Narrative
The
traditional type of narrative for our genre of action is linear. This is
evident in film openings for our genre that inspired us. This means starting at the beginning, moving
to the middle and proceeding to the end of the story. Levi Strauss’ theory that
says binary opposites are important in narratives such as good vs evil, women
vs men, crime vs justice can be applied to our film opening as we had a good vs
evil theme.
Regarding
camera work in our AS film opening, we used a variety of shots to communicate
the narrative of our film opening. This included close ups of the main
character so people could identify with her and wide shots of both the good
girl and bad guys, to show them at opposite ends of the camera and therefore
opposite ends of the spectrum. These wide shots enabled us to show that the
unique casting of a lead female in an action genre with a sci-fi feel was being
chased by two male special agents. The theory proposed by Levi Strauss about
binary opposites being just as important as narrative can be applied here, as
without the idea of good vs evil we would have had no narrative to incorporate.
In
terms of editing in our AS film opening, we used short cut shots and a variety
of transitions to communicate the narrative of our film opening. The use of
short cut shots coincided with the build up of fast paced music – all to create
the effect of tension and drama that is typical of our genre. We used
transitions such as fades and dip to blacks to make the narrative of good vs
bad (Strauss) seem like the most important factor, agreeing with his theory.
For
sound, we chose a song that built up really dramatically and when it reached
its’ peak, became very fast paced to match the narrative of the genre. This
made our sequence successful, as we were able to use sound to help incorporate Propp’s
theory that texts need particular characters to develop a narrative. Also, that
there are particular parts of a narrative that always happen, for example in
our film opening – the good girl was being chased by the bad guys. The audience
enjoys watching this and it gives them someone to identify with and also root
for, which makes them more focused and interested in the narrative. The music
aided this because as it built up, it was more evident that the particular part
of the narrative was needed, supporting Propp’s theory.
For
mise en scene, we used real costumes such as the special agents in suits with
ear pieces and the female hacker in a black dress with boots and a coat to add
a sense of realism. For locations, we filmed in train stations so that it was
busy and added a sense of panic to the narrative. Also, we filmed in old
cobbled streets so that it wasn’t busy to show a sense of loneliness and
helplessness to the character in need of a way out. Mise en scene helped
communicate the narrative as all of the above factors made the characters
perform in a more successful way and therefore the storyline was more tight
packed and Propp’s theory of needing something to happen highlighted the use of
mise en scene.
We
used narrative enigma, theses are codes that limit the audience
to information, and it lets them have to figure what is going off in the story.
This was evident when we opened with the hacker sitting typing on her laptop,
and the special agents see her and mouth something into their ear pieces. This
creates questions such as, who is she? Who are they? What has she done? Why do
they want to follow her? This then creates an enigma so that our audience are
pleased and will continue to watch.
To
conclude, our audience viewers thought that our narrative was interesting and
unique, as we used a female lead in an action genre with a sci-fi feel. This is
not normally expected of this type of genre, therefore it was seen as cleverer
and therefore interesting. Our genre was action which was highly noticeable
with the help of factors such as editing, sound, mise en scene and the type of
camera shots. Perhaps if we used more of an unrestricted narration, where
information is given out in as much detail as possible with very little
restrictions so the “narrative” is clear like an unknown theorist proposed, we
could have made it even more unique and perhaps targeted an even wider audience
– but that is the only thing that would have potentially made it better.
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