Post 15; Reflecting on Theory

It is important for us as a group to start reflecting on the different theories we learned about in class, and how we can apply what we know to our production, and how each of the different theories does or does not apply to our short film script, and plans we are making.

Genre Theory- From the Robert Smyth School, Genre is categorising films under the labels of science fiction, action, melodrama, horror, e.t.c. In our case our film Genre would be Drama. This is because is takes in alot of emotional events and drama does occur in some scenes. It is trying to send a message across to the audience, which is what every Genre should do in order to survive. ( Paradoxical nature of Genre) "Genre's depend on their ability to change, or adapt in order to survive" and they also have patterns of flexibility as well as patterns of change.
More information about Genre theory (Daniel Chandler)

Within genre theory, it is essential that we are able to recognise the different conventions to ensure we know what genre of film we are watching, and the different genre's that the producers use to categorise their films. This can be determined by a number of factors that audiences should recognise which are, location, themes, narrative structure, lighting, language and music. All of these factors help audiences identify which genre they are watching, so they can relate to the film.
We have to ensure that when making and filming our film, we have these conventions in mind so that we can identify with it, and ensure that we are putting across the correct genre to the audience. Our film could be categorised as Drama, due to the amount of emotion that can be associated with the film, which events happening which is not the normal family life.
For example, during the planning process of the film, we needed to think about the conventions and how they could contribute to the making of our overall film. One of the conventions we thought about was the theme of loneliness and unhappiness, which Isabel, the main character is. She does not have an ordinary child life, and her character can often be associated with neglect.

Another convention we thought about when planning, would be the location of the film. We needed to create a suitable location in which the audience could relate to. For example, the location would be inappropriate if it was filmed in a field. We had to locate the film in a suitable place which could connect with the characters and represent the theme of loneliness and neglect. We decided to film in a house, which would be the family's home and an easy location to get the message across to audiences.
We have added extra lighting sources when filming, these are 85 filters, to warm up the atmosphere when filming outside. We are also using blue gel's in the living room, as the sunlight is too strong, and it needs to be cooled down.

Narrative theory
When talking about narrative theory we often associate it with the way in which the story is told, and how it can be told. This can Be interpreted in many ways, such as fiction or non fiction. Three key theorists are included in this Narrative theory they are Prop, Todorov and Levis.
Prop was interested in Russian fairy tales. He said that in certain films you can get 8 types of characters, a Hero, villain, helper and a donor, a dispatcher, a false hero, a princess and a father who protects the princess, and these 8 characters, do 31 things throughout the film, which is called a sphere of action.
Our short film is not a Russian fairytale, so none of these characters will apply to us in pre production, however, it is useful to have these idea's in mind, and think to ourselves, could the parents (Lisa and Simon) be viewed as the villains, and Isabel to be known as the princess.

more information about Narrative Theory

The second theorist Torodov, stated about the equilibrium, where in every film there is an equilibrium, which then turns into a disequilibrium, and then transforms into a new equilibrium. The first equilibrium states that there is a basic storyline, where nothing interesting happens, and everything is normal and calm. When the disequilibrium occurs, things disrupt the storyline and strange things may happen to create a new situation, which can apply to the new equilibrium. This theory is hard to apply to our short film, despite our main character Isabel not having a normal, steady life in the first place, however, with the train and clock, strange things happen which sends out a message to the audience that this little girl is pining for attention.





The third theorist we can apply to narrative theory is Levis, who came up with the term Biary opposites. These are two clear opposites in which a film can promote to certain audiences. For example: Rich vs Poor can be an example of a Binary opposites. In our short film, we could represent some Binary opposites, depending on how the audiences interpret the characters. Lisa and Simon could represent Evil in some peoples eyes, and Isabel could represent the good, however depending how you interpret the messages and values in the film will differ whether you can recognise Binary opposites.

Audience Theory


Media know it all- audience theory

The first Model associated with audience theory was the Hypodermic needle model. This model is also kn own as the effects model, where the audience is seen as passive, where the producer then sends a message to the audience in which they will relate to. In our case, Anton the producer wanted to transmit the sadness of neglect across to the audience which will make them realise the importance a child's behaviour can be.

Another model connected with Audience theory is the two step flow, this was brought about in the 40's and suggests that the audience is still seen as passive, however, the producer uses something/ someone else to relate to the audience. In this case the message gets to the audience via something else whether this be a prop, a special object etc. In our short film, the teddy or the clock are two clear significant objects which can be used to transmit our messages through to the audience.

The uses and gratifications model came after the two step flow, which emerged in the 60's. This theory suggests that the audiences are not passive, they are active. It is not all about the producers sending out messages and how they interpret their specific messages, it is also about what the audiences want and need. We have to accept that all audiences are different and react differently to different things. In our short film, we hope that the audiences will take away        different messages that are set out in out film, about why parents feel the need to ignore their child's needs.

The last theory linked to audience theory is Reception theory which was developed in the 80's and 90's. This theory stated that each individual perception would effect the interpretation of the texts. For example, this could mean age, gender, ethnicity etc.  The theory also states that the message is encoded by the producer, and decoding by the audiences. For example Anton, our director has his own interpretations of what he wan ts to encode in the film, when audiences it is down to them if they decode the messages the way Anton put them across, or whether they interpreted them differently.