Joannie : Textual Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ13DrJSk5w


The title of the film I am going to analyse is called Die another Day (which is the 12^th spy film in the James Bond series).  The release date of the film in the UK was on 20 November 2002 and the director of the film was Lee Tamahori. Die Another Day is a Hybrid of Action, Adventure and Thriller genre.  

Todorov equilibrium narrative theory, he suggested that all conventional narratives should begin with a state equilibrium; a sense of normality for example when a status quo where any Protagonist and Antagonist are not identified yet and everything’s in balance etc. This should be followed by some a type of disruption like an event or a character that disrupts the equilibrium. This is later resolved and in doing so the situation is resolved. For example the Protagonist might recognise that the equilibrium has been disrupted and does all to save the day to restore the equilibrium and when all is done the New Equilibrium is established.

In this is sense of normality is then disrupted by when James bond (protagonist) lands on the army base and attempts to assassinate the moor. Then a hovercraft chase to place between James bond and the moors people and soon after he was captured and got imprisoned for a few months. 

Die another day fits with Todorov’s theory as it has an equilibrium, disruption and a new equilibrium is found. The movie begins with an equilibrium as begins in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea and everything is all calm, security walking around making sure no trespassers and however the setting is very dark and you can already detect that something is about to happen as James bond and a few other people land in the demilitarised zone; this shows that the equilibrium is soon going to be disputed.

The new equilibrium is established when James Bond kills Graves and then escapes with Jinx with the diamonds. Binary oppositions is a pair of objects , terms or concepts that are directly  opposite to each other. Levi Strauss theory of binary oppositions can be applied in Die Another Day in a variety of ways. Die another day has a variety of oppositionsin terms of the characters, the events that occur and the locations as they  are analysed through binary oppositions. In a way is opposite to each other for example Protagonist and antagonist, victim and hero etc. An example of a binary opposition in Die Another day was were the main character James Bond directly opposite to Jinx(Halle Berry) as there opposite genders. They are directly opposite as she plays the victim and stereotypical of gender roles she more along his side ; However he is the prtagonist therefore the more dominant making this a binary opposition.

The movie is in chronological order as everything that occurs happens according to the time and place of everything.


The narrative is restricted as it builds suspense to surprise the audience when something shocking is about to happen. In Die Another day the narrative is closed as it contains a beginning middle and end, if the narrative for Die Another Day was open then it would always continue like soap operas.

As the genre is a hybrid of Action, thriller and adventure to an extent the characters, storyline and sound in Die another day are typical to the conventions and genre codes of the genre.

In Die Another Day, the characters are typical to the genre in terms of behaviour, way of speaking, facial expressions, body language, costume, hair and make-up and narrative function. In all action genres the Protagonist body language is usually quite sharp and confident; in terms of James bond he is a spy so everything he had to do had to seem quite aloof. James bonds speaking voice was a British accent...

The story line for James bond is typical in terms of the Action genre as the themes in it had explosions, a fast pace chase, shooting, killing a protagonist and antagonist and all of this is typical conventions of the action genre. Also in Thriller conventions there’s

Revenge, kidnapping, ransom, midgame’s, confinement, obsession, death-traps, psychological feelings and these were all typical of a thriller as thrillers are genres that usually leave  everyone in suspense and all of this was seen in Die Another Day.

Joannie.

Script For Lockdown

Script for Lockdown

The film starts with a montage with credits showing Alfred dropping the bag.

EXT. PARK – MIDDAY.

Alfred enters and has dropped the bag somewhere at the park and is on his way home and receives a phone call.

PERSON ON THE PHONE (UNKNOWN VOICE SHOUTING ON THE PHONE) –

“ALFRED WHERES THE BAG!!”

(Alfred then becomes agitated)

ALFRED –

(Hesitant and stutters a lot)

“D d d don’t worry I left it at a safe place”

PERSON ON THE PHONE -

“GO RETRIEVE THE BAG AT ALL COST, OR ELSE SOMETHING BAD WILL HAPPEN”.

(Drops the phone).

CUTS TO:

EXT. STREET – MIDDAY.

A new guy called Tona is having his normal life, the n CCTV camera begin to follow his every move. Tona is writing his daughter a birthday card message.

On the Message:

“To my favourite girl in the world I wish you the best birthday ever,

Lots of love from dad xxx”

(Tona is grinning)

(Moments later he receives a text)

On the text message it says –

“I know you love your daughter… Don’t you?

Wouldn’t it be bad if she was taken? … “

(Tona looks around shivering and baffled)

CUTS BACK TO:

EXT.PARK-   MIDDAY.

It cuts back to Alfred on the phone going back to reclaim the bag, that he dropped in the park.

ALFRED (on the phone)-

“I’m getting it now.”

(Person on the phone, drops the phone)

CUTS BACK TO:

EXT.STREET - MIDDAY.

Cuts back to Tona all panicking and scared so decides to call his daughter to see if she is alright; as he earlier receives that random text.

TONA (on the phone) –

“My little angel are you alright?”

DAUGHTER -

“Dad! ... Yeah I’m … (she screams) DAD!”

(Phone cuts)

TONA (panicking and shouting down the phone)-

“HELLOO! Hello! Oh my gosh!”

(Alfred then barges into the new guy gives him a dirty look and carries on walking rapidly).

TONA –

“Excuse me” (still baffled and late reaction)

 Then straight away receives a text from that unknown number saying

TEXT MESSAGE -

“TAKE IT… TAKE THE BAG!”

CUTS TO:

EXT. ALLEYWAY – MIDDAY.

Tona then starts running after Alfred (after receiving the text) and corners Alfred.

TONA –

“I need to take the bag, or ‘they’ (looks suspiciously around)

Or else they will kill my daughter”

ALFRED –

“No! I need to keep it … my life depends on it!

It then cuts to the entrance of the road and we hear a gunshot, then we see Alfred walking fast with the bag.

CUTS TO:

EXT. MYSTERIOUS ROOM - MIDDAY.

Alfred then sees the mysterious character were he has been told to deliver the bag to.

Mysterious Character –

“You’re going to be a rich guy”

(The mysterious character reaches to grab the bag off Alfred, and as he’s getting up

Tona comes behind him, and grabs the guys shoulders and sits him back down)

(Baffled) “I heard a gunshot”

Alfred –

“I did shoot” (with a big grin)

A flash back occurs to show the scenario with Alfred and Tona at the shooting it shows Alfred moving the gun away from Tona’s face and shoots at the floor.

“But I didn’t shoot him” (he smirks)

Tona-

“WHERE IS MY DAUGHTER?!”

Alfred –

“WHERES MY MONEY?!”

They crowd the guy and the movie ends.

By Joannie.

Questionaire

Alfred

Treatment.

A List of the equipment we are going to use:

 - HD camera

 - SD card

 - Microphone

 - Tripod

 - Final cut pro

 - GarageBand

Detailed account of the movie :


The movie starts with a heartbeat/Montage with credits showing Alfred dropping the bag. Then the main character (Alfred) has dropped the bag and is on his way home, he then gets a phone call to retrieve the bag, at all costs or something bad will happen.
   A character is having his normal life, then CCTV cameras start following his every moves. the guy is writing his daughter a birthday card message.  A few moments later recieves a text. On the text it says ''I know you love your daughter. wouldnt it be bad if she was taken?" the text is emotionally blackmailing to the guy as he loves his daghter too much. He looks around because he did'nt recognise the number that texted him. It cuts back to Alfred on the phone going to reclaim the bag (that he previously dropped in the park)the picks it up. It cuts back to Tona all scared and baffled, he calls his daughter to see if shes alright, he notices from listening in the background that people have entered the house because she is screaming, he swears to get her back. 
Alfred then bumps into Tona gives a dirty look and carries on walking rapidly, the new guy says "excuse me"(still baffled) then straight away recieves a text saying "TAKE IT... TAKE THE BAG!". Tona then starts running after him, and corners Alfred. The Tona explains to Alfred that he needs to take the bag or 'they' will kill my daughter'. Alfred tells him that he has to keep the bag becasue my own life depends on it. It then cuts to the road that they were on before and we only see the entrance of the road , but we can't see them. We hear a bit of silence and then a gunshot. A few moments later footsteps walks out and a hand picking up the bag(leaving the auidience in suspence) then cameras go up then it shows Alfred walking out, showing the auidence he killed the other guy. Alfred then carries on walking fast.
he sees a mysterious character were he has been told to deliver the bag.he says well done,  "your going to be rich". he tries to get walk away with the bag, as he is gettin up Tona appears behind him, grabs his shoulder and sits him back down. the mysterious man is baffeld, saying "i herd the gun shot" Alfred says, "i did shoot" theres a flashback to the scenario with Alfred and Tona at the shooting. it shows alfred moving the gun away from Tona and shooting the floor. it cuts back to the mans face, all suprised and cunfused. Alfred continues to talk and says "but i didnt shoot him". Tona asks the guy where his daughter is, and alfred asks where his money is. they crowd the man and the movie ends.
As It is an hybrid of the action and thriller genre, we will be using a variety techniques to develop the movie. We will be using a variety of camera shots,angles and movement but the main ones that we intend to use are:
Close ups to show the facial expressions of the characters and the main props in the movie.Shallow focus, High angle to show the CCTV view, Long shots to show the locations and the characters head to toe. Overshoulder shots to show when the guys bump into eachother. Midshots to show the body language of the characters. We are also going to use a low angle. We will also use movement like when the subject walks into space. Also going to use camera movements like panning and tracking. 
  In Action movies the editing is very fast pace, which is why we are going to use straight cuts and dissolves. We are also going to use a Montage that will be used in the beginning to show whats happened in the previous movie. The Sounds are going to be both diagetic and non diagetic. Nondiagetic will be used for the background music as its not coming from the movie and the diagetic sounds will be the phone ringtone , the text msg tone and the gunshot.
  The mise-en-scene are the props, costume, settings,lighting and  body language. The props that will be used are the bag which the main prop of the movie as everything is based around it and a gun. The locations we intend to use are a park , alleyway, busy road , cafe and cashpoint. The costumes are mainly going be hoodies (we wat to uses hoodies brecause it stereotypically relates to the age of the target auidence, so its easy for them to relate to the character) , tracksuits and a buisness suit. The lighting should be quite dark to relate to the Action and thriller genre.


By Joannie

The Props and Costumes.

In our movie we only have three characters. Each character has their own individual style iwhen it comes to costumes; for each of these characters one has casual clothing (Alfred) , the other has a work/business costume(Tonah) and lastly Nick wears more of a mysterious costume (nick).

When Alfred is introduced his costume is very Casual. His costume includes Baggy jeans, hooded jumper, a Body warmer and trainers. The casual clothing tells the audience that the character is an 'average joe', just a typical teenage boy  

Tonah is the new character introduced, and will be wearing work/business type clothing. Clothing items might include trousers, a shirt, waistcoast, tie and watch.

Audiences will be able to relate to the characters as they wear the same style clothing as them. Business and working audiences will be able to relate to the business man character.

Props that we consider using are:

• Mobile phone- the way the unknown organization communicates to ordinary people, telling them what to do.
• The bag- the bag which contains something no one knows. It is the cause for all the commotion.
• The Birthday card -

Proposal

                                           Proposal

  Directors : Tona & Alfred

 Production Company  : LockDownAJNT

Production Crew : Camera person(s) : Nick , Alfred ,Tona and Joannie Main Editer(s) : Alfred TonatiuhAnd Joannie Sound Editors : Joannie and Alfred Synopsis: A young, troubled guy scavenges around to deliver a mysterious bag to an unknown source. However a new innocent character was being told to retrieve the same bag. The contents of the bag are uknown, but why is it so important? Who wants the Bag? Target Auidience : Lockdown is targeted more for Male young adults aged between 15-25 who enjoy action movies. We targeted more towards this auidience because the conventions of an Action movies are : - Violence  -Heartbeat sounds - Blood - a chase - Love interest - Death - Props/Gadgets - Speed                                     - Protagonist & Antagonist So therefore according to many stereotypes Males are most likely to watch it; being the reason why we speficly targeted for males; However some females are mostlikey to watch therefore its appropiate for them aswell. Purpose: Our propose is to entertain our target auidence by allowing others to enjoy our ideas and love our film. As LockDown is a hybrid of Action ansd Thriller, we aimed for fans between the ages 15-25+,and of Male gender  because since its an action film which may contain violence and fast pace and according to stereotypes Males are most likely to watch it. These genres provide entertainment, fastpace music , a chase, mystery and suspicion. From stereotypes males are the gender that are most likely to be interested in seeing this movie and the target auidence of 15-25 + would be the appropiate age to watch the movie as these ages are more likely to see and enjoy. We also want to show people that young people often make the wrong decisions in life by taking on a bag to a mysteerious source and that they should be more cautious. Also Another purpose is to show our auidence that new technology( phones, cctv cameras) have a big effect in the contempary society.