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BRIEFYou are to produce a Promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer

(DVD), together with two of the following;

o A website homepage for the film oA film magazine front cover, featuring

the film (A4)oA poster for the film (No larger than A3)

POST MODERNISM A postmodern theorist that I have looked at is Lyotard (Jean-Francois) The Postmodern Condition; He focused mainly on Meta Narratives suggesting that we must challenge these popular ideas and values present in the media and describes them as ‘ideas of truth’ and that they are easy to deconstruct. Postmodern texts embrace this idea and offer many alternatives and challenging narratives. A film that does this is Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction and Matrix.

Similarly another Postmodernist theorist that I have looked at is Jameson (frederic) who came up with the ‘pastiche’ theory which suggests that everyone is over exposed by hyperrealism of our media and advertisement world, there is no room for critique which therefore means all media texts become a copy of previous ideas or pastiche. For example Satire or parody texts like The Simpsons and Family Guy.

NARRATIVE THEORY Propp- character types- Propps narrative theory was that all films had the same typical characters;

oHero (protagonist) e.g. I am legend (2007) Will Smith

oAntagonist (bad guy/nemisis) e.g. Zombies

oHelper (side kick) e.g. Dog

oDamsel in distress e.g. Alice Braga and her son

oFalse hero

And in some films Femme fatal (dangerous women)

Todorov – narrative structure- Todorov suggested that all films had the same three part story line;

Equilibrium --> Disequilibrium --> Realisation --> New Equilibrium

(Harmony) (disruption) (resolution)

Levi-Strauss- Binory opposites- when films show the divide in opopsites ; for example in Titanic (1997) the upper class passengers on board the ship get to stay up the top of the ship and the lower class passengers stay in the bottom of the ship.

GENRE

Genre is a term for any category, genre are formed by conventions that change over time; as

new ones form old ones are forgotten.

The two genres I will be researching are

British Crime films and

Dystopian films.

CRIME GENRE- WHERE IT ORIGINATED FROM

Crime films are made to mirror society, to show real life events and ‘*satisfy the audience’s desire for mayhem, underdog characters, and a fallible justice system’. Many famous crime films have developed from the 1920’s Hollywood Gangster films about the prohibited era which lead to social anarchy and distrust in the government. This rebellion caused films like Scarface (1983) and Little Caeser (1930) to be increasingly popular showing an in site into the true ‘underworld kings’. These movies portrayed the Gangsters to be heroic figures that gain status through illegal activity.

*quote taken from http://thesocietypages.org/sociologylens/2012/04/29/evolution-of-crime-films-2/

CRIME FILM- NOIR

Film noir- is a cinematic term to describe stylish Hollywood Crime films particularly those that

‘*emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations’. Film noir is associated with films that

have low key black and white lighting which is typical for Crime Films to create a mysterious feel when

something is happening in the film. Example Sunset Boulevarde(1950) directed by Billy Wilder.

Neo Noir- The neo-noir film genre developed mid-way into the Cold War. This new genre introduced

innovations that were not available with the earlier noir films. There was also a lot more violence than in earlier noir films. Example Cape Fear (1962) directed

by J. Lee Thompson.

Quote taken from *http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_noir

CRIME FILM TYPICAL CONVENTIONS

Typical conventions of a crime film include;

oViolence- fights, death, weapons e.g. guns, knifes etc.,

oMusic that creates dramatic scenes and builds tension

oInterest in the opposite sex

oOver exaggeration of accent and dialect depending on the location/setting of the film

oLow, high key lighting to create a particular mood

oStrong, physical men

oCostumes and mise en scene depending on era and location of wear the movie is set

Little Caesar (1931)-Mervyn LeRoy

Road House (1948)-Jean Negulesco

The Wrong Man (1956) – Alfred Hitchcock

Oceans Eleven (1960) – Lewis Milestone

Get Carter (1971) – Mike Hodges

The Untouchables (1987)-Brian De Palma

Reservoir Dogs (1992)-Quentin Tarantino

Kill Bill (2003) – Quentin Tarantino

Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998)- Guy Ritchie

TIME LINE OF INFLUNECIAL CRIME MOVIES

Killing Them Softly (2012)-Andrew Dominik

DYSTOPIAN GENRE – WHERE IT ORIGINATED FROM?

Dystopia is the opposite of utopia; instead of the perfect world it is a world that is frightening and very undesirable. Typically a Dystopian world has had some man made catastrophe, such as dehumanisation, totalitarian governments and environmental disasters, that has resulted in the world/human kind struggling for survival. A novel by Jack London called ‘The Iron Heel’ has been described as the earliest modern dystopian, which was written in 1908. The earliest Dystopian film that I have come across is called ‘Metropolis’ (1927) directed by Fritz Lang both of these texts will have had a lot of influence on modern day Dystopian Films today.

DYSTOPIAN FILMS TYPICAL CONVENTIONSo The antagonists are almost always much more powerful

than the protagonists. Consequently, dystopian tales often become studies in survival.

o Dehumanisation of society

o The environment plays an active role in dystopian depictions

o Propaganda is used to control the citizens

o Information, independent thought, and freedom are restricted

o Citizens have a fear of the outside world.

o The natural world is banished and distrusted.

o The society is an illusion of a perfect utopian world.

*http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/lesson_images/lesson926/DefinitionCharacteristics.pdf

Metropolis (1927)-Fritz Lang

1984 (1956) –Michael Anderson

The Trail (1962)-Orsan Welles

Punishment Park (1971)-Peter Watkins

Blade Runner (1982)-Ridley Scott

The Matrix (1999)-The Wachowski Brothers

Equilibrium (2002)- Kurt Wimmer

Doomsday (2008)-Neil Marshall

The Hunger Games (2012)-Gary Ross

The Purge (2013)-James Demonaco

INFLUENCIAL DYSOPIAN FILMS

BRITISH CRIME TRAILER BRITISH CRIME TRAILER ANALYSISANALYSIS

LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS (1998) ~DIRECTED BY GUY RITCHIE~

Genre: British Crime,

Comedy, Thriller

The titles used in the trailer are to introduce the four main characters. The text is in a quirky font and not in a straight line that could be used as the characters are not the smartest in the film and puts the comedy edge on it. The text is also in red which connotes blood, which is typical in a crime film.

The main title comes up at the end of the trailer. Once again the text is quirky and all on different levels. After the title has been on the screens the ‘O’s start to fall out of the ‘Lock Stock’ this could be depicting the plot of the film and how there plan falls apart.

KILL BILL VOLUME 1 (2003)~ DIRECTED BY QUENTIN TARANTINO ~

The titles used in this movie trailer are really interesting; I like the way that with each title comes a different black ‘slash’ mark which looks like a samari sword mark, hinting at the violence that is featured in this movie. I also like the comic book style effect that is has. The colour scheme depicts the famously, iconic jumpsuit that the bride (Uma Thurman) wears.

From the start of the trailer violence is shown which is what Quentin Tarantino is famous for. The finger on the gun trigger close up shot is used to show this and the use of the bullet transition connotes murder and death.

The main character known as The Bride is introduced by this shot of her bum as she walks through the airport. This shot is used to show the male gaze theory of everything made for men, by showing her bum the audience sees the attractive side of her.

The second shot of the bride is her face, from the side, from this shot we can tell she is blonde, blondes are typically known for not being very smart which is the complete opposite for this movie. Thurman is dressed in all black which could suggest that she is on a mission and is trying to blend in.

GET CARTER (1971) ~ MIKE HODGES

When we first meet the main character, he is on a train with luggage which connotes that he has or is travelling somewhere. It also suggests that he is a normal, average person.

The second shot of the main character he is looking directly at the camera and has a stern face on which could suggest that when he has arrived at wherever he is traveling to he has had some bad news.

In this shot we see our main character fighting with a women. This depicts that this film has violence in it. Our main character is fighting with a women which isn't politically correct which could suggest that this character has no morals.