Analysing the Different Types of Sounds

When analysing sound you have to take into account the different types of sound which are:
Diegetic
Non-deigetic
Contrupuntal
Pleonastic

Here is a clip from Misfits Season 1 - Episode 6 - The Gear Up Scene:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vzv50hxtt3k

In this clip the sounds heard all represent something with teenagers:

Pleonastic:

The sound of the ipod music is exaggerated here to show that they are typical teenagers who like their music loud and the choice of music is a popular genre with teenagers. The fact that the song is fairly new and in the charts shows that they keep up-to-date with their music as regular teenagers do. The fact that they each have an ipod of some sort shows that they are all into music. In this scene they are listening to music to get them pumped for what they are about to do. The sound of the rubber gloves being pulled and let go and the sound of the zip being pulled up are all pleonastic. This shows that they are getting prepared for something and that everything has to go right. They then put another song on and this song is more upbeat and more adrenalin pumping which relates to teenagers' spontaneous and impulsive nature.

Diegetic:

The ipod changes from pleonastic sound to diegetic sound when the characters out their ipod earphones in their ears. Again, this shows they are trying to get pumped for what they are about to do. The dialogue used is straight forward, aggressive and slang is used. This again represents teenagers because they like things done quick.

Non-diegteic:

The second sound track chosen by the character in the middle (Nathan) is then used as the sound track for when all three of them start walking in slow motion. The slow motion and sound track go well together showing that teenagers live in the moment.

Analysing A Period Drama - Little Dorrit

A sub-genre of drama is period drama. In period dramas we always see a social group presented and this is usually juxtaposed with another social group. Some examples of period dramas are:
Pride and Prejudice
Forsythe Saga
Ashes to Ashes

When analysing period dramas you should always look at:
Sound
Camera movement
Shot types
Colloquialism
Mise en Scene
Camera angles

Another period drama is Little Dorrit. Little Dorrit was a British period drama series on BBC ONE and set in 1805 - 1826.

Analysing this clip of Little Dorrit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkbIHqwQbHU
(00:00 - 1:30)

Immediately at the start you can tell that Little Dorrit is set in the 1800s because of the Mise en Scene showing old, wooden houses and the style of dress the first character is wearing. The first character we see is called Arthur Clennam spotting a lady in the distance, crying. As soon as he spots her and the camera looks at her, non-diegetic background piano music starts playing in a sad tone. This suggests that something is bad has happened to this lady. We then see Arthur walk fast up to her. Just before he reaches the lady, the camera shows a long shot. This long shot shows Arthur running past a few hanging weaved baskets. This shot helps show part of the Mise en Scene because only in a poor area would a stall like that be on th street.

As Arthur reaches the lady he says "Excu...It's you!" and she replies "Mr Clennam". This language and formality shown here suggests that he is more relaxed although looks well educated and also suggests that she is of lower class and shows respect. We find out that this lady is actually Little Dorrit. Arthur realises that she is mourning the death of somebody and says "Oh, you're in mourning". This language shows further that this period drama is set in the 1880s when they spoke differently to how we speak now. Arthur still calls her "Little Dorrit" even after being friends in the past, this shows that he still thinks of her the same way and hasn't changed. However, Little Dorrit feels differently and tells him to stop it because she isn't a kid anymore.

When they get talking Little Dorrit says "I am a lady now and it is my business to do nothing". Here we can see that the stereotype of women is being shown. The stereotype that women must stay at home. The camera angles here are from the 180 degree rule, using over the shoulder shots. When the camera is looking at Little Dorrit, the camera is looking down and when it is looking at Arthur Clennam, the camera is angling up. This is obvious due to the height difference but at the same time represents the emotional state that they are both in. Arthur Clennam is apparently happy with the way things are going, as we see at the beginning when he uses his arm to swing around a pole to walk up some stairs, and that he has found an old friend. In contrast, Little Dorrit is in mourning because of the death of her brother and father in Venice.

The BFI

The BFI is the British Film Institute. They hold world-renowned archives, cinemas, festivals, films, publications and learning resources and promote understanding and appreciation of film and television heritage and culture.

On the official BFI website says that:
"The history of the bfi can be seen as a succession of great achievements and innovation intermingled with periods of crises and criticism. The issue of who controls the bfi has seldom gone away with the government, the film trade, the 'educationalists' and other cultural pressure groups all expressing their opinions at one time or another."

British TV Dramas

There are many British TV Dramas which are popular but why are they so popular? What makes an audience want to continue to watch it?

There are many types of drama like:
Series
Soap Opera
Serial
Drama trilogies
Single dramas
Partners

Goodnight Mister Tom
Goodnight Mister Tom is a single drama. The common themes are discipline, reality, cruelty and relationships. Many people find this drama very interesting and attention grabbing because maybe some people can relate to how the protagonist is treated.


Sherlock
Sherlock is a three part series crime drama. The common themes are death, crime, mystery, suspects, evidence and solutions. The fact that it is a crime drama promotes enigma which proves suspenseful to it's audience which hook them to keep watching it.

Dr Who

Dr Who is a series drama. The common themes in Dr Who are time travel, companionship, good and bad guys, death and suspense. All of these are put together well to make an excellent and popular drama series that has many fans. Everybody views Dr Who as the true hero and he is shown as a character to be liked by the audience as well as his partner.




Spooks
Spooks is a British spy serial drama. It's themes are crime, spies, murder and mystery. Many people find it entertaining because it's all to do with secrecy and mystery just like Sherlock. The element of suspense is also what attracts the audience to watch it again. Spooks also has major twists where even main characters are killed off.


Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a soap opera. The common themes are relationships, reality, friends and enemies, problems and conflicts. Many people find Coronation Street very interesting because there is suspense between episodes because of the problems and conflicts going on between many characters with multiple story lines. Also people can identify with other characters and feel happy and/or sympathy for them when an event happens to that character.

Holby City & Casualty
Holby City and Casualty are drama partners. They both have common themes such as relationships, problems and conflicts and real life emergency situations. Again just like coronation street, people are entertained by the characters and their problems and conflicts.

The 3 Rules

Every film whether it be a blockbuster or a low budget film, all films use camera and editing techniques to make their movie interesting. If they didn't then movies would not be very fun to watch. There are many techniques used when using the camera or editing.

However here are 3 main techniques that should be used always when making movies:


Match On Action
This is an editing technique used to make things interesting. Even as walk down a corridor can look interesting when edited properly and using this rule.

Match on action is when you show somebody doing an action and then close up on their actions to see what exactly they are doing. For example, if somebody was really nervous how would you show it? First, you would show the person doing a general action such as sitting in an interview room and then you would close up on their hands and fingers that would be constantly moving around a lot because the person is nervous. You could also show somebody walking up to a door and opening it but while they are opening it, you could close up on their hand on the door handle.

Using this technique makes things more interesting and it shows you have much more skills than just holding a camera and following somebody around the room and not editing anything at all.

Here is a video example:

Shot/Reverse Shot
This is a camera technique used when 2 people are looking at each other or somebody is looking at an object. The camera in one spot while there is a conversation going on can be very boring and sometimes you might not even know who said what when the camera isn't showing who is talking properly. This is a good camera technique to use to show other points of view and make things interesting when people are looking at each other. The camera in one spot while there is a conversation going on can be very boring and sometimes you might not even know who said what when the camera isn't showing who is talking properly

An example of Shot/Reverse shot is when two people are facing and talking to each other. With the camera you can show Person A talking by using an over-the-shoulder shot on Person B and when Person B responds, you can use an over-the-shoulder shot on Person A to show that Person B is talking back.

Here is a video example:

180 Degree Rule
This is another camera technique used mostly when using the Shot/Reverse shot technique. This rule is used more for keeping confusion away rather then making things interesting. It stops people getting confused when 2 people are having a conversation and if the 180 degree rule isn't being used then it makes it look like people are moving from left to right even when standing still or sitting down.

The 180 degree rule is where you have a situation just like the Shot/Reverse shot with 2 people talking and you only keep the camera to one side of the 2 people. If you are using an over-the-shoulder shot on Person A on the right shoulder then make sure when using an over-the-shoulder shot on Person B it's on the left shoulder.

Here is a video example:

Propp and Todorov's Theory

Every film, story or narrative always has a beginning, middle and end. They always involve conflicts, problems, good guys and bad guys. This is what makes every film, story and narrative so interesting or else nothing would happen and it would be like watching someone else's average life.

Propp and Todorov are both people who came up with their own theory or idea about how films, narratives and stories are made up. They both broke them down to find the basic foundations of how they are structured. Propp was a russian soviet formalist scholar who published a book called "Morphology of the Folk Tale" (1928) and Todorov is Franco-Bulgarian Philosopher who came up with his theory in 1960; they both came up with their own theories:

Vladimir Propp (1895 - 1970)

Propp's theory involves:
Preparation
Complication
Transference
Struggle
Return
Recognition

Tzvetan Todorov (Born 1939)

Todorov's theory involves:
Equilibrium
Disruption
Recognition of Equilibrium
Attempt to repair disruption
A return of new equilibrium

Propp not only had a theory though, he also had character types to add onto it. Character types are certain characters that always appear in films, stories and narratives. Propp decided that there were these character types:
Hero - normally the main character
Villain - the character the hero is trying to stop
Prize - what the hero gains at the end
Mentor - the character who helps the hero all the way through
Helper - the character that aids the hero
Blocker - the character that delays the hero from getting what they want
Dispatcher - the character that sends the hero on his journey

To conclude, both their theories and Propp's character types can be applied to almost any film, story, narrative, literature, theatre, television series, video games, etc. By following their theories it allows you create suspense and to plan a story's plot easily because you have some guideline.

Gregory Crewdson's Photo Analysis 2

A photo of a man alone in the woods in a hole.

This is another photo by Gregory Crewdson. This photo is of a man, alone in the forest and night time. Why is he there? Why the hole? This photo also becomes enigmatic when you start to think about these things.

The lighting in this photo is more like twilight shining down, there is also more light towards the back of the photo. The light suggests mystery.

The man looks focused on opening what looks like a briefcase after briefcase or boxes that he looks like he has dug up. The man is also wearing a shirt but the buttons are not done up, it doesn't look liked he planned this at all. The car on the left shows that he was desperate to get there because there is a bit of trunk knocked down. The trees around the man shows that he is deep into the woods

The camera angle looking down at the man but not by a sharp angle, just a slight down angle, it's as if someone is looking at what he is doing. This also adds more mystery to this photo because we cannot see what this man is looking at or looking for. This again creates enigma.

This denotation of this photo is a man, alone in the woods opening cases but when looking properly at the photo and finding the implied meaning, the connotation of this photo shows a desperate man who has driven his car into the heart of the woods to find something which he had to dig for.

Gregory Crewdson's Photo Analysis 1

Gregory Crewdson's photo of two people eating dinner

This photo was taken by Gregory Crewdson a famous photographer.

He has taken a photo here of what seems to be two people having dinner. In the photo we can also see that they are in a lovely family home, quite decorated. However the other two chairs are vacant, where are the others? Are there any others? Why aren't the other at the table? Why is it so dark? This photo becomes enigmatic when you start to think about these things.

It seems to be like a painting because he uses so much artificial light. The only light source seems to be in the room behind them and the room with the family in seems to be dark. However, even though the light is coming from the room at the back, the shadows point towards it.

The facial expressions on the two people don't seem to show any happiness at all or even any interaction between each other, not even eye contact. The people are dressed well, not in rags, which represents the house in which they live.

The camera angle is at eye level and the shot type is a long shot suggesting the family is sort of broken up because the camera would normally be up close to a happy family to show how close they are.

This denotation of this photo is two people eating dinner but when looking properly at the photo and finding the implied meaning, the connotation of this photo shows a broken family or problems within this family.