In the film Shaolin Soccer, 2001, there is a face off game between two soccer teams. The clip follows the yellow and white team, as they face each other in a game. In the clip, we can clearly see that the yellow team is clearly more skilled and experienced than the white team as they dominate them 40-0 before the game even ends. This film uses conflict in order to show how good the yellow team is in comparison to the white. This is shown in the clip when a player on the white team says "You're not playing fair! Give us a chance to make a goal!". By showing a player on the white team begging for mercy, it furthers the statement that conflict is used in order to create a compelling narrative of the rivalry between the two teams.
In the film They Live, 1988, the purpose of the scene follows the main character, and he has a pair of glasses that show the fake world versus the real world. When the glasses are off, he sees reality as normal, then once the glasses are on he's able to see the deeper meaning behind things. Mise en Scene is used in this clip in order to establish the dramatic difference between the illuminated and realistic reality. One example of this is when the glasses are off, we're able to see the build boards in bright colors. For example, the main character first looks at a build board with no glasses on, and he sees an image of a women in a bright red bikini advertising to visit the Caribbean. Then once the glasses go on, the world first turns black and white and then reveals the words "Marry and reproduce", which is the reality behind the build board. The switch from vibrant and colorful to black and white is an example of color in Mise en Scene used to further highlight the explanation that its used in order to differentiate real and fake reality.
-I believe the genre of the film Everything Everywhere All at Once is Science Fiction which includes comedy and drama.
-Out of the five conventions Narrative Considerations is best used to determine the genre. This is because the film explores multi-dimensional aspects, which can be found the most in science fiction films. The film seems to have aspects of comedy and drama which includes a fast pace, and flashbacks which significantly impacts the audience engagement and understanding of the film.
-Elements of text genre subversion that can apply to the film include Cultural Effects and Social Context. Cultural Effects are presented by using diversity in the film. This is shown by having a diverse actress that goes through an intense journey. This shows more representation in cinema by featuring an Asian women as the star of the film. With social context, the film show social issues for example the pressure of family expectations. It seems to use the multiverse as a metaphor for exploring how past choices impact the future.
-One aspect of genre hybridity the film used is the combination of Science Fiction and comedy. The use of comedy combined with science fiction helps to lighten the mood and intensity of the concept of the multiverse. The humor helps keep the characters light hearted, which also helps viewers connect and relate with the characters in the film. The genre hybridity creates the film more appealing and keeps the viewers interested.
Phantom of the Paradise
-I believe the genre of the film Phantom of the Paradise is horror and comedy
-Out of the five conventions, I believe the best convention to be used is Iconography. The trailer of the film uses many things, like the villain wearing a mask, to represent that is the bad guy. The villain is also seen wearing dark colors like a grey mask, dark eye makeup, and all black clothing, which furthers the idea that this character is clearly the phantom.
-The elements of text genre subversion I believe is applied to the film is Cultural effects. This is because the film trailer opens with a horror scene of a man in the shower getting approached by the phantom, and later cuts to a musical aspect scene. This seems to combine the aspects of horror and music which can be used to represent a darker side of the musical industry.
-One aspect of the genre hybridity is the combination of horror and music. This is relevant to the film since it can be used to further the horror aspect of the film with rock and roll music, which can also be used to engage the audience with familiar aspects.
Electric Dreams
-The genre of this film can be classified as romance and comedy
-Out of the five conventions, the best structure that can be used is Narrative Considerations. This film seems to revolve around 3 main characters, a man, a women, and a computer. The romance in the film is seen between the man and the woman, and the comedy is seen through the computer who wants to get in-between the love of those two. This helps combine the two genres to create the structure of Narrative Considerations.
-One Relevant Element is Audience Saturation Effects, which can be seen by the combination of romance and comedy, which creates the audiences expectation of these genres. The viewers are provided a romantic element, but may not be expecting the 3rd thing in the love triangle to be the computer itself. This helps lead to the comedy genre which surprises the viewers watching the film.
-One aspect of the genre hybridity to the film is the combination of Romance and Science-Fiction. This is relevant because it explores the romance genre with aspect of AI, the computer shown, which makes this film have a comedy aspect to overall lighten the mood. The film provides entertaining moments which is relevant in todays societies love for advanced technology.
Equilibrium: Ethan and the other agents are trying to get onto a moving plane in order to get an important package and remove it from the plane.
Disruption: While Ethan was hanging onto the plane as it took off, Benji takes a very long time trying to open the door so Ethan can get inside. Then, Benji opens the wrong door which causes it to take even more time for Ethan to get inside as he's hanging on.
New equilibrium: After Ethan was able to successfully get inside of the plane, an antagonist goes to the back of the plane to investigate why the door opened and to shut it. The antagonist discovers Ethan holding onto the important package, and then Ethan gets away with the package.
In Media Res: The film begins during an action scene, instead of beginning with an introductory and slowly building the action or suspense.
Multiperspective narratives: The film constantly switches points of view between Ethan (The hero), Benji (The helper), and Luther (Another helper). This shows the importance of the roles of each person in order to attain the package.
6.
The theory of Equilibrium can be applied to this film in order to establish a set order of narrative. This can be shown through the equilibrium being the mission that Ethan and his fellow agents are on, the disequilibrium of Benji taking forever to open the correct door, and the new equilibrium of Ethan being noticed while on the plane, so he had to escape off the place (literally jumping out) with the important package. It is shown that the Todorov's theory of equilibrium was used to establish a set order of narrative, using the correct order to do so.
Signifier: The people who open the car door and quickly place it out, before exiting
Signified: This can represent the harmonium being very important or having an important background, or it can represent music that may be significant.
Denotative meaning: The literal meaning of the harmonium is something to play music with.
Connotative meaning: The figurative meaning of the harmonium can be interpreted as a way to express a persons emotion through music, whether that being positive or negative. A slow, lower tone may be used to show sadness, while a faster high pitch may be used to convey happiness or even a party.
Code: In the opening shot, we see the main actor cornered by blue and white walls. These walls could represent a code, with the colors symbolizing different meanings. The color white in film can be used to represent things like purity, innocence, and goodness. The color blue in film can be used to represent things like calm, cerebral, or coldness. Color in film can be used to trigger specific neurological responses in the viewers, and this code may be used to calm the viewers to make them less suspecting of the fast-pace events to come.
6)
The purpose of this clip may be to leave viewers questioning why the harmonium is significant, using one of the formal expectations which is delay, the viewers of the film want to know two things, why did the harmonium get dropped off, and who dropped it off. By quickly dropping off the harmonium and leaving it shows why the clip has purpose, which is to set up watchers to stay interested in the film. After watching this clip, it is inferred that the harmonium is significant to the plot of the movie, and the main character of the film has some relevant involvement to the harmonium throughout the film.
1) Stills from existing media that use depth of field in cinematography
a. Still image from Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014, showing how deep is used to convey conflict or development.
b. Still image from Moonlight, 2016, showing how shallow is used to coney conflict or development.
c. Still image from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, 2009, showing how soft is used to convey character or development
2) Stills I created using depth of field to demonstrate meaning
a. A still showing how deep is used to convey conflict, character, or development
b. A still showing how shallow is used to convey conflict, character, or development.
c. A still showing how soft is used to convey character or development.
Reflection
Throughout the process of taking my pictures, the main challenges I faced was applying deep and soft focus onto my images. When I first attempted the deep shot, I went out to my front yard and used my brother as the center, but the background didn't seem far enough to make it look like a deep shot. I was stumped on what to do and where I could find a long enough background to take the image. Then, later I went to work and realized the store I work in has a long lobby, so I asked my co-worker to stand still. While I took the shot I made sure to remember to keep the background in focus. This background seemed perfect because there was countertops and things to focus on. The next thing I had trouble with was creating my soft focus shot. I first tried taking a plain picture of my dog and messed around with some editing filters on my phone, but nothing was really efficient in blurring the picture. After doing some research and watching the recommended video, I used Vaseline on my phone camera which was the most effective way to get the shot how I wanted it. I decided to take this shot outside since my main subject was a dog. I think having the soft focus shot with outside lighting may help the viewers envision that the dog is most likely very playful and energetic, compared to taking the shot with a grey background on a dog bed.
