Meaning

Creating meaning: semiotics - the study of signs.

We as the audience believe what we are told to believe about what things mean which makes it harder for us to interpret things ourselves. 

Meaning is defined by opposites. 

Derrida believes binary pairs (opposite things, for example, hot and cold) are not equal culture tends to favour one side of each and judge it in a more positive light.

Signified: What something represents.

Signifier: Whats being shown (the object).

A sign is the smallest element of meaning. Signs will be grouped together to create larger units of meaning: this is called codes which can be decoded or interpreted. For example, a person wearing particular items of clothing together might take on a cultural identity.

Denotation: this is the literal meaning of a sign

Connotation: this is the interpreted meaning of a sign

Polysemic: refers to the capacity of all signs to be many signed i.e. have more than one meaning.

 

Representation

Representation is the way people, groups, cultures, and ideas are shown by the media.

Narrative theories

There are four main structure that a film can have which are linear: a story that has a beginning, middle and ending; open structure: which is when the audience wonder what happens next to make sense of it themselves; closed structure: which has a definite ending and a clear conclusion for the audience; circular structure which has the beginning and ending events in the same place. There are four main theorists called Propp, Barthes, Todorov and Levi Strouss.

Propp's theory of narrative was it is driven by the characters using a set of narrative functions: a hero, a villain, a princess, a father, a dispatcher, a donor, a sidekick and a false hero. Functions - the victim fooled by a villain, the false hero gets exposed and the hero saves the day. Propps theory applies to most films especially action films as they include most of these characters.

Barthes theory of narrative was that it is a series of codes which include: the action code which is literal, enigma code which is hidden, semic code which is recognised by connotations, symbolic code which is abstract concept and the referential code which is cultural understanding.

Todorov theory describes narrative as going from equilibrium to disequilibrium back to an altered equilibrium.

This image illustrates Todorov's theory of narrative.

Levi Strauss theory on narrative was that it is created by constant conflict of binary opposites. For example, 

• love and hate
• light and dark
• peace and war
• black and white
• young and old
• man and woman
• strong and weak
• rich and poor
• control and panic 
• mankind and aliens 

Hollywood studio system

In the hollywood studio system, films had a specific narrative structue. There was no hybridisation or subgenres, they only had classic forms of genre. It was used as cinimatic expressions of narrative which was had a reliable return of investment. Stars and directors became synonymous with genre which mean they stayed working in the same genre. For example, if an actor was seen playing a character in an action film he or she would only star in action films. This is because the public had expectations and an identification process. However, not long after the studio system fell because of reasons such as: virtical integration which is when the company owns the production distribution and theatre venues block booking and blind bidding were outlawed, rapid growth of the independents, sound was introduced, the rise of television and films started to become television series.     

Storyboard

Story board lesson

We were given a the task of doing a story board of a short ten minute film with the stimulus of the title: terror in the night. The point of the task was to get us to know how to use editing with narrative to create meaning. In my story board we used editing between scenes such as a jump which has the effect of suggesting to the audience something scary or shocking is going to happen next. Another example is using a dissolve effect which give a softer effect of a hard cut so that it doesn't shock the audience too much. We also used a wipe which gives a smooth effect and allows the audience to see the next scene slowly.

Editing and narrative

Editing and Narrative

Editing is used in most things in media such as magazines, television and films, the role of editing is to create meaning for the audience. Editing takes place in post production. You can edit many different things in media such as time by making it longer or shorter - even cutting certain scenes out and putting them back in before or late after it even happened. Another example of features to edit is the camera shots because in films the audience will generally see the camera cut from one scene or character by either using a wipe effect, a simple jump or  dissolve. Depending on which one the editor decides to use it will create different meanings to each scene. In some horror film a jump will be used to create tension so the audience know when something scary is going to happen. another way of editing is when there are blank spots in the film or if the screen goes black and it says for example "20 minutes later". this technique is called an elipses which give the effect of allowing the audience to fill in the blanks on what they assume will happen during that time period. Editing constructs a narrative out of footage.

Genre

How can genre aid you in relation to your brief?

Genre is a key concept in the area of media studies as it forms a relationship between the industry and the audience. My brief is to create the titles and opening to a new fiction film to last maximum of two minutes. One way that genre can help me in relation to this is by giving me an idea of what the audience will be expecting from the film opening. For example, if I decide to do a horror film, they would probably expect it to set in a dark place such as an old house or in a grave yard. The characters that the audience would most likely to expect to see in it would be a young child, a family or some sort of devil. However, as time has changed, peoples expectations of genre has also changed, so instead of seeing normal people or families in a horror film, people used to expect to see fictional characters such as vampires or monsters. The way genre can give the audience expectations helps me by giving me something to work towards so I can appeal to the audience by giving them what they want to see. Another way genre can aid me when creating my film opening is that genre is not just one thing, it is many. For example, there are hybrid genre, which is when two or more genres have been mixed up together, such as romantic-comedies or fantasy-thrillers. another type of genre is sub genres which are genres inside main genres. For example, if you have a thriller it could be a psychological thriller. the way in which genre helps me when creating my film opening is by giving me lots of choices of what genre I could choose, and doesn't limit me to just one. by doing a hybrid it is more likely it would appeal to a wider audience.  

Task

main task: titles and opening of a new fiction film to last two minutes.
i will be assessed on

• research
• planning
• filming
• editing