eventually realises that Cindy's theory was correct, he runs to find her. They both decide they do not want the money or publicity in going to Borneo and instead decide to stay together for their 'happy ever after'.

The narrative is kept to the original in terms of patterns in the storyline, e.g. an opportunity arises, there is a battle between jealous girls and the main character and in the end the genuine girl and prince fall in love and get their happy ending.

This film coincides with narrative theories in terms of Propp's character types. Below is a table of each character from the BBC version, the character they are matched with from the original and how I have applied Propps characters to them explaining why they may challenge his ideas (anything that doesn't challenge them, accords to them).

BBC Fairytales Cinderella Characters	The character they're matched with from the original cinderella	Propps characters the BBC characters work well with
Prince	The Prince- Both characters are knows as a form of prince either by name or royalty. They are rich, well known and end up in a relationship with the one they love.	Prince could be seen as the heroine and this is because he is Cindys prize after making scientific history. He could also be the false hero, as in the beginning through till the end he claims to be knowledgable in all areas of science and the hero of a discovery when in fact, oblivious to it, he is incorrect and has been told so by Cindy many times.
Cindy Mellor	Cinderella- Both characters are poor and helpless looking for a miracle to help them achieve their dream. As well as this they are held back by a powerful woman in their lives who does not wish them the best (Fairy Godmother and Boss)	Cindy is the Hero as she leads the narrative and seeks the quest to prove Prince wrong and show the world what she has to offer scientifically. She makes a scientific revelation proving that what everyone thinks is right, actually isn't - making her a hero.
Charlotte Brooks	Evil Step mother- Both characters are wicked and cruel, trying to disrupt and get in the way of Cinderella’s goals and wishes.	Charlotte is the evil headmaster who takes on multiple roles in terms of Propp. She is a villain because of how she tries to get in the hero’s way and sabotage what they are working towards. She can also be seen as the father character purely because she has authority over Cindy. This challenges Propp’s theory of characters due to one character taking on the role of two. Even though this challenges Propp, it does not challenge the actual story of cinderella as in the original the evil step mother would have been the Villain and Father according to propp characters too.
Mona Hammond	Fairy God Mother- Both characters help cinderella and mentor her so that she can succeed. They both also appear to be ‘miraculous’ or magical.	Mona takes on 3 roles, these being the Helper, Donor and Mentor. This is because she offers the hero support throughout, she helps her by providing her with an object (a dress and shoes to impress the prince) as well as teaching and guiding the hero by giving advice and sending them on their way. This also goes against propps idea that each character only had one role and it also differs from the original cinderella in terms of the fairy godmother also being the helper, because in the original all of Cinderellas animal friends would have taken on the helper role however in the modern BBC version cinderella had no friends, if anything else should have been given the title ‘helper’ it would have been the books she studied on.
Finola+Phoebe	Ugly Sisters- These characters all try to overshadow Cinderella even though they both know that Cinderella is intact more beautiful and intelligent than them, they are supported by the evil stepmother and do what they can to sabotage Cinderella’s chances of getting what she wants, as they are jealous.	These girls also take on the role of the villain, this is because, like the Boss, Cinderella is not in their best wishes, and even though they know she is capable, they shoot her down making her feel unworthy and therefore try to sabotage what she is working towards.

Moving onto Todorov's narrative theory, the new BBC cinderella coincides with the states of equilibrium. For example, at the start even though Cindy isn't the happiest in her job, she accepts it and the situation is balanced. After this an opportunity arises where Cindy could be a co researcher with Prince and the situation is thrown off balance into disequilibrium when she strives for it and because of this her boss sacks her, the story continues until eventually a new equilibrium is reached as Prince Hans sees Cindy's theory is in fact correct and instead of working together, they realise they love each other and live 'happily ever after' just like the ending in the original fairy-tale.

Barthes codes are also incorporated into the new version in many ways, below is a mind map I have produced containing examples of the each code within the BBC Fairytales version of Cinderella.

Overall you can see that the BBC have played with and changed some narrative elements in terms of character roles however it largely coincides with the majority of narrative theories.