MightyMedia; NARRATIVE- Claude Lévi-Strauss

Claude Lévi-Strauss is a theorist who came up with the idea that films contains binary opposites, these opposites may clash in the film making the activity more exciting. For example if you are watching a film there is normally a Hero, opposite to that would be a Villain, which you will almost always get in a film with a Hero. I have been able to recognize some of the binary opposites that occur within the film Boy A. Claude sadly died at the age of 100 and is know famous for his revolutionary understanding of the nature of culture, custom and civilisation.

In Boy A, these are some of the binary opposites noticed and what i believe the producer was looking for when incorporating the the

• Hero – Villain.
• The Hero in the story is obviously Jack, who has overcome his past and saved a little girl from an accident. The villain however is the past, the younger him who keeps reminding Jack who he really is.
• Love – Hate.
  Love is the theme between Jack and Michelle, who met when he started his new job. Hate in this film dwells in the past, the fact that Jack hates himself and Philip.
• Truth – Lies.
  The truth is Jacks past, and his true identity that he hesitates to speak about, because of the new start to life. His new identity that everyone knows well and loves is in fact a lie.
• Freedom – Captivity.
  Freedom is the restart to Jacks life, when he gets out of jail and gains a new name, new friends and a new job.  Captivity is him in jail, and the feeling that he himself is trapped, trapped with lies and regret.
• Naivety – Matureness.
  When Jack is young, he is naive, and has a dearth of knowledge in the activities done with Philip. However he is quite mature when older.
• Secrecy – Openness.
  Secrecy is Jack keeping his true identity to him and Terry, and the fact that he can’t even tell the girl that he loves the truth. Openness is when he finally admits to his work colleague on the phone.
• Fear – Courage.
  Jack fears his past, and he feels that its haunting him, and eventually people will find out. Courage is the fact that he still carries on a normal life trying his hardest to forget his past.
• Hesitant – Anxious.
  Jack is hesitant to tell people the truth. Jack wants to tell people of his past, and he wants to let people understand what hes going through instead of living with a false identity.
• Trust – Betrayal.
  Terry puts his trust in Jack, and that he wont tell a soul about his past because Terry is protecting Jack, protecting his future. Betrayal is when Terry own sons tells all about Jacks past, due to jealously.
• Tense – Relax.
  It gets rather tense at places, when Jack runs away when all is revealed. Other than this most of the film contains relaxed moods and conversations between individuals.
• Redemption – Damnation.
  Redemption is what Jacks feels when his sin has been given another chance, the fact that he is allowed to live a normal life. Damnation is the sin that Jack created when younger.
• Hope – Despair.
  Hope is what jack feels when his new life starts, and how he is going to live his life, full of hope. Despair is at the very end of the film, when Jack loses hope and travels to Blackpool Pier.

MightMedia; NARRATIVE- Joseph Campbell's Hero Quest-

The Hero's Journey Outline The Hero’s Journey is a pattern of narrative identified by the American scholar Joseph Campbell that appears in drama, storytelling, myth, religious ritual, and psychological development.  It describes the typical adventure of the archetype known as The Hero, the person who goes out and achieves great deeds on behalf of the group, tribe, or civilization. Its stages are: 1.        THE ORDINARY WORLD.  The hero, uneasy, uncomfortable or unaware, is introduced sympathetically so the audience can identify with the situation or dilemma.  The hero is shown against a background of environment, heredity, and personal history.  Some kind of polarity in the hero’s life is pulling in different directions and causing stress. 2.        THE CALL TO ADVENTURE.  Something shakes up the situation, either from external pressures or from something rising up from deep within, so the hero must face the beginnings of change.  3.        REFUSAL OF THE CALL.  The hero feels the fear of the unknown and tries to turn away from the adventure, however briefly.  Alternately, another character may express the uncertainty and danger ahead. 4.        MEETING WITH THE MENTOR.  The hero comes across a seasoned traveler of the worlds who gives him or her training, equipment, or advice that will help on the journey.  Or the hero reaches within to a source of courage and wisdom. 5.        CROSSING THE THRESHOLD.  At the end of Act One, the hero commits to leaving the Ordinary World and entering a new region or condition with unfamiliar rules and values.  6.        TESTS, ALLIES AND ENEMIES.  The hero is tested and sorts out allegiances in the Special World. 7.        APPROACH.  The hero and newfound allies prepare for the major challenge in the Special world. 8.        THE ORDEAL.  Near the middle of the story, the hero enters a central space in the Special World and confronts death or faces his or her greatest fear.  Out of the moment of death comes a new life.  9.        THE REWARD.  The hero takes possession of the treasure won by facing death.  There may be celebration, but there is also danger of losing the treasure again. 10.      THE ROAD BACK.  About three-fourths of the way through the story, the hero is driven to complete the adventure, leaving the Special World to be sure the treasure is brought home.  Often a chase scene signals the urgency and danger of the mission. 11.     THE RESURRECTION.  At the climax, the hero is severely tested once more on the threshold of home.  He or she is purified by a last sacrifice, another moment of death and rebirth, but on a higher and more complete level.  By the hero’s action, the polarities that were in conflict at the beginning are finally resolved. 12.       RETURN WITH THE ELIXIR.  The hero returns home or continues the journey, bearing some element of the treasure that has the power to transform the world as the hero has been transformed.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- In his study of world hero myths Campbell discovered that they are all basically the same story – retold endlessly in infinite variations.  He found that all story-telling, consciously or not, follows the ancient patterns of myth, and that all stories, from the crudest jokes to the highest flights of literature, can be understood in terms of the hero myth; the “monomyth” whose principles he lays out in the book. The theme of the hero myth is universal, occuring in every culture, in every time; it is as infinitely varied as the human race itself; and yet its basic form remains the same, an incredibly tenacious set of elements that spring in endless repetition from the deepest reaches of the mind of man. Campbell’s thinking runs parallel to that of Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who wrote of the “archetypes: -- constantly repeating characters who occur in the dreams of all people and the myths of all cultures.

MightyMedia- Dogme 95; The visual movement.

 

WELCOME 

To this week’s post, regarding DOGME95. So as an experienced mind-reader, I can already tell what you’re thinking; “What on earth is Dogme 95?” Well allow me to tell you my friends! 

 

Dogme 95 is a movement in filmmaking developed in 1995 by the Danish directors Lars von Trier, Thomas Vinterberg, Kristian Levring, and Soren Kragh-Jacobsen. This movement is sometimes known as the Dogme 95 collective. The goal of the collective is to instill a sense of simplicity in filmmaking, free of postproduction modifications and other gimmicks. The emphasis on purity in the formation of the film places a focus on the actual story and the performance of the actors. For someone experiencing the film, there is an increase in engagement as the viewer realizes the lack of overproduction, and becomes more concerned with the narrative and mood. In order to further this goal, von Trier and Vinterberg developed a set of ten rules that a Dogme film must conform to. These rules, referred to as the Vow of Chastity, are as follows:

1. Shooting must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in (if a particular prop is necessary for the story, a location must be chosen where this prop is to be found).
2. The sound must never be produced apart from the images or vice versa. (Music must not be used unless it occurs where the scene is being shot).
3. The camera must be hand-held. Any movement or immobility attainable in the hand is permitted. (The film must not take place where the camera is standing; shooting must take place where the film takes place).
4. The film must be in colour. Special lighting is not acceptable. (If there is too little light for exposure the scene must be cut or a single lamp be attached to the camera).
5. Optical work and filters are forbidden.
6. The film must not contain superficial action. (Murders, weapons, etc. must not occur.)
7. Temporal and geographical alienation are forbidden. (That is to say that the film takes place here and now.)
8. Genre movies are not acceptable.
9. The film format must be Academy 35mm film.
10. The director must not be credited.

In certain cases, the titles of Dogme films are superfluous, since they are also referred to by numbers. The spririt of the Dogme technique was hinted at by Lars Von Trier’s film Breaking the Waves. The first of the Dogme films was Vinterberg’s 1998 film Festen, known in English by the title The Celebration and Dogme 1. Festen was highly acclaimed by many critics, and won the Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival that year. Von Trier’s first Dogme film, The Idiots, or Dogme 2, was less successful. Since those two original films were released, other directors have participated in the creation of Dogme films. For example, the American director Harmony Korine created the movie Julien Donkey-Boy which is also known as Dogme 6.

 

Here is an example of the Dogme95 rules in action, in Wasp: 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN6BSVl1zQY