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Tuesday, December 10, 2013

How typical is your chosen text to its genre?

How typical is your chosen text to its genre?



The British film "Fishtank" is a social realist film, directed by Andrea Arnold.  The film focuses on Mia, an aggressive fifteen-year-old girl, who lives on an Essex estate with her mother, Joanne, and little sister Tyler. She spends most of her days aimlessly. She begins an uneasy friendship with her mothers boyfriend, Connor, who encourages her one interest, dancing. The film is full of many conventions which are typical to the social realist genre.

In the scene where Mia is about to leave her family to go to Wales, her mother is dancing to music while having a cigarette. This scene is very typical to its genre as the music being played is coming from a stereo present in the scene which means the director is using diegetic sound. Diegetic sound is commonly used in social realist films because they want the audience to feel part of the text and create a feel of realism. The song which is being played repeats the lyrics of "life's a bitch and then you die", this reflects the situation which Mia has found herself in as her life has been troubled and hard. This theme is common in most social realist films as they focus on the under represented - the underclass, who find themselves in a very difficult and troubled life. Also Joanne, Mias mum is shown smoking, this is typical iconography of its genre. Alcohol, drugs and cigarettes are very common within the social realist genre as most characters tend to turn their frustration of being trapped in an underclass society to such things.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Identify 3 sci-fi conventions that are present in the narrative and note down scene/narrative descriptions. Try to also identify one genre convention which is not present.

The hunger games is a mixture of many different film genres; sic-fi, action and adventure conventions are all present in the film. An example of a typical sic-fi narrative theme present in The hunger games is the anti establishment ideology, this is projected to the audience in a polysemic narrative device. We see the difference in two societies, we see the rich and beauty of the higher society and the 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

What noir conventions are present in the film 'Drive

Technical conventions - A common convention present in the noir genre is the shadow caused from light shining through venetian blinds, this is shown in the scene when Blanche is in the bathroom after a confrontation with Ryan Gosling, the shadow from the blinds is shown across the back of the bathroom. Another common convention used in the noir genre is the use of low key lighting. Directors use the lighting to show the morales of a character. Ryan Goslings character is shown regularly in the film with half of his face in the light and the other half shadowed, this shows how he has elements of bad about him but also has good intentions. Also this is shown in the scene where the assassin is shown walking towards the lift, he is shown in total darkness which represents his evil side and that he has bad morales. Also in the scene where Standard, Irene, Ryan Gosling and the young boy are at the table, the young boy is shown in full lighting, this shows his innocence and how he is yet to develop a bad side. 


Character roles - Typical noir films include a cynical protagonist, a femme fatale, and an authoritative figure who is corrupt. These character roles are evident in the film. Ryan Goslings character acts as the cynical protagonist, we know this as he is the character who is focused on throughout the film, he also has a flaw which is his mental state as he seems depressed at all times and rarely smiles, his main aim is to please the femme fatale and to protect her. Irene acts as the femme fatale as Ryan Goslings attraction to her leads to him attempting to protect both herself and her family. Irene is Ryan Goslings constant motivation and by trying to protect her Ryan Gosling finds himself in very dangerous situations. Blanche is shown as a corrupt character in the film, this is shown when Ryan Gosling finds that she knows that Standard is going to