The film I have chosen to analyse is Titanic
Purpose:
The purpose of Titanic is to entertain their audience. This film has special effects included in, such as special effects. It is targeted at a mass audience internationally, this means it reaches out to America, Europe and. Its overall purpose for this film is to make a profit, as it is a commercial film for 20th Century Fox, which is a conglomerate.
Genre:
There is a mix of genres in the film Titanic, this is called a hybrid. Titanic genres include; drama, romance, historical, action and classical. Titanic also includes sub-genres, such as action romance and classical romance. It fits in with Kate domaille's narrative type- Romeo and Juliet as it is a deep love story.
Form:
I am analysing a feature film as it runs for 194 minutes.
It has been distributed through DVD/Blur-ray, streamed through Sky, cinema, streamed through Netflix's, pirate websites (illegal), app store, google play download films onto Devices and TV.
Style:
The style of Titanic is Old-fashioned. Titanic has high production values to make it look expensive so that is fits in with the style verisimilitude for when it was set (1912). The mise-en-scene in titanic the RMS ship is split into class (society). The lower level is clearly used by the lower class guests. It is smaller and more enclosed. On the other hand the upper levels was very grand with expensive taste, this obviously shows it was made for the upperclass.
Content/meaning
Titanic fits in with Todorov theory of structure. Equilibrium- Titanic sets of safely, passengers are secure on the ship, everything's calm and balanced. Disequilibrium is where Rose is wanting to kill herself due to her society class, Jack and Rose fall in love; however this is forborne as they are in a different class, plus Rose is engaged. Titanic hits an ice burg which makes it sink, killing a mass of people. Roses fiance tries to kill jack, however fails at this. Jack, Rose and a mass of people (lower class) are left to freeze in the atlantic water. The new equilibrium is that Rose has survived the disaster and makes a new start in life with Jack always in her memories.
Narrative/structure
Todorov (1997)- order of events (Key Stages) five key stages in a story/narrative. Main three stages;
Equilibrium- balance
Disruption/ disequilibrium- imbalance enigma (problem)
New equilibrium/resolution- solving of the enigma
However the formula is interchangeable, as you can start on a disequilibrium and have the enigma resolved.
Titanic has elements of Cande Louis
Cande Louis
one is always seen as subordinate and one is always the dominant- challenge
"Binary opposition"- gender male vs female- stereotypically male is always dominant
Class/ social status- rich vs poor (upper class vs lower class)
age- young vs old
Micro elements
- sound- diegesis is the story world'/ world of the narrative. How real the diegesis appears is linked to the level of Verisimilitude (which means the appearance of being real)'.
Diegetic- sound you can see being made natural to the story world- 2 people can hear it audience and
characters
Incidental music- music that reflects the mood of the scene/ conditioning emotions. Need to describe the pace and tempo/ denote it.
Non-diegetic sound effects-
Sound tracks-
Non diegetic- added in editing, put in for the audience- 1 can hear it (audience)
Dialogue- important phase - reinforce the genre of the film
Sound effects- sample of sounds that reinforces an action significant sound effects link it back to the audience
- Mise en scene
- Camera Work- Detonated/ denoted- what are the connotations
- Editing
Denotations is what you describe what you see and hear
connotations is how thing are represented/meaning/how it relates to your audience
The denotation of this image is a red heart
The image denotes a red heart
In this image a red heart can be denoted
Therefore this denotations connotes love
connotations can be linked to the narrative/genre/ representation to your film
Laura Mulvey 1975 said "The male gaze" female representations in order to attract a male audience
women objectivised as Sex objective subordinate
Antagonist and Protagonist- lead role/hero
TITANIC- follows this structure
Diegetic
In the film Titanic there
is a lot of dialogue used which is natural so we know that this is diegetic
sound, as the audience and characters can here this. This diegetic sound will
have been processed in pre-production as well as production. A famous line from
titanic which is foreshadowed throughout the film is "I've got you, I
won't let you go". The denotation of this scene is Jack holding onto Rose,
as she is hanging of the ship to commit, trying to save her. The connotations
of this are love, strength and trust, which is an important part in Titanic.
Another significant line in Titanic is "I figure life's a girt and I
don’t intend on wasting it, you never know what hand you're going to get dealt
next, you'll learn to take life as it comes at you, to make each day
count". The denotations of this scene was Jack living the higher
class life, dining with “fine” people; however he stated and showed to the
“fine” people how he was totally fine being a lower class citizen. Proudness,
dignity and courage were connoted in this scene. This particular line actually
fits in well with Cande theory of binary opposition, higher class vs lower
class. Titanic includes a sound bridge, to make the transition more natural. It
started as non-diegetic and became diegetic, it denotations were classical
music being played in a very posh restaurant to make the film verisimilitude
for when it was set. The sound track connotes elegance, calm and movement.
Non-diegetic
Mainly the non-diegetic
sound in Titanic is usually the sound track "My Heart Will Go
On". The denotations of this track is that it has a very slow/steady
tempo; however it gradually becomes stronger and faster to connote that its
slow to fall in love, but then comes all at once. It also connotes, love,
emotions and connection. Another non-diegetic sound featured in Titanic is
incidental music, it is denoted in the scene where Rose is forbidden to see
jack by her mother and it later becomes diegetic to make the editing invisible.
It connotes thoughts, feelings and determination, due to the context it is in. Another
example of non-diegetic sound is incidental music. The denotations is where the
ship hits the Ice age, it connotes danger, panic and chaos.
Mise-en-scene
Horror film: Low key lighting, blood, jump scares
Indie Music video- black and white filter, instruments, cheap special effects
One micro elements that is encoded to create meaning/representation (stereotypes) in music videos/film trailers is MISE EN SCENE- encoded--- put there on purpose
- Location- link to how they reinforce your genre / representation
- costume/make up link to how they reinforce your genre / representation
- Props link to how they reinforce your genre / representations
- Colours/lighting link to how they reinforce your genre / representations
- Gestures link to how they reinforce your genre/ representations
Location are encoded to create verisimilitude/be aspirational to the audience.
2 important locations, as always denoted and connoted, why is that location significant
Costume- reflects the diegesis, creates representation- binary opposition, how does the costumes reflect the target audience
Props- property is anything that is handheld. Significant props; iconography, the necklace, art book pencil, iconography are items that create stereotypical representations that become well known and recognised. This can create ideologies.
Colours/lighting- colours are encoded to connote moods/ emotions. There are two types of lighting that are used to reinforce genre styles/ emotions/ verisimilitude for the audience:
Low key lighting- dark High key/natural lighting- bright.
Low key lighting is encoded when the scene/location has shadow and low light. What are the connotations/representations that are created using this type of lighting?
High key lighting is encoded when the scene/location is bright and well fit.
What are the connotations/representations that are created using this type of lighting?
Gestures- Body language,
This is England
Almost has mix of well dressed to trampy. Unique styles. Different costumes to show different classes- to show division
Locations and iconography (2-3) examples
Characters and acting gesture (protagonist antagonist)
Costume and Make up (protagonist v antagonist)
Props (2-3 significant props)
Lighting and Colour (high key or low key examples)
Production process:
km
-pre production- planning
- production-
- post- production
Diegetic- "I've got you, I wont let go"
"I figure life's a girt and I don't intend on wasting it, you never know what hand you're going to get dealt next, you'll learn to take life as it comes at you, to make each day count"
"you'll require me a way a wife is suppose to require me"
None diegetic
Soundtrack-
Diegetic
In the film Titanic there
is a lot of dialogue used which is natural so we know that this is diegetic
sound, as the audience and characters can here this. This diegetic sound will
have been processed in pre-production as well as production. A famous line from
titanic which is foreshadowed throughout the film is "I've got you, I
won't let you go". The denotation of this scene is Jack holding onto Rose,
as she is hanging of the ship to commit, trying to save her. The connotations
of this are love, strength and trust, which is an important part in Titanic.
The effect this has on the audience is that we feel that we are in the moment
of Jack and Roses romance. Another significant line in Titanic is "I
figure life's a girt and I don’t intend on wasting it, you never know what hand
you're going to get dealt next, you'll learn to take life as it comes at you,
to make each day count". The denotations of this scene was Jack
living the higher class life, dining with “fine” people; however he stated and
showed to the “fine” people how he was totally fine being a lower class
citizen. Proudness, dignity and courage were connoted in this scene. This
particular line actually fits in well with Claude Levi Shawls (1969) theory of
binary opposition, higher class vs lower class. Titanic includes a sound
bridge, to make the transition more natural. It started as non-diegetic and
became diegetic, it denotations were classical music being played in a very
posh restaurant to make the film verisimilitude for when it was set. The sound
track connotes elegance, calm and movement.
Non-diegetic
Mainly the non-diegetic
sound in Titanic is usually the incidental music "My Heart Will Go
On". The denotations of this track is that it has a very slow/steady
tempo; however it gradually becomes stronger and faster to connote that its
slow to fall in love, but then comes all at once. It also connotes, love,
emotions and connection. Another non-diegetic sound featured in Titanic is
incidental music, it is denoted in the scene where Rose is forbidden to see
jack by her mother and it later becomes diegetic to make the editing invisible.
It connotes thoughts of feminism, feelings and determination, due to the
context it is in. Another example of non-diegetic sound is incidental music.
The denotations is where the ship hits the Ice age, it connotes danger, panic and
chaos. This part of Titanic fits in with Todorov theory about the order of
events, disequilibrium. The effect it has on the audience is that
