Comparasion of The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony, Massive Attack - Unfinished Symphony and Fat Les - Vindaloo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24-YFCp1FXI

The Verve - Bittersweet Symphony:
This is a classic video because of all the camera angles and also because  it is very simple. The most important thing about this video is the attitude towards life. At the end of this video you see 4 other people walking with him, which are his band mates, they have shown this because they all understand where Richard Ashcroft is coming from. The Verve took one step furthur and also showed an area of urban rundown, this is ironic because this is where he grew up so not is the attitude targetted at the audience the environment is also shown which i better for the marketing. The song also became famous for the legal controversy surrounding plagiarism charges. Ashcroft starts walking from the southeast corner of the intersection of Hoxton and Falkirk Streets in Hoxton, North London, subsequently proceeding north along the east side of Hoxton Street. The "pavement journey" format was inspired by the music video for the Massive Attack song "Unfinished Sympathy", in which Shara Nelson sings while walking through a Los Angeles neighbourhood. The British comedy band Fat Les would later release a direct parody for their 1998 song "Vindaloo"; Paul Kaye takes the role of an Ashcroft look-alike who is mocked by a growing group of passers-by as the video progresses.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWmrfgj0MZI

Massive Attack - Unfinished Symphony:
This video have used ideas and conventions from The Verve's video Bittersweet Symphony. This video is important because of the setting which is also a snap shot of an urban rundown area. At the time of the release of the single, the group was pressured to change its name due to the outbreak of the Gulf War in 1991. They were briefly known as simply "Massive," and it is the name which features on the cover of this single. It features Shara Nelson walking along the sidewalk, unaware or uncaring of her surroundings, which includes drunks, gangs, bikers and the three members of Massive Attack (Robert Del Naja, Grant Marshall and Andrew Vowles). It was one of the earliest music videos to use one continuous shot. The video was later paid homage to in the music video for The Verve's song "Bitter Sweet Symphony".The art director for the video was Leigh Bowery.



Fat Les - Vindaloo:
The song was originally written as a parody of football chants, but was adopted as one in its own right and became a cult classic. Much of the song consists of the phrase "nah nah nah" and the word "vindaloo" repeated over and over by a mixed group, occasionally interspersed with lines such as "And we all like vindaloo" and "We're England; we're gonna score one more than you". However, there were rumours at the time that in a re-run of the events in 1977 surrounding the Sex Pistols "God Save The Queen" those running the chart kept "Vindaloo" off the Number 1 spot on purpose. The music video for the song is a parody of the video for "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve, which was itself inspired by the music video for "Unfinished Sympathy" by Massive Attack. The video is recorded in the same street, and features comedian Paul Kaye as a Richard Ashcroft lookalike forcing his way down the street. Unlike the original video, in which Ashcroft is alone, Kaye gradually gathers a large crowd which includes Fat Les, Edward Tudor-Pole, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, and the late Malcolm Hardee, sumo wrestlers, French maids, a French mime, a Max Wall lookalike (as Professor Wallofski), a priest, women dressed as girls from St Trinian's and many others who dance around him, some brandishing bags of curry. By the end, Kaye has joined in celebrating with the rest of the crowd.

Propp's Thoery - Peter Pan

Propp's theory is a form of structuralism, which is a view that all media is inevitably int he form of certain fixed structures. Those structures are often culturally derived and form expectations int he mind of an audience from within that same culture. For example, Fairytales always have happy endings or the princess always marries the handsome prince.
Propp's theory can be applied to genetic structures in western culture, such as popular film genres. This genre structure forms expectations in the mind of an audience that certain rules apply to the narrative. However, cultural change can force structures to change. For example, A hero can now be a woman.

8 Character roles and 31 Functions

8 Characters:

1. The Villain
2. The Hero - A seeker character motivated by an initial lack
3. The Doner - Who provides an object with some magic
4. The Helper - Who aids the hero
5. The Princess - A reward for the hero and object of the villains schemes
6. Her Father - Valudates the hero
7. The Dispatcher - Who sends hero on his way
8. The False Hero

Peter Pan and the 8 Characters:

1. The Villain - Captain Hook
2. The Hero - Peter Pan
3. The Donor - Tinkerbell
4. The Helper - Tinkerbell
5. The Princess - Wendy Darling
6. Her Father - George Darling
7. The Dispatcher -
8. The False Hero -

Our Plan Of Action So Far

Firstly we are all going to look at youtube and find romcom film trailers to help decide on a theme and then see what angles and shot hey have used.
Next we wrote out a storyboard and wrote how long each shot should last for and what happens and what sort of shots do we need, also we had to choose good actors for our trailer as it is a Fairy tale Romcom theme. We have to make sure that our actors are reliable and that they will not mess around because our piece may not turn out how we wont it to.
It is coming up to our October half term and we are going to go out with a camera and start recording our film trailer with our actors and make sure that the weather is suitable for us to use all the equipment we nee to use.

Media Techniques

Here are some angles and shots that we as a group will be thinking about to use in our own film trailer.


Framing or Shot Length:

• Extreme Long Shot
• Long Shot
• Medium Shot
• Close Up
• Extreme Close Up

Camera Angles:

• The Bird's - Eye View
• High Angle
• Eye Level
• Low Angle
• Oblique or Canted Angle

Camera Movement:

• Pan
• Tilts
• Dolly Shots
• Hand Held Shots
• Crane Shots
• Zoom Lenses
• The Aerial Shot

A Cinderella Story Film Trailer

I chose to anaylise A Cinderella Story for my research into film trailers as i think it has a similar genre and target audience as the type of teaser trailer which i am trying to produce. The trailer starts with magical, fairy like music which emphasizes the theme. The narrator starts with 'Once upon a time, in a land called..' which is a typical conventional beginning to a fairytale. However this theme is then changed unexpectedly when the narrator says 'Los Angeles' and the viwers initial impressions of the theme of the film have changed. Although the magical instrumental music is still playing in the background, which still indicates a fairytale fantasy and a chick flick film. A close up shot of a fairly average blonde, teenager which also emphasizes on the specific target audience this trailer is trying to appeal to it is also Hilary Duff who is very popular to teenage girls from the series of Lizzie Mcguire and The Movie, and also she is a singer. The narrator then goes on 'Who lived with her wicked stepmother...' again the omniscent voice is creating a fairytale theme. This has been contrasted and modernized into a 21st century world by the actress, who talks in an American accent, with sunbed goggles on which adds to the trailer when she burns herself after being 'wicked' to her step-daughter.
The trailer is (0:30) seconds running and is already outlining an ongoing storyline to the audience. I think the tecnique used where the narrator illustrates a fairytale story and the captions create a modern 21st century comedy, chick flick creates an imagenative and unpredictable movie which will capture the attention of the target audience. By having Hilary Duff as the main actress is an advantage to the film as she is well known which will sell the film and promote it from the likes of the audience towards the actress.

Mean Girls - Film Trailer

Shot One: (0.43) Long shot of the full school corridor and then a close up of each individual girl who is popular. This is making the audiences attention on the four girls and it is aimed at girls over the age of twelve.

Shot Two: (1.19) A Close-up of the man of her dreams and is shown in slow motion to put an effect on him and her fantasising over him. It is a detailed view of the boy and it also examines his features.

Shot Three: (1.31) This is a split shot, this keeps the view interesting and adds individuality to the shot.

Shot Four: (1.57) Tracking shots, within 8 seconds there are over 20 shots. I have picked out this sequence as i feel i can use it in my own film teaser. It keeps the audience interested with the different flicked shots instead of all the normal shots we see in a film trailer.

Ella Enchanted - Film Trailer

Shot One: (0.05) The Trailer begins with an establishing shot which is zooming into one point of the castle. Also including in this shot are words appearing from the centre of the shot with zooms from the back of the shot to the front, this is making the audience concentrate on the words coming through the establishing shot.

Shot Two: (0.17) This shot that they have used a tilted angle shot over the baby. Tilt shots are usually more dramatic than straight anlge shots. As this shot is taking place it has a voice over about Ella and zooms into her face, which is making the audience realise that that is Ella.

Shot Three: (0.21) I have picked this shot, because it is a panning shot. Slow panning is combined with zooming in or out on a single subject. In this case it is zooming horizontally across the room which is focusing on Ella moving through the corridor. For this shot you can use a tripod and pan the camera from left to right neatly, or use a track for the same effect.

Shot Four: (1.13) Medium Close-up of the princess on her horse and the background is blurred so all the focus is on her. The dividing line between 'long shot' and 'medium shot' is fuzzy, as is the line between 'medium shot' and 'close-up'.

Shot Five: (1.26) Over the shoulder Shot - this shot has been filmed from behind the characters shoulder, it is a shot taken from over the shoulder of the character whose back can be seen at the side of the frame.