plot - the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc. Essentially its what happens in the text.
narrative - a message that tells the particulars of an act or occurrence or course of events in a constructive format; presented in writing or drama or cinema or as a radio or television program ( an account, report, or story, as of events, experiences, etc.) (Beginning, Middle, End)
The Narrative is the structure of the text, it contains the beginning, middle, end, climax e.t.c. and the Plot is the story told in the different sections of the text structure.
Structure:
The Exposition:
The exposition is designed to get the audience interested, and make them want to stay and watch the film, it has to has a catalyst that will drive the movie foward, and give the movie somewhere to go e.g. Lord of the rings; The catalyst is that gandalf gives frodo the ring, and tells him he has to destroy it, giving a storyline for the rest of the moives.Catalyst=Call for adventure UP: The catalyst is when Ellie dies, and Carl continues to get older, without fulfilling his dreams, he finally decides to one day, and move to south america using balloons. Catalyst= Fufilling is dreams.
"Confrontations/Complications"
Complications are intorduced here to give the "hero" in the film something to stop him achieving his goal. At the end of act 2, there is often a "Dark moment" when it appears that all hope is lost, and there is no way foward in the film
Monday, April 19, 2010
2 Unseen Films
Zombieland:
In the film zombieland the plot is written to give a different insight to those that have been previoiusly viewed in a film about the zombie genre. Rather than using horror aspects, this film used a different approach and used comedy. The plot is written to give humour in the zombie survival situation, and to give the audience a different way to look at a zombie apocalypse. This plot impactst he storyline in a positive way as a wide variety of audiences with different Vals and Tags enjoy being humoured by films. The storyline attracts the audience by turning an incredibly negative setting, to a relatively positive one. The storyline to this film is very basic, and had nothing unique to keep the audience satisfied, instead the film used a lot of slapstick comedy to entice the audience and keep them watching. The structure of this film is pretty much following the basic 3 acts and a climax structure, starting off with Act One (where the main character introduces himself and explains his rules, and how the zombies spread, etc). Act Two also follows the basic structure of films where the main characters make their journey to LA to get to the theme parck that the two main female characters have been travelling across the zombie infested country to get to. The “dark moment” from the film in this act is when the girls leave the two male characters and go to the theme park on their own and end up attracting hordes of zombies, making them trapped appearing that all hope had been lost. This set up the film for the climax which involved the two male characters coming to the rescue and killing most of the zombies. Which also brings us back to Act 3 which concludes the storyline with the classic “hero gets the girl” structure.
Year One:
In the film Year One the plot is written to give a funny version of the beginning of genesis, which is part of the bible. The film isn’t aiming to insult the bible or any of it’s readers, but its aim was to give the audience a more simpler, funnier version of this particular part in the bible. This in a way would help some of the audience to understand the bible better, and also gives the audience a different aspect of the bible as the film portrays it in a different manner. The impact this plot had on the storyline was large as the storyline was based largely around this plot. I believe that this film attracts audience of different ages and religious beliefs, such as Atheists, Christians, Catholics, etc. Audiences of these different religions can see the humour in the film whether they believe in God, or not. Audiences of different age groups can also enjoy this film as it uses a lot of slapstick humour which would attract younger audiences, and the film also uses a lot of adult humour, although in a way as to not make it too obvious to the younger audience. Year One also follows the basic film structure that most films follow. Act One introduces the two main characters (the hunter and the gatherer), and also introduces the plot that this film is going to follow. Act Two introduces the problems that the main characters face along the way such as the slavery, and being captured constantly. The Climax in Year One is when “the hunter” and “the gatherer” both cause an uprising in the city and become respected as leaders by the citizens. Act 3 is also very basic as the “heroes” defeats the “bad guys” and win the girl.
In the film zombieland the plot is written to give a different insight to those that have been previoiusly viewed in a film about the zombie genre. Rather than using horror aspects, this film used a different approach and used comedy. The plot is written to give humour in the zombie survival situation, and to give the audience a different way to look at a zombie apocalypse. This plot impactst he storyline in a positive way as a wide variety of audiences with different Vals and Tags enjoy being humoured by films. The storyline attracts the audience by turning an incredibly negative setting, to a relatively positive one. The storyline to this film is very basic, and had nothing unique to keep the audience satisfied, instead the film used a lot of slapstick comedy to entice the audience and keep them watching. The structure of this film is pretty much following the basic 3 acts and a climax structure, starting off with Act One (where the main character introduces himself and explains his rules, and how the zombies spread, etc). Act Two also follows the basic structure of films where the main characters make their journey to LA to get to the theme parck that the two main female characters have been travelling across the zombie infested country to get to. The “dark moment” from the film in this act is when the girls leave the two male characters and go to the theme park on their own and end up attracting hordes of zombies, making them trapped appearing that all hope had been lost. This set up the film for the climax which involved the two male characters coming to the rescue and killing most of the zombies. Which also brings us back to Act 3 which concludes the storyline with the classic “hero gets the girl” structure.
Year One:
In the film Year One the plot is written to give a funny version of the beginning of genesis, which is part of the bible. The film isn’t aiming to insult the bible or any of it’s readers, but its aim was to give the audience a more simpler, funnier version of this particular part in the bible. This in a way would help some of the audience to understand the bible better, and also gives the audience a different aspect of the bible as the film portrays it in a different manner. The impact this plot had on the storyline was large as the storyline was based largely around this plot. I believe that this film attracts audience of different ages and religious beliefs, such as Atheists, Christians, Catholics, etc. Audiences of these different religions can see the humour in the film whether they believe in God, or not. Audiences of different age groups can also enjoy this film as it uses a lot of slapstick humour which would attract younger audiences, and the film also uses a lot of adult humour, although in a way as to not make it too obvious to the younger audience. Year One also follows the basic film structure that most films follow. Act One introduces the two main characters (the hunter and the gatherer), and also introduces the plot that this film is going to follow. Act Two introduces the problems that the main characters face along the way such as the slavery, and being captured constantly. The Climax in Year One is when “the hunter” and “the gatherer” both cause an uprising in the city and become respected as leaders by the citizens. Act 3 is also very basic as the “heroes” defeats the “bad guys” and win the girl.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
What I Have Learnt So Far in Media Studies (Term 1)
I have been attending Media Studies as a subject in school for roughly 9 weeks now. So far I have learnt stuff such as VALs (Values and Lifestyles) and TAGs (Target Audience Grouping System). Ms Wilson has talked to us in relative detail about these VALs and TAGs and has gotten the class to perform many tasks to name the different VALs and TAGs that some shows may be trying to attract as an audience. We have also been taught about the People Meter measures what kind of people are watching a particular show, and measure their age and also what time that they are watching their television. As a class MS Wilson has also managed to teach the us about the Narrative of a film which involves the different Acts. Before I started Media Studies this year I didn’t have any of the knowledge that Ms Wilson has managed to teach me so far in these 9 weeks. Halfway through the term we also gained a student teacher hoping to become one. Mr Jones observed Ms Wilson as she described this new information to the students. Mr Jones has had a few turns at teaching the students in this classroom as well, doing a very good job. From gaining this new knowledge, I have found myself applying it while I am watching television or a DVD at home, mentally noting the Narrative, VALs and TAGs, and trying to think about the audience that they are trying to attract. I think about camera angles and why the director might have used that particular angle etcetera. Although I have been set back a little from learning as my previous laptop had been stolen, this put me behind a little, but am working hard to get up to date.
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