Thursday, 7 February 2013
Christopher and His Kind - 2011
Christopher and His Kind, was a 2011 film released first on BBC1, directed by Geoffrey Sax. The actual narrative following a story, written by Christopher Isherwood (the actual author.) The narrative being based in Germany, at the time of the Nazi uprising.
The film features Matt Smith, the well known actor who now plays the roll of Doctor Who. In this film he is the well-known author Christopher Isherwood. Himself being invited to Berlin, by his friend Auden. Christopher being an out and open gay, who gets introduced to the gay scene almost instantly. Through a stereotypical plot, with a few twists, Christopher ends up falling for a straight male prostitute, who only sleeps with men for the money - this being due to the hyper inflation flooding Germany. A heartbreak follows at this moment, as the prostitute, Casper, drops off the map without saying a word to Christopher. The narrative then follows on to continue with another stereotypical aspect which features in romance films, this being that Christopher then see's a young male sweeping the streets. He then later bumps into the male again, Heinz, and offers him out for a drink. This then follows the usual concept of the two falling in love. The main twist in the narrative is the ending. Christopher moves back to England, taking Heinz with him, due to the fact Germany was no longer safe for homosexuals to live freely. Heinz has to take tests, which proves he is able to live in England, but his citizenship is refused. This leading to once again another heartbreak, the two do meet up at the very end of the film once again, but Heinz now has his own family. The two don't actually live happily ever after with each other. But they do live happily, with separate people.
Shelter - 2007
Shelter, is a 2007 is a film directed by Jonah Markowitz. The narrative follows a basic structure, this being that the main character Zach, is an average guy, who has an on and off girlfriend. He aimed to get into a high class art college, but had to refuse being accepted onto the course, to look after his little nephew. Zach's sister being a terrible mother, who is always depending on her brother to look after Cody.
The narrative continues to follow a stereotypical structure, when it comes to Zach meeting his best friends older brother Shaun. Who is back in town, after breaking up with his own boyfriend. They end up hanging out together every day pretty much, doing the average thing in that town, which is surfing. Zach ends up staying over at Shaun's house, and after a few beers they finally have the first kiss. The audience already gaining an idea as to what is going to happen.
The ending consists of Zach's older sister leaving him with his little nephew Cody, as she decides to leave town with her now, new boyfriend. The being a very small dilemma, although Shaun (who is actually now dating Zach) accepts it, and offers to help. As well as this, Zach puts in another request to the high standard art school, and gets accepted once again. This being the happy ending which the audience all expects.
Narrative
When it comes to the narrative of a romance film, the end is always a happy ending. It isn't always the expected ending, but the audience still are satisfied. Seeing as the individuals watching the film, always choose two characters which they want to be together - and surprisingly, the two characters do end up being together.
The beginning of the film stereotypically starts off with two characters, living completely seperate lives. One of them either looking for love, or both of them looking for love. Themselves living lonely lives, most probably working at a shop, or even in an office. The audience gets to watch the characters go through their every day lives - this either showing both at the same time, for example on a split screen. Or straight cuts are used to show the two characters at the same moments in time, but at different times in the sequence. Either way, the audience get to see them. As well as their job and their every day lives, the audience often get to see the two characters with their own seperate group of friends. Being stereotypical, the female character only mainly hangs out with female friends. The male character only hanging out with male friends.
The middle of the film consists of the two characters meeting, either through some radical storyline. For example; the female character could be hit by a car and taken to hospital, and the male character ends up being her doctor, and then they fall in love that way. In other circumstances a normal approach could be taken, such as; the two characters bump into each other in the street, or even in the same job (but the characters would have different job placements in the department.)
Stereotypical Characters
The main female character (in stereotypical romance genre):
The main female character is often thoughtful, and caring. She comes across to the audience instantly as someone you either want to look after (if male), or someone you want to be best friends with, or at least close with (male and female). She is often has a beautiful complexion in most stereotypical cases, but she is broken on the inside. Either suffering from a bad break up, or a horrific incident in the past. The character is mainly well behaved, and doesn't go off the rails. The only times the audience get to see the character upset is either when the two main characters break up, or if she goes through a rough time. The audience possibly being shown her past, which involves the bad break up, or the horrific accident. She may come across as either stylish, and flaunty in some cases - or on the opposite scale, she is completely out of fashion sense, and hides herself away. She may often also be quite the clumsy character, this giving another reason for the two characters to meet in the middle of the street.
The main male character (in stereotypical romance genre):
The main male character comes across as also thoughtful on the inside, but he could be a bit of a brute, or even quite the "player" in the sense that he is always with a different woman. But this can mean he does have quite the soft side, in the sense that he is looking for the perfect woman to fall in love with. (Just like Charles, from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral') He is often a tall character, broad, and most probably muscular. Although the physical build has been different in many films. Once again, just like the female character, the male will be attractive. This making the female audience fall in love with the character, and empathise for him if anything bad happens.
The characters in a non-stereotypical sense
For my actual storyboard, plot, and character set list. I don't want to follow the average romance conventions, in this case, I am going to have two males falling in love. Instead of the stereotypical male and female. Althought the two male characters will folllow the above stereotypical criteria. One would be more thoughtful, and feminine, whereas the other character will be more masculine, often with anger problems or some brute formed personality.
When it comes to the narrative of a romance film, the end is always a happy ending. It isn't always the expected ending, but the audience still are satisfied. Seeing as the individuals watching the film, always choose two characters which they want to be together - and surprisingly, the two characters do end up being together.
The beginning of the film stereotypically starts off with two characters, living completely seperate lives. One of them either looking for love, or both of them looking for love. Themselves living lonely lives, most probably working at a shop, or even in an office. The audience gets to watch the characters go through their every day lives - this either showing both at the same time, for example on a split screen. Or straight cuts are used to show the two characters at the same moments in time, but at different times in the sequence. Either way, the audience get to see them. As well as their job and their every day lives, the audience often get to see the two characters with their own seperate group of friends. Being stereotypical, the female character only mainly hangs out with female friends. The male character only hanging out with male friends.
The middle of the film consists of the two characters meeting, either through some radical storyline. For example; the female character could be hit by a car and taken to hospital, and the male character ends up being her doctor, and then they fall in love that way. In other circumstances a normal approach could be taken, such as; the two characters bump into each other in the street, or even in the same job (but the characters would have different job placements in the department.)
Stereotypical Characters
The main female character (in stereotypical romance genre):
The main female character is often thoughtful, and caring. She comes across to the audience instantly as someone you either want to look after (if male), or someone you want to be best friends with, or at least close with (male and female). She is often has a beautiful complexion in most stereotypical cases, but she is broken on the inside. Either suffering from a bad break up, or a horrific incident in the past. The character is mainly well behaved, and doesn't go off the rails. The only times the audience get to see the character upset is either when the two main characters break up, or if she goes through a rough time. The audience possibly being shown her past, which involves the bad break up, or the horrific accident. She may come across as either stylish, and flaunty in some cases - or on the opposite scale, she is completely out of fashion sense, and hides herself away. She may often also be quite the clumsy character, this giving another reason for the two characters to meet in the middle of the street.
The main male character (in stereotypical romance genre):
The main male character comes across as also thoughtful on the inside, but he could be a bit of a brute, or even quite the "player" in the sense that he is always with a different woman. But this can mean he does have quite the soft side, in the sense that he is looking for the perfect woman to fall in love with. (Just like Charles, from 'Four Weddings and a Funeral') He is often a tall character, broad, and most probably muscular. Although the physical build has been different in many films. Once again, just like the female character, the male will be attractive. This making the female audience fall in love with the character, and empathise for him if anything bad happens.
The characters in a non-stereotypical sense
For my actual storyboard, plot, and character set list. I don't want to follow the average romance conventions, in this case, I am going to have two males falling in love. Instead of the stereotypical male and female. Althought the two male characters will folllow the above stereotypical criteria. One would be more thoughtful, and feminine, whereas the other character will be more masculine, often with anger problems or some brute formed personality.
Wednesday, 30 January 2013
Iconography
Romantic genres tend to consist of love stories, often featuring affairs or other forms of heart break. The two main characters often end up being together at the end, after some crisis. The characters often being a female and a male, although films have been made different which fit under the romance genre, which feature two females falling in love, or two males. Most romantic films consisting of two characters searching for love, and finding their soon-to-be partner in some unexpected place, for example; they meet in an elevator, on a train, or bump into each other on the street.
Iconography
Most iconographic aspects to see in romance films are;
Stereotypical aspects:
Lighting - When it comes to the lighting in romance films, they tend to consist of warm colours, such as oranges, reds, and dark yellows. This letting the audience generally feel the colours, without noticing them specifically. Which can help them relate to the diegesis, or at least one specific character. This making them enjoy the film more.
Costume - Costume in romance films often varies, by class, and obviously gender. Although in most cases the males would tend to dress remotely smart. For example; in the film 'Titanic', although Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) was lower class/working class, he always dressed smart. Wearing smart brown pants, a white shirt, and some braces. The females generally tend to wear more feminine clothing, when it comes to a male and female falling in love, in the narrative. So they tend to be seen in skirts, and also dresses - usually following the same colours as the lighting. Reds, yellows, oranges. Colours that make them more desirable.
Iconography
Most iconographic aspects to see in romance films are;
- The big kiss scene at the end
- Happy ending (the characters find a happy ending either way)
- There is always an antagonist, who attempts to break up the relationship (or a disaster which causes the two main characters to not be together)
- Happy music is always played at the end of the film (in a few cases a recent pop song which really doesn't fit in)
Stereotypical aspects:
Lighting - When it comes to the lighting in romance films, they tend to consist of warm colours, such as oranges, reds, and dark yellows. This letting the audience generally feel the colours, without noticing them specifically. Which can help them relate to the diegesis, or at least one specific character. This making them enjoy the film more.
Costume - Costume in romance films often varies, by class, and obviously gender. Although in most cases the males would tend to dress remotely smart. For example; in the film 'Titanic', although Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) was lower class/working class, he always dressed smart. Wearing smart brown pants, a white shirt, and some braces. The females generally tend to wear more feminine clothing, when it comes to a male and female falling in love, in the narrative. So they tend to be seen in skirts, and also dresses - usually following the same colours as the lighting. Reds, yellows, oranges. Colours that make them more desirable.
Performance - The usual performance in romance genre films, is that it is most likely the female that is looking for love. Although in some cases that has been broken, for example; 'Four Weddings and a Funeral' it is the male, Charles, (Hugh Grant) that is looking for love in the narrative, although he doesn't actually want to get married. This breaking the usual convention and style of a romance genre, although the film was a big success.
Thursday, 24 January 2013
Genre
The genre I have chosen to use, for my storyboard is romance. I have chosen this genre for the simple fact, romance is one of the most popular genres used in films. Not to mention the fact I have seen a lot of these films, which can range in narratives and style. Such as different types of sub-genres which fit under romance, such as rom-coms, and also romantic horrors. A lot of action films also following a similar style to the romance aspect, this being the fact that the "guy always gets the girl."
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