Our initial Ideas

My Story Board

Synopsis

·  Mother and Father have just split up and are arguing about which of them will look after their son.

· The mother takes the child to the park, the child is holding a balloon.

· The child goes on a round-a-bout ride, the camera shows the father looking at his son in the background.

· The mother goes to buy a drink leaving her son alone playing on the ride.

· The camera zooms in and out on the father highlighting his existence.

· The mother comes back, the ride is still moving, the balloon has drifted up into the air. The child is no where to be seen.

·  Black Out

· Mother standing, screams his name. This is followed by a shot of the mothers feet running through the park.

· Shot of the father and son running fast through the woods.

· The child falls and the Father picks him up aggressively.

· Shot of the mother at the police station and the Police Officer replies, 'well if hes with his Father, hes okay'

· Father pushes son into the car and shouts, 'keep ya head down!'

· Shot of the mother in her sons room, shaking back and forth with a photo of her son and crying.

Different types of genres

 Within the filming industry there are a variety of different genres to target a range of audiences.

Thriller: psychological thrillers evoke fright they cause the audience to feel emotions of guilt and fear due to the emotional instability it creates tension with what is about to pop up on screen next enabling the audience to feel part of the film. This is achieved by the way in which it is produced. For example thrillers include suspense which builds up the narrative usually done by the use of eerie music, loud bangs/noises which are usually diegetic to suggest it has been caused by someone near by, this is then followed by fast scenes of action however not all important aspects of the film is shown this is known as ambignity which then allows the audience to discover and work out the plot or characters involved causing them to be an active audience rather than passive.

Horror: in most horror films the focus is on the graphic images rather than the narrative, whereas in a thriller the narrative is much more important in order to create the fearful sense of enigma. a horror is designed to evoke suspense with more blood and gore as it targets to startle the view by playing on the audiences' fears. due to the vivid and graphic images it creates less excitement because the audience are constantly shown violence therefore will gradually become desensitised towards it.

Drama: this genre concentrates of the emotional relationships between characters dealing with day to day issues in society to signify elements of realism. Each different characters have completely different characteristic's and personalities to express their specific role in regard to the storyline. most drama strive to be emotionally moving to make a connection with their target audience.Within a drama the storyline is often about some kind of conflict between groups of people that has not be resolved this then allows for climax to occur to still attach the audience to the plot. At the end of most genres a resolution has been found creating a happy or pleasant ending.

Romance: this genre focuses on the relationships between two characters in regard to love. However is isn't always based on the theme of love at first sight it includes many different themes of love such as forbidden love for example Romeo and Juliet, relationships of hate that develop into true love for example 10 things I hate about you, love at first sight for example P.S I love you, an affair for example it's complicated and many other different aspects of it. Regardless of whether the ending is cheerful or catastrophic the aim of a romantic genre is to create the audience to display strong emotions towards it.

Fantasy: this particular genre integrates themes of magic, fictional characters/places and imaginative storyline. these films are usually targeted at young children however some films are targeted a large scale of audiences for example the movie Avatar. the inspiration for these films often comes from mythology or desires which are then created into reality in films. The illustrations are heavily relied upon in this genre because audiences are likely to watch something that is presented with fantastic images and storyline rather than just the storyline itself, because through advancements in technology there is is a lot of competition so the more vivid and imaginative that are the more publicity.

Me and Nicola have decided on the genre drama because it can easily establish a narrative especially when we have decided to produce a trailer, the narrative needs to be quickly understood so audience are well aware of what has happened and want to find out the ending result. it also is a genre that it very heartfelt which can connect with audiences, it can also easily be a hybrid so we have decided to use it alongside thriller as being a trailer will create suspense and explain the narrative making it equally as important. 

Short films and Trailers

Within a short film the narrative should have a beginning, middle and end this is a main convention of a short film to show the development of the storyline. Short films are often produced in chronological order so it is an understandable and clear storyline for audiences to follow, in my opinion sometimes short films can be predictable when it comes to the ending result as certain factors can influence giveaways; for example a mysterious character is revealed or the idea that most films tend not to end on a bad note therefore can predict it will be a happy ending. This is why me and Nicola have decided to produce a trailer. Editing the scenes so that they are in different orders is much easier, as the narrative doesn't have to be told and the audience can be active is deciding on what is happening and what is going to happening therefore will develop their own ideas. Trailers are often not predictable as they are usually left on a cliffhanger so people will go and watch the film in cinemas to find out the true underlying plot. Within trailers it is unusual for audiences to become bored of  them because of how short they are and that they don't drag on about the narrative, this is done by only allowing the best parts of a film to be used within a trailer such as the comical jokes or the build up of tension, this is shown through only showing short clips of the film. 

Creating a trailer will be challenging however will be enjoyable once scenes are recorded and all is left is to edit them to create an emotional response we hope to see off target audiences.

Narrative Theories

Narrative is the organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of different everything in life in order to understand it. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. There is always a beginning middle and end in every part of life it just depends on how we approach events for them to result in the outcome we desire. 

Narrative Conventions:

• Genre
• Character
• Form 
• Time 

Roland Barthes

He was a French semiologist who suggested that narrativeworks with five different codes that activate the reader to make sense of it.

The Five Codes

1. Action- a narrative device by which a resolution is produced through action for example a shoot out.

2. Enigma- a narrative device that teases the audience by presenting a puzzle or riddle to be solved, it works to delay the ending result of the narrative.

3. Symbolic- a narrative device that connotates what a storyline could portray, an individuals interpretation.

4. Semic- a narrative device that denotates the true meaning of a storyline, no need for predictions.

5. Cultural- a narrative device where the audience can recognise as being part of a culture this is due to relating to certain aspects of a film.

Claude Levi-Strauss

He was a French social anthropologist who studied myths of tribal cultures. His research has been adapted by media theorists to reveal underlying themes and symbolic oppositions in media texts. He examined how stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture, these are usually expressed in the form of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions is the conflict between two terms/qualities, for example in 1970's western films everything was categorised:

Todorov

He believed there were three main parts to a narrative:

1. The text begins with a state of equilibrium where everything appears to be regular or calm.

2. There is some kind of disruption or disequilibrium - this is often a threat to the normal situation or it could be just a setback.

3. A new equilibrium is produced to end the narrative. in the best narratives there is some kind of change for the better perhaps in the main characters' behaviour or outlook on life. The narrative is recognised/seen as circular.