Narrative Theories

Propp
Propp came up with the theory that characters in a story take on single or multiple specific roles of narrative 'spheres of action' or functions. So in short, the character roles create the narrative. Propp came up with 7 character types usually found in a narrative (a character could adopt 1 or more of these roles); the Hero (restores narrative equilibrium by embarking on a quest), the Villain (creates the narrative destruction), the Donor (gives the Hero something to help store equlibrium), the Helper (aids the Hero), the Princess (most threatened by the villain, usually has to be saved), the Dispatcher (sends the Hero on their task) and the False Hero (appears to be good but turns out to be bad in the end).

Todorov
Todorov came up with 5 generic stages he thought would be found in a narrative, and tend to be found in most mainstream ones. These stages are as follows;
1. a state of equilibrium at the beginning
2. a disruption of this equilibrium by some action
3. a realisation that there has been a disruption
4. an attempt to repair this disruption
5. a restoration of the initial equilibrium

Barthes
Barthes came up with 5 codes which he thought were woven into any narrative. These 5 codes are as follows:Enigma Code - Something the audience does not know.
Action Code - Something the audience knows and don't need explaining. (E.g. Packing a suitcase in a hurry connotes running away)
Semic Code - Using hints (E.g. Mansion, Sports car, Butler, Posh classical music) to connote certain concepts such as wealth.
Symbolic Code - A structure which organizes meaning such as through the use of binary opposites.
Referential Code - Looks at the audiences wider cultural knowledge, morality and ideology.

Levi-Strauss
Levi-Strauss saw narrative structures in terms of binary oppositions; sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. For example, Good & Evil, Earth & Space, Old & Young, Dark & Light, etc. He was not interested in the order events were arranged. Themes contain a variety of binary oppositions, such as sci-fi films may contain Earth & Space as well as Good & Evil and Humans & Aliens, etc.

Converging a Game-Show

The game show I would choose to converge (if I could) is Robot Wars; the game show where contestants create their own robots and then throw them into battle with one another. There are many media formats that Robot Wars could be converged with; those of video games, iPhone apps, webcam/internet streams, internet competitions and perhaps betting.

Production

    Converging robot wars with various media formats other than television could lead to changes in production with the original programme. One of these changes maybe how contestants would gain the chance to appear on the show; instead of traditionally applying by post or phone call a competition could be created in which would-be contestants would have to compete in order to appear on the TV show. For example, an online multiplayer game could be made (in the theme of Robot Wars of course) in which people could customise & build virtual robots and then fight each other with them. When players would win matches they would gain points, those with the most points by a certain date would be those who could build their own real-life robot and fight with it on the programme. Further more, if webcam streaming would become a part of the show then it would need to be considered where the webcams could be placed during production. The most obvious ideas could be on the battling robots themselves, this way people on the internet could watch different aspects of the matches. If this happened, another element could be introduced – that of betting on matches. While watching live webcam streams spectators could bet online (perhaps with points they had earned on the online multiplayer game) which robot they thought would win the current match, or future ones.

Distribution

The aforementioned idea of webcam streaming links to distribution as it provides another format on which the television programme can be accessed & watched, and thus distributed to viewers. Depending on which channel Robot Wars would be broadcast on at the time, downloadable or stream-able episodes of the series could be available to the public on internet players such as 4 OnDemand and BBCiPlayer. DVD boxsets could also be sold.

Marketing

    In terms of marketing, as well as online multiplayer games, there could be a range of various other video games produced based upon Robot Wars that could be marketed to gain profit. DVD box-sets of the series’ could also be sold. Furthermore, the show & its merchandise would mainly be advertised on television as well as on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to ensure that all audiences are reached. Also applications such as news feeds could be available for download to mobile phones to raise audience awareness of upcoming episodes and release of merchandise.

Technologies

    Assessing all that I have already mentioned, aside from all the conventional TV-show-making equipment, other technologies we would need to utilise would mainly be that of the internet and its many qualities (especially since the internet can be accessed not only from a computer, but also from mobile phones, PSPs and other handheld devices). Also, mobile phones and gaming systems are also being addressed if phone applications and video games are also to be produced. Thus, audiences can interact with the game show on all manner of formats, depending on their preference – the more formats the game show accesses the larger audience it reaches.

What is TV Drama?

   There are many things included in the genre of TV drama. In simple terms, TV drama is fictional action in narrative form. TV drama splits into many different sub-genres in modern broadcast, and it is important to understand how and why.

Examples of TV Drama; Wallander, Doctors, Made in Wales, Eastenders, Holby City, Doctor Who, Lip Service, Being Human, Sherlock, Casualty, The Vut, Middletown, Lennon Naked, Made in Wales. (Broadcast on BBC)

Examples of TV Drama mixed with another genre; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Heartbeat, Inspector Morse. Many of these are crime, detective or police dramas. The reason for this combination is because police shows and action often go hand in hand; therefore you get a police drama, this way it's action in real-life context.

Different kinds of TV Drama; Comedy Drama, Police Drama, Detective Drama, Medical Drama, Historical Drama, Political Drama, Romance Drama, Legal Drama, Sci-Fi Drama, Supernatural Drama, Military Drama, Children's Drama,


*Needs Finishing*

Thriller Evaluation - Full Version

Here are the written pieces for questions 1-7 of my thriller evaluation.

Media Evaluation Final.

View more documents from MissBehaviour.

Also, here are some annotated stills from our thriller in relation to Question 1. (They were too large to fit in to the text document).

Here and here .

The Finished Product!

Here's our finished edit of our thriller, 'S1'.

Body of Lies

I
   This is my second full case study on Body of Lies. This is a crime/spy thriller based on a terrorist plot of planting bombs all over Europe. Three men work with and against each other in order to unfold this plot and track down the terrorists. It's basis is the novel written by David Ignatius; an american journalist and novelist also in association with The Washington Post (therefore it might be assumed that he's an established writer with wide experience, and perhaps capable of creating a commendable novel). His book was published only a year before this film was made, Warner Bros bought the rights in 2006 and altered the name of the book to be published in 2007 - the film was then released in 2008. The three men are played by Leonardo diCaprio (Roger Ferris), Russell Crowe (Ed Hoffman) and Mark Strong (Hani). With such big names involved in the film it can again be assumed that the makers had high hopes; the film was in fact nominated for two awards (London Critics Circle Film Award and Satellite Award). The film was directed by Ridley Scott and the film company primarily involved with the production was Warner Bros. The filming locations were Maryland, USA as well as various locations in Morocco. The film was rated R in America and 15 in the UK for violence, torture and strong language.

II
   As previously mentioned, this film was rated 15 in the UK for strong language and violence. Therefore in guideline terms this film is intended for anyone over the age of 15. However, age aside, because of the heavy political and terrorist complexity of the film in my opinion I would say this film is targeted at the politically interested and perhaps intelligent. Having not seen the entirety of this film myself and reading up on the plotline it appears that the story is quite complex. Therefore I would think that adults would find this film the most engaging and interesting as they would be the ones most 'savy' with politics and the like. However that isn't to say that younger people wouldn't enjoy this film, I would watch this film myself if I had the opportunity. Here is a review from IMDb.com put forward by a viewer that thought the film was quite impressive :

Engaging, intelligent

11 October 2008 | by jemps918 (Philippines) – See all my reviews

V. well-made; everyone from the cast and crew pulled their own weight in Body of Lies.

Director Ridley Scott's genius shines through what could have been another unpalatable, trite topic of the US' relations with the Middle East and terrorism. He expertly unravels the story of CIA operative Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) who is assigned to flush out an evasive terrorist who is blowing up public places all over the world. Ferris is increasingly frustrated with his boss Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe)'s impatience and double dealings, which more than once puts himself in jeopardy, challenges the trust he is trying to build with Jordanian leader Hani (Mark Strong) and his budding romance with the pretty Palestinian nurse Aisha (Golshifteh Farahani).

DiCaprio just keeps getting better and better as he is now more able to lose himself in a role and successfully shed the pretty. Crowe does well in an understated but dangerously quiet role as a Washington-based puppetmaster. The versatile Italian-Austrian Andy Garcia-lookalike Strong is fantastic as the powerful Hani, while Farahani's face lights up the screen and turns in a memorable performance as well.

The attention to detail in this movie is just awesome; the action sequences are not over the top but satisfactory enough to not lose the main storyline despite the complex thread of subplots. Overall, an engaging, intelligently-made film.

   From what this viewer has written it seems that this type of film is quite a popular one to be made, and therefore they are not always made well. But it seems that this film in particular is favourable to the public as is awarded a 7.1/10 on average on this particular website. It is understood that this viewer has picked up on the amount of effort put into this film in order to emphasise the possible reality of the situation. However, here is an extract of a review written by a person who thought the film wasn't so well made :

Is the movie over yet?, 19 October 2008
Author: PWNYCNY from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Maybe being a government bureaucrat is not the most glamorous way of making a living but it's still a way to make a living. However, after watching this movie, one may come away believing that every government bureaucrat is a lazy, bloated, conceited, paper pusher who lives exclusively to partake of his next lunch break. Not exactly a pretty picture, but this is the picture that the audience has to endure when watching what is nothing more than another tedious, noisy, overacted action movie. Just what the doctor ordered ... right? How many more of these movies has Hollywood made? One thousand? Two thousand? The formula for making these movies is so beaten into the dust that by now it should be completely unrecognizable. The locales change but the plots remain the same, and with the same shallow character development and the equally shallow acting as trained performers are asked to devolve into pseudo-cartoon characters and act accordingly. This movie seemed to run-on interminably. "When will this movie end?" I repeatedly thought to myself. Leonardo DiCaprio was totally unbelievable as a CIA operative, but what has to be one of the great gaffs of miscasting, an overweight Russell Crowe plays a CIA bureaucrat...

   This viewer seemed to think the film did conform too much to this kind of sub-genre and that it was too boring and repetative of other films that it was barely worth watching. Perhaps this viewer had seen too many politically based movies. Although this review seems quite severely negative, it can't be denied that the majority of viewers that posted on IMDb gave this film a positive review.

III

   In regards to technology, this film was released only 2 years ago and so modern technology has been apart of it's advertisment. Here is a link to the film's official website that contains the film's trailer and other various details towards the bottom of the page. As is viewable, the website looks very sleek and modern and although it does not contain many extras as might be usual to a website it has links to where you can now purchase the film on DVD and BluRay. So the website that was previously used to advertise the film's release and other details, is now used to advertise accessible purchasing of the film. There is also a link to Warner Bros Movie and DVD updates; further advertising the production companies products. There is also a Body of Lies page on the Warner Bros webiste found here which provides an interactive screen in which you can click to view descriptions of characters as well as watch the movie trailer. There are also features such as a photo gallery. The fact that this was available before the film was released meant consumers that were interested in the film were able to read up fully on characters, locations, etc. Therefore technology in the medium of the internet provided/provides a well-laiden website of features available to the public that may draw them in to watch and/or purchase said film. The trailers and cast interviews can also easily be found on websites such as YouTube. Website such as Google also provide features of looking up books, which in this case is relevant as Body of Lies was of course based on a book. Since info on the novel is in circulation, viewers can easily get linked up to the motion picture through this also.

IV
   As I have not watched the entire film, I have decided to analyse the first 3 minutes of Body of Lies. As the film begins we are confronted with an arabic man; the combination of his clothing and language lead us to the fact that he is obviously middle eastern. He points towards the camera as if he is speaking directly to the audience about his operation, the use of an unfamiliar language makes the audience feel as if they are intruding in on something they shouldn't be. And the gestures and speech given by this man threatens hostility and therefore a dangerous situation. Middle eastern style music is also played in the background to add to the atmosphere of unfamiliarity in the setting of "Manchester, England". We are then lead around a flat or house that is very dark and run down, we still hear the man talking in the background - his voice is distorted as if coming from a radio. The darkness of the shots give the setting a very dingy look, perhaps suggesting that not only is the area dark but the deeds going on within are dark also. We see evidence of intelligence amongst the inhabitants; one has a book laying on him (a religious one perhaps? Gathered from the previous reference to Islam, etc), chemicals and equipment are laid out and one man is wearing glasses. The aforementioned bombings (from the Arabic man in the beginning) lead us to think that perhaps these chemicals are associated with such acts; we can perhaps draw the conclusion then that these men are terrorists and that something thrilling is about to happen. All this is received by the viewer quickly and they are therefore absorbed into the plot very quickly as they are engaged. It is conventional of a thriller to primarily present a situation that is perhaps at first in need of some deduction, and therefore the viewer is drawn in straight away by using their brain to understand or work out what's going on.
   Moving on from the shots inside the house/flat we can see police attempting to infiltrate said house; confirming our suspicions on their activity. What I picked up the most from the this part was that the digetic sound of fences rattling, the milk bottles in the truck and the dog barking etc were all made to sound much louder than usual in a shot of this kind. The police footsteps etc were made very quiet, this high contrast of loud and quiet sound emphasises the stealth of the police. An explosion then follows as those inside the house hear the police regardless of how stealthy they were. The explosion is yet another loud noise that accesses the viewers ears as well as their eyes to keep them enthralled. To be presented with conventional characters such as police force members and potential terrorists conforms this film very much to the crime thriller sub genre. The dark, run-down setting makes us think that who ever inhabits this place must not care for appearances and in our kind of society people are very judgemental about these sorts of things, leading us to think that these inhabitants aren't quite usual inhabitant if their windows are smashed.

Click here for an annotated screenshot mentioned.
Note : The windows behind this character could suggest that light or good is behind him; in the sense that he is fighting for a good cause or in the sense that he has left good will behind.

V
   There is not much to be deduced in the way of social groups or women in the first 3 minutes of this film. However what can be commented on is the representation of ethnic minorities; in this case the muslim community in Europe. The fact that in the first 3 minutes of this film the only muslims shown are thought to be terrorists; this could send out a bad message. However, this is relevant to current and previous events that have happend globally in reality; muslims have been found to be suicide bombers, terrorists and the like. I think this film is simply a representation of this to emphasise effect. There is also a man shown who delivers milk to the door of the flat who is wearing a turban, another ethnic minority in the country of England. Not much can be concluded from his part in the film as he is only in it briefly, perhaps the fact that he is a milkman makes him seem unimportant and that his meant to be the representation. The rest of the people we see in the opening of Body of Lies are all disguised in police uniforms. Therefore it's difficult to draw any conclusion from who they represent. Also, no women are shown in this opening. Perhaps the film makers decided not to include women in the opening as the first few minutes of the film are filled with danger and violent acts - and women are perhaps not associated with this in the public eye. Therefore, with only men in the shots it gives a much more uneasy atmosphere. This sort of representation could also be taken to say that women are not or shouldn't be concerned with matters such as these, which is slightly derogatory. However, this analysis is only drawn from the first three minutes of the film so can't really be taken seriously until justified with evidence from the rest of the film.

Thriller Research: How it's influenced our thriller construction

 I've conducted a fair few pieces of research that I've posted on my blog, but I wouldn't say much of it would be worth anything if I hadn't used it to develop ideas for our own thriller project. So here's a post on the ways in which my research has influenced my ideas.

 This piece of research (click here) was conducted very early on during my AS media course and was quite important in our group's development of ideas. The information on composition allowed us to create shots that were in balance and appropriate to the atmosphere of the scene. There is a particular shot at the end of our opening in which Rhys (Jos) is to the right third of  the frame and is walking towards the camera, the view of the track in the wood in the background is in the rest of the frame and is then added to as the Lady in the Gas Mask appears on the track some distance behind Rhys. The rule of the thirds helped us to compose shots like these well resulting in clarity and balance of the shot - and in our satisfaction. The knowledge of digetic and non-digetic sound also helped us create the atmosphere we wanted in our opening. We decided to mute all of the digetic sound and only use non-digetic sound. We thought this technique would make the soundtrack seem more applicable to the feelings of the audience and make them feel like they were really there. In a way it depersonalises the characters on screen or makes them seem more far away, which could also make the viewer feel like they are pursuing/stalking them (also adds the convention of isloation..).

 The notes made from these thriller openings have contributed to our thinking of editing our thriller opening. I believe I made comments on all them regarding hue and darkness. Most of them had fairly dark frames with high contrast of small amounts of light and large amounts of dark. The hue was also often blue to give a sense of unwelcome and cold. We'll most likely follow these existing thriller examples in order to conform to thriller conventions and audience expectancy.

 My case study on Ginger Snaps didn't provide too much insight for me into our own thriller as it's a fairly different sub-genre. Although, there is a point in Ginger Snaps where the two main girls are attacked in the woods and our thriller opening sequence basicaly consists of Rhys being attacked in the woods. Therefore you could say we're using a classic basis for a sequence in a thriller, an example being in Ginger Snaps. The characters in Ginger Snaps also seem innocent but fairly liable to being attacked or victim to unfortunate circumstances. Such is the same for our main character.

 My analysis of The Coin Toss scene from No Country for Old Men was based on semiology, this let me understand the importance of objects and signs in thrillers. We used props such as the gas mask to invoke mystery and uncertainty about one of our characters. The trees on location also symbolised bars and hence entrapment of the main character.

 And of course the research into what a thriller actually is provided us with a general feel of film that we wanted to give to our own. By using all the different aspects of thriller conventions (locations, iconography, themes and plot lines) we have created our own version of a conventional psychological thriller.