Narrative Theories

My narrative structure is a circular narrative structure...

As at the beginning of my short film we see Nina in her teens sitting in her bedroom, then there is a flashback where we see the main event happen as we see a blast from the past from when she was a child, and then at the end, it finishes with Nina in her bedroom again. I feel as though this narrative helps engage the audience and creates a meaning.



I feel that Todorovs Narrative structure theory plays a very significant part within my short film. For instance, at the beginning we have a new equilibrium where we are establishing what is happening, we presented with a flashback, and then another of her playing with he friends. However, when this flashes forwards again we are confronted with this disequilibrium where we are resulted with a problem, and that this littles girls (the protagonist, Nina) life isn't so perfect after all... Again we see another flashback of Nina being picked on by some nasty people followed by her mum aggressively handling her and she picks her up from school. In the end, rather than following Todorovs convention, I decided to end it on a new equilibrium but where nothing has been solved and we are ended of this new atmosphere where we have just discovered that she was, and still is being bullied, but nothing has been done about it. I did this so my audience would be left with this new problem as though they walk away and solve it themselves. I feel that if I did solve the bullying situation within my film then my audience would walk away feeling satisfied that Nina's problems have been solved. So instead, the audience may walk away feeling impacted like most people, bullying does't just come to an end, it is always 

Lastly, I feel as though I have included binary oppositions, the theory by Claude Levi-Strauss. Firstly, good vs bad. For example, as part of my circular narrative structure, there is a flashback of the protagonist playing happily with her friends, shortly ted we see her being bullied and picked on by some bullies. This is a clear example of good vs bad as we have the good people in the first flashback and then the bad people who are picking on her in the second flashback. This could also be interpreted as dark vs light and victim vs bully. Another example, is young vs old. For example, at the beginning we see Nina (the protagonist) as a teenager, followed by a long flashback of her past and her childhood where we then establish the plot and storyline. However, at the end we come back to Nina in present tense just like at the beginning, this example of young vs old I think is to help the audience establish what is happening and why her childhood is so significant.

Update on Short Film

This is my updated footage of my short film, Nina. I have now added in the flashbacks and it is starting to take shape and only have one more thing to film and to record the voiceover. However, if I proceed to film the 'counsellors' section that appears in my scripted version on the short film, the length will exceed the maximum amount. Therefore, I am going to make a slight change to the storyline in order to keep in short and simple as I don't want to complicate things. So to do this, I will take out the 'counsellors' section and have Nina at her present age in her bedroom as she goes off into a daydream and closes her eyes, to as what the whole short film is her looking back and a flashback of her past, and at the end the shot would go back to Nina 'daydreaming' in her bedroom as she suddenly opens her eyes gasps due to her threatening and upsetting past. 

Nonetheless, I feel as though my updated footage has improved very much and I am much happier with the ambient sound within it helping it become more realistic and professional. 

Filming - update

 

Psychoanalytical film theory

One of the questions psychoanalytic criticism wants to address is the formal nature of cinema in relation to the subjective nature of the human mind. For example, the great post-Freudian psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan would use the term ‘lack’ to describe a state of desire that cannot be satisfied. Does cinema too often create a cinematic world that denies this lack and generates plenitude – a satisfying, clearly comprehensible cinematic experience?
This isn’t only an issue of narrative expectation; that events will end happily, that the baddie will be vanquished, the couple brought together. 

As Rob White proposes in The Cinema Book, commenting on the psychoanalytic dimension to semiotician Christian Metz’s work: “As the spectator settles into immobility…the spectator, ignoring the actual situation of film going (being part of a group in an auditorium) as well as the artificiality of cinema’s narrative techniques (camera movement, editing, lighting, mise en-scene etc.) succumbs to a lascivious, covetous, furtive belief.” This is the belief “in his or her principal role in observing, and by extension in controlling or directing the narrative progression of the film.”

Psychoanalytical film theory is an approach that focuses on unmasking the ways in which the phenomenon of cinema in general, and the elements of specific films in particular, are both shaped by the unconscious. Whose unconscious? This is where things get a little tricky. The unconscious studied by psychoanalytic film theory has been attributed to four different agencies: the filmmaker, the characters of a film, the film's audience, and the discourse of a given film.

1. The Filmmaker's Unconscious. In its earliest stages, psychoanalytic film theory compared films to dreams, slips of the tongue, and neurotic symptoms as films were considered to be manifestations of a filmmaker's unconscious. This kind of psychoanalytic film theory is somewhat out of fashion today.

2. The Character's Unconscious. Another application of psychoanalysis to cinema studies focuses on the characters of a given film and analyses their behaviour and dialogue in an attempt to interpret traces of their unconscious. This approach, when it first appeared, was immediately attacked by skeptical film critics who pointed out that fictional characters, insofar as they are not real people, have neither a conscious nor an unconscious mind to speak of. However, the psychoanalysis of film characters quickly found new credibility with the next stage in the development of psychoanalytic film theory--the analysis of the audience's unconscious as it is prompted and shaped during a film viewing.

3. The Audience's Unconscious. The audience-focused approach will often focus on the way in which the behavior and dialogue of certain characters can be interpreted as manifestations of our unconscious, insofar as we come to identify ourselves with them when we visit the cinema. Thus, as we sit quietly in the dark and forge our psychic bonds with this or that character, we unconsciously project our own fantasies, phobias, and fixations onto these alter-egos. Whenever they inevitably say or do something that even tangentially touches upon one of these fantasies, phobias, or fixations, we derive unconscious satisfaction or dissatisfaction accordingly.

4. The Unconscious of Cinematic Discourse. This is the most recent version of psychoanalytic film theory more or less abandons the character-centered approach altogether, focusing instead on how the form of films replicates or mimics the formal model of the conscious/unconscious mind posited by psychoanalysis. Thus, for example, the psychoanalytic film theorist might focus on the way in which the formal procedure of editing will sometimes function similarly to the mechanism of repression by cutting out a crucial, emotionally charged moment which, though unseen, will continue to resonate throughout the film. Here the unconscious that is unveiled belongs neither to the filmmaker, nor to a character, nor to an audience of viewers, but rather to the film's own discourse. The unconscious is thus conceived as an organisation of hints and traces of meaning residing within the audio-visual language of the cinema.

My film on the other hand can be read in terms of symbolism and psychoanalytical film theory as although it states that the character conscious state of mind is not so in fashion and used as much to this day, I still, feel as though in terms of personal identity, my target audience may concentrate more on their "alter egos" and how they somewhat create their own fantasy, phobia or fixation from the realism and inevitability of my plot. As instead of satisfying the audience, my film ends on a new equilibrium leaving the audience on a cliff hanger where they almost end it themselves in their own imagination of what the would want to happen or what they think should happen, as as a part of the cinematic discourse unconscious, by cutting a crucial and emotional element within my film I believe that we (audience or filmmaker) have mor a unconscious or unconscious state of mind.

Marxist film theory

Karl Marx...

• was a german philosopher
• wrote Communist Manifesto (political pamphlet) in 1848
• history of society is history of class struggles
• marxist film criticism based on his theoretical ideas
• marx liked realist texts
• marxist critics are wary of how cinema supports dominant ideology
• the marxist film theory is one of the oldest film theories ever studies

concepts of marxism and ideologies in film...

• individual matters can make a difference to the world
• an individual can improve him/herself
• good will triumph
• effort will be rewarded
• financial comfort and stable marriage is the best reward
• criminal will return to crime scene
• evil will be exposed
• corruption exists in isolated cases
• don't do drugs, drink, or meddle with things you don't understand

My short film links to this theory and society as it is about bullying, a struggle many young people go through that sometimes can continue later on in life. However,  certain messages like 'the good will triumph' and 'effort will be rewarded' don't link to my film at all as by the end with the new equilibrium as the audience, we don't improve as an individual or get something good from it as it is simply a strong message that I would like to get across.

Film Review Final Draft

This is my final film review. From before I felt as though I still had a lot more to offer and that there was still a lot of black spaces that I needed to fill. Firstly, applying to the feedback about the "plain border" I decided to add a green stripe at the top, grey and block stripes along the sides and bottom and an arrow shape pointing towards my article in the bottom, left hand corner. With these borders I now feel satisfied that i have managed to add enough colour around the side to make it seem much more livelier attracting more of an audience. Below the border at the bottomI have also added page numbers, this is because this is very essential information that every magazine article should have, therefore I included it. I kept the font the same for my page numbers to reinforce the house style of my products. Secondly, I the felt as though the space at the bottom on the right was very bare, so to prevent this I added a bright green stripe, keeping with my colour scheme, to make it seem as though there was a lot more going on. I then overlapped sell lines over the top of the green box, I used white and blacks fonts that contrasts with the green. Furthermore, I decided to include a sell line because I felt that my film review lacked in something really interesting, so I added information that implies that if you sign up to a certain website, you are able to seen "never seen before footage" from behind the scenes. I did this because, after doing my primary research for my short film and it's film review, I realised that behind the scene interviews and exclusive footage is really significant as it is very interesting for the audience to see especially if they are fans and are really keen on the main product, in this case my short film. To conclude, I feel that overall  have produced a much more sophisticated and professional product compared to my first film revue draft. Also,  I have learnt that my audience feedback is really important and plays a big part when making my film review as without the criticism I wouldn't have been able to correct myself and improve in some areas.

Film Review Draft 2

This is my second draft and I feel that I have made a huge improvement. After processing my audiences feedback on my previous draft, I can now say that I have taken into account what they have said and have tried to satisfy their needs. Firstly, I was told that my film review was lacking in information and text as a whole and that it looked rather plain and boring. To prevent this I have added a quote to my primary image at the top. I did this because in my last draft I felt as though if someone was to look at it, they wouldn't know what is it about by looking at what is there as it was very limited before. Now, The images give off a lot more, for example, I have added the quote "pulling someone down will never help you reach the top" as I feel that it is very inspirational. For my target audience, being someone that may have or still are experiencing bullying being the victim was to read this, i feel as though they would know straight away what it is about and that they may relate to the quote themselves as though it is addressing them. However, the font this time is sans serif, black with a white highlighting background. I decided to have separate from the rest because I feel that it is very important as it is a inspiring and memorable quote. I have also added  "review" sections so my audience, target or oppositional can see what other people have said about it. Lastly, everything else I have kept the same because beforehand I had a series of positive feedback, however, I still feel there's room for improvement.