Mise-en-scene feedback sheet

LO1, Task 2: Analysis of Titanic

Introduction:
Hi guys It's Lauren. I'm back from Education Wise with Lesson 2 analysis of a 20th |Century Fox film. I have chosen to analysis the film Titanic which is a hybrid of romance, adventure and action. We will be looking at the purpose, form, genre, style, content and meaning, Mise en scene, camera work, camera editing and production process. Yeah I know a lot to take in; however it wont be boring as we will also be looking a theory's and why certain things were done to create spectacle.


Purpose:

The purpose of Titanic is to entertain their audience. This film has special effects included in, such as \CGI. It is targeted at a mass audience internationally, this means it reaches out to America and Europe. 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.

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, pirate websites (illegal), app store, Google play download films onto Devices and TV. The reason why Titanic was distributed through so many platforms was so that it could reach out to a wider audience.

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. Barry Keith Grant (1995) talked about films having sub-genres Titanic includes sub-genres, such as action romance and classical romance. It fits in with Kate Domaille's (2010) narrative type- Romeo and Juliet as it is a deep love story.


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). There is a juxtaposition to how higher class and lower class people wear and look like to reinforce stereotypes.

Content and meaning:

Narrative
The narrative of Titanic is an epic action romance film. It fits in with theory of Kate domaille's narrative type- Romeo and Juliet as it is a deep love story. There is a lot of binary opposition throughout the film to reinforce how stereotypically men were more dominant over women, higher class citizens had more power over lower class, as well as older age people could control the younger generation. Jack who is a lower class citizen who won his ticket on Titanic in a lucky hand in polka falls in love with a engaged higher citizen women Rose who is forced to marry the antagonist Cal for more wealth. Jack challenges the stereotypes in this film as he strongly tires to win Rose, which he does. However with Cal's jealous he frames Jack as a robber, which Rose is manipulated to believe. At this part the ship is sinking and Jack is locked on a lower deck. Higher class women are helped onto life boats whilst lower class citizens are stuck beneath the decks waiting for their turn. Rose eventually figures out Jacks plan and saves him. Rose is taken to a life boat; however jumps off as she wants to be with Jack, which makes Cal try to kill them both. Cal fails at this and gives up on trying to get his fiancé back and gets onto a life boat with a child he pretends is his. Titanic sinks and lower class citizens are left to freeze in the Atlantic oceans, which connotes their lower rank society; however some lifeboats come back and luckily Rose is alive and survives the tragedy. She starts a new life without Cal and her family, but with Jack always in her memories.



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 fiancé 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.


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 hear this. This diegetic sound will have been planned in pre-production and planned in 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. This links to the narrative/genre of romance as it is constantly reinforcing the connection Jack and Rose has. 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 Shaw's theory of binary opposition, higher class vs lower class. The dominant characters in this part are the higher class citizens as they have "power" over Jack, so Jack is subordinate; however Rose is also a subordinate character as she is being forced to marry Cal. This reinforce how men were stereotypically more dominant than women. 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
and faster to connote that its slow to fall in love, but then comes all at once. It also connotes, love, emotions and connection, which represents Jack and Rose in the film. This reinforces the narrative of Titanic as it connotes the connection and love between the two. 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. The thoughts Rose will be having is her role in society and why she is being forced to marry a rich men. The effect this has on the audience is that we are shown women's role in that era. 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 emphasises the disequilibrium of the film. The effect this has on the audience is that is the we are almost scared and panicky with the actors, making us feel involved.

Mise-en-scene:

Location
Titanic is set in the 1912, so the setting is very elegant and high standards to create verisimilitude. The ship is split into two to show the binary oppositions of dominant and subordinate, which is Claude Levi Shass (1969) theory. Titanic significant locations are mainly on the ship, although there are scenes filmed in England and America. The two most important areas on the ship is the higher class (top deck) and lower class (bottom deck) as this is where you see the differences between characters and setting. The denotations for the higher-class level is a extravagant hall, elegant and sophisticated ballroom/ restaurant, king size rooms flooded with expensive and high quality decorations. The connotations of this are wealth, elegance, power and sustainability. In contrast to this the lower class level restaurant is very blandly decorated; however in scenes the lower class passengers improvise with their areas, making it fun and vibrant.

Costume 
Titanic use costume to show the binary opposition of higher-class vs lower class. The denotations of higher class for women is always extravagant dresses flooded in expensive jewellery; this signifies wealth, power and glamour. This was important to show that higher class women dressed like this as it juxtaposes with the lower class people, effecting the audience as we know what there personalities would be like. For men the denotations of their costumes would be suit and ties, cane, too hot and a cigar, the connotations of this also showed wealth, power, snobbish and unwilling. For lower class passengers their costumes were the complete opposite, the denotations of this was scruffy shirts and knee high trousers, rolled up soaks with low quality shoes, cigarrates and braces. Their costumes connoted poor, unhygienic and plain lives. Lower class women would were light dresses very plain to connote lack of quality and poor. The antagonist Cal is always wearing a tuxedo to connote how powerful and wealthy he is, also it reflects stereotypes of shift upper lip due to restricted costumes. 

Props 
The main character Rose has a very important prop with her which is carried and foreshadowed thought the film. The denotation of this prop is a crystal diamond necklace with a deep blue Sofia gem in the middle. The connotations of this is glamour's, wealth and love; however the antagonist Carl who gave Rose this necklace wasn't in the intension for love but more possession, control and dominance. This shows stereotypes of how males were dominant over women. Jack also has a significant prop, which is the art book he holds, as he is lower class he has a very high standard of work that is often associated with artist in the era this was in. This challenges stereotypes of his class as it connotes high culture due to art. The connotation of this is passion, ambition and creativity. These two props are very important in Titanic as the denotations of one scene is where Jack draws Rose only wearing the necklace and it is seen as a treasure of memories to the old woman narrating the film. This would fit into “The Male Gaze” as men would be attracted to this film as Rose is naked in this scene; however Roses intentions in this scene are to be sexy as she's loves Jack. 

Lighting
Lighting in Titanic uses light to connote the mood changes in scenes. When Rose first met Jack the denotations of the light was a soft yellow, this signified high culture and extravagant to the scene. There is always a contrast in lighting between the upper level and the lower level. The upper level has high key lighting, which makes the audience feel wealthy and alive. Where as the lower level has is natural lighting, which conveys the working environment of the lower class’s. 

At the disequilibrium part of Titanic (Todorov), which is when the Titanic hits the ice berg low-key lighting, is mainly used to connote death and fear. The denotations of this scene is the RMS Titanic sinking being destroyed and people trying to survive. As this is happening at midnight and the Titanic is a beautiful magnificent ship it shows juxtaposition as it was seen as the "unsinkable" ship. 

Overall lighting is used to create and show meaning throughout Titanic. It has effects on audience on how to feel about certain characters as well as the role in women which links to opposition dominant  vs subordinate theory.

Camera Work:  
A significant scene in Titanic, which uses a lot of different camera techniques is where the ship hits an Ice berg. This part of the film Titanic is the disequilibrium. The denotations of this is a medium close up shot is used on the chief captain to connote fear and panic. The effect this has on the audience is that we feel involved. The movement used in this shot is a slow zoom in, slight low angle, onto his face to really emphasises the fear in his expression, which moves into a close up shot. The focus in this shot is shallow depth of field which connotes importance; it links with Claude Shass theory of binary opposition as it reinforces his role on the  ship, also it reinforces stereotypes of men, as in the time Titanic was set there wouldn't be any females working along side with the captain. An alternative interpretation to why all of these camera skills were used in this clip is to connote guilt and culpable, as he feels like he's let the crew and passengers down. High angles and low angle camera work is denoted to signify the binary opposition of society status. A low medium shot angle is used when we are seeing the antagonist Cal, to connote power, dominance and wealth. Where as the camera work used on Jack (sub) is a high medium shot angle to connote vulnerability and  lower status. It creates a spectacle element to the film as to the audience we see a show down between the two characters. A establishing dutch angle shot is used when the ship Titanic is sinking in the Atlantic ocean. The connotations of this is unsteadiness, disorientation and instability, which adds action and spectacle to the film. The effect this has on the audience is that they feel fear and discomfit with the instability of the camera angle. It really emphasise the disequilibrium of Titanic. The camera movement panning is used to connote movement, fear and concern. The denotations of the scene is crew workers and passengers running to life boats trying to save life's. The effect this has on the audience is that it creates spectacle. A very significant part which almost challengers gender role is that higher women class and women with children were put onto lives boats before the men. The effect this has on the audience is that it creates spectacle. A very significant part which almost challenges gender role is that higher class women and women were put onto the life boats before men.

Editing:
Shot reverse shot structure is denoted in Titanic quite frequently; however a significant part where this edit is used, which links to binary opposition men vs women is when the antagonist Cal is  speaking to Rose the submissive. A high angle and medium close up shot is used when we see Rose, as this connotes her role in society and powerless. On the other hand when the shot cuts to Cal a low angle medium close up is used to represents and connote his power, dominance and strength. This links in to the theory of binary opposition as it reinforces how stereotypically men are more dominant than women in the time the film was set in. Another use of editing used in Titanic is insert shot used on Roses necklace in a close up shot to connote importance and possession. The iconography is very important here as the necklace isn't given to Rose by Cal throughout love but it done throughout control, linking to how a stereotypical rich man would act towards their fiancé in that era. The focus on the necklace is shallow depth of filed to signify dominance and importance. The effect this has an the audience is that we are shown the difference between men and women in that era as well as social class. Titanic uses the edit eye line match, the denotations of this is where Jack has finished drawing Rose and she finally gets to see the drawing. There is a medium shot used when Rose is looking at the drawing. The effect this has on the audience is that we get to see Roses expressions, which connote love and happiness. It then shows the audience what the drawing looks like, which is effective on the audience as we get to be involved in the film as it is almost like we are looking through Roses perceptive. In a way this links to Carl Rodgers 1980 theory on Ideal partners as because of Jack kind gestures and love for Rose makes us want to be with him.

Production Process:

Pre production

Pre production is the planning of Titanic preparing and finalising what will be featured in production. An example of this was script writing for the crew, this included dialogue for the actors, lots of drafts scripts and blocking on stage. Costume fitting was also processed in pre production, this was making sure that costumes were designed in the era Titanic was set as it needed to fit stereotypically to how higher class citizens would wear to what lower class people would wear.

Production

Production would be the process of filming scenes, shooting script and on set effects. When rehearsals would start the camera men would get a shooting script for which parts should be in certain frames, so that it is easy to edit when coming to post production. In the film Titanic they built only half the ship, on set effects were filmed in Titanic such as when the ship hit the ice burgs; however this was also done in post production to make it look realistic.

Post production

CGI was used in post production as they only built half the ship so when we see wide shots of the ship this would've been done by CGI. This helped create the illusion of the ship. Special effects were added in post production, such as digital water and smoke to create the diegies of being in the Atlantic sea. Editing shots such as shot reverse shot structure, eyeline match and insert shots were edited into the film Titanic in post production to create spectacle.

MTG

My MTG for CDM is merit 


LO1 Century Fox Pass- achieved a pass
LO2 Analysis Distinction- achieved a distinction 
LO3 Audience Profile Distinction- achieved a ?
LO4 Distribution Pass- achieved a pass
LO5 Legal and ethical Merit- achieved a ?

Overall I am hoping for a distinction

Peer assessed starter task!

Student Name: Lauren Baxter       

Assessors Name: Bradley Webster

1). A diegetic sound is natural sound that has been made naturally. An example of this is dialogue when we speak. Correct - The characters and the audience can hear this. Sound effects are also an example of a diegetic sound. The story world is called the Diegesis – Find examples of significant dialogue to analyse for your chosen film. Foley sounds – Post Production.

2). Non-diegetic sound is sound that has been added, an example of this a soundtrack that could have been added onto the film, this comes under post production process in the filming industry. Correct – Only the audience can hear non-diegetic sounds. Incidental music – very good at building tension and atmosphere and influences the emotions of the film. Part of the production stage because the sounds need to be recorded, it’s also a part of pre-production because the sounds need to be planned and the composer needs to be found.

3). Denotation is where you describe something, for example an image. Connotation is what the image suggests or signifies, depending on the context of it.  Correct – Relevant to the theme of the film.

4). Laura talked about “The Male Gaze” which is how women are presented to men. An example I have seen of this is in films where women are dressed sexy to make it appealing to men. Correct – Laura Mulvey (1975) – How women are objectified as sex objects e.g. Megan Fox in Transformers. The male gaze perceives women as being subordinate. Women can use this for their advantage, manipulating men and making the women dominant.  

Life on Mars task

Non Diegetic sounds:
Sound track "Life on Mars"- David Bowie
Sirens
Voice over
Heart rate monitor
crashing sound
These sound effects are reinforcing the enigma