Ahmed is represented in a negative way, Fiona and Danny positively. How are those binary opposites conveyed?
Ahmed is shown with all the power. He holds the two at gunpoint and asks the husband to make the choice of who to die. This shows him as a evil man as he is making Fiona's husband choose who dies but he can not make that decision. This shows him as evil as he is going to kill one of them and also has no pity or remorse so makes it even worse by making the husband choose who. This is when Danny is shown to be good as he sacrifices himself for Fiona. He knows her husband will not make the choice so he does himself and sacrifices his life for hers. This makes the audience feel positive about him as he is doing the best deed he possibly could. FIona also makes a sacrifice as she shouts at her husband to not make the decision to kill either one of them as she also is prepared to sacrifice herself.
What role do mise-en-scene, camerawork and editing play in underlining those representations?
Lots of low angle shots of Ahmed to make him seem very powerful and aggresive. Danny and Fiona normally shot in high angle to look vulnerable and weak. Ths creates the impact of Ahmed dominating over them and seeming quite scary to them. Lots of CUs of Danny and Fiona to show their terror for Ahmed. He is also edited in a lot less. There are a lot fewer shots of Ahmed and they also last for a lot shorter time. As if trying to avoid him or to show that he is not feeling that much emotion.
What techniques are used to involve the audiences emotionally? How does that position audiences?
The audience feels attached to Fiona and her husband as they were discussing normal issues and were acting like a normal couple. This makes them feel familiar to the couple and even relate so when these bad things happen to them it makes the audience pity them. Danny's speech is very emotional at the end as both the audience and Danny are aware that what his doing is going to get hium killed. We see this from the CUs of him which show him getting ready and shows him not being scared of the terrorist as if saying he wants him to kill him. The man crying while making the choice between who will die also makes the audience feel very sorry for him as they would also not know what to do in his position and oculd only imagine what it is like.
What view of terrorism emerges from these scenes?
It seems that terrorists are violent and proud. Proud of their heritage and seem to take offence when he said he was unlucky that he was born where he was. Its shows terrorists doing whatever they can to reach their goals. They are shown as immoral as they kill and do it with no mercy. It shows them as not feeling emotion to one another as he is willling to send the woman out and kill herself.
What do you understand by Arab, Islamic, Muslim, Middle-Eastern?
Islam is the religion of the middle-east or Arabia. People who follow this religion are Muslim.
What are the equivalent categories for describing British people?
Christian, Catholic, Protestants, Western-European
Since Britain is an ethnically diverse society, are there equivalents? What does this suggest about using these categories, which are widespread in the mainstream media?
Due to Britain having many different types of British person such as English-Muslim we should not generalise so much about categories such as this. It is stereotyping all Muslims to one area of the world and giving them certain negative stereotypes such as terrorism.
What do you know about Al Quaeda?
It is an extremist Muslim group who are seriously again western civilization. They are a small minority of Muslims however they are very well known due to heavy publicity in the media due to terrorism.
Try to find three contrasting representations of Iragi people from the internet, newspapers, magazines, films. What conclusions can you draw from these representations?
1.http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/mar/06/shoe-protest-iran-ahmadinejad
They approve of shoe being thrown at Bush but not their own president.
2. 9/11
3. http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/20090316/BREAKING/90316043/-1/RSS01?source=rss_breaking Iraqi girl killed by American troops.
This concludes that they are much like everyone else as they are also being killed but however there are a minority who are terrorists. This however is the media representing Iraqui's as terrorists.
How far does the drama position audiences to equate 'Muslim' with terrorism?
When he says 'you death worshipping fashist' suggests he is of another religion. He says 'they destroyed our world, now we'll destroy theirs' This links to another country and due to current affairs suggest Iraq due to their ethnicity.
Think of other characters from British ethnic minorities in the drama. What is their significance?
The new asian male shows that it is not all Asians that are terrorists and covers the show from being accused of racism and stereotyping. Danny is a black male which shows it is not biased to white british characters.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Representation-Old people
This video repreesents old people very well. Father Jack is always cranky and can barely hear. This is a very typical steroetype of old people. We se e hiom not being able to hear properly when he mistakes 'for our lord' for 'Allard'. We also see it as he always shouts. He also is a very heavy drinker which is not a typical representation of old people but adds to his crankiness which is the most obvious stereotype.
Another great representation is Catherine Tate's character 'Nan'. She is a very typical as she is very opionated and hates a lot of things. She constantly complains about everything and is very rude. She normally offends people but gets away with it due to her age. This is a good representation of old people as the stereotype is always of someone very cranky and needs help being looked after which she has from her grandson. The grandson obviously finds her offensive in many ways but still stays with her because she's family.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Exploring Narrative
A couple wake up, go downstairs to breakfast, and do not realise that they are being watched. The couple leave the house where they seperate each to go to the seperate jobs. Both are followed. The women is taken and kept prisoner. The man comes home to find no wife and she is not picking her phone up. He calls the police who send out a search party. They say she's being held at ransom and the police we'll not negotiate. The man gives himself up in a swap for his wife and while the switch takes place a sniper takes out the terrorists.
In this I have used Todorov's equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium as well as Levi Strauss' binary opposites such as good and evil. I can also use some of Propp's characters such as the damsel in distress being the wife and the hero being the police.
Most stories end happily as the audience do not want to see characters they relate to or like, end up in bad circumstances at the end. It also doesn't feel like it has ended if it is a sad ending as nothing seems to be resolved and this makes the audience wonder if anything else is going to happen.
Spooks uses Todorov's classic narrative structure of equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium. This is what makes the start feel like the beginning of a narrative as everything is normal but as you can see from the terrorists something is obviously going to go wrong. We also feel the binary opposites that the terrorists are evil and the couple are good as we already have the thought in our mind that terrorists are bad and when they say how the couple are still in love and thats why they choose them it makes them seem very evil. We also see the couple as very normal, loving people so we are more inclined to see them as good.
Single drama/film: Margaret
A single drama would normally follow Todorov's ideas of equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium as it wants to leave on a happy ending. It would also contain binary opposites to cause this disruption.
Two-nighter: Trial & Retribution
This would follow Todorov's narrative structure only it would maybe leave it in the middle of the disruption at the end of the first episode and then resolve it in the second. This would mean they would contain binary opposites as there needs to be conflict.
Soap: Eastenders
These normally have many stories running at one time so many narratives following Todorov and Levi-Strauss' ideas. These will run for different characters and the normally have single episodes or having a runniong narrative which lasts maybe 3 episodes.
Serial: Bleak House
A series has one main narrative which follows Todorov and Levi-Strauss' ideas but in the episodes there are also other mini-narratives going on which also follow these ideas. Such as in Prison Break the quilibrium would be waking up in his cell working on his plans to escape and the disruption would be the cops inspecting his cell. In not every episode the disruption for that episode is resolved as they can leave it on a cliffhanger so the audience can wait to see next week.
Anthology Series (self-contained episodes, each based on different characters): Skins
Each character gets there own episode where they face their own Todorov narrative structure and the conflicts caused by binary opposites. Some characters however can remain in disruption and maybe have it resolved in someone else's episode or at a later time.
Long-form Series: Lost
This narrative does follow the Todorov structure to start with, i.e. it follows the equilibrium then disruption however anytime it gets close to reaching a resolution another disruption appears. All the episodes follow to try and solve this disruption.
Long-form Series with some narrative experimentation: 24
A series that never really resolves the disruption as another one always occurs however one disruption is normally resolved but that is only a part of a larger disruption e.g. putting on criminal is only one part of the fight on crime
In this I have used Todorov's equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium as well as Levi Strauss' binary opposites such as good and evil. I can also use some of Propp's characters such as the damsel in distress being the wife and the hero being the police.
Most stories end happily as the audience do not want to see characters they relate to or like, end up in bad circumstances at the end. It also doesn't feel like it has ended if it is a sad ending as nothing seems to be resolved and this makes the audience wonder if anything else is going to happen.
Spooks uses Todorov's classic narrative structure of equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium. This is what makes the start feel like the beginning of a narrative as everything is normal but as you can see from the terrorists something is obviously going to go wrong. We also feel the binary opposites that the terrorists are evil and the couple are good as we already have the thought in our mind that terrorists are bad and when they say how the couple are still in love and thats why they choose them it makes them seem very evil. We also see the couple as very normal, loving people so we are more inclined to see them as good.
Single drama/film: Margaret
A single drama would normally follow Todorov's ideas of equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium as it wants to leave on a happy ending. It would also contain binary opposites to cause this disruption.
Two-nighter: Trial & Retribution
This would follow Todorov's narrative structure only it would maybe leave it in the middle of the disruption at the end of the first episode and then resolve it in the second. This would mean they would contain binary opposites as there needs to be conflict.
Soap: Eastenders
These normally have many stories running at one time so many narratives following Todorov and Levi-Strauss' ideas. These will run for different characters and the normally have single episodes or having a runniong narrative which lasts maybe 3 episodes.
Serial: Bleak House
A series has one main narrative which follows Todorov and Levi-Strauss' ideas but in the episodes there are also other mini-narratives going on which also follow these ideas. Such as in Prison Break the quilibrium would be waking up in his cell working on his plans to escape and the disruption would be the cops inspecting his cell. In not every episode the disruption for that episode is resolved as they can leave it on a cliffhanger so the audience can wait to see next week.
Anthology Series (self-contained episodes, each based on different characters): Skins
Each character gets there own episode where they face their own Todorov narrative structure and the conflicts caused by binary opposites. Some characters however can remain in disruption and maybe have it resolved in someone else's episode or at a later time.
Long-form Series: Lost
This narrative does follow the Todorov structure to start with, i.e. it follows the equilibrium then disruption however anytime it gets close to reaching a resolution another disruption appears. All the episodes follow to try and solve this disruption.
Long-form Series with some narrative experimentation: 24
A series that never really resolves the disruption as another one always occurs however one disruption is normally resolved but that is only a part of a larger disruption e.g. putting on criminal is only one part of the fight on crime
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Episode 2 season 1
Sound
In Prison Break they use a lot of non-diegetic music. A lot of high paced music helps build tension. The music normally builds with violins and fast beats. This builds suspense and tension to a climax. This builds suspense and tension to a climax. The music seems typical of a film more then a TV show, it is very atmospheric. The music is in parallel with the mood of the situation, if there is one thing going on the music will represent that mood or situation. At one point in the second episode they need to throw away the illegal stuff from inside the cell and Schofield finds his cell mate's knife. He starts to worry about it and while this happens the music builds in pace and loudness. This builds suspense and the pace makes it sound like a panic. This climax's to the officer finding him which shows the truth in the music's panic.
Whenever Schofield enters the yard there is normally a peice of rap music to connote the 'gangster' lifestyle most of the criminals live. It is a stereotypical view on music of a prison as it creates a 'ghetto' style atmosphere, also the music is very aggressive in parallel with most of the criminals attitudes.
In Prison Break they use a lot of non-diegetic music. A lot of high paced music helps build tension. The music normally builds with violins and fast beats. This builds suspense and tension to a climax. This builds suspense and tension to a climax. The music seems typical of a film more then a TV show, it is very atmospheric. The music is in parallel with the mood of the situation, if there is one thing going on the music will represent that mood or situation. At one point in the second episode they need to throw away the illegal stuff from inside the cell and Schofield finds his cell mate's knife. He starts to worry about it and while this happens the music builds in pace and loudness. This builds suspense and the pace makes it sound like a panic. This climax's to the officer finding him which shows the truth in the music's panic.
Whenever Schofield enters the yard there is normally a peice of rap music to connote the 'gangster' lifestyle most of the criminals live. It is a stereotypical view on music of a prison as it creates a 'ghetto' style atmosphere, also the music is very aggressive in parallel with most of the criminals attitudes.
Episode 1 Series 1
As it was the first episode of Prison Break, it was very important for them to introduce the characters and introduce the main narrative. I'm going to concentrate on how they made the personality for the main character, Michael Schofield.
A scene I thought was very helpful to see key factors about his character was when he saw his first stabbing in the prison (I would upload the video but it is no where to be found on youtube. something to do with silly copyright or something). In this scene a man is stabbed and Schofield witnesses it. All the other prisoners jump to watch some with excitement and joy others with not much emotion at all, where as Schofield has a scared face and almost sad face. This conotes how he is scared of it happening to him and because he has only been there for a little while it signifies how the fact his going to be spending time here has actually sunk in. He, unlike all the other prisoners, looks confused and worried about the victim showin his caring side and characteristics of a 'good guy' where as the others do not worry about him showing they are used to it or how most enjoy that.
Schofield is very calm and collected with everything he does. He never seems phased by the other criminalsor threatened. We this when he is threatened by Abruzzi, one of the topdogs at the prison. He threatens Abruzzi back and is not scared when his boys attack him. This could signify naiveity to how bad Abruzzi could mess him up or show how Schofield is very coinfident and has everything planned out.
It is import for Schofield not to be shown as a 'bad guy' and even in his costume he is shown to be different from the 'bad guys'. There is a huge contrast when you first see him as he is getting a huge tattoo done. Then next time we see him he is in a buisness suit. This continues to happen as when we see him robbing the bank he has a classy suit on. This is very different to what a typical criminal would wear and connotes how he is not an actual criminal and therefore he is not a 'bad guy'. He also wears his prison unifom different to the other prisoners as most wear vests or there jackets undone but he consistently has his jacket done up and his uniform in good shape. This can also signify the difference between good and bad characters.
A scene I thought was very helpful to see key factors about his character was when he saw his first stabbing in the prison (I would upload the video but it is no where to be found on youtube. something to do with silly copyright or something). In this scene a man is stabbed and Schofield witnesses it. All the other prisoners jump to watch some with excitement and joy others with not much emotion at all, where as Schofield has a scared face and almost sad face. This conotes how he is scared of it happening to him and because he has only been there for a little while it signifies how the fact his going to be spending time here has actually sunk in. He, unlike all the other prisoners, looks confused and worried about the victim showin his caring side and characteristics of a 'good guy' where as the others do not worry about him showing they are used to it or how most enjoy that.
Schofield is very calm and collected with everything he does. He never seems phased by the other criminalsor threatened. We this when he is threatened by Abruzzi, one of the topdogs at the prison. He threatens Abruzzi back and is not scared when his boys attack him. This could signify naiveity to how bad Abruzzi could mess him up or show how Schofield is very coinfident and has everything planned out.
It is import for Schofield not to be shown as a 'bad guy' and even in his costume he is shown to be different from the 'bad guys'. There is a huge contrast when you first see him as he is getting a huge tattoo done. Then next time we see him he is in a buisness suit. This continues to happen as when we see him robbing the bank he has a classy suit on. This is very different to what a typical criminal would wear and connotes how he is not an actual criminal and therefore he is not a 'bad guy'. He also wears his prison unifom different to the other prisoners as most wear vests or there jackets undone but he consistently has his jacket done up and his uniform in good shape. This can also signify the difference between good and bad characters.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
My TV drama
I've chosen to do my weekly analysis on a little TV drama called 'Prison Break'. I've choose this because my brothers just let me borrow the whole first season so it is very easy for me to watch weekly and I've heard a lot of good things about it.
It is about a normal man who gets himself put into jail as the only way to break his brother out of prison, who is there for a crime he didn't do, is by breaking him out from the inside.
What is TV Drama? THE DEFINITION
TV drama is a fictional peice of TV which can be either based on real events are very unlikely ones e.g. 'Life On Mars'. Typical TV drama or in a series but there are one-off episodes of TV drama such as 'Coming Down The Mountain' (a one part drama shown on the BBC). Storylines are normally carried out through the series so it is unlikely for a TV drama to have equilibrium-disruption-equilibrium like sitcom and the typical narrative structure of a film. They normally have an hour long episode and have around 20 episodes in a series.
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