STAR WARS - POD RACE

In what two ways are the narrative and characters typical of the AA genre?

This clip is typical of the action and adventure genre because firstly, there is lots of speed and motion. The antagonist, Skywalker, is in a pod race against the antagonist which is some form of alien. The two characters move at incredible speed in their so-called “pods” and do some incredibly fast manoeuvres as they whiz past us. This creates a lot of motion and also a lot of speed which is very intense and exciting to watch. All of this speed and motion also creates a sense of jeopardy and suspense.

Jeopardy and suspense is created as both racers encounter a lot of near-misses during their race, for example, they race through a very thin canyon and seem like their are constantly in danger of crashing into the hard walls of the canyon which surround them. This is a very restrictive environment so the slightest error of judgement could send any racer crashing to their death. They also fly very close to the ground and it seems that if they fly any lower, they will crash.  Towards the end of the race, the villain crashes and part of his ship explodes in a spectacular fashion, which would almost certainly kill somebody if they were standing directly next to it.

The characters are also typical of the AA genre. Anakin, the protagonist, is very brave and heroic, taking many risks and never backing down in the entire duration of the race. He also wins the race at the end, so there is a happy ending, which is also typical of many films in the AA genre. As he wins, he presented in a very heroic fashion with crowds cheering for him and lifting him up into the air as they are so delighted that he was won the race, and hasn’t died at the age of ten.

The antagonists are extremely typical of the AA genre as they are all rather obnoxious looking creatures, with snarly facial expressions and dirty horrible outfits. They also tend to cheat in the race and will do anything they can to win, even if it is completely  morally incorrect. They also tend to end up getting themselves in a fix which is impossible to get out of, and consequently crashing as a result of their mindless stupidity.

CAMERAWORK & MISE–EN-SCENE

In this scene, the camerawork is also typical of the action and adventure genre. There are a large amount of Point of View shots which quite literally put you in the driving seat, and give you a great sense of the speed in which they are travelling. It allows us to experience the race through the competitors’ eyes which makes everything feel a great deal more realistic and thrilling, as the audience feels like they too are participating in the race.

There are also a lot of tracking shots, which keep the audience alongside the race, and allow them to spectate the action. This also gives us a sense of speed as we are aware of how fast both racers are moving in relation to the background, which adds to the sense of suspense and jeopardy as the audience realises that a crash at this speed would be rather serious.

There is a great deal of mise-en-scene in this extract, which adds to the authenticity of the scene. The location was filmed in Africa, with lots of interesting rock formations and desert locations. These, combined with a very elaborate set, make this feel like it really is taking place on another planet. Lots of odd looking structures and alien-like machines are all over the place, which makes the scene feel very authentic.

Many strange aliens and creatures are present both in the crowds of spectators, and also racing in pods. They often have oddly coloured skin, usually being a turquoise colour. They have very interesting features, for example, some aliens my look relatively normal except for the fact that they have the nose of an anteater, or there is even a two-headed alien which commentates on the race.

The human-looking characters, along with the aliens all wear robes which seem rather out of date considering the technology that the characters are all using. This adds to the feeling of us being on a different planet where things are not the same as they are on Earth. There are incredibly large numbers of background characters in the crowds, and whether or not they look like a human or an alien, it adds to the feeling of this being an important event that excites thousands and thousands of beings.

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The Hurt Locker - Mise En Scene

"The Hurt Locker" is a film set in the war ridden Middle-East and follows an army unit which seem to specialise in bomb disposal. Lots of Mise-En-Scene is used to create a sense of realism in this picture. The location certainly seems authentic which really sells the idea of them being in the situation that they have found themselves in. A genuine-looking bomb disposal suit is used to give even more realism to the film, and all of the other characters are either dressed in an army uniform, or as a Middle-Eastern citizen. Real army vehicles are used which makes the whole scene seem as real as it possibly could do. Realistic looking guns are also carried by all of the army troops, because that it was would happen in real life. All of these props make for a very realistic film.

Fragrance Advert Screenshots

 This image shows a woman in a golden dress, looking out of a huge window, and out to a spectacular view. This implies that if you wear this fragrance then you too will be rich and successful and live in a mega expensive apartment with a view like this. The colour of gold is also largely present in this image, her hair is gold, her dress is gold, and the city lights are gold. This connotes riches and success, and represents this woman as a very successful, classy, and wealthy woman, all because she is wearing the fragrance.

 This next image shows the same woman on what is probably a photo shoot. She is in the middle of the desert for some reason, and there is a giant fan which is blowing air at her. This makes her look very glamorous and shows that she is a model, and successful. Only successful models tend to get flown out to the desert for a photo shoot.

This last still, shows the same woman spraying her perfume onto her neck. Once more, the colour gold is heavily present, which makes her look incredibly glamorous. Her facial expression is one of intense pleasure, which implies that this magical fragrance will fill you with deep pleasure if you wear it. Her hair is also free flowing and loose, which connotes freedom and sexual availability. She has lots of make up on her face which makes her skin look completely flawless and perfect, and she also glows. This image is the most powerful in my opinion because it hints at a lot of values that most women want to be; rich, beautiful, and glamorous.

The Inbetweeners

Note: "The Inbetweeners" has a name which looks like it is spelled wrong, and the more I stare at it, the more incorrectly spelled it looks. Is this just me? Please help.

Audience Pleasures In "The Inbetweeners"

"The Inbetweeners" is a TV comedy which centers around four teenage boys, and their lives. It is narrated by a boy named Will, a smarty dressed, clean cut, sensible boy, from a well off family who have unfortunately had some financial issues, and have been forced to send Will to a state school, as opposed to the private school that he was previously in. Will has previously lived a relatively sheltered life (we assume) as he sticks out like a saw thumb in his new school environment.

As Will is so socially awkward, the only people that he manages to make friends with are the other new kids, also referred to as "The Freaks", which he soon leaves to befriend another group of people, consisting of Simon, Jay, and Neil, who are arguably worse to be friends with than The Freaks.

A series of running jokes are instantly created in the group, such as people constantly referring to Will's mother as "fit", and making various crudely sexual remarks about her. (Most of the humour in "The Inbetweeners" consists of the four main characters making sexual remarks and sexual jokes about anything that has a pulse.) This is funny as most teenagers can relate to joking around with their friends in the same manor.

Another running joke is Jay making up endless stories about the extravagant ways in which he has "been with" another girl. He obviously doesn't tell his stories in such a modest fashion, but that only makes it funnier. Simon, is a hopeless romantic who has a major crush on a girl called Carli, but does such a good job at attracting her, that she wouldn't touch him with a ten-foot pole. It is hilarious to watch the epic ways in which Simon fails to win Caili's heart, and this is a running joke throughout the series.

Neil, the fourth member of the group, is what some people may refer to as "an idiot". He lives in a complete world of his own and could possibly have a lump of mashed potato as a brain. Neil's stupidity runs throughout the series and is incredibly funny to laugh at.

Another large proportion of the comedy in "The Inbetweeners", consists of the characters doing silly things, such as: Hitting a disabled girl in the face with a Frisbee, calling a group of people a very derogatory term only to find that they have Downs-syndrome, throwing up all over somebody elses kitchen, throwing up all over a 7 year old boy, and the list goes on and on.

The humour in "The Inbetweeners" is vulgar, and cheap, and simple, yet it is still incredibly funny. Perhaps this is because the situations are (fairly) relatable to most people over the age of 12. It is also always funny to laugh at people getting themselves into terrible situations. This is probably because we're all terrible people.

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The IT Crowd

"The IT Crowd" is a Channel 4 comedy which revolves around the IT department of a large company (Hence the name). I only had time to see the first episode of the first season called "Yesterdays Jam". It starts off with the one of the three protagonists, Jen Barber, blagging her way through an interview and managing to get a job as head of the IT Department.

We then meet the other two main characters, Roy Trenneman, and Maurice Moss. They are both in their office which is in the basement of the building that they are in. Roy is Irish, and a bit of a slob, and isn't the nicest person to the people that phone up asking for tech support. Moss, on the other hand, is a smartly dressed, well spoke, and enthusiastic person, with a deep knowledge of computers. Unfortunately he has absolutely no social skills whatsoever.

When Jen becomes the manager of the IT Department, it becomes apparent that she knows absolutely nothing about computers whatsoever. After Roy and Maurice fail to get rid of her, they instead join forces, as she agrees to help them their reputation improve with other people in the company. There are many things which make this episode funny, such as:

-A cheesy montage of the characters devising a plan, clearly parodying some earlier action films.

-The running joke of the whole IT Department answering the phone with "Have you tried witching it off and     on again?"

-The running joke of Jen knowing nothing at all about computers, and constantly getting shown up by              Maurice.

-The running joke of Maurice always taking things literally and saying the wrong things at the wrong time.*

-The running joke of Roy failing to pick up any women.

All of these are funny and make the audience laugh. The episode is also packed with other smaller jokes, and some funny lines. It is written in a very slapstick and old fashion way, which was the writers intention. It is very much in the style of "Father Ted" which he also wrote.

*Moss is arguably autistic.