No. 2. : Marlin warns Nemo never to swim over the drop off out into the ocean
No. 3: Nemo swims out over the drop off into the ocean and is captured
No. 11: Marlin leaves the reef to find Nemo
No. 14: Marlin meets Dory who reads the adress on the goggles and they leave for sydney
No. 15: Marlin and Dory are swallowed by a whale, who transports them to Sydney
No. 25: After failing to swim out of the tank, Nemo manages to be flushed down the dentist's sink and escapes to the ocean
No.26: Marlin and Nemo are reunited
No. 30: Humans lose all of their fish
Criticisms of the theory
The theory is based on folklore, and may not be as relevant to more recent stories
There are very few stories that feature all 8 characters and all 31 functions
It follows a very rigid structure. Most stories are much more complicated than the theory suggests, for example in Always Outnumbered, instead of the film ending with him getting a job, it ends with his best friend dying of cancer on a public bench while he gets on a bus to go and contiue his life as normal
1. Who are the agents: the protogonist and antagonist.
The protagonist is Shaft, a detective. From the opening scene we get sense that he is very good at his job, as he spots the waitress and reads her body language to finds the suspect. He also spots the blood on his finger and on her face. We also get the sense that he is ruthless, by the way he punches Walter when he makes a racist remark about the victim. He also seems to be unpopular, as another detective detective says "Please tell me he's not running this case".
Walter is the antagonist, the son of a rich property developer. He murders the victim in a racist attack, and then continues to mock him racially as he is dying, suggesting that he is a racist. He seems very cocky because of the wealth and power of his father, as if he knows for sure that he will not be caught for his crime.
2. Describe the Equilibrium. How is it represented? What kind of camera shots can you identify?
The film begins in equilibrium, with Shaft attending to another case as he would every day.
The scene begins with a large pan of the city and his car coming into shot, which cuts into an MS of the car pulling up and Shaft getting out, immediately introducing him as the main character. A forwards track behind him shows him almost swaggering to the crime scene, and his long black leather coat and the music in the background emphasises that he is a very smooth character.
3. Is the Disruption or Disequilibrium introduced or hinted at?
The equilibrium is disrupted when Walter murders the victim. The murder would just be like any other case, but as this is a racial attack, and Walter appears so smug, Shaft takes this case personally.
The one witness to the crime disappears, so Shaft needs to find her.
4. Are there any visual/verbal/aural clues that hint at what the hero's journey might be? (e.g having to solve the murders within a time-limit of seven days in "Seven")
You can tell by the wealth and arrogance of Walter that he is not going to be easy to convict, and also the witness has gone missing. This implies that Shaft will spend the rest of the film trying to convict Walter of the murder, and he will need to find the witness in order to do this.
5. From your knowledge of the film, how will the equilibrium be restored and what will be the new equilibrium?
The new equilibrium comes at the end of the film when, after two failed court hearings, Walter is convicted. The witness is found and she testifies against him.
The new equilibrium is the same as at the beginning; Shaft will still have more cases to solve. Walter is now dead, having been shot outside the courtroom.
The first shot of the scene, the establishing shot of the diner, has a sound bridge over it which continues into the next shot of Socrates talking. This makes it clear that he is inside the diner and makes the previous scene flow into the new one.
When Willy enters the diner, shot steps are used so that there is no sense that the audience has jumped into the action. A long shot is used, which moves to a mid shot and eventually a close up when he sits down, as if the audience has stayed in the same place and Willy has walked towards them.
When Willy is ordering the pies, the 180 degree rule is used, but in three directions, and shot reverse shot is used; it is as if the audience is positioned in one position for the whole of the conversation and the camera has been rotated to see each character.
During the conversation between Socrates and Willy, shot reverse shot and the 180 degree rule is used to see the other character from each persons point of view.
The master shot is of the waitress; a cut away to her is used to give variety and to break up the action. Without this, the scene would be very boring.
During the conversation, shot variety is used to give a greater sense of emotion. MCUs and MSs are used during 'normal' conversation and CUs are used at moments of tension between the two.
When Willy stands up, a HA is used to show him from Socrates's point of view to put the audience in his place to increase the sense of feeling.
When Socrates puts the knife on the table, match on action is used to make the sequence flow, as if he had taken the knife out of his pocket and put it on the table all in one go, when in reality it would have been shot at different times, and has been edited to get the timing right.
1. What did you think was the point to the activity?
To get us to think about continuity and narrative structure and to put it into practise, without having learnt any techniques so we would make mistakes in our sequences to learn from.
To get us used to the process of storyboarding and how a storyboard can help us to shoot a sequence successfully.
2. In regard to your finished sequence, what worked well?
The establishing shot at the beginning of the sequence works well to create a sense of character and setting.
The close up of the feet and the tilt up as the runner starts moving works well as it fits the rule of match on action and includes movement into the sequence, without making the movement obvious. Without this movement the sequence would seem very static. The close up brings the audience right in on the action to give an increased sense of involvement.
The shot from the point of view of the cone introduces the cone's character and shows the direction that the runner is runnig, and the handheld shot puts the audience in the place of the runner, increasing audience involvement.
These two shots also follow the rule of shot-reverse-shot.
The final shot of the fall pulls the audience right out of the action which means they are an onlooker to the accident. This allows them to see the whole fall and adds to comic effect.
3. What would you aim to improve about your sequence?
The pose that the character is doing in the first shot doesnt really fit and isnt really needed.
The first and second shot transition breaks the 30 degree rule. It looks jumpy and doesnt flow as the two shots are too similar
CU of nails, hair etc, in slow motion, which shows how much time she spends on her appearance.
CUs at the start make it clear that this is the main character, but withholds information so we don’t find out too much about her.
Long track through corridors gives audience a sense of setting and allows them to get a sense of the people on the campus; all female, rich, obsessed with personal image.
At the end of sequence there is an MCU of the girl, finally showing us her whole appearance.
Character Information
All very stereotypical: Girls spend all their time working on their appearance and the boys spend their time play fighting topless and only stop to cheer as a girl rides past on her bike.
You don’t see anyone working on campus which indicates that everybody is there just to have a good time.
Everybody is signing her card and you see a large homecoming banner on the wall, showing that she is very popular.
Narrative Expectation
Everything is in different shades of pink, suggesting that this is going to be a very girly film.
She has a picture of a boy by her bed, and she blows a kiss at the picture, which shows the audience that he is going to be central to the narrative.
Everything is very bright; this is going to be a happy film.
The card says ‘good luck for tonight’, suggesting that something major is going to happen that night.
Seven
Shots
Establishing shots of Morgan Freeman at the start show that he lives alone and that he is very organised and is used to routine; the way he picks his equipment is very methodical.
LA of Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt shows that their meeting is quite important.
LS of Morgan Freeman sitting in bed shows that he isn’t necessarily happy, and creates a sense of loneliness.
Character Information
Contrast between characters: Freeman is old and methodical; Brad Pitt is young and energetic.
Freeman is not very popular: he wants to take his time to solve the case, while his colleague just wants to finish up and leave.
Freeman is retiring in a week.
Narrative Expectations
‘Monday’ signifies that something is starting, and also makes it clear that the film takes place over a week.
The ticking just before the opening titles shows that something is about to happen.
During title sequence, you see a killer cutting out newspaper stories, cutting out photographs etc, which shows that there is an organised killer on the loose.
Hi my name is Hugh and I love films. I love funny films, serious films, scary films, exciting films, old films and new films. My favourite film is Always Outnumbered (starring Laurence Fishburne as Socrates Fortlow), but I'm always up for a quick Ace Ventura or Dukes of Hazard. When I'm not watching films you'll usually find me playing, watching, arguing about, or travelling to football. Enjoy my blog.
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