Understanding the concept of binary opposites as a source for conflict of the drama.

Objective



To understand the concept of binary opposites as a source for conflict of this drama.


Life on Mars


Gene Hunt(1973) - Politically incorrect - Past
Sam Tyler (2006) - Politically correct - Present


Sound


Diegtic - sound within the mise-en-scene, what the characters can hear in the scene.
Non diegtic - Special effects, soundtracks (often added in editing) , sounds the characters can not hear in the scene.


Lighting

Ambient - Natural lighting
Non Ambient - Artificial light, a spotlight/lamp is used



North & South By Elizabeth Gaskell 2004

North and South is by Elizabeth Gaskell and was made into a four part televsion series for the BBC in 2004. The programme represents the divide between the North and South of England which still exists today, it is a period drama. North and South is based about a wealthy family who live in the South, the father is a vicar however he looses his faith in God and gets chucked out of the church. This meant the family was forced to move, the father decided to move the whole family including their servant which implies they are wealthy to Milton ( Manchester). The time period in which the programme has been set is the same in both the north and the south, both worlds are real, however the difference is that it is set in two different places, to show the difference and diversity of the north and the south.


I have copy and pasted the HTML for North and South - Episode 1 Part 1, the part that we focused on in class is up until 2.56 minutes.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN58WAmuuqI&feature=PlayList&p=EEC2305B0FD88423&index=0&playnext=1

In Episode 1 Part 1, it begins with an aerial panning shot travelling over the top of the trees, this is in the North, we also hear a diegtic sound which is the train, we also hear non diegtic sound. We are first introduced to the main character on the train, a close up shot is used to show her, this shows her importance in the storyline. The train which we see within the first minute represents industrilism. A tracking shot is used looking out from the train window onto the trees. A fade and cross dissolve editing technique is used when the camera cuts from the train in the North to the South. There are certain very distinctive colours that have been used with the North and the South, in the North mainly Greens and browns have been used and in the South warm and glowing colours have been used. When the camera cuts to the party scene in the South, we are introduced to the diegetic sound of the band.

I have copy and pasted the HTMl for North and south Episode 1 part 2, the part we focused on in class is up until 4.17 minutes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fp2YHNs_P5E&feature=PlayList&p=EEC2305B0FD88423&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=1

Part two of episode one shows the daughter of the family going into a cotton mill. In part two we are introduced to a busy part of Milton, a very industrilised area , we are also shown the grime around this part of Milton, which implies it is dirty and unhealthy. As soon as the camera cuts to the girl entering the industrilised area of Milton, we hear shouting, this is a diagetic sound. We are shown the North in comparison to the South, the south is portrayed as; quiet,peaceful and pretty, however the North is protrayed as; busy and dirty. When the worker was smoking in the mill and the factory owner spotted him, he was beaten because it was highly dangerous to smoke in the cotton mill factory, the girl was very disturbed because of the way he addressed her.

Textual analysis and representation.

Verisimilitude means that the world/characters is made believable/authentic.

Whilst watching Life on mars we made note of all the activities that took place that would be considered inappropriate or illegal in the present day, we categorised each activity in to one of three sections; Political,technological and Cultural.

• Political would be an activity/action that you would class as being `Politically incorrect`
• Technological would be an activity/action that uses gadgets which have been replaced by another piece of technology which is more high tech in the present day.
• Cultural context would be an activity/actions that were acceptable in 1973 (the year Tyler travels back to), but these actions would not be considered acceptable in the present day in 2009.

Technological

• The vast use of files around the police office, this is because in 1973 there would not have been computers to store all the files/documents on. In the present day you would not see many folders if any at all, however you would see many computer as all the files/documents would be on the computer.
• The use of a typewriter in the office, which in the present day be replaced by a computer
• The Izal toilet paper which is shown was used in all workplace and public toilets, Izal toilet paper was very uncomfortable and felt like plastic, technology has changed this and allowed us to make better toilet paper.
• The old phones that are shown in the office, have been replaced by cordless phones in the present day.
• The black and white television that is shown in the female workers house, have been replaced by digital colour televisions in the present day.
• A switch board operator is shown in the office in 1973, a switch board operator would usually be female and it would be a very low paid job, hence it was mainly a job that females had, as females were to be lower in society. They have been replaced with internal telephones and technology.

Cultural

• When Tyler arrives in the police office, because of his startled look one of the other members of staff makes comment about him being drunk , this tells us that it would have been acceptable to drink during work time, however in present day it would be highly unacceptable to drink during work time.
• Some of the men in the office used quotes such as "As white as a gingerbirds arse" , "She will kiss it better", which are being sexist towards women one of the men also referred to the woman working upstairs as if they are nothing and as if they were worthless.
• Sam Tyler gets beaten up by the boss in the police office in 1973, he is later punched in the stomach by the same man, this would now be considered to be highly unacceptable.
• The meeting that a member of staff had with the press about a case was in the pub, which would now be considered an inappropriate place to have a formal meeting.
• One man in the office is eating his sandwhich over the evidence for a case and his sandwich filling is falling onto the evidence, which would be considered very inappropriate in the present because the sandwhich filling would distort the fingerprints, which would be needed to find out who the criminal was.

Political

• The first scene in the police office in 1973 we see the room is filled with smoke from the men that are smoking in the work place, this would be considered disrespectful and is also against the law to smoke in enclosed areas and work places.
• We notice during the first scene that there are no women present in the detectives office, this means that there were all male detectives, this would have been because society in the 1970s was very mlae dominated and women were seen to be lower in society and were not regarded of as very important people in society. In the present there would more than likely be an even spread of male and female in a work place, some work places will be very male dominated, however some work places will be very female dominated.
• A male worker in the office made another sexist quote saying "I wouldn`t give a tarts furry cup".
• The male workers referred to the women who worked upstairs in the lower paid jobs as `birds`, although this term is heard sometimes in the present , it is not as commonly used as it was then.
• When the two detectives from 1973 and Sam Tyler are in the mortuary the two detectives are laughing about the young woman who was a prostitute, who was murdered the two detectives believed that anyone in her position;working as a prostiute deserved to be murdered. In this small section of the programme we see the difference between the men from 1973 and Sam Tyler who is from the present and the difference in their values and sensitivity towards others.
• Throughout the time when Tyler travels back to 1973, the male workers in the office make sexual inuendos towards women,this was another way that women were looked at as a lower class in society.

Focuses for British Television drama

The course focuses on extracts from British TV drama the focus is as follows:

• Camera angle,shot,movement,composition
• Mise-en-scene (all within the frame) including: characters,location,setting,costumes,lighting,props,CGI (computer generated images), objects,sound,dialogue
• Editing (different types)
• Aspects of representation within the sequence
• Areas of focus need to be analysed with their purpose and effect explained
• Forms and conventions - all aspects of mise-en-scene including lighting,sound,editing,narrative structure
• Representation - Social groups, for example: age,gender,social class, disability,cultures,attitudes,values,ideology
• Audiences
• Institutes
• Technology

Medium

• Print (newspapers and magazines)
• Film
• Television
• Radio
• Newspapers
• Music
• Magazines
• Internet
• Video games
• Adevertising
• Marketing
• New technologies (Mobiles phones,MP3s,gadgets)

Fonts.

These are some fonts that Yvonne and I created in class, using the website http://www.dafonts.com/, we also used photoshop to add colour and show tone to the fonts. Whilst creating these fonts we wanted to create the connotations; Celtic and Medieval, we also used the name of the perfume to create the connotation; Mystical. We created these fonts to show how different styles of fonts can make us think about the product in different ways.

Description of a character typical of a thriller film.

My character, Rose who is forty four years old lives in Miami, on the sea front , she lives in a large house with five bedrooms ,a swimming pool, tennis courts, three cars and all the luxuries you could want. She works from home as a shoe designer and owns a shoe shop in the nearby shopping mall. She has a sixteen year old daughter named Lillie who she lives with, until just a few months ago she was happily married to a man called Sam who was forty six years old, who owned a very high class restaurant in the town, he worked a few days a week there, the other days he would spend at home with Rose, they spent a lot of time together and were a very close couple, they had been happily married for twenty years and built up both their business`s together. Sam died just a few months ago of cancer which had been fighting against for just over a year, when he sadly lost his battle, his death hit Rose and Lillie very badly as they were such a close family.

Although everyone; family, friends, all Sam's customers in his restaurant knew he was battling with cancer, one man suspected his death was caused by Rose and has accused Rose of murdering him because she wanted all the money from his restaurant and his previous business ventures to set up a life somewhere else for her and her daughter and significantly expand her shoe designing business. The characteristics that are significant to my character are that she has recently lost her husband this shows connotations of loneliness and vulnerability .

How textual elements of mise-en-scene create representation of the past and present in "Life on Mars"

Representation of place
British Television - Life on mars
Date - 2006
Place filmed - Manchester

Sound

• Drum,drum machine,synth (computer)


• Tense music when we see the shot of the moving police cars

Costumes and colour palette

• Criminal wearing a hoody represents anti-social behaviour.

• The police officer who is chasing the criminal is wearing cold coloured clothing the same as the criminal, this shows that they are all part of the same society and they are all part of one organism/machine.


• The grey colour scheme shows new technology and connotes bleakness and post-modern buildings.


• Grey steel is a reference to technology, unforgiving textures, washed out colours.

• Blue and Navy are typical police colours, which are the colours that are mainly used in the programme.

• The use of white in the police headquarters office: a uniformity of colour. Ths image shows that it has been shot in the present day because of the technology with is shown in the shot; the mobile phone and computers.
  
  
  
  
  The colour palette changes when the time period changes (after Sam is ran over), the colour palette changes to sepia: sepia is a cinematic technique device to connote a different time period. In this time period alot of brown has been used which tells us that we are in the 1970`s as this was a very popular colour in this time period.



















• The buildings and surroundings are all of a blue or grey colour palette.







Shots and camera angles











• Close up shot of the car wheels, emphasise on the wheels creates a rule of thirds in the image. This close up shot of the front of the moving car has been used in the opening squence of episode one which cuts between this shot and the credits, the road is in the present day.
  
  

• Medium close up shot is used to show the terraced houses.


• Low angle shot is used of the Police Headquarters, which tells us it is an important building, grey and metallic.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• The rule of diagonals creates a sense of movement and the dimension of perspective, eg. the lighting above the clouds creates a perspective.

Other observations





















• The shot of the terraced houses and the tower block in the background creates feeling of hostile and comforting, it feels hostile becuase of the crime and feels comforting because it is modern and gives a community feel to the image. The tower block shows reality and the `mars` is showing another dimension which is represented by the terraced housing.

• Represents that police are quite frequently critisised for not caring about the criminal just about the victim, life on mars represents this.












• "Look around, what use of feelings"








• The present is represented as a Distopia when there is a close up of a childs swing in the park with Mia`s shirt laying across the seat with blood on it suggesting she has been murdered or kidnapped, a tower block is shown in the background, the modern building is associated with violence.









• Sam is upset because when he visits the crime scene he finds out that his girlfriend has been kidnapped/murdered, we can see he has regrets because his last words to her were very cold, this is shown by the close up shot of him in his car.

Analysis of openings of Thriller films - Leon.

Film - Leon

Year - 1994

Director - Luc Besson

The director opens Leon, by using a wide tracking shot of the city, firstly you see a mass of trees then it zooms closer to the skyscrapers,this shows the diversity between city and country, the director zooms close up to a sign that says `Little Italy` when they get into the city, which implicates that perhaps The director uses an extreme close up of the two gangsters at the table. The director uses a wide variety of shots, which creates diversity.

The director creates suspense very well, by using false alarms leading up to the real things, for instance when they use a dummy model in the lift, so the enemies will shot it thikning it is a real person. Leon is set in America in `Little Italy`. The music that has been used; Drums and kettle drums, create a build up to the event and creates suspense and tension. The music is stopped suddenly when the officer has a knife held to his throat. The officer is portrayed with this tough guy exterior when actually we can see how scared he really is.

The director used one particular shot of all the bullet holes in the blackout blind, which created spots of lights from the holes in the blind, this showed the transistion from dark to light, this could also represent how people can change from bad (dark) to good (light).

The conventions of Thriller films that are shown in Leon are; the accents,dark glasses,guns,knifes,through the key hole shots, prostitue and trap doors.

Another convention of Thriller films is spiral staircases becuase although you can hear who is coming up or down them, you can not see around them, these are most commonly used in chase and murder scenes, it is used in Leon in the chase scene and also when we are introduced to the girl.

Analysis of openings of Thriller films - Dont look now.

Film - Don't look now




Year -1973





Director - Nicholas Roeg

Don't look now has been set in the 1970s, and is about a family who live in a large house in the country, and starts off by showing the brother and sister playing in their garden, in the woods and around the pond, the director makes it seem very idyllic with the weather and the surroundings, this creates a sense that something is bad is going to happen.

In the opening of don't look know it is raining and the camera is focused on the rain splashing on the ground it then starts thundering and the faint sound of someone humming appears this creates a mystical feel and give us the sense that something bad is going to happen later in the film. We are first introduced to the brother and sister who are playing in the woods, the director also focus`s on a shot of the big house they live in, this tells us that their parents are wealthy and have a good upbringing. The other focus point that the director focus`s on is the large pond situated in their garden which is frozen, the director also puts in a false alarm, when the brother is playing with the football and he drops it in the pond, we think that he is going to fall in to the pond however he does not. The setting at the beginning is very domestic and portrays this family to have the perfect parents, children , large house in an idyllic setting which is disturbed by the sad event of the daughter drowning.

The father seems to be on-edge, this shows that perhaps he can sense that something bad is going to happen. The film has been shot in time shift, between the children playing outside and the parents working inside. The music starts outside and is used in the time shift. The music that is used is soft piano music, this is one of the main conventions of a Thriller. When the girl falls into the pond and drowns, her father sees it first and comes running out and pulls her out of pond, the music changes into a harsh violin sound which is very empowering. When the girl drowns a red and blue liquid appears over the screen,red could symbolise the blood from the girl and the blue could symbolise ink from inside that the parents are using in their art work, this could also represent bringing together and uniting the parents and the children. The girls red coat could symbolise blood and danger. After the girl has been rescued the director uses time shift and shows the father in Italy.

Analysis of openings of Thriller films - Flightplan.

Film - Flightplan

Year - 2005

Director - Brian Grazer

Flightplan was directed by Brain Grazer in 2005, it follows a mother played by Jodie Foster and her young daughter of whom have lost their father/husband, who live in Berlin and are going to visit the mothers parents in America. the film is mainly set on the plane going to america and how her daughter has disappeared from the plane however no-one ever recalls seeing her or her being registered on that flight.

In the opening to Flightplan the first thing we see is a black screen with the fliashing light of a tube, which creates a feeling a panic and hectic-ness to us. The first we see of the main character, Kyle is a full length shot of the back of her, which creates a sense of mystery for the audience. The film starts off in Germany,berlin, we can tell this at the train station in the opening; by the language that was being spoken and from the signs around her. The backgrouns music starts off as soft piano music in the background however this then changes to be quite loud and harsh, which ties in with the sound of crowes which apears in the background, the crowes create a sense of horror and evil, which leads us to believe that something sinister is going to happen later on in the film.

The director uses a wide range of shots to create different illusions and feels to the film for example: when the mother and daughter are coming out of the house at night to go to the airport, he uses an extreme long shot of them both, they are both wearing black clothes and the setting is on a very cold wintery dark night, all of these elements that have been used create a dark and sad feel for the audience, the use of black across the whole picture relates to a funeral and the image of death. The dark clothing contrasts with the bright white snow outside, this could show the good and evil side of the characters. The director also uses a close up shot and hold this hot of their luggage, the director also uses a close up shot of the mothers wedding ring, which obviously signifies that she is married and at this stage in the film makes us wonder where her husband is, later for us to find out he had died a few days previosuly.

In the film, when the air hostess is counting the amount of people on board the plane, the daughter Julia is hiding underneath the seat which means she is not counted so when she later goes missing and her mother, Kyle ,reports it because she had not been counted the air hostess`s try to dismiss the disaperance of Julia. The air hostess also tried to make Kyle believe that Julia had never boarded the flight. The director uses flash backs to show what had happened prior to Julias disappearance, however it does not give us any clue to how or why Julia disappeared.

The director creates suspense when Julia has gone mising, by using cloe up shots on peoples faces, he also portrays one air-hostess to be more concerned than the others this leads us to believe that perhaps the lady either has children of her own or has experienced this before. The director creates more suspense by making the other characters on the plane seem very unwilling to help, i think he may have portrayed the characters as unwilling to create a sense of anger towards these people. The Director uses Kyles husbands death to create a sense of sensitivity and reality towards Kyle, this also creates even more suspense becuase she has already lost her husband, so it would mkae it even harded for her then to loose her only child, the death ofher husband would also make her feel very upset and uneasy, this sense of feelinf uneasy was shown in the first scene.

As the audience we are made to guess what has happened to Julia and one guess that i made and the director lead me to believe was that perhaps Julia had felt very upset and disturbed by her fathers recent death, also becuase of the strain that would have caused julia she may be feeling very vunerable, this leads us to believe she may have been kidnapped. we are shown the vunerability of Julia in the first scene when her mother hides her underneath her coat when they are walking to the taxi.