Narrative Theorists in Our Film

In the narrative of our piece, we have included Todorov’s theory of difference in equilibrium, and Levi Strauss’ theory of binary opposition. 

Todorov’s Theory

At the beginning of our opening sequence, the photo montage we have included displays equilibrium. The characters all appear to be smiling, happy and enjoying themselves, and nothing appears to be wrong here. Then, a shot of Jazz’s body lying on the floor comes in after the titles, which is the first display of disequilibrium in our narrative. As of course, this displays that something bad has happened, and that the happiness shown in the beginning has been dissipated. Although the equilibrium is not shown to be re-established in our opening sequence, it will be by the end of the film, with Josh’s character being brought to justice for what he has done.

Levi Strauss’ Theory

Throughout our piece we have used a few examples of binary opposition. We include life vs. death, good vs. evil and innocence vs. guilt.

Life vs. death is shown by the contrast of shots of Hannah and Josh being alive, and Jazz’s dead body lying on the garage floor. Additionally, the photo montage that we use at the start of the piece also represents life, and a time when Jazz was alive.

Good vs. evil is portrayed by the inclusion of my character and Josh’s character. Josh’s character being the evil character, with plotting and carrying out the murder of Jazz, and mine being the good character, as she had done nothing wrong to provoke her killing.

We have portrayed innocence vs. guilt via the use of the juxtaposition of zooming into Jazz’s eye, and out of Josh’s eye. The use of juxtaposition shows binary opposition as Jazz’s facial expression reflects her innocence, and Josh’s facial expression reflects his aggression and guilt. 

Narrative Theorists

Levi Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss was a social anthropologist who believed in the expression of binary opposition in a films narrative. He believed that all conflict in a film was based on binary opposition, and often is the main focus of the narrative. Strauss believed that the human mind thinks fundamentally in these binary oppositions. 

Some examples of binary opposites are:

Good vs. Evil

Boy vs. Girl

Peace vs. War

Strong vs. Weak

Domestic vs. Savage

Here are some examples of films that show Strauss’ theory of binary opposition:

Good vs. Evil - Harry Potter (Good) vs. Voldemort (Bad)

Peace vs. War - Humans (Peace) vs. Aliens (War)

Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian literary theorist who suggests that most film narratives follow the same pattern: equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium.

Todorov believed that this narrative pattern has five stages:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset
2. A disrupton of the equilibrium by some action
3. A recognition that there has been a disruption
4. An attempt to repair the show disruption
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

This theory is found to be true for most narratives, as many films follow this narrative sequence. However, equally, there are films that do not follow this sequence.

Fight Club is a film that DOES NOT follow this theory

Die Hard is a film that DOES follow this theory

Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic and literary theorist who proposed that characters and their actions could be classified into clearly defined roles and functions. Propp came to this conclusion after analysing over 100 Russian fairytales, in which he found that he could classify all characters into 7 broad character functions. Propp also believed that the protagonist of the film would take on the hero role, and that the films antagonist would take on the villain role.

The 7 character functions are:

The hero

The villain

The donor (Gives the hero something to help them)

The helper (Typically magical, helps the hero in their quest)

The princess

The false hero 

The dispatcher (Sends the hero on their quest)

This theory is found to fit a lot of films, however, there are a lot of more recent films that do not. 

Here is a helpful PowerPoint that I have found when researching, that includes an example as to how 'The Hunger Games' fits Propp's theory:

Planning: The Narrative

In order to plan the narrative , we sat down as a group and we discussed ideas for the film. During our discussion, we also talked about different shots that we could use in our film. We decided that we should also watch some crime dramas to further get some inspiration for the narrative of our thriller opening sequence.

Here is a photo of the mind map that we created with our ideas:

Production Companies That Would Produce Our Film

Who would produce and distribute our film?

The target audience of our piece is teenagers between the ages of 16 and 19, specifically. With modern society becoming ever more reliant on the internet, and with illegal downloads becoming such a large problem for the film industry, we talked about making our film accessible legally through the internet. 

Our target audience falls into the age bracket of people that use online streaming sites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Now TV, the most. Whether this be because a monthly membership to a site such as Netflix can equate to less than one cinema trip, or whether it be due to the convenience of being able to watch some of the latest, and most popular, movies from the comfort of your own home, we don’t know. 

After some research, we decided one of the production companies that we were most interested in producing our film was Film 4. We were attracted to Film 4 as it is well known for producing independent, low budget, British films, and as a result, have quite a large following of people that watch their work, as they have enjoyed previous pieces they have watched. Using a production company like Film 4 would make our film more appealing to an audience as they are a production company that is renowned for making excellent quality pieces, with interesting narratives. Additionally, Film 4 is also available on an online platform, which is fitting with how we wanted to make our film legally accessible online. Film 4 would also be a suitable company to produce our film, as from research we have conducted, they have produced a fair few films that are of the thriller genre.

After some discussion and some research, we came to the conclusion that we would be interested in using hybrid distribution as our method for distributing our thriller film. Hybrid distribution is when you keep the rights for your film, but sell them to different distributing platforms to distribute your product. This way you earn more money, as your are paid by the different distributors, than if you just sold the rights straight off.

We liked this idea as it meant that our film would be available to watch on a variety of platforms, and would then hopefully reach a larger audience than it might if on one method of distribution was used.

As a means to distribute our product, we would be interested in using a streaming site such as Netflix. This is not only because Netflix is a site that is regularly used by our target audience, but because it has been used as a platform for getting lots of independent films a lot of interest. For example, Netflix produces and distributes its own shows and films, which gain a lot of views through the platform. Additionally, a lot of British independent films have grown in popularity, and have reached a much wider audience than thought, due to the success of the platform, and due to the sheer number of people that use the platform. 

There were a variety of reasons that we decided that our film would be distributed using online platforms. Not just because that our target audience as regular users of streaming sites, but also because it would be more cost effective. For low budget, independent films, it is often unrealistic for them to be distributed in cinemas, as this costs a lot of money. Instead, the use of hybrid distribution, involving the use of online streaming platforms, would be far more achievable and cost effective. 

First Day of Filming

 Filming Details:

Location: Josh’s House - Pencoed

Date: Friday 6th January 

Start Time: 9:30am

Here is a photo I took of my other group members before we started filming.

Today was our first day of filming and it went very well. We spent the day testing out a variety of shots to see what we thought would make our film interesting. In the process, we discovered some shots that were unsuitable, and we added some extra shots that we had the idea of as we were filming. 

A large part of today’s filming tasks was to test out different intensities of lighting to see which we thought would be most suitable for our film. To test the lighting, I lay on the floor in the garden throughout the day, including midday and early evening. 

Something we noticed is that due to the time of year, it got dark very fast outside. This meant that we would have to act quickly if we were to film outside. The photos above were taken only an hour apart, one at 4pm and one at 5pm, which proves our theory, and means that we will have to be wary of continuity in lighting conditions. Additionally, we will also have to be cautious of weather conditions, as today the weather conditions were clear and sunny. If it was cloudy or raining, then it might be darker earlier. 

This photo was taken at 4pm in Josh's garden

This photo was taken at 5pm in Josh's garden

Altogether, we decided that we preferred the lighting in the photo that was taken at 5pm, as it was darker, and we felt that it made the shot more sinister and eerie. This dark lighting is also stereotypical of thriller films. However, we found that filming in the garage at just after 5pm was too dark, as you could not see me enough, which meant that this timing was unsuitable to film in the garage, and that we would have to do it earlier.

Production vs. Distribution

What is production?

The term production is used in reference to the development and creation of the film. This covers pre-production, production and post-production.

Pre-production: This part of the project includes everything that must happen before filming commences. This includes working out the location for shooting, the casting, and making the storyboard and script for the film.

Production: This is the part of the process where the footage is being recorded. It is also where the team look at the lighting requirements of the shots, the framing and it is also where composition is worked on, too.

Post-production: After all the footage is filmed, this is the part of the process in which it is turned into a film that people can watch. This stage of production includes editing, sound mixing, colour correction and addition of any SFX such as CGI.

What is distribution?

The term distribution is used to refer to what happens to the film after it is finalised. During distribution, the film is made viewable to the public. It is the distributors of the film that decide on the marketing strategies of the film, the release date of the film and the way the film is made available for the audience to view it. They also decide whether the film will go to the cinema to be viewed initially, or whether it will be released straight onto home viewing platforms, or streaming websites.

Here is a useful presentation that I found when I was conducting my research in the differences between production and distribution:

Differences Between American & British Film Production

As part of my research into the film industry, I have conducted some research into the differences between American and British Film Production. With the research I have completed, I have made a PowerPoint with the information that I have found out: