Star Wars Empire Strikes Back Propp's Theory of Narrative

The Hero- Luke Skywalker- the main protagonist of Episodes IV, V, VI
The Villain- Darth Vader, Emperor Palpatine- the antagonists who tries to stop Luke developing into a Jedi and instead, tries to turn him over to become a Sith
The Donor- Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi- gives Luke his first lightsaber
The Helper- Yoda, Han Solo- Luke learns to become a Jedi through Yoda, Han Solo
The Princess- Princess Leia- helps Luke throughout his journey
The Dispatcher- Obi Wan (Ben) Kenobi- looked over Luke's childhood, guides him to become a Jedi
The Father- Princess Leia- a kiss at the end?

Independent Study

I am still thinking about my I.S as I haven't come up with a title just yet. So far, my idea is to analyze Jackie Chan appearance in the two cultures- USA and Hong Kong- and to see what his character brings to the film as a whole. I've noticed that in HK films, he has more power over how the outcome of the film is but however when he enters Hollywood, his presence is less-needed.

Films to use:

• Rush Hour 3
• Shanghai Knights
• Rush 2
• New Police Story
  

My other idea was to use films the Departed, Infernal Affairs, Rush Hour 3 and New Police Story. Though however, I cannot think of a relationship between these films that significantly stands out.

Film Final Project- UPDATED IDEAS 21st Sept 2009

In the opening scene:
Shots used to establish the girl character. In one of the shots, personally I think that we should have some kind of symbolism (a fox probably since we're basing the story on 'the fox and the crane) so that it foreshadows the appearance of the scammer that takes place later on.

Name still undecided:
However this is only a minor problem, it can be decided quite quickly later on.

E-Learning Homework

http://everything2.com/title/Propp%2527s+theory+of+narrative

1.
The Hero- Ken/Ray
The Villan- Harry
The Donor- Ken
The Helper- Marie
The Princess- Not Sure
The Dispatcher- Harry
The Father- Ken

2.
Actually, these archetypes are not fully represented by the characters in 'In Bruges'. This is because the roles of Ken and Ray are rotated, being as the protagonist of this movie. The heroic event of Ken is near the ending, when he tries to stop Harry from killing Ray. For Ray, he sacrificed himself by jumping off the Belgium Tower. A series of shot is shown where we feel pain of Ken, but on the other side, Ray is enjoying himself with the company of Chloë by his side.

In my opinion, Ray is also a protagonist, this is perhaps shown through the quality of emotions rather how he performed as a character. Early on, we would have thought he would be the antagonist because he killed both the priest and the little boy. Despite his cranky and violent attitudes, he is also emotional as we can see cried over the death of a little boy. This did not only happened once, but three times. This attitude I believe deserves to be a protagonist.

The role of 'The Helper' is given to Harry because he armed Ken with the gun to kill Harry. However, the character of Ken was able to refuse his duty and allow Ray to run off. Unfortunately at the end, both protagonists were killed by Harry.

The helper is given to the small of Marie, the owner of the hotel which Ken and Ray lived in. Her appearance not only gave the two characters shelter, it also kept safe of Ray towards the end of the movie. Her ignorant attitude, to a certain extent, helped Ray from being shot in the hotel, where it could yet be another nightmare for Ray if it also affected the baby Marie has got. Ray on the other hand, helped Marie back by re-arranging their battle away from the hotel in protection of Marie's baby.

Lastly, I'm not sure who the character fits in the role of 'The Father'. This is because all the characters die in the end, which therefore, there would be no rewards to be given.

3.
I think the Propps Theory is a justified theory used in many of the films today. It allows directors to form a backbone of how characters would be like early on in preparation. As the development of the film goes on, directors would be able continue to follow the specific structure given to characters so that what they want in the characters would not be changed and that the storyline would be adjusted so that the character fits in. If this theory did not exist, directors would be more vulnerable in changing the characters instead of the storyline, which would potentially change the meaning of what it is supposed to be about.

The movie 'In Bruge' partially followed the Propps Theory as not all the characters fit back into the roles. The film does not consist of a proper protagonist as it's shared between Ken and Ray.

Film Camerashots

Camera shots to be considered:

Over the shoulder- most likely to show the conversation, used as shot-reverse-shot
Long shot- show of area where the characters meet
Close-up- show of emotion in character
Medium shot- conversation shots
Low angle- superiority of unknown man
High angle- to look down on girl as she gets scammed by the unknown man

Film Final Project

Film Final Project

Story:
Basing on the Aesop Fable- The Fox and the Crow

Job:
Cameraman

Story Overview:
A girl is over-obsessed with fashion. Collecting a variety of different brands of handbags, purses, makeup, she is determined to be involved with the media, preferably the modeling industry. One day, her dream became a reality when an unknown man approaches her, asking whether she`s interested taking part in a modeling exhibition. Only barrier to lead to her dream is to pay $5000 for set-up. It continues on as the girl works hard, trying to find the money for her dream. In the process, other people warn her not to be too gullible and questions whether the man is lying. The girl totally ignores them and continues in search. As she finally has enough, she gives the money to the man and was asked to wait to be called. A few weeks pasted and still there was no call. The girl tries to call the man but the line has been disconnected. The girl then regrets for everything- includes losing friends.

Structure:
3 Act Structure
Act 1 Equilibrium- used as the introduction of girl
Act 1 Inciting Incident- unknown man appears and approaches girl, convinces her to pay for being a model
Act 2 Reversal- determined to find money to pay the unknown man
Act 3 Climax- suicidal decisions made by the girl- ignoring friends
Act 3 Equilibrium- regrets from the girl and tries to apologizes to her friends, lonely

Ideas for Camera-work:
Introduction of girl in Act 1- Medium shots to show the equilibrium of the film. Camera angle stays leveled so girl is not in belief of being a model.

Appearance of unknown man in Act 1- Over the shoulder shot may be used on the unknown man to show his current dominance. This also enables the audience to see the emotion of the gullible girl

Finishing of Act 1- Two characters standing parallel to each other, the unknown man leaves, walks towards the camera with a grin on his face which the girl doesn't see. Foreshadows the character of the unknown man.

Medium/Long Shots of Act 2- These are used to show the search for money. Camera angle may be put as high angle so it capture more of what the girl is doing.

Arguments with friends of Act 3- Also over the shoulder to show her disagreements with her friends. Shows her friend's concern over her decisions.

Giving money to unknown man- close-up/extreme close-up shots may be used, nervous looks on girl's face


Setting/Places looked at:
Outside Festival Walk when scammer comes meet (act 2)
Mong Kok hanging out with friend (act 1 possibly)
Some one's house (Search for money at home)
Some football/basketball court to show her regrets (last act)

Script Writing Plan

Possible topics:

• Film Remakes (The Departed/Infernal Affairs, Funny Games 1997/2008)

How different they are directed by the directors (Mak Siu Fai, Martin Scorsese)

• Repetitive Story lines of Hong Kong TV series (TVB)

Looking at several HK-made TV series and identifying the similarities in the storyline

• Similarities & Differences of Superhero Portrayal

Superman, Batman, Spiderman

• Action Movies made by Hollywood and the HK media industry

Rush Hour, New Police Story

Film Project Ideas

1.
Bike riding/Running injury

Set: ShaTin/Tolo Harbor (Bike path)

Plot:

1. A few friends goes bike riding
2. Race really quickly
3. One person falls, injures himself
4. Guys panic, don't know what to do
5. Dehydration under hot sun
6. Friends carry to some cool down place
7. Trails back to bike store

2.
Music Writer gets work burned

Set: Someone's house/Streets

Plot:

1. Music Writer writes a good piece of music
2. Shows to other people
3. Other people get jealous
4. One night, the other person steals the piece of music
5. Friend lits the music and burns in front of music writers face
6. Music writer lost passion to music
7. 
   

Batman E.E further update

http://comic-films.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_dark_knight_review

http://www.listener.co.nz/issue/3560/artsbooks/11593/jokes_on_you_.html

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_begins/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1001781-batman/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_returns/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/batman_forever/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1077027-batman_and_robin/

http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1821365,00.html

http://www.ram.org/ramblings/movies/batman_forever.html

E.E Further Analysation

The introduction of Batman so far:


Joel Schumacher Era:

Batman Forever:

• Immediately brought in the character from the start
• Dressing up costume
• Humor brought in by Alfred 'Do I need to make you a sandwich Master?'
• Immediately address the other villains of the story- Two Face
  

Batman and Robin:

• Similar introduction to first movie
• Additional of Robin character
• Goes into bat-mobile and storms out
• Robin goes into bat-motorcycle
• Another humor? 'I want a car'
• Goes to talk about Mr Freeze

Chris Nolan Era:

Batman Begins:

• Bruce Wayne needs to be developed as character to become Batman
• Destined to save Gotham City from criminal
• Costume needed to be made by Wayne Enterprises (Lucius Fox)
  
• Came in place to stop Falcone from spreading drugs in teddy bears
• Dark, flashes of looks seen
• Takes down Falcone
  

The Dark Knight:

• Introduced villain of the story first- The Joker
• Came in when people started mentioning about Batman
  
• Batman brought in from a set of criminals trading in parking lot
• Fake Batman first came in scene to fool audience- makes us wonder why Batman uses gun to fight?
• Batman comes in scene with his Batmobile
• Blows thing up
• Shows ability to fall off high parking lot to reach car
• Jokes about fake-Batman wearing hockey pads
  

Psycho- Parlor Authority and Gender Analysis

This scene is about Marion having late supper whilst talking to Norman Bates in the parlor.

As the scene opens, Norman offers Marion to have her eating in the parlor as he finds it inappropriate eating in the office. It shows a sense of dominance as he acts as a host (not necessarily male dominance as he politely asks her to have dinner with him) guiding her in, turning the lights on and continuously asks her to sit down. As Marion is the guest, when she spots the stuffed birds above her head, the music immediately changes, showing she is not comfortable with the scenery, rather uneasy as well. But nonetheless, she doesn't want to reject the invitation from Norman as she finds him as a likable man.

As the character settles down, we see Marion is situated closer to the camera than Norman with her body posture taking two thirds of the camera on the left. This may suggest that even Norman is the host to the place, he doesn't have the masculine power to dominant the situation. There is also brighter light lit on Marion's face which may show that she is good character while Norman is shaded dark, possibly foreshadows his later character as bad. Norman used a simile to describe how Marion eats, like a bird. Bird give connotations of woman, freedom and also passive. This may describe her as a foreshadow to emphasize how he kills her later on in the film.

The conversation continues, we can see by how Marion seems to be losing her appetite through a series of shots showing her holding her food rather than eating, even if Norman's talking. At one point when Norman asked her what she was hiding from, she clearly showed hesitation, struggling to reply when he caught her weakness point. This actor performance suggests a signs of fear, not being able to answer back and afraid of letting people know she stole money. On the other hand, we also see Norman hesitating in giving a reply back to Marion as she asked her whether he have friends. By what we know in Norman, enjoys taxidermy and having no friends, this character is no ordinary character and as a audience, we can be able to predict he may be a character that would play a big part to the storyline.

Their conversation changed subject as Norman begins to talk about his mother. At the same time, the camera focus on Norman changes to a low angle, making it seem he looks larger. There's also a stuffed bird above Norman. This may used to emphasize her mother and the motherly authority over him. Even if it is his own body, he still couldn't control when his mother would take over his body and being able stop her from killing Marion. He said he wanted to curse his mother and locking her up, he emotionally gets larger into the camera by centralizing himself which made it seem he is dominant by thoughts. In the end, he gets back down, which also shows he concedes the fact he is rather weak.

'Would it be better if you put her...some place?' Through this, quotation, it reveals more of the character in Norman in how he responds. The hesitation in Marion's words also shows her fear, not exactly knowing the character of Norman. The shot is cut to a close up on Norman where he's got this really strict face on him. His head moves even closer to the camera, which shows he would be the dominant person in this scene. On Norman's face, there is a 50-50% of dark and lit light on his face. This may suggest the two character he's got in him, a small foreshadow for later. Music also starts at this moment, the low-toned sounds make the scene even more mysterious, strengthen by the actor performance to create the picture more creepy for audience. There's also these occasion reverse shots back to Marion to show how she look by what Norman says. After Norman questioned her whether she meant an institution or a madhouse, her look on the face looks more cautious and her eyes were enlarged. She's also at a slight angle, which means she's quite defensive in the moment while Norman, close to the camera seems he's going to attack her.

When Norman leans back down, his head gets smaller, also suggesting his period of domination is over. He also shows a smile which he hadn't done earlier, suggesting their power in the conversation is back to normal. Marion's face also relaxes as we see she moves a bit more and she was given the chance to reply back.

As their conversation draws to a close, Marion first stands up but Norman, stops her asking whether she was going back to bed. This is a sign of guest dominance rather than feminine dominance, as guest are able to make choices with workers unable to interfere with their choices. This is shown through the low angle on Marion, making her larger while high angle on Norman. As we can see in this scene, the darkness on Norman's face is no longer there, this may mean that in this situation, asking Marion about tomorrow morning, he is purely himself and not controlled by his mother. On a negative note, we can see there is a raven situation right next on Marion's face. This could be a foreshadow of her mother, in black, that would be haunting her like a bird and being passive to her.

E.E Research

A survey done by NewsBusters:
http://newsbusters.org/polls/why-so-many-remake-sequel-movies-22102

Will Star Wars make VII?
http://www.cinemaroll.com/Science-Fiction/Star-Wars-Will-There-be-an-Episode-Vii.56748

An article looking at why there are lots of sequels out there now:
http://www.g-pop.net/sequel.htm

Rule of Thirds

Last Thursday, we learned the theory 'Rule of Thirds' as well as other sub-techniques. The rule of thirds is when there's a shot which follows the 3 x 3 grid, it gives a special alignment for aspects in the shot to fit into so that everything is structured and laid out perfectly, in a 3 x 3 dimension. This is useful for our final project because it brings a special dimension to shots, making them stand out and looking more attractive.

We also learn patterns, symmetries, diagonal-lining.

EE Useful Websites

James Bond Movie Sequel Analysis:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/filmblog/2008/oct/29/james-bond

Wikipedia on what are sequels:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequel

How sequel films do after the original:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_sequels_by_box-office_improvement

Information on Psycho Sequel:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)

Sequels that are coming out:
http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/13412/30_upcoming_movie_sequels_you_didnt_know_about.html

Best rated sequels produced:
http://www.bullz-eye.com/mguide/features/2005/best_sequels.htm

And the worst rated sequels:
http://www.bullz-eye.com/mguide/features/2005/worst_sequels.htm

Joker's Authority

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QehZjjwb7-I&feature=related

This is the scene when the Joker intrudes into the conversation between the dealers inside a restaurant kitchen. Joker introduces himself by making laughing sounds 'ha ha ha ho he ho ha'. His tone is pretty much mocking their ability to do work behind the Batman. He keeps himself cool within the group as he shows them a magic trick. By plunging the person into the pencil, it suggest he is very strong in person.

The beard man is surprised, realizes the Joker is not any ordinary man, and allows him to have a word into the conversation. By negotiating with the two gangs, the Joker is trying to build up his authority to take on the Batman. He also mocks the chinaman who he names him as 'squeeler' and warns the two gangs to believe in him rather than Mr Lau. The Joker announces he wants half if the Batman is killed which made Gambol furious. In defence from being attacked, he reveals he's loaded with bombs. Through this, we can tell that The Joker is very intelligient.

Reverse Engineer Editing

After last week's under-terrible-condition filming in Sai Kung country side, we can now work on the editing for the clip. The filming was actually done quite well, firstly because Kelly found a really good place for us to film behind the back of her house. It looked very similar to the actual setting of the movie so were quite happy with that. On the other hand, we asked Monique to help us with the role in Little Chinese Seamstress since she can speak fluent Mandarin. This helped us on the accuracy with the real clip we were basing on.

It didn't take us too long, 2 hours to be exact, to complete the filming. In the beginning, it was quite hard to concentrate tin actually becoming the characters in the clip, it wasn't natural for what we were doing. We had series of laughing which halted the development of our acting. After when we finally put in some serious concentration, what ended up was actually quite successful.

Today, we are supposed to do some editing until next lesson. But the clips that are going to be distributed between the 3 of us, is taking ages to copy and paste. I may need to stay afterschool sometime next week to complete the editing.

Film Extended Essay

Sequence Films

• Why they are done
• The impact in different genres
  
• What attracts audience
• Reviews from critics of different sequence films

Films:

• Infernal Affairs
• Bourne Trilogy
  
• Home Alone
• Matrix
• Star Wars
  

Pre-Filming Organization

We finalized on our project today, but not completely confirmed on the date of the filming since Kelly isn't in class. Our arrangements so far is that we should meet up twice; dates of Tues 7th Apr and Tues 14th Apr or Mon 13th Apr and Wed 15th Apr.

Jay will be carrying our camera and I'll be taking the tri-pod with me. We mustn't damage the machineries up or else we'll need to pay for them.

Hope it goes successful.

Reverse Engineering Continued

In today's lesson, we worked with close analysis on the clip. Split the work between us three, Jay listened and wrote the script, Kelly worked on the setting of the scene and what the characters are wearing and I closely looked at each second, what things happen. I think we would be able to start drawing a storyboard and also the filming I think shouldn't take us really long. During the easter holidays, we should meet up at least twice at filming.

Reverse Engineering Early Planning (Mr Dickson)

This project is one of the last projects before the actual assessment. In this project, we are to select a clip that is simple, easy-going in real life and we'll need to imitate exactly how it is performed by the actual casts.

Group:

• Jay
• Kelly
• Winston

Looked at so far:
Balzac
Mr Bean
Some other one I forgot.

The Dark Knight- Inciting Incident / Reversal

Warner Bros Present: The Dark Knight

Inciting Incident:

When the biggest drug dealers/gangsters of Gotham City are trying to save their money, Mr. Lau, the accountant decides to take all the money and flee to Hong Kong. At this moment, the Joker interrupts their conversation and gives out his suggestions in getting half of the money they earn if they can all kill the Batman. This sets the story out with all the dramatic events taking place later on and how Joker tries to identify who Batman is and tries to kill him.


Reversal:
The Joker’s power began to increase when they were able to intrude into the Bruce Wayne’s party congratulating Harvey Dent. The protagonist identifies the trouble ahead and traps Harvey somewhere the Joker couldn’t find him. At the same period of time, Batman had to save Rachel Dawes from being thrown out of the window. The story goes on with the two characters going on separate directions; Joker being able to cause destruction throughout the city and nearly had two boats full of people being blown up and killed. On the other hand, Batman was playing catch up to Joker, identifying the troubles they were causing and trying to stop destruction before another place gets struck. This led to the death of Rachel and the transformation of Harvey Dent in becoming Two-Face.

Journal Writing on Portals

Group:

• Vista
• Rupert
• Winston

Setting:

• School Area

The main idea for this portal is to use different sets of shots (high angle, close-up, etc) in order to establish different people's emotions and what the characters are doing. The whole movie clip will be filmed within school boundary, fulfilling the purposes of the classrooms.

We thought of the ending at first, that gave us the idea that how the portal was going to end and what ideas can link towards at the end of the clip. A week earlier, we took pictures around the school, were we thought the portals could take place. As portals were able to transport our characters anywhere in the school, a majority of our pictures were doors or a doorway which shows how the characters will vanish from one to an other.

Carrie Movie Trend

Trend:
In reviews of 1976, all of them think that the movie ‘Carrie’ is frightening in terms of the effect

Evidence:
‘Just let me say that "Carrie" is a true horror story. A real one, in which the horror grows out of the characters themselves.’- Roger Ebert

‘The film is seriously frightening, so those prone to nightmares and nervous spells might best not attempt it.’- Barbara Thomas

‘The main horror in Carrie isn't the real bloodshed but our apprehension that her pleasure as well as her dress will be ruined by that bucket of pig blood.’- Richard Eder

‘There is a pointed glee in De Palma's satirical vision of high school society, an oddly compelling power in his juxtaposition of the banal and the awesome moving unsuspected amidst it.’- Richard Schickel

Explanation:
This might be the case that the theme of horror back in that period of time has not developed as much as other themes, limiting the effects to be more extreme



Trend:
In reviews of 1999, both reviewers believe only the actor Sissy Spacek stand out of the whole movie, including the storyline

Evidence:
‘Carrie is just a bad movie, with only Spacek's performance making significant portions of it watchable.’- James Berardinelli

‘Spacek, who had worked for De Palma before was now a star, and was nominated for her first Best Actress Oscar’- Jeffrey Anderson

‘At the heart of Carrie lie two excellent performances, from Spacek and Laurie. The former really gets to the heart of her character, combining deep sexual repression and ignorance with the needs and desires of any girl.’- Damian Cannon

Explanation:
With nothing spectacular in the movie, the character made the difference to boost the popularity of the movie. This might be the fact that there were better horror films and comparing to this film, it wasn’t match to the others.




Trend:
In contemporary reviews, they think this movie Carrie is not worth recommending to others

Evidence:
‘Personally, I cannot think of a single reason to recommend it.’- Gary Panton

‘Brian De Palma’s 1976 classic thriller Carrie is one of the most overrated, disappointing horror films of all time, Every time I watch it, I find major problems in the story for all the same reasons.’- Blake French

‘Carrie’s reverence among horror movie fans is the fact that it really isn’t a horror movie at all’- Jean Dlugos

Explanation:
This shows that horror has moved on from the traditional human abilities to other aspects/creatures which frighten viewers. They also think the story is too ambiguous to be called as horror with only limited blood scenes where in most horror films in this generation tends to spook viewers more.



Trend:
People thinks the climax of the story was the only part of the film which was good to watch

Evidence:
‘I remember sitting quietly and reading in another room then jumping out of my chair when I heard my parents scream in fright at the climax of the dream sequence.’- Linda Najera

‘Brian De Palma's sure and powerfully individual style, blending romance, darkish satirical humor and suspenseful spookiness, transforms what could have been dreary stuff.’- Richard Schickel

‘It's high time for the young generation of filmgoers to stop throwing their money at Urban Legends and see what a real horror movie is.’- Jeffrey Anderson

Explanation:
The location of where watching Carrie plays a big difference in how scary the movie it is. Most of the people back in 1976 probably watched the movie in the cinema since there weren’t VCDs or DVDs back then.



Trend:
People thinks the climax of the story was the only part of the film which was good to watch

Evidence:
‘The climax itself has become legendary, and deservedly so.’- Jeffrey Anderson

‘Romantic Dream. One of the film's high points occurs at the senior prom, where the star jock has been gulled into dating Carrie in order to set her up for her fall.’- Richard Schickel

‘Carrie ends up as a film full of tension, courtesy of long takes which make the viewer uneasy (in the same way that a stranger staring relentlessly does so), and characters that are worth caring about.’- Damian Cannon

Explanation:
This represented that only the climax of the film showed signs of an actual horror film and it helped the overall movie gain some recognition as being a horror film



Trend:
People believed that movies based on Stephen King’s movies are hard to direct and liked the movie played by Brian De Palma

Evidence:
‘Not too many movies based on Stephen King novels are very good. This movie is actually quite good directed by Brian DePalma’- Matthew Coats

‘It is Stephen King’s first book-to-film adaptation, and is one of the very few adaptations that was done well.’- Jenn Dlugos

Explanation:
This might suggest that Brian De Palma is a talented director, being able to direct a novel and turning it into a good movie




Bibliography:
Dlugos, Jenn. "Carrie (1976) | Classic-Horror.com." Classic-Horror.com | Reviewing the History of Horror Movies. 07 Feb. 2009 .

Panton, Gary. "Carrie - Review (Carrie - Special Edition)." Movie Gazette. 07 Feb. 2009 .

Najera, Linda. "Carrie Movie." The 11th Hour. 07 Feb. 2009 .

Cannon, Damian. "Carrie (1976)." Damian Cannon - The Homepage. 07 Feb. 2009 .

Coats, Matthew. "Movie-Vault.com :: Over 2000 Reviews and Counting..." Movie-Vault.com :: Over 2000 Reviews and Counting... 07 Feb. 2009 .