Looking into Comedy #1

 The comedy film I have decided to analyse is 'Step Brothers'. This is, as you can gather from the title, about two step brothers and having watched the whole film I know that they form an unlikely friendship towards the end after many many scenes of showing hatred to one another.

The opening starts with a George Bush quote about family, with them showing the author as "an actual George Bush quote". This is comedic due to George Bush's character and how it contradicts this quote. The credits all shown against a black screen in a doodle form text. This shows fun and lets us know its a lighthearted kind of film as it isn't as 'adult'.

Whilst these credits are running we hear a crunching/ruffling sound which we soon see to be a grown man overfilling a plate of tortilla crisps and cheese - finger/childrens food - again a theme of slight immaturity running with the greed. Fun music then begins to play with the man grabbing even more food than what he already has. I think the fun music is a pro in all of this at it helps set the lighthearted and comedic atmosphere.

We then see a scene with a mum leaving the house giving this man who we realise to be her son information about her whereabouts and when she will be back, another sign of adolescence.

A pattern emerges when we see another grown man acting like a child playing a guitar on a game depending on his father for food as he goes out.

This is all 'funny' because its not a social norm for fully grown men to act in the way the two males are shown in the opening, the things they are saying and doing also consist of 'adult' humour which is also something the audience would find entertaining.

After the two very similar men from different families are introduced we see their parents meet and form a connection with their similarities and attraction to each other - which is also very humorous, eventually we see the couple get married and their two children joined together.

Both of the children end up throwing some form of a tantrum in the reception at the idea of being in each others families and living together and it is at this point where the opening ends.

Like I said, I like that right at the start of the film we were given a feel for the atmosphere and story with the fun font and music. I also like the idea of a quote to set it all off as it immediately tells the audience what the theme of the film will be - family.

I think a con would be how the scene jumped from the parents first meeting to their wedding day, I believe an improvement would have been to film a short montage of the two getting to know and love each other rather than just jumping from lust straight to love. Apart from this however I believe the opening revealed and set the base for the plot very well in the amount of time it had, we saw the situation of both men and families and saw them join together with a little bit of 'step-sibling rivalry' which is enough for the audience to decide if its their kind of film.

Another thing I like about this film is that its genre is almost 100% focused on one thing; comedy. The romantic part is over and done with within the opening and the marriage scene, and the producers are more concerned in showing us the growing relationship in the two brothers.

A brief plot synopsis idea for a film in this genre
Andy is a 13 year old boy trying to find himself and fit in with all of the people at his school, when his now single and 'nothing to live for' 22 year old brother, Alex, moves in for the summer everything seems to come together. With his careless and Andy's tactfulness, they join forces in their journey of having fun, getting to know each other and climbing the high school ladder Andys desperately been wishing for.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.