Narrative Theory - The Shining

Levi Strauss - Binary Opposites
Oppositions within the narrative

Good vs. Evil
Sane vs. Insane
Adults vs. Youth
Past vs. Present
Reality vs. Supernatural


Todorov - Narrative Structure

Equilibrium - Jack Torrance has a good family and seems to be a kind happy man.

Disruptions - Jack agrees to look after a mysterious hotel for the winter, he becomes mad and tries to kill his family.

Twarted attempts - The phone lines are down because of the storm, Jack breaks the radio, and Jack also breaks their snow vehicle.

Resolution - Wendy realises Jack has gone mad, and attempts to escape from him.

New Equilibrium - Wendy and Danny manage to escape the hotel, leaving Jack to freeze in the snow storm.


Barthes - Action and Enigma Codes

Action (one thing leading to another / what happens next?)

• Jack gets the job as the caretaker
• Danny goes into room 237
• Wendy reads what Jack has been writing
• Wendy blames Jack for Danny's bruises
• Dick Hallorann comes to check if everything is ok

Enigma (things that create mystery)

• What exactly is Danny's gift, The Shining?
• Who is Tony?
  
• What has 'Tony' told Danny about the Hotel?
• Why does 'Tony' not want to go there?
• Why should they not go near room 237?
• Why does the butler say Jack has always been the caretaker there?
• Why is Jack in the picture at the end that dates 1921?

Propp - Character Types

Protagonist - Danny
Antagonist - Jack
Helper - Wendy
Princess - Wendy
Donor - Dick Hallorann
Dispatcher - Dick, Wendy
Father figure - Jack, Dick, Wendy
False Hero - Dick

The Psycho Shower Scene

Psycho was a ground breaking film in its time, and the shower scene where the lead woman is killed, has become one of the most famous scenes in cinema history. It was extremely shocking at the time, since the lead woman is killed halfway through the film. The murder is shot quite unconventionally from a montage of different angles, and we do not see the murderers face once. There is a lot of suspense in the clip at it is quite disturbing even though we do not see the knife penetrate her but we do see a lot of blood.

DVD Cover Analysis - Seven

The DVD cover is a very omportant way of constructing the narrative image of the film.
On this cover there are two people, both in close-up, but it is not just one shot of the people, it is two different shots. Since there are two people on the cover, we know there must be some sort of relationship between the two. However we cannot tell whether it is a good one or a bad one. Since the shots are Close-ups we can see their expressions very well, and this contributes to make the image look very dark and mysterious.
The mise-en-scene of the cover is very dark and shadowy. Shadows and darkness are typical conventions of teh Thriller genre, so audiences can know what to expect a bit more from this film. Both characters have one side of their face in shadow, and this makes the audience feel they are mysterious characters and may have something to hide, because of the typical conventions of a thriller genre. There is not a lot of colour use on the cover, although we would not expect this from a film in the thriller genre. It is very dark, with light shining quite brightly compared to the dark surroundings, shining on opposite sides of each characters face. Therefore the dark split between the two accompanied by the sinister words listed here may signify that the two characters do not have a good relationship. The words listed are each scrathed off which signifies these are all things which feature in the film, and since there are seven of them, we would make the link to the title of the film. Therefore the basic plot to the film has been set up by these seven words.
We cannot see much of the people in this shot apart from their faces, so the dress codes and action codes are a mystery to us, creating an enigma around the image, setting up many questions the audience may ask. Both people have very serious facial expressions and are staring intently at something. This creates an enigma, and gives suspense, since you wonder what they are lookin at. Brad Pitt is a white American in his 30s, and Morgan Freeman is an African American in his 60s, so this conveys there is not a family relationship between the two people, in the film. The age difference could also signify that Morgan Freeman could be Brad Pitt's boss or Brad Pitt may be coming to him for help or guidance.

Rear Window Vs Disturbia

Similarities and Differences

Character Similarities

• Male protagonsist and Antagonist
• Love interests
• Teams of 3
• Both Antagonists were old men
• Obsessions of proving what they saw
• Victims both female
• Both sidekicks are comical

Character Differences

• A friend in Disturbia and a nurse in Rear Window
• RW, she doesnt believe him immediately
• Age difference between the protagonists
• Disturbia is slightly comical
• Crippled and House arrest
• Time Periods
• D, has bigger death count
• Antagonist in D, more evil, serial killer
• RW, domestic killer
• D, Antagonist hints more about deaths

Narrative Similarities

• Cast and police ankle alarm
• Stuck in house
• Love interest
• Both sure, but friends dount
• Conversation between protagonist and antagonist
• Gardening
• Someone goes to ivestigate
• Parties are distraction

Narrative Differences

• D, boy can move around
• D, police are against him at the beginning
• RW, relationship already set up
• D, murder more obvious
• Nature of murder
• D, intro with death of dad
• Sounds of suburbia are different to city

Iconography Similarities

• Windows
• Binoculars
• In own room
• Natural light and light bulbs
• Lenses
• Use of bags for bodies
• Dead animals
• Both women are blonde

Iconography Differences

• Clothing, RW, dull colours and pyjamas
• D, in suburbs
• RW, in city
• D, we go in antagonists house
• D, more graphic
• D, more diegetic sound
• D, surgery room
• D, more technology

Themes Similarities

• Spying
• Obsession
• Murder
• Entrapment in environment
• Love interest
• Boredom
• Suspicion
• Bad Police (useless)

Themes Differences

• RW, more about independence and isolation
• RW, difficult to be a community
• Motivation, sexual
• Disturbia Voyeuristic
• D, more comedy
• RW, motive for murder
• D, psycho
• D, mother/son relationship
• D, death of parent
• D, being new in town
  

My Thriller Shot

When taking this shot we were trying to create a claustrophobic atmosphere. We achieved this by using a frame within a frame since this is a signifier of entrapment. We also used shadow and darkness as it gives a mysterious and eerie feeling that can rub off on the audience. The actor has a scared look on his face and is looking away from the camera. This also gives a sense of mystery since the audience does not know what the actor is looking at and what is making him look afraid. Mystery is scary for a viewer since they can only imagine what the actor is looking at. Also since the shot is an MCU the audience can’t completely read the situation and therefore can’t tell whether the character is good or bad. We hoped to create a claustrophobic, mysterious and suspenseful shot and I believe we achieved this.

I believe this shot represents the genre thriller because we can tell from it that the character is in a tense situation. The use of shadows and darkness are genre signifiers since it shows he is not in a good situation. The weird angle of the shot also creates a weird feeling that the situation is not right so it signifies the genre.

Rear Window

I watched Rear Window and enjoyed it very much. I was a bit skeptical about it to begin with, but was enjoying it very soon.
I thought it was good how the camera (audience) can only ever see what is inside the room or what is seen from the window, we only ever get to see as much as Jeff can see, so no more is given away to the audience, to keep them guessing as to whether it is a murder.
Just recently watched Disturbia also, and can see the similarities, but will talk about that in another post.
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Thriller Brainstorm

Thriller Conventions

• to be thrilled
• villain, -murderer - crooks - gangster
• strong protagonist
• dark shadows
• following
• tension
• suspense/anticipation
• police raid
• conspiracy
• fraud
• death, - efiicient - predetermined
• attraction
• obsession
• love