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.

Creating Characters

As practise for my film opening I have taken some pictures from google images in order to create three very different characters for a potential movie, you will see the profile i have made for each below including their name, age, ethnicity, relationship status, occupation, personality and biography.

Name: Eric Davy

Age: 57

Ethnicity: New York, American

Relationship Status: Recently Divorced
Occupation: Retired accountant

Personality: Eric is usually calm however when he has reached the end of his tether he has a very big temper. He is generous however is not to be taken advantage of and is not to be taken advantage of, he is a fighter and fights for what he believes in. 

Biography: Eric has recently split up from his 20 year relationship with his wife Sarah, she found out he had gambled and lost a lot of their money during his mid-life crisis, he is heartbroken and his 13 year old daughter now lives with her mother.



Name: Jessica Olive

Age:23

Ethnicity: Italian/American

Relationship Status: In a relationship with a footballer
Occupation: Model

Personality: Stuck up, diva, gives no one any second chances, she is very rich and her career is the most important thing to her

Biography: Jessica has the perfect life, her parents have funded her way through everything and her rich boyfriend gets her everything she wants, she has never experienced pain and doesn't understand the concept of being aware of others. She was a straight A student but got offered a modelling contract at the age of 16 and decided she had enough of school, and took it.



Name: Benjamin Humphries

Age:12

Ethnicity: Texan (America)

Relationship Status: Single
Occupation: high school student

Personality: Ben is very timid and shy, he is a pushover but is a very big 'mummys boy'

Biography: Ben has been bullied all his life with friends coming and going because of it, he is very alone and his embarrassing mother doesn't help his situation. He is very clever and the other students don't like him for this, his kindness is taken for weakness and his parents have no clue about anything that is going on. Since his baby sister was born his parents haven't payed as much attention to him and he deals with all his problems alone.



Strong Characters Profiles

Big movies are often successful because of the characters in them, it is important that an actor fits the image of the character you are trying to portray. Below I have profiled three characters of professionally made films from different genres ; Thriller/Adventure (Taken), Teen Film (Mean Girls) and Fantasy/Thriller.

Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson, Plays in Taken)

Name: Bryan Mills

Age: Middle aged, in his 50's

Background: Former CIA agent

Location: Southern California

Ethnicity: White, American

Personality: Mills is a determined, loving and caring man that will do anything and everything to protect his family, such as going to Paris and shooting every man involved in his daughters kid-knap dead. Aside from the nice and calm character, as soon as one of his loved ones comes into harms way, his body switches to 'warrior mode' where nothing and no one will stop him from restoring them to happiness and safety. Bryan is a calm, efficient, determined and tactful man, even when he comes into direct contact with the man who kidknaps his daughter he remains calm and instead of frantically shouting, he asks the kid-knapper (Marco) "you don't remember me? We spoke on the phone...I told you I would find you" before killing everyone trying to attack him and taking Marco to a separate room to interrogate and torture. His way with people makes them take him seriously, and rather than them making him feel threatened, it is the opposite. He has a deep and calming voice and due to the loving actions he carried out for his endangered daughter, the audience fall in love with him.

Physicality: Bryan is 6’4 and weighs 230IBS, he is more towards skinny than fat, however not scrawny. He wears casual, dark clothes that do not hinder his movement. He looks serious and is therefore taken seriously. He has brown eyes and hair, and stubble that makes him appear more 'rugged' and unafraid to get messy e.g. with blood and bruises, rather than a clean cut business man who would not have appeared to suit the role and character producers were trying to portray.

Relationships: Bryan is a divorced man to Lenore and a father to Kim Mills. He appears 'put out' when he see's Kim's step father bought her a birthday present he could not afford and possibly guilty that he cant give his daughter everything.

Skills: Mills has a particular set of skills that he learnt from his job which allows him to track down and kill criminals (Marco). He is athletic and is able to hold his own when in a physical fight, he is also very smart and tactful and because of this is efficient in the way he tackles and handles other (quite threatening) people.

Quotes:
"I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you're looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money but what I do have are a very particular set of skills. Skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that will be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you and I will kill you"

"That's what happens when you sit behind a desk for to long. You forget things! Like having a gun that's loaded and one that's not"

"I have a daughter who wants to be a singer. I was wondering if you have any tips for her"

Regina George (Rachel McAdams, Plays in Mean Girls)

Name: Regina George

Age: Teenager in High School

Background: Most popular girl of the school her entire life, her parents are 'filthy rich'.

Location: America

Ethnicity: White, American.

Personality: Regina is the self-appointed queen of her school, she is nasty, malicious, self obsessed and wishes to destruct anyone and anything that comes in between her and what she wants, for example when she told her friend Cady she would set her up with her ex boyfriend and ended up telling him rumours about her so that he would no longer like her. She is spoiled and acts catty among her peers, an example of this is her 'Burn Book' where both her and her friends would stick photos in of people from their school and write nasty comments or rumours about them. She is a judgmental mean girl that intimidates many people.

Physicality: Regina is the 'beautiful' tall and skinny blonde. Every girl wants to be and look like her, and every male wants to be with her. She is popular due to her looks and expensive taste in clothing and people look up to her because of this beauty and style.

Relationships: Kyle, Aaron Samuels and Shane Omen were are all past boyfriends of regina that she 'dumped'...the first time. Her 3 'best friends' whom she treats like dirt are Karen Smith, Gretchen Wieners and Cady. All of whom she thought was 'beautiful' and possibly felt threatened by; 'If you can't beat them, join them'

Skills: Spreading rumours, gossiping, backbiting and looking beautiful.

Quotes:
"Get in loser, we're going shopping"

"Gretchen, stop trying to make fetch happen! It's not going to happen!"

Cady: "So, are you gonna send any candy canes?"
Regina: "No. I don't send them, I just get them. So you better send me one, byotch"

Hermione Granger (Emma Watson, Plays in Harry Potter)

Name: Hermione Granger

Age: Teenager born in September 19, 1979

Background: A posh, English and Muggle (non magic) family. At her parents surprise she realized she was a witch and during her first visit to hogwarts she was put into the 'Gryyfindor' house that triumphed.

Location: England

Ethnicity: White, British.

Personality: Hermione is a loving, caring, intelligent, determined and feisty character. She is certainly not afraid when it comes to protecting and being loyal to her friends, Harry and Ron, showing them her support every single step of the way and not letting fear conquer. Hermione is very brave and doesn't let people see her she may be afraid, calling Voldemort his name rather than 'He who shall not be named'. Hermione is also very studios and helps her friends not only through physical actions such as fighting Voldemort, but through her knowledge and understanding of magic, for example when she is the only one of the three who knows the spell to open the door in order to pass to the location of the Philosophers Stone. Aside from the fact she can come across as 'tom boyish', Hermione also shows she can scrub up well and be girly at times, for example at the Hogwarts Ball in the Goblet of Fire.

Physicality: Hermione has frizzy brown hair with big brown eyes. She is of an average height and weight and doesn't care about looking 'perfect' all she is concerned with it practicality, with looks not entirely mattering too much. This makes people take her as a serious witch rather than an overly girly character who cant handle battle.

Relationships: Her best friends are Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, she initially had a love interest in someone named Victor Crumb, however this was brief and almost irrelevant. In the end we see that Ron and Hermione are in a relationship together and eventually marry and have a child.

Skills: learning spells and rules of magic quickly, intelligence and acting reasonably and cautiously around a situation. She is also good at comforting and being a good friend, as well as student.

Quotes:
"Is that really what my hair looks like from the back?"

"If you're going to kill Harry you'll have to kill us too!"

"No one blames you, Harry. The Dementors aren't meant to come on the grounds. Dumbledore was furious. After he saved you, he sent them straight off."

"Its wingardium leviOsa not levioSA"

Genre Conventions

Horror

Themes: A theme in a typical horror film would be calmness gradually leading to suspense and a 'storm' (metaphorically speaking) with an unexpected turn with rising tension and fear levels. I may also expect to see a relationship flourish between two vulnerable and desperate people followed by an aftermath that does not deliver the usual happy ending and instead delivers a sad, numb and depressing one - or possibly a cliff-hanger ready for a sequel.

Types of Characters: victims, friends, siblings, parents, possible girl/boyfriend and either a regular psycho-villain or a monster in an inanimate form that has come to life, for example a clown or a dead doll, maybe even a ghost.

Target Audience: The target audience for these types of film would usually be from the ages of 15-25 as that is the age when most horror films become appropriate to watch and past the age of 25 the majority of people may find horror films less interesting and thrilling.

Setting: The setting for these types of films would most likely be somewhere quiet e.g, a house where the victim is home alone and any other abandoned, dark and quiet location.

Examples of films in this genre: The Exorcist, The Conjuring, Scream, Paranormal Activity, The Purge

Genres it combines with and works well: Crime fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Sci-fi

Comedy

Themes: Comedy films are one of the most diverse in terms of what I would expect themes of the storyline to be because the plot could be anything as long as it was funny and made people laugh. Most comedic films would have a lot of adult humour in them and would most likely incorporate a time in the story line where something is dangerous or hard and could have the potential to go wrong however is overcome and instead delivers a happy, light-hearted and funny ending. Most often, I wouldn't expect a romantic relationship to form however, I would expect a friendship to form possibly between two unlikely characters - like in the film 'Stepbrothers'.

Types of characters: boy/girl, friends, siblings, parents, family and a 'villain' who is less of an actual villain OR enemy trying to humiliate or get the main character into trouble (such as an older/younger sibling - like in 'the diary of a wimpy kid').

Target Audience: The target audience will vary depending on what type of comedy film it is, if it is a comedy film with adult humour then the target audience would be 18+ as usually all people interested in comedy films would find the same thing funny and there's no limit to finding something funny no matter how old you are. If the film is a children's comedy such as 'The Diary of a Whimpy Kid' the target audience would most likely be 6-15 as at the age of 6 most children would understand the context and any person beyond the age of 15 would most likely find it 'boring' or 'immature'
 
Setting: The setting can vary, if it is a comedy aimed at children and a family the setting will most likely be in a home or school, for more mature comedy films the location will be different depending on the film, for example in 'The Dictator' some of the setting is in a palace, where as in 'The Hangover 3' some of it is in a hotel room. It depends on the storyline.

Examples of films in this genre: The Hangover, A Million Ways to die in the West, 21 Jump Street, Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Genres it combines with and works well: Romance, Western, Teen film, Mock-umentary, Musical

 

Drama

Themes: Common themes of a drama film would be that it tells and exaggerates a realistic story in order to emotionally connect to the audience. There is often conflict with relatable hardships that convey pain characters may be going through, where the story is explained in detail from start to finish through the performance and dialogue of them. There is also usually a romantic element to the film for example in 'Titanic'.

Types of Character: man, woman, friends, ex lover, enemy

Target Audience: Usually between the ages of 16-35 as they can often require mature intellect, it is more likely to be aimed at a female audience however, doesn't discriminate against males.

Setting: This will depend on the narrative and storyline of the film, e.g. 'Titanic' was set on a cruise-ship whereas 'Slumdog Millionaire' was set in a studio and a slum.

Examples of films in this genre: Titanic, The Fault in our Stars, Slumdog Millionaire, The boy in striped pyjamas, Hunger Games

Genres it combines with and works well: Historical, Romance, Teen,  Thriller/Adventure.

Teen Film

Themes: The typical storyline in a teen drama would be boarder-lining romance.  The theme would be that in the beginning the girl and boy meet, realise they like each other, flirt and eventually have a relationship. Someone will get jealous and begin to interfere, slowly get in between the two causing heartbreak, however most often this is overcome and the two lovers decide to forgive and forget. There can also be teen dramas where romance isn't at the forefront of the story, another theme could be bulling within a school, or the genre could be hybridised with a thriller (like 'Abduction) to make a teenage drama that is different to the stereotyped idea. The most common theme no matter what the genre is, is that there is a happy ending towards the end

Typical Characters: The characters you would see are; a girl, boy, an 'ex' or threat to the soon to be relationship, teachers, friends or people within school bullying and parents. This is because these are the majority of people an average teenager would see and interact with in their daily lives.

Target Audience: Teenagers, mainly girls between the ages 12-19, as these are the people that can most relate to the storyline and therefore enjoy it the most.

Setting: The typical setting for a teenage drama would be in a school, in a town (where characters would 'hang out' after school hours) and home.

Examples of films in this genre: Juno, Mean Girls, Clueless, Cyberbully, Wild Child, Twilight and Hairspray.

Genres it combines with and works well: Romance, Comedy, Drama

Documentary

Themes: In a documentary I would expect to be told a real life story that goes through the realities of a topic such as war, crime, somebody's life, wildlife etc. I would expect interviews with the people featuring in it throughout and would expect to be told the story in the order from start to finish, for example if watching a documentary about a criminal case I would expect it to go from a situation where everything was in harmony and gradually show us how the crime came about. After this I would expect to be shown everything from after the crime to the present day and how the criminals actions effected peoples lives. The documentary would usually be delivered in a 'timeline' style, even in a wildlife documentary talking about how animals give birth - the most recent events would be towards the end. I would also expect voice-overs.

Types of Character: People featuring in documentaries will vary a lot depending on what it is aboout, but usually it would be all those people that are affected by the topic of the documentary (parents, family, friends, doctors, workers in a centre - anyone so long as they are relevant to the story), an interviewer, presenter and possibly an expert too (e.g. in a wildlife documentary - a wildlife expert)

Target Audience: The target audience for a documentary will vary depending on the subject for example a wildlife documentary may attract more mature adults however a documentary about a reality TV star would attract late teenagers and young adults. Aside from this, the general/average target audience would be aged between 16-80.

Setting:The setting is also very versatile and could also be anywhere depending on what the subject was, if it was a look into what fast-food restaurants are really like it would be in the city in restaurants and most likely asking customers questions outside on the street as well as a possible lab where the food is being examined. There could also be an interview room.

Examples of films in this genre: 'This is us' One Direction, 'Part of Me' Katy Perry, Supersize me

Genres it combines with and works well: Culture+Society, Music, Wildlife

Mock-umentary

In a mock-umentary I would expect to see everything I have mentioned above in the documentary from the people that would feature in it to how the story would unfold. The only main difference would be that the person doing the voiceovers or people undercover would be subtly mocking the story and therefore providing entertainment to the public. The mocking may be to a certain extent rude or be seen as racist or maybe even homophobic on occasions but these are done extremely lightly and there is a line where it no longer becomes funny that I wouldn't personally expect to see from the genre. The people featuring in it that are not aware it is a mock-umentary would most likely be treated in a patronising way because they have no clue about the real intentions of the film, and that is why the public would find it funny (e.g. 'come fly with me')

Examples of films in this genre: The Dictator, Bruno, The Office

Genres it combines with and works well: Comedy, Culture, Parody

Romance

Themes:

In a romantic film a theme I would expect to see is two people meeting, falling in love, coming to breaking point as friends, parents, ex's or possibly an illness comes in between them. After this the couple will most likely overcome the issue and then live 'happily ever after'

Types of Characters: Types of characters I would expect to see would be a girl, boy, an 'ex' girl/boyfriend, parents and friends as these are all people that could directly influence a relationship.

Target Audience: People of many ages can appreciate a good romantic film, however the target is mostly females. The film 'Love Actually' would attract a wider audience age range because the characters in it have big age ranges, it would be from 18-70 however a film like 'Mamma Mia' would attract less of a variety and the target audience is more from 16-40 because of the characters in it and the fact it is a musical. Theres no close age range that can be set because of how popular this genre is, however on average the target audience for any romantic film would be 16+.

Setting: I would expect the scenery in romantic movies to be very beautiful with scenic or 'rich' views such as a city soaring with sky-scrapers, a beach with a sky-blue sea or a countryside with fields of natural green and peaceful land. This is because I believe the characteristics of these settings signifies things a good relationship can be (beautiful, happy, peaceful) and they are the types of places good memories can be made for the couple, like splashing in the ocean or late night strolls in Central Park.

Examples of films in this genre: Titanic, About Time, The Notebook, 50 First Dates, Love Actually, A Cinderella Story.

Genres it combines with and works well: Drama, Comedy, Teen

 

Thriller/Action

Themes: In a thriller or action film I would expect to be kept on constant edge, wondering what is going to happen. I would usually expect a discovery to be made somewhere along the line and then the main characters aiming to solve this mystery, get revenge, fight the evil or help the good. Story lines would be realistic enough to be believable when trying to relate to what is being put out as a 'real' story, even though we know its fictional but they are also far fetched sometimes. For example the film 'Taken' seems realistic and puts viewers on edge by building tension, however even though the story is realistic and could happen, its something that people would say 'only happens in films' because its so dramatic. I would expect to see fights, chases and possibly death.

Types of Characters: I would expect a boy/girl who finds out new information or seeks something from 'the other side', a parent, guardian or mentor to help them, an accompanying friend or someone that is helping the main character or hero, the villain or enemy and companions of each.

Target Audience: The target audience for thrillers would be 15+ as they create a lot of tension and may not always be appropriate for younger viewers. Even though I believe all films can be enjoyed by all ages I think the cut off point whereby this audience isn't thought of when coming up with a plot would be age 40+ as most people may think they would expect a different narrative, for example including elders in the film for the purpose of relating, however this is not the case. I don't believe there is a specific gender that is targeted for these types of films, however some films may target boys more than girls  and vise-versa, but the genre as a whole does not.

Setting: I would expect the majority of the storyline to be held outside where there is space to run and hide, and for some parts inside buildings of a working company or a secret hide out where the either the enemy or victim can be found.

Examples of films in this genre: Inception, Divergent, The Purge, Dawn of the Planet Apes, Taken, Abduction, Spiderman.

Genres it combines with and works well: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Mystery

 

Sci-fi

Themes: In a sci-fi movie I would imagine seeing a world of harmony followed by an idea that has good intentions (such as the Matrix) however there is then an unbalance in the harmony and some form of a war must be fought between good and evil that involves saving the world. Typically good conquers evil before the world returning to its balanced, harmonious state

Types of Characters: The characters you would most often come across in a film of this genre would be a villain, a hero, companions of each, police and a guide for the hero - for example the Oracle in the Matrix.

Target Audience: the target audience for a sci-fi would usually be for the ages between 15-30. This is because usually sci-fi films have a lot of modern hi-techology aspects to it where people of this age would take the most interest to

Setting: A typical sci-fi setting would be in a lab, outer space or a location with high modern technology, I would also imagine that the lighting may be dark in some scenes.

Examples of films in this genre: The Matrix, ET, Star Wars, Avatar, Rise of the Planet Apes, The Avengers.

Genres it combines with and works well: Fantasy, Adventure, Thriller

 

Musical

Themes: In a musical, a story will unfold, there is no dead set theme as it can be based around many things, however usually there is a romantic element as you find in Mamma Mia, Hairspray and Les Miserable. Like in most films, the storyline will be set out so that in the beginning there is harmony and the majority of people are happy, then there will be something to disrupt this and will eventually be resolved. The reason there is no set theme is because a musical is an element to a film rather than being the entire film; what I mean by this is you can take almost any genre and turn it into a musical just by singing dialogue and involving a lot of relevant music. It can range from a criminal musical to an animated to a romantic one. It all depends on what producers are trying to achieve, however musicals often have a romantic element to them.

Types of Characters: Depending on the genre there will be a range of characters, the most likely to see in a musical (give or take depending on the genre the film is paired with) are: girl/boy with a goal, someone that will get in the way of this (possibly an enemy, villain or a magical power e.g. in frozen), parents, romantic interest and companions of each.

Target Audience: Again, because of the variety and different genres a musical can be matched with this will vary. An animated musical such as frozen would be aimed at younger children but would also be something young adults can enjoy due to the fun and meaningful messages in it, whereas a musical such as 'Les Miserables' would be aimed at an audience from the ages of 16+ because of the mature performance and because it may require more intellect.

Setting: The setting can be anything depending on the genre it is paired with, all of the other genres I have spoken about in this post apply to this, e.g. in a romantic musical I would sometimes expect the location to be somewhere with nice views, as it emphasises the beauty not only of the place, but of the flourishing relationship.

Examples of films in this genre: Les Miserables, High School Musical, Frozen, Grease, Mamma Mia, Pitch Perfect, Aladin.

Genres it combines with and works well: Romance, Comedy, Teen

 

Fantasy

Themes: In fantasy films, Propps character codes usually apply very well. The main characters are often taking on a quest and the film may be emotional at points. Todorov's model also applies well in the changes of equilibrium as usually fantasy films start off where most characters are happy and something stops this and eventually a new equilibrium is found. There is almost always a happy ending in these films, especially due to the fact the target audience is usually younger. These films also often deliver a moral message or lesson to its viewers e.g. 'tangled' teaches us not to be too trusting of everyone. There is also usually a romantic element to most films in this genre too.

Types of Characters: (A) hero(s), villain, heroine, mentor, helper, parent/guardian, donor and a false hero with companions of each - Propp's character codes.

Target Audience: The target audience for fantasy films is from the age of 2-25, this is such a big range because depending on the film, the audience will require a certain level of intellect. There can also be a considerable appeal for older audiences too however the target is not to please them, its to please the majority of whom the film and narrative will appeal to.

Setting: This can vary depending on what the film is hybridised with, for example, partnered with an animated film the setting will often be around an exaggerated home e.g. shrek in a swamp or Elsa in a frozen tower. Partnered with a sci-fi film, such as spiderman the location will most likely be in a public place such as a city. On its own, depending on the storyline it could be anywhere, in contrast to horror films it would be in light places with people in it (not quiet).

Examples of films in this genre: The Hobbit, Harry Potter, Twilight, Narnia, Frozen, The Hunger Games, The Matrix.

Genres it combines with and works well:

 

Animation

Themes:Usually in animated films such as Disney, I would expect to be given a background story of some sort or an insight into it, such as the introductions in tangled and frozen showing the characters lives as children and growing up. It would be typical to initially see a balance where the majority of the characters are happy and there is no change for a while, however I would expect a change in that balance somewhere along the line where either a discovery is made, a situation goes wrong or the characters set out on a mission and after the balance is shaken it would eventually be fixed by some form of a hero because of the love they have for the one in danger.

Types of Characters:The characters you would see in this genre of film are most likely; a parent, child, sister, brother, hero, friend, lover and a villain role.

Target Audience:These are usually family/children's films and convey a moral lesson of the story, for example frozen teaches girls that the love between sisters is stronger than the love any lover could have for you and that you shouldn't let outsiders come between family.

Setting:The setting is usually in a home but exaggerated so that it has an element of fantasy, for example a swamp (Shrek), a tower (Tangled), a palace (Frozen) or a house floating in the sky held by helium balloons (Up).

Examples of films in this genre: Tangled, How to train your dragon, Toy Story, Finding Nemo, Despicable Me, Kung-fu Panda.

Genres it combines with and works well: Fantasy, Comedy, Family, Romance.