Representations of Ethnicity-Theory

Four Key Themes in Racial Representations

• exotic
• dangerous
• humorous
• pitied

(Alvarado et al. 1987: 153)

Unity and Conflict

• Conflict is often the binary opposition of ethnic groups and the wider society.
• Unity is often an element of the representation of ethnicity, this hits a stereotype of ethnicity, that of close families and tight communities.

TV Drama-Generic Conventions

You will find that TV dramas all have the following ingredients:

• Characters – even particular kinds of characters: eg, at its most simple, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ characters.
• Stories – they all tell stories, whether those stories involve adventure, crime or romance and they often, but not always, end happily.
• The stories are told against familiar backdrops: – eg, homes, police stations and offices (for crime dramas), hospitals (for medical dramas) – most of which are created in studios. However, most dramas also use outside locations to create particular effects.
• Camerawork – particular kinds of shots are used: eg, sequences involving establishing shots followed by mid-shots of characters, shot/reverse shots to show character interaction and, in particular,close-ups to show the characters’ emotions.
• Stories use dialogue to tell the stories. Occasionally, monologues are built in (as voiceovers, a character telling a story).
• Music is used to punctuate the action, create effects (suspense, tension) and underline emotional moments.
• Particular subgenres tend to have items which make them immediately identifiable – police cars, blue lights, operating theatres and scalpels, triage/reception areas in hospitals. Icons of the genre, they symbolise the (sub)genre.

Narrative Codes

Narrative Codes

Roland Barthes developed a concept that every narrative is interwoven with five codes that drive one to maintain interest in a story. The first two codes involve ways of creating suspense in narrative, the first by unanswered questions, the second by anticipation of an action's resolution. These two codes are essentially connected to the temporal order of the narrative.

The Hermeneutic Code

The hermeneutic code refers to plot elements of a story that are not explained. They exist as enigmas that the reader wishes to be resolved. A detective story, for example, is a narrative that operates primarily by the hermeneutic code. A crime is exposed or postulated and the rest of the narrative is devoted to answering questions raised by the initial event.

The Proairetic Code

The proairetic code refers to plot events that imply further narrative action. For example, a story character confronts an adversary and the reader wonders what the resolution of this action will be. Suspense is created by action rather than by a reader's wish to have mysteries explained. The final three codes are related to how the reader comprehends and interprets the narrative discourse.

The Semic Code

A seme is a unit of meaning or a sign that express cultural stereotypes. These signs allow the author to describe characters, settings and events. The semic code focuses upon information that the narration provides in order to suggest abstract concepts. Any element in a narrative can suggest a particular, often additional, meaning by way of connotation through a correlation found in the narrative. The semic code allows the text to 'show' instead of 'tell' by describing material things.

The Symbolic Code

The symbolic code refers to a structural structure that organizes meanings by way of antitheses, binary oppositions or sexual and psychological conflicts. These oppositions can be expressed through action, character and setting.

The Cultural Code

The cultural code designates any element in a narrative that refers to common bodies of knowledge such as historical, mythological or scientific. The cultural codes point to knowledge about the way the world works as shared by a community or culture.

Together, these five codes function like a 'weaving of voices'. Barthes assigns to the hermeneutic the Voice of Truth; to the proairetic code the voice of Empirics ; to the semic the Voice of the Person; to the cultural the Voice of Science; and to the symbolic the Voice of Symbol. According to Barthes, they allowing the reader to see a work not just as a single narrative line but as a braiding of meanings that give a story its complexity and richness.

Tyrion- Game of Thrones

Mise en scene:

The location during this clip looks as if it's in a main hall or church. Their are thrones at the front on the hall which are raised up on a stage. This shows their position in the society. Their are stain glass windows which demonstrates that it may be in a church. Stain glass windows also represent how important religion would be at the time. 

Throughout this clip the characters wear old fashioned clothing due to the time that the series is set in. The characters look well dressed for the period of time that they are in, which demonstrates that they have a high position in society. The women are wearing long dresses and their hair is neatly done. The men are wearing  royal looking suits with over the knee leather boots. Both men and women wear jewelry, for example necklaces and rings. This shows their position in society is higher up as they can afford and own jewelry. 

 The main source of lighting during this clip is candles and fire. This makes the scene very dark with a tint of red. This also links back to the time the series is set it. Their wouldn't be any electricity so they would have to make do with candles and any source of light that they could obtain. 

Camera shots, angles, movement and composition:
Different camera angles are used throughout this clip, they are used for specific reasons. Mid-shots and mid-close ups are used during this scene to show the audience the characters characteristics, facial expressions and motives. A low shot is used when showing the men on the thrones. This would indicte that they are powerful and higher up in society than others. A high shot is then used to show Tyrion which indicates that he is less important and lower in society. This is link to the fact that he is a dwarf and that would e looked down on in that period of time- as well as any other disability. Towards the end of the clip, multiple zoom ins are used which shows the characters emotions and response to the action and converstaion that has happened.

Editing:
Cuts are a sudden change in one viewpoint to another. Cuts are used throughout the clip as the majority is converstaion, therefore there would be cuts to show other characters speaking or their response. Reaction shots are used during the clip to show different characters emotional response to what someody else has said. For example a reaction shot is used at 0:14 seconds to show Tyrion's reaction. A matched cut is used to continue to show one character speaking but from a different angle. 

Sound:
music is used during this scene to create atmosphere and to increase tension. The music gets increasingly louder and clearer as the tension and action builds. Selective sound is used during the clip. In parts the characters watching can be heard but in others only the person speaking can be heard. This could depend of what the character is saying and how serious/important it is. Also the scilence of the crowd can build up the tension. 

Mad Max research- 100 facts

Production:
1. Mad Max is part of a franchise.
2. George Miller directed the film.
3. The 3D camera rig had to be small enough to go through the windows of the truck.
4. The desert location and shooting conditions required the cameras to be waterproof and dust proof.
5.  A raft of cameras would be needed because Miller did not want to be delayed by a simple lens change.
6. All digital cameras with high data rates and on-board processing generate a lot of heat. 
7. An active cooling system was required which added more complexity to the system. 
8. It was Seale's first digital film that he had ever done and it was at short notice.
9. The initial approach to shooting Mad Max was based on a single camera philosophy- the idea that somewhere on the set is a single perfect spot for the camera to record that scene. 
10. The camera philosophy stretches back to Polanski, Kubrick and others, but not one Seale was used to.
11. Seale believes giving the editors the option to cut on finer points of performance gives them flexibility and power.
12. The film used multi-camera shooting which compromises lighting. 
13. The contrast range between the interiors and the harsh desert exteriors was a challenge for the cameras.
14. Seale was limited in balancing the windows because of action that would take place through the window frames.
15. The switch to 2D shooting was a major shift in approach, making the shoot much more straightforward, but loading post-production with a 2D to 3D conversion.
16. They made no consideration for 3D post at all during our 2D shoot. 
17. Seale had the 11-1 zoom on what he called the paparazzi camera.
18. The single cameraapproach was eroded in practice.
19. Seale tested Canon 5Ds and ran them past the visual effects department.
20. The film had to be delayed after the beginning of the Iraq War. 
21.  Mad Max: Fury Road was to be released thirty years after the last film, Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.
22. Constant weather delays and location issues caused the film to be delayed more than once, including cold when it was supposed to be hot, and vice-versa. 
23. Charlize Theron shaved her head for her role of Furiosa, and had to wear a wig for A Million Ways to Die in The West.
24. The film was shot in sequence, which is rare, and the storyboards were completed before the script.
25. It was going to be a 3D CG animated movie.
26. They finished shooting back in December 2012.
27. Three weeks of additional shooting was set to begin November 22nd, 2013.
28. Filming was delayed twice.

Post-production:
29. Film Editor Margaret Sixel was given over 480 hours of footage.
30. The final edit ran 120 minutes and consisted of 2700 individual shots.
31. One bad cut could ruin a moment.
32. The most popular editing tendency for action scenes and films over the last 10 years has been the “Chaos Cinema” approach.
33. By using “Eye Trace” and “Crosshair Framing” techniques during the shooting.
34. The editor could keep the important visual information vital in one spot.
35. Almost every shot was center framed. 
36. Over the walkie talkies during every scene Miller could be heard saying “Put the cross hairs on her nose! Put the cross hairs on the gun!” 
37. Miller wanted to protect the footage for editorial and to ensure that the entire high speed film would be easily digestible with both eyes and brain.
38. Every new shot that slammed onto the screen had to occupy the same space as the previous shot.
39. Margaret Sixel could amplify and accelerate scenes.
40. As they prepared to shoot the film, George Miller had no script.
41. Miller did have over 3500 storyboards created by Mark Sexton.
42. The Studio of course asked for a script and George said there wasn’t one. 
43. It has taken him more than 10 years to get the story mapped out with this precision.
44. Rumors flew that Charlie Theron and Tom Hardy, who plays Max, did not get along at all, and that Theron got to the point of not even speaking to Hardy on set.
45. Liam Fountain auditioned for Max but lost the part to Tom Hardy.
46. The film was shot in sequence.
47. Over 80% of the effects seen in the film are real practical effects, stunts, make-up and sets.
48. Originally, Mel Gibson was going to have a role as a drifter in the film, but this never came to fruition.
49. The final chase sequence was also one in which The Third Floor delivered previs, under previsualization supervisor Glenn Burton.
50. It was also important that the cars did not exceed a given speed so that the action depicted would be true to what they could legally and safely shoot.
51. The film was going to be produced in Australia but the rain prevented that. 
52. A combination of real photography in Namibia of various cars and additional greenscreen and stage shoots was combined with CG car take-overs, digital doubles and complex fluid and dust simulations by Iloura for the storm.
53. Additional VFX elements were shot to help tie pieces together and provide for more foreground dust.
54. On location in Namibia, production approximated where the twisters in the toxic storm would be located.
55. Iloura applied that real world behavior to digi-doubles of the War Boys in rag-doll sim software Endorphin.
56. The nighttime sequence was actually filmed in the Namibian desert in bright daylight, but was then transformed into a blue environment.
57. The previs had to carefully track where everyone was at a particular beat and help work out the transitions so the characters would be at the right place at the right time during the final chase scene. 
58. The final twisted mix of vehicle pieces, metal and bungie-corded guitar that fly towards camera were largely practical effects.
59. Jackson even engaged Eric Whipp’s iPhone at one point to film extra elements.
60. The crew spent six-months in the Namibian desert.

Pre-production:
61. The studio has assigned producer Denise di Novi to supervise the ongoing production and report any further problems. 
62. Miller has a history of going over budget.
63. Much of the expense attributed to the road-ripping vehicles and the creative, but savage weaponry that appear in the film.
64. 3D shooting rigs developed for the film were scrapped.
65. Warner Bros. demanded a script during the pre-production stage.
66. Peter Jackson’s WETA handled visual f/x, makeup and costume designs for Fury Road.
67. Production on Mad Max: Fury Road stalled.
68. Hardy and Miller, have been working on a way to establish a human story within the action-filled movie.
69. Hardy’s focus and determination to create a character is what will elevate Mad Max.
70. Hardy and Miller worked on a way to establish a human story within the action-filled movie.
71. The cast were chosen in 2009, including Tom Hardy. 
72. Warner Bros. and Miller agreed to a full 12-month delay so he could continue work on Happy Feet 2.
73. They had to restart pre-production due to the delays.
74. Tom Hardy took over the iconic role from Mel Gibson.
75. Reasons behind additional filming were unclear.

Marketing:
76. Fury Road repeated its No. 1 position on the strength of a slightly lower estimated $7.5 million spent on 957 national airings across 42 networks.
78. The film’s marketing kicked into gear at SDCC, when Warner debuted a several-minute sizzle reel, a condensed version of which made it up online a few days later. 
79. The first teaser debuted on December 10th of last year.
80. There were four television spots that each offered a token glimpse.
81. Due to years of delays and cost overruns, Mad Max: Fury Road ended up costing $150 million to produce.
82. The three original Mel Gibson films are cult properties without a lot of pull with general audiences.

Distribution:
83. Digital pirates have been more active in swiping illegal copies of top Hollywood releases this summer compared to others. 
84. Mad Max was one of the most pirated films.
85. In the U.S., box office revenue was the second-best on record, after 2014 hit a seven-year low. 
86. The top five movies pirated globally piracy also performed well in theaters.
87. Mad Max generated $374 million at the box office worldwide.
88. Mad Max had 22.90 million shares on torrent networks.
89. Mad Max remained on top of both national home video sales charts for two consecutive weeks.
90. Fury Road generated 48% of its second-week sale from Blu-ray Disc.
91. Mad Max was the top of the Top 20 Nielsen VideoScan First Alert chart for the week of 9/13/15.
92.  In Variety Movie Commercial Tracker Mad Max beat out “Hot Pursuit” for the title of top-spending movie of the week.
93. The vast majority of that spending targeted the NBA Basketball playoffs.
94. Just under $1 million was dedicated to placing ads.
95. 'Hot Pursuit' dispersed their spending more.
96. 'The Age of Adaline' sold remarkably well, moving more than 57% as many units as “Fury Road” did in the latter’s second week of release.
97.  'Jurassic World' followed Mad Max with the amount of money generated at the box office and shares on torrent networks.
98. Max Max had 1.75 million pirated downloads over summer.
99. The five most pirated film, led my Mad Max, were downloaded on torrent networks worldwide 85.34 million times, according to piracy-tracking firm Excipio.
100. One reason for the piracy uptick may simply be that Hollywood released more popular movies this summer. In the U.S., box office revenue was the second-best on record.

Mad Max Fury Road- Pre Production Questions

Gender Stereotypes

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