Film Analysis

Verismilitude: How real the world of a story appears to the audience - how realistic and believable it is.

Diegesis/Diegetic World: The world in which the film takes place.

Juxtoposition: Placing one object next to another to create meaning. 

Narrative Theory: Theories that categorise narratives and find features to common them.

Levi-Strauss' Binary Opposition: Narrative tension is based on opposition or conflict. This can be as simple as two characters fighting, but more often functions at an ideological level.
E.g: good vs evil, girl vs boy, peace vs war, etc.

Vladimir Propp's 8 Character types:
  1. The villian - against the hero
  2. The helper - assists the hero on their mission
  3. The princess/prize - prize for the hero. Usually faught over between villain and hero
  4. Her father - rewards the hero - usually identifies the false hero
  5. The donor - the character who gives 
  6. The hero - the character who saves everyone from the villain
  7. The false hero - takes credit for the real hero's actions - usually tries to claim the 'prize'
  8. The dispatcher - the character that sends the hero off on their quest
Laura Mulvey - 'The Male Gaze' Theory
  • White, heterosexual men control the media
  • They objectify women
  • They create media to appeal to white, heterosexual men 
Todorov's Equillibrium Theory:
  1. Equilibrium 
  2. Diruption of equilibrium by an event
  3. A realisation that the disruption has happened
  4. An attempt to repair the damage or disruption 
  5. A restoration of equillibrium
Examples of this include disaster movies, such as '2012' and 'Indapendance Day'

Action + Enigma Codes - Roland Barthes

Action Codes - What will happen next...

Enigma Codes - The audience question 'why?'...


Street Dance Clip Analysis:

  • Short cuts - get shorter when she's dancing
  • Binary opposition
  • Non-diegetic sound
  • Slow tracking shots
  • Slow motion 
  • Paralel sound - reflects the characters emotions
  • Montage of the characters day 
The shots of the scene tend to be of the protagonists body (for example, her torso). This is a reflection of Laura Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' theory, as it shows how the character is being objectified.











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