Analyse one of your products against narrative theories

Our AS coursework product 'Conflict' conforms with several narrative theories. Although we only filmed the opening, we had the key narrative elements within that and also the storyboard/treatment serves well in supporting this analysis.

One theory that can be applied is Strauss' theory of binary oppositions as when events take a turn for the worst and the protagonist is in the alleyway, the lighting in front of the protagonist is light whereas the lighting the threatening youths is very dark and blacks out all of their features, leaving only silhouettes, which creates further enigma. This mis-en-scene encapsulates binary opposition at its best, as it helps clearly portray the roles of the victim and the oppressor.

Another theory that can be applied is Todorov's three part structure which begins with an equilibrium, then a disruption which causes disequilibrium, and at the end a resolution where a new equilibrium is reached. In Conflict the equilibrium consisting of the protagonist's life is established using establishing shots such as of him walking down the road, listening to music in an ordinary manner and also lighting to depict a normal day. The disruption occurs as the main character encounters danger from a  group of antagonists, and in the opening there is no resolution as otherwise the film would be completely pointless. This 'cliffhanger' effect used early on in the narrative is to hook the audience to the product.

A contemporary theory that can be applied is Allan Cameron's 'modular narratives' theory (2009). His theory has 5 parts, and relates mostly to modern cinema. Only one part can really be applied to Conflict. Cameron suggests that products can be 'anachronic' which means that flashbacks/flashforwards and a general lack of chronological structure is used as a key feature of the narrative. In my film, this is the case as is seen in the opening which further on turns out to be a flashback. By using this method we hoped to make the narrative more exciting and complicated for the audience to decipher, in the hope of gaining full attention and also just to experiment with alternate filmmaking.

Development of skills

Whilst making my A2 coursework I learnt a range of skills on both Photoshop CS5 and Final Cut Pro. On Photoshop it is difficult to comment on what exactly I learnt, as most of it has been experimental since I knew nothing on the programme before. To create the digipak I searched for basic Photoshop tutorials and from those learnt how to make layers and duplicate layers. With that I discovered text layers and also how to change/download fonts. I also learnt how to import images such as industry information into Photoshop to use on our original images. From experimenting I was able to see how to select certain areas and erase, change the amount of blur or colour them. I used gradients in drafts of the digipak but in the final I mainly used pixelation effects, a change in colour levels and text layers to create the final piece.

For the music video, I used Final Cut Pro to edit. From searching the internet I found various techniques that would positively enhance the product. Firstly, I discovered how to use the 'b' & 'a' letters as a short cut for using the blade to cut which proved very useful. I learnt how to delete audio, such as the unwanted talking on our original footage, by locking the visual and then being able to delete the audio layer. From experimenting with various colour and image effects I learnt which ones worked well with different lighting and also how to change the overall atmosphere of the picture. I used desaturation throughout to make the tone dark and bleak, to suit the song. A very useful tool I learnt was the one for adjusting speed of a clip by pressing 'ctrl+j' because it was simple but made scenes in the music video work much better than originally planned.