Research into film theorists.

Narrative is the way in which a story is told in both fictional and non-fictional media texts. 

Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory suggests that all narratives follow a three part structure where they begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and finally reach a resolution, when equilibrium is restored.

Levi-Strauss: Binary Opposites argues that the meaning of the narrative is based upon binary opposites. He observed that all narratives are organised around the conflict between the binary opposites themselves. Some examples are:

        • Good VS Evil

• Human VS Nature

• Protagonist VS Antagonist

• Black VS White

• Humanity VS Technology

• Man VS Woman

• Human VS Alien 

• Action VS Inaction

• Ignorance VS Wisdom 

• 
  

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• Vladimir Propp Theory/Todorov's theory- is a theory that has influenced many filmmakers to produce and write successful narratives. Propp also suggested that all fairy tales follow a specific narrative structure. Vladimir Propp was a literary critic and a scholar who founded the idea that a certain type of character was to be used in every narrative structure.  
  
  He suggested that every narrative has eight different character types, these character types are:
  
  
  
  
  The villain- Fights the hero in some way.
  
  
  The dispatcher- Character who makes the villain's evil known and sends the hero off.
  
  
  The magical (helper)- Helps the hero be in the quest.
  
  
  The princess or a prize- The hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries this person, thereby beating the villain and resulting in a 'happily ever after' moment. 
  
  
  Her father- Gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero. Propp noticed that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished. 
  
  
  The donor- prepares the hero or gives the hero some kind of (magical) object. 
  
  
  The hero or victim/ Seeker hero- Reacts to the donor, weds the princess. 
  
  
  False hero- Takes credit for the hero's actions or tries to marry the princess.
  
  

Roland Barthes was a Fresh semiologist whom suggested that a narrative works with five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it. Barthes' codes include:

Action- a narrative device which a resolution is produced through action, e.g a shoot out. 

Enigma- a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved. Works to delay the story's ending pleasurably. 

Symbolic (connotation).

Semic (denotation).

Cultural- a narrative device which the audience can recognise as being party of a culture e.g a "made man" in a gangster film is part of the mafia culture. 

Roland Barthes suggested that there will be one or more codes that will describe the meaning of a text, these codes will be to do with the visuals, the audio etc.

Enigma Code- Hermeneutic Code, a mystery within a text. Clues are dropped but no clear answers are given . Enigmas in a text make the audience want to know more. Unanswered enigmas tend to frustrate the audience.

Action Code- Proairetic Code, this code contains sequential elements of action in e text. Proairetic codes add suspense and excitement to a film.

Semantic Code- This code refers to parts of a text that suggest or refer to additional meanings. Elements of the semantic code are called semes. The seme has a connotative function in a text, it has an extra layer of meaning.

Symbolic Code- This code refers to the symbolism in a text. It exercises opposites to show a contrast and create greater meaning, creating tension drama and character development.

Cultural Code- Referential code, existing knowledge. For example if it was set in NY, it would show famous landmarks that people can recognise.

David Bordwell Theory

Narrative consists of story and plot. A story consists of the following, inferred events (understood by the audience), Explicitly presented events, added non- diegetic material (titles etc, anything characters wouldn't see). STORY- PLOT.

Christen Thompson and David Bordwell

He also said there is 3 kinds of time in film. The plot duration, the story duration and the screen duration.

Closed/ Open narrative

Everything at the end is CLOSED. Or if everything at the end is left OPEN for an audience to try and guess themselves.

Syd Field's Three act plot structure

He said there is a 3 part structure in all films.

1. Set up- most important part, in the first 10 minutes of the film. Need to set up something exciting that makes the audience want to continue watching.

2. Confrontation - they will confront enemies, this is the turning point of the film.

3. Resolution- when the person gets control of the problem.

Can any of these theories fit to the narrative of our film?

Tzvetan Todorov's narrative theory: This theory will not fit our narrative as at the end of our short film, equilibrium is not restored. If however this film was longer than 5 minutes I think this film would fit perfectly as Grace would be able to phone the police and the perpetrator would have been caught.

Levi- Strauss: Binary Opposites narrative theory: This theory can be applied to our film within certain aspects. Within our narrative the themes of Good VS Evil and Ignorance VS Wisdom appear in order to build up a successful narrative. If there was no Evil or Ignorance within the narrative, then the events that take place to Grace would not not happen and the narrative would not make sense, or relate to our chosen genre, thriller.

Vladimir Propps narrative theory: This theory suggests that within the narrative there is a numerous amount of characters. Again, much alike Todorov's theory, because our film is only 5 minutes we did not need to use aspects of this theory within our short film. We focused on having a protagonist throughout and allow the action to take place around this character. 

Continuity in Film.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot reverse shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character and the other character is looking in the opposite direction, which implies the two are looking at one another. This is often used when the scene involves two people talking. This creates a realistic effect to the audience that both characters are interacting. The primary elements of a shot/reverse shot sequence are derived from the three-camera set up. The shots you should have for a basic shot reverse shot are: a two-shot of the characters usually in wide or medium shot; an over the shoulder shot on character A; and an over the shoulder shot on character B. The diagram below should give you an idea of the set up. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FiWrkLJDQCQ)

180 Degree Line Rule

This rule is essential in keeping the viewer focussed and avoiding confusion. Once the scene has started the camera has to stay one side of the actors and action. This is called the 180 Degree Line Rule. In a dialogue scene between two characters, a straight line can be imagined running between the two characters, and extending to infinity. If the camera remains on one side of this line, the spatial relationship between the two characters will be consistent from shot to shot, even if one of the characters is not on screen. Shifting to the other side of the characters on a cut will reverse the order of the characters from left to right and may disorient the audience. The rule also applies to the movement of a character as the "line" created by the path of the character. For example, if a character is walking in a leftward direction and is to be picked up by another camera, the character must exit the first shot on frame left and enter the next shot frame right. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y4wX_dmh8_g)

Match on Action

Match on action is a very simple but is essential, where the perspective of the camera changes during a scene and the scene continues the flow of the film. An example is a man walking up to a door and reaching for the knob. Just as his hand touches the knob the scene cuts to a shot of the door opening from the other side. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continuous time when watching the edited film. By having a subject begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next, the editor creates a visual bridge, which distracts the viewer from noticing the cut or noticing any slight continuity error between the two shots. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mv93covb53w)

Title Sequence Analysis.

Skyfall Title Sequence Analysis.

Skyfall, latest instalment of the James Bond franchise is an action thriller and is clearly seen through the title sequence.

In the opening we can see a long shot we can a man falling deep into the water as the camera tracks along with him until we can see a clear shot of his face.

This then fades to and from black and cuts to a close up of somebody else grabbing his hand and pulling him. But then quickly cuts to an extreme long shot of Daniel Craig getting pulled down by a really big hand which makes the audience feel like there is automatically something strange occurring and creates tension and uncertainty. This happens in-sync with the music to make it more visually appealing to watch. In addition to this, Daniel Craig’s name is placed in the middle of the screen to show their importance in the film, the font is also in white which compliments the surroundings.

That shot then cuts to a POV shot of Daniel Craig’s legs as he sinks deeper into the ocean. There is also a vignette affect around the edges of the screen to make the viewer focus on the middle of the screen and focus on the fact he is sinking, which creates further tension even in the opening sequence.

This then cuts to a high angle extreme long shot of Daniel Craig being sucked into what looks like a hole at the bottom of the ocean. As we are unable to see exactly what it is creates further uncertainty and makes you more intrigued to watch more of the film. The colour blue represents seriousness and shows the audience that the genre of the film is going to be some sort of action thriller rather than a comedy.

The next shot is then of a wooden cut out target of James Bond wearing his typical, traditional suit. However, he has a wound on his right shoulder which is the first time another colour except blue, black or white has been used within the title sequence. Red is a very emotionally intense colour. It enhances human metabolism, increases respiration rate, and raises blood pressure. It has very high visibility, which is why stop signs are usually painted red. Red is used to indicate courage which is what you’re supposed to think of when you see James Bond.

This then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of a woman’s head turned towards the light with the majority of her face been covered by the shadows which indicates suspicion and mystery. Along with the music and powerful voice of Adele again indicates that the film had an action genre.

In the next shot we can establish more of the ocean and can see guns and knives showing us that the film will, at some point, have death in it. Also, as the colours are dark and mysterious, we can see a light in the middle of the screen which could imply that there is still hope and could be interpreted as James Bond being able to live on. The camera then keeps tracking on through the depths of the ocean and we can later see gravestones appear also connoting death. However, with them being at the bottom of the ocean could indicate that they have been forgotten about and that they are unimportant.

The location then changes to a red tinted forest area as we get a close up of a branch from a tree. And we can also see a mysterious dark figure emerge in the middle of the screen, creating mystery and suspicion as to what it could possibly be. There is also a water affect still on the screen however the water would have to be red? The director would want you to think about that then make you come to the conclusion that it could possibly be blood, which connotes danger. Also, the contrast between black and red which connotes anger and death, which is what the typical James Bond film is about.

We then get a camera zooming into a suspicous looking eye wth a pale red tint on the screen, giving off an unnatural effect, which then opens up into another shot implying that is what he is potentially thinking about. This shot happens to be of James Bond in what looks to be an abandoned building with dust and dirt along the ground. Bond then quickly reacts to something and fires his gun, however, we are unable to see exactly what he is looking at.

This then fades to a shot of what looks to be the ocean with a thick orangey/red coloured thick liquid making the audicence very confused as to what it is. This liquid then begins to form a skull in the middle of the screen making the audience scared as usually skulls are symbols of death.

This then cuts to a mid shot of a woman holding and pointing a gun at the camera with the camera zooming into the barrel of the gun. The camera then appears to go inside of the barrel and open up like an iris into a place which has obviously been set on fire due to the flames burning on the ground. The flames then appear to be the

wooden cut out targets of James Bond featured in the beginnig of the title sequence implying that James Bond could potentially die within the film, or that somebody is out to get him.

Orange combines the energy of red and the happiness of yellow. It is associated with joy, sunshine, and the tropics. Orange represents enthusiasm, fascination, happiness, creativity, determination, attraction and sucsess which is not what is happening here as we can see somebody being set on fire, giving off  juxture position.

The next shot then transitions to a silhouette figure in a black and white evnironment. Silhouettes simplify the image, you're not distracted by details and it makes you concentrate on what is happening on the screen which should in turn allow you feel the moment and feel like you’re there. There is also low key lighting used and produces sharp contrasts of light and dark areas which creates shaddows which are commonly used in thrillers. Again in the next shot of the sequence, we can see James Bond’s figure outlined in a hall of mirrors, usually used to diorientate and confuse people.

In following medium close-up shot we can see a high key lighting and chiaroscuro used, however, the colours used are very minimal and dull like the greys, whites and black besides the red wound in the right side of his chest, which is conviniently placed in the middle of the screen to make the audience see it very clearly. In the very last shot we can see the names of the producers and directrors as the camera dollys-in towards Daniel Craig’s eye. The names are left until the very end as they are the most important in making the film. This is done so their name stands out from the rest.

Analysis of Title Sequence - Skyfall

The opening titles sequence begins with James Bond falling into deep water. A long shot is used in order to put Bond into context so we as viewers are able to see that he is in water. A tilt is then used to follow Bond as he sinks deeper into the water as 'Skyfall' by Adele begins to play. The frame then fades to black and back to the water as credits are seen to fade into the frame. The fade to a black screen for a few seconds shows the viewer that in the next shot something has changed.

Again, another shot fades to black and then fades back into a different shot of Bond falling into a black hole in the water in a close up shot of his legs and feet. I think this is done to make the audience feel as if they too are falling into the hole alongside James Bond. All the while, 'Skyfall' is still playing and credits are fading in. I think this is done so the viewer can interpret that the film will be about Bond falling deeper and deeper into trouble. An extreme long shot is used to show Bond falling into the hole of the water - the viewer is able to see the whole setting so instantly knows that the character is still in the same setting and nothing  has changed. This shot is used as the film title appears in the same way the credits did.

To move from the previous shot into another, a dissolve is used to show just how far Bond is floating through the hole and away from the surface of the water. The camera then begins to dolly in so the viewer is able to see more of what is in the water.
In the next scene, we see a female in the water. The camera tilts for a second as it moves down her body - this is done in three parts as the shot is cut three times; head to back, back to thighs and thighs to her feet.

The camera then moves downwards and we are taken to a low shot of the underwater floor. A cloud of smoke rushes towards the camera as it continues to dolly in. Rhythmic editing is used to speed up this process as it takes only a second for the smoke to meet the camera lense, cover the whole frame and open up to a different shot of a graveyard. Underexposed film is used to create the effect of a dark and gloomy location to suggest to the viewer that we are in an uninviting atmosphere. The chorus for 'Skyfall' is playing as this shot is happening, creating an intensified atmosphere for the audience.
Rhythmic editing is still being used as the camera speeds its way through the graveyard shot, zooms in on a headstone so the frame becomes black and re-opens to a red-filtered shot as the camera quickly dollies into a house with a crack in to show Bond's face.

As an extreme close up of Bond's face is shown, the shot is then slowed down to a normal pace and there are no filters affecting the colours. I think this is done to convey to the audience that there is going to be trouble and turmoil surrounding Bond throughout the film.

In the next shot, the chorus has finished meaning the song is at a lower volume and is less intense as we are taken to a new location. An extreme long shot is used so the audience are able to see the setting and characters in the shot. Bond is stood in the middle of the shot pulling the focus to him as he looks around and pulls a gun out. A helicopter shot is then used to show shooting at shadows that surrounded him so viewers are able to see exactly what is going on.

 A few shots later, the camera focuses on an extreme close up shot of the female from earlier on pointing a gun at the camera. This creates tension and animosity for the viewers. Graphic editing is used to move from the female holding the gun to a new shot as the camera zooms into the barrel of a gun and transfers us into a tunnel which then leads to a shot full of flames.

As the trailer begins to an end, the song becomes louder and more intensified as we see a medium shot of Bond with his back facing the camera. As he turns around, a close up of a bullet wound is shown and the camera dollies in. A red filter is used as the camera changes to a different shot. Rhythmic editing is used again as the camera dollies into a house. It is a deep focus shot because even thougth the house is further back, we are still able to see it as clear as we can see the branches which surround the frame. 
The final shot is a repeat of a previous shot - an extreme close up of Bond's face through a crack in the house. However, as the song comes to an end the camera steadily zooms into Bond's eye until it reaches the pupil and then the screen turns black and a final credit appears.