British Film and Comedy

Learning Objectives - To review understanding of Macro features from AS Media - To develop understanding of Macro and Micro features, focusing on Micro features and Narrative particularly Learning Objectives - To review understanding of Macro features from AS Media - To develop understanding of Macro and Micro features, focusing on Micro features and Narrative particularly

Research Seminar Case Study  In groups of 3 or 4 you need to:  Choose a British Comedy film you have all seen and enjoyed or that you want to see  Prepare a 5/10 minute presentation on the film (using any visual aids you like)  To be presented on (DATE TBC) but start working on this now – watch the film in the next week  Make sure you don’t choose the same film!

Research Seminar Case Study  Above all else you need to show you have engaged with the film – that you know and understand it….  ….but think especially about:  Narrative  Representation (e.g. gender, age, nationality, sexuality)  Other Macro and Micro features  Please tell me your groups and film next lesson

Some suggested films  The Full Monty  Shaun of the Dead  Any Carry On film  Ali G Indahouse  Chicken Run  Bridget Jones’ Diary  Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit  Love Actually  About a Boy  Notting Hill  Bean  Withnail and I  Any Monty Python film  East is East

Re-cap test  Complete the sheet in front of you  Swap with a partner and mark

Storytelling Task  In pairs, tell the story of your life to your partner  Before you do this you will need to plan the things you want to tell and put them into an order you think is suitable and effective – only tell your story when you are absolutely sure you have shaped it as you want. Remember things like:  The need to immediately engage the interest of the person you are telling the story to  The importance of retaining that person’s attention  The need to put things into an order that will allow the listener to make sense of what has happened to you during your life  One final condition: there is a time limit of 10 minutes to the length of your story

 This is what narrative is: a story!  But it also refers to the academic study of the principles by which stories are structured:  Characters  Setting  Structure:  Time and space travel (linear or non-linear?)  Cause and effect  When thinking about narrative we must always consider the expectations of the audience – what are they and are they fulfilled or not?

Do all stories have the same basic structure?  Theorists of narrative structure suggest that all films (and indeed stories) have the same basic structure:  We are introduced to a hero and shown the world they live in  The normality of this world is disrupted  The hero sets out to restore order (resolution)  Why do you think this is?  Task: can you think of any films where this structure is not followed? Discuss.

Basic Narrative Theory  Todorov’s Theory – narratives begin in equilibrium which is then affected by an event leading to disequilibrium. Problems are then solved so that equilibrium is once again achieved.  Propp’s Theory – analysed 100s of folk tales and identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative roles:  villain  hero  donor – provides some magical property  helper – aids the hero  princess – reward to the hero and object of villain’s schemes  father – rewards hero  dispatcher – sends hero on his way  false hero (or anti-hero)  Strauss’ Theory – looked at narratives in terms of binary oppositions – he was interested in things existing in opposition to each other such as good and evil.

Conclusion  Films can be seen as stories (or narratives)  You need to analyse the different ways in which films as stories (or narratives) use certain common recurring features of storytelling or narrative structure.

Micro and Macro features  We can read films at 2 levels: 1.Macro 2.Micro  Look at the sheets I have given out – you must store these carefully as they contain important definitions of Macro and Micro features

Macro features  Genre  Star  Auteur  Narrative  Discourse of realism  Mode of address  Issues of representation

Micro features  Technical codes:  Camera  Sound  Lighting  Editing  Performance codes:  Actor movement/expression/vocal delivery  Costume  Setting  Props  Other useful terms are:  “Mise-en-scene” – everything the director puts into any frame (people, costume, lighting, props)  “Cinematography” – includes photographic elements, lighting, framing and composition and special effects

Task - analyzing a film  We will look at a clip from (CHOOSE FILM)  Complete the Macro and Micro template handed out to you whilst watching the film  Using random name generator – talk about selected aspect of film  Watch clip of film again

Task – audience expectations  We will look at a clip from (CHOOSE FILM)  When I stop the film write down what you think will happen next  How did the next section of the film compare to your expectations?

Conclusion  All films can be seen as stories (or narratives):  Films as narratives use certain common recurring structural features  But these will be subverted in some films  We can read films at 2 different levels: 1.Micro 2.Macro  We need 1 to understand the other!