Todorov's narrative theory

Another theorist that we looked at is Tzetan Todorv, who simplified the idea of narrative theory whilst allowing a more complex interpretation of film texts with his theory of Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.

I created the diagram below to help me remember the ordering of his theory which illiterates:
-The fictional environment beginning with a state of equilibrium (everything is as it should be and complete normal)
-It then suffers from a disruption, or chain of disruptions (Disequilibrium)
-Recognition of disruption which has caused the disequilibrium is made
-Attempts to repair the damage is carried out in order to reach equilibrium (fix everything and make it normal)
-A new equilibrium is produced at the end of the narrative

Ancient Greek philosopher - Aristotle

Ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle studied in The School of Athens and was a pupil of Plato who has influenced some of his theories. In relation to media, his quote below explains how tragedy is a representation of actions and events that happen in life, including moments of happiness and sadness which leads "life" forwards, in media this would be the narrative. He defined the word tragedy as an representation which has 6 elements:

• Plot
• Character
• Direction 
• Thought
• Spectacles
• Song 

"For tragedy is a representation, not of man, but of action and life, of happiness and unhappiness and happiness and unhappiness are bound up with actions. The purpose of living is an end which is a kind of activity, not a quality; it is their characters, indeed, that make men what they are, but it is by reason of their actions, that they are happy or the reverse." 

Propp's character theory

Vladimir Propp was a Russian and soviet formalist scholar. He created a theory based off of watching old Russian fair tales, and came up with 8 different character types. The emphasis was on looking at characters not as representing real people but as functions whose role was to move the narrative forward.

Here are the 8 different character types:

Exploring conventions

Whiles looking at the conventions of horror I've learnt various different aspects about the genre. Here are some examples from the 3 different categories that will help me during production:

Mise-en-scene
- Isolated setting or domestic setting
- Often at night time, with dark atmosphere created through dinned lighten also highlighting the use of shadows

Camerawork and editing
- Crosscutting for suspense sequences
- Fast cutting when violent action is taking place
- Point of view shorts use to demonstate victim being watched, or the killers/evil views
-Hand help shots for chase scenes

Music and sound
-Heart beats
-Atmospheric suspense music
-Psycho strings
-Loud bangs and crashes
-Screams

Coursework brief and horror trailer timeline!

Earlier last week we were given our coursework brief:
To create a promotional package for a new film and include a trailer together with a front cover film magazine and a film poster.

To start off my research, I created a horror movie timeline from the 1920's to present day to gain a sense of how horror films have developed over time. I picked out films that were most profitable in box office, and films that were most famous too, e.g. Frankenstein (1931) .

1920 - 1970 horror films (not all)

1930 - 1940 horror films 

1950 - 1975 horror films 

1979 - 2013 horror films 

What do I think of horror?

Personally, I enjoy horror and how various different fear's in our society are conveyed through it, such as how some people believe in aliens and life beyond our plant! My favorite sub-genre within horror is watching the supernatural, paranormal and ghostly movies. The  very first horror movie that I have watched was "Thir13en Ghosts" (2001) directed by Steve Beck who is a famous commercial director. The movie starts off showing how a family inherit a family member's house and as they move in, they find themselves trapped in this glass house which works like a machine.

Introduction

My name is Shria, and this is my A2 media studies blog where I will be presenting you with my journey throughout this year. In the next few days we will be given our coursework project brief and will  be starting to looking at the genre horror! From what I know, we will be creating a horror movie trailer, poster and magazine front cover.

Things to remember from AS media studies will be: 
Camera angles - for shots when creating directing the horror trailer
Mise-en-scene - so that what is shown in the framing of the shot links with our genre of horror
Sound - this will be music or sound effects that I will be exploring later on throughout this year
Rule of thirds - when we carry out the photoshoot for the magazine front cover
Tools from Adobe Photoshop - such as, cropping, re-sizing, adding text and changing colour and fonts of the text. This is help me with the basic construction of the poster and magazine front cover
Tools from Adobe PremierePro - such as selecting clips, adding transitions and importing audio. This will help me with the basic structure of the trailer