The Book of Eli Opening

Mise en scene:
a dark green forest full of trees suggesting death, creates tension

sound :
diegetic sound of leaves hitting the floor also diegetic footsteps of the cat on the fallen leaves,  Heavy breathing diegetic, sound bridge? Breathing becomes more prominent when the gun pans into frame suggesting suicide a change in tone non diegetic suggesting to the audience danger and building up suspense.

camera :
A tracking shot going through the forest passing the body, to draw attention to the dead body, most likely a suicide, suggesting this is not a world you want to live in. Extreme close up on the gas mask building up tension as to who is behind the mask.
A POV of the main character and the cat, both looking for danger depicts how no one is trusted anymore.

Gender:

No woman, have they survived? showing men as the hunters and providers.

Plot :

In a  post-apocalyptic society, a man named Eli, has been travelling west to protect a Book which he has found salvation in. In order to survive he hunts small animals and tries to find valuable objects that he can trade for food and water. When he reaches a village ruled b ya mobster, Carnegie, the man views Eli's impressive fighting skills and offers Eli a place within his gang. He then tries to persuade Eli to stay as he knows he a valuable gang member by getting his blind lover to convince her daughter, Solara, to spend the night with him. However, Eli proves to be the better man when he gently declines her advances. The girl sees Eli's book, and when Carnegie finds out he beats her mother until she reveals what she saw. Carnegie sends his gang into the wasteland to take the book from Eli, but the man proves to be a reckless antagonist as he makes it more than clear that if they want the book, they must first take Eli's life.

ROLAND BARTHES ENIGMA THEORY

Because I have taken Media at GCSE I already felt I knew edits and camera angles quite well, my teacher, to keep me occupied and thinking, gave me the challenge of researching the Enigma Theory.

Roland Barthes described 5 codes which are in any narrative.

• The Hermeneutic code (The voice of truth) refers to any element of the story that is not fully explained and becomes a mystery for the audience.- The purpose of this is to keep the audience focused and guessing until the final scenes where all the loose ends are tied off and the truth is revealed. Causing closure for the audience. 
• The Proairetic code (The empirical voice) also builds tension, referring to any other action or event that indicates something is going to happen making the audience guess what will happen next.-This basically includes all the non verbal queues that give the audience insight into the characters thought and how they will react to certain decisions that move the story line on. An example of this would be when a character raises a weapon to another's head but then starts to lower it. The lowering of the weapon suggests the character has compassion and has recognized their irrational anger. 

Codes One and two are linked and work as a pair to develop the story's tension and keep the audience intrested. " Dependent on two sequential codes: the revelation of the truth and the coordination of the actions represented - The same constraint in the order of the melody as gradual order of the narrative sequence." To me this means that the two codes work in the same way as music does to create tension, it plays into the conscience and unconscious mind to create visual and audible emotion the same as the first two codes. 

     

•   The semantic code (The voice of the person) refers to connotation within the story that gives additional meaning over the basic denotative meaning of the word.- It is by the use of extended meanings that can be applied to the words or actions. This suggesting that there is a deeper meaning for every action and word that a character says and does. Maybe it is just to get to know a character better or finding out the antagonists plan. 
•  The Symbolic code (The voice of symbols) is very similar to the semantic code but acts at a wider level, organizing semantic meanings into a broader and deeper meaning.- This is typically done in the usage of antithesis where new meanings arise out of opposing ideas. 
•  The cultural code (The Voice of science) refers to anything that is founded on some kind of canonical works that cannot be challenged and is used to be a foundation for the truth.-this suggesting that there is some form of truth that is never questioned in a narrative and is taken as gospel. 

-We gain access into the narrative by several entrances (looking at it from a different view point changes the meaning and importance of certain actions). 

I Am Legend Opening

PLOT
A virus created to cure cancer, made by Doctor Krippin, has had a strange wide spread side effect and has caused the people who had the vaccine to mutate into zombies.

SETTING

• Desertion 
• Dark ominous lighting
• Even though there are clear skies there is no blinding sun.

SOUND

• Sound bridge over opening credits, keeping audience engaged and gives them context.
• Booming sounds connoting disaster and dystopia
• Sound effects- diagetic  needed for added effect and to draw attention to those areas of importance.
• Dear, car engine and birds- sound effects Almost a visual representation of how the doctor explained the way the vaccine reacts with the body, The dear being the complication that allowed the body cells mutate resulting in the human race 'zombiefying' 

CAMERA

• Establishing shots, to show the destruction and death that the world has come to, also showing the audience where in the world we are.
• Mid and Long shots of new York, showing Christmas lights, depicting the time period this has taken place in.

CHARACTER

• Doctor- Dr Krppin, name suggests untrustworthy, evidently shown by the actual doctor Krippin who was one of the first criminals caught by a telegram. She blinks a lot showing uncertainty and that she is hesitant. she gives a simplistic visual story to explain how they 'cured' cancer, something that seems unprofessional and too simple otherwise others would have found this cure way before them. 
• Main character- In all black, absorbs heat, showing that it is possibly cold and that he needs to hide in the shadows often. Still has a dog for a pet and wants to feed it, showing his humanity and compassion hasn't died out like it may have for others. Carries a shotgun showing he needs to protect himself. makes the audience ask the question " what is he hiding from that is more dangerous than him?"

GENDER

• Main character- holding a gun- depicting powerful, converges with the protagonist stereotype. Fast car, symbolic of stereotypical male hobbies and interests. The car is clean unlike all the others, which proves that it is used a lot and he takes care of it, suggesting he enjoys the little things in life.

INTRODUCTION

ABOUT ME

My name is Betsy-Jo Warren I am 16 years old and currently I am a student at Ashfield post 16. I study Performance studies and maths alongside Media. I took Media Studies at GCSE and came out with an A at the end of the course. In my first year I researched the codes and conventions of vampire films and the differences of gender representation. I found this intriguing and immediately fell in love with the course, this then motivated me to put in as many hours as possible into my movie posters. Because of my added hours I quickly became used to the Photoshop software and had to go round and help others who didn't find it as easy as me. In my second year of GCSE Media studies I studied magazines and what goes into them to make it appealing to the eye. I found this project more challenging than the first however all that meant was that I had to spend longer on it. After immersing myself into Media  I decided that I wanted to go into this profession in my future, working as and alongside directors.


MY HOBBIES AND INTERESTS

My main hobbies are watching films and TV shows. My favourite genre of film is fantasy as I like to surround myself in different worlds and creatures that don't exist in my day to day life. Some of my favourites are The Shannara Chronicles, The Hobbit Trilogy and Harry Potter. I feel that in these type of films there are always characters that everyone can relate to even though the characters are in situations that we would never find ourselves in, for example, fighting a dragon. 

Music is also a huge part of my life, I love how much emotion just one song can provoke. It also helps me to understand how important sound and music is in moving text. Music can build tension with a crescendo, or make an audience cry with simple chords struck with a piano and violin. the whole process is astounding to me and I enjoy having the privilege to pick apart films and see how and why things are done.