Animatic-Planning

Review student video (research)

This is one video which I admired.

Adam, Lisa, Nasima & Sayvita from 283goswell on Vimeo.

This video seemed to be aimed at a very wide audience ranging from all ages and all different types of people. The music was alternative genre. The video itself had a vague narrative which was mainly spreading a message of Love. This was represented through people stood holding signs of Love and medium to close shots that showed the sign. There was also representation through props and mise en scene such as the heart shaped earrings. There was also clever editing done with the colour which turned all the colours to black and white apart from the colours red which were kept the same. This is because of the common belief that red is a colour of love. There was also plenty of different cuts and shots which went in time with the beat of the song. There were slide transitions and clever angled shots which made the video even more professional.

Vladimir Propp Theory (research)

Narrative structure

Vladimir Propp extended the Russian Formalist approach to the study of narrative structure. In the Formalist approach, sentence structures were broken down into analyzable elements, or morphemes, and Propp used this method by analogy to analyze Russian fairy tales. By breaking down a large number of Russian folk tales into their smallest narrative units, or narratemes, Propp was able to arrive at a typology of narrative structures.

[edit]Functions

After the initial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence of 31 functions:^[3]

1. ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.
2. INTERDICTION: An interdiction is addressed to the hero ('don't go there', 'don't do this'). The hero is warned against some action (given an 'interdiction').
3. VIOLATION of INTERDICTION. The interdiction is violated (villain enters the tale). This generally proves to be a bad move and the villain enters the story, although not necessarily confronting the hero. Perhaps they are just a lurking presence or perhaps they attack the family whilst the hero is away.
4. RECONNAISSANCE: The villain makes an attempt at reconnaissance (either villain tries to find the children/jewels etc.; or intended victim questions the villain). The villain (often in disguise) makes an active attempt at seeking information, for example searching for something valuable or trying to actively capture someone. They may speak with a member of the family who innocently divulges information. They may also seek to meet the hero, perhaps knowing already the hero is special in some way.
5. DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location.
6. TRICKERY: The villain attempts to deceive the victim to take possession of victim or victim's belongings (trickery; villain disguised, tries to win confidence of victim). The villain now presses further, often using the information gained in seeking to deceive the hero or victim in some way, perhaps appearing in disguise. This may include capture of the victim, getting the hero to give the villain something or persuading them that the villain is actually a friend and thereby gaining collaboration.
7. COMPLICITY: Victim taken in by deception, unwittingly helping the enemy. The trickery of the villain now works and the hero or victim naively acts in a way that helps the villain. This may range from providing the villain with something (perhaps a map or magical weapon) to actively working against good people (perhaps the villain has persuaded the hero that these other people are actually bad).
8. VILLAINY or LACK: Villain causes harm/injury to family member (by abduction, theft of magical agent, spoiling crops, plunders in other forms, causes a disappearance, expels someone, casts spell on someone, substitutes child etc., comits murder, imprisons/detains someone, threatens forced marriage, provides nightly torments); Alternatively, a member of family lacks something or desires something (magical potion etc.). There are two options for this function, either or both of which may appear in the story. In the first option, the villain causes some kind of harm, for example carrying away a victim or the desired magical object (which must be then be retrieved). In the second option, a sense of lack is identified, for example in the hero's family or within a community, whereby something is identified as lost or something becomes desirable for some reason, for example a magical object that will save people in some way.
9. MEDIATION: Misfortune or lack is made known, (hero is dispatched, hears call for help etc./ alternative is that victimized hero is sent away, freed from imprisonment). The hero now discovers the act of villainy or lack, perhaps finding their family or community devastated or caught up in a state of anguish and woe.
10. BEGINNING COUNTER-ACTION: Seeker agrees to, or decides upon counter-action. The hero now decides to act in a way that will resolve the lack, for example finding a needed magical item, rescuing those who are captured or otherwise defeating the villain. This is a defining moment for the hero as this is the decision that sets the course of future actions and by which a previously ordinary person takes on the mantle of heroism.
11. DEPARTURE: Hero leaves home;
12. FIRST FUNCTION OF THE DONOR: Hero is tested, interrogated, attacked etc., preparing the way for his/her receiving magical agent or helper (donor);
13. HERO'S REACTION: Hero reacts to actions of future donor (withstands/fails the test, frees captive, reconciles disputants, performs service, uses adversary's powers against him);
14. RECEIPT OF A MAGICAL AGENT: Hero acquires use of a magical agent (directly transferred, located, purchased, prepared, spontaneously appears, eaten/drunk, help offered by other characters);
15. GUIDANCE: Hero is transferred, delivered or led to whereabouts of an object of the search;
16. STRUGGLE: Hero and villain join in direct combat;
17. BRANDING: Hero is branded (wounded/marked, receives ring or scarf);
18. VICTORY: Villain is defeated (killed in combat, defeated in contest, killed while asleep, banished);
19. LIQUIDATION: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved (object of search distributed, spell broken, slain person revived, captive freed);
20. RETURN: Hero returns;
21. PURSUIT: Hero is pursued (pursuer tries to kill, eat, undermine the hero);
22. RESCUE: Hero is rescued from pursuit (obstacles delay pursuer, hero hides or is hidden, hero transforms unrecognisably, hero saved from attempt on his/her life);
23. UNRECOGNIZED ARRIVAL: Hero unrecognized, arrives home or in another country;
24. UNFOUNDED CLAIMS: False hero presents unfounded claims;
25. DIFFICULT TASK: Difficult task proposed to the hero (trial by ordeal, riddles, test of strength/endurance, other tasks);
26. SOLUTION: Task is resolved;
27. RECOGNITION: Hero is recognized (by mark, brand, or thing given to him/her);
28. EXPOSURE: False hero or villain is exposed;
29. TRANSFIGURATION: Hero is given a new appearance (is made whole, handsome, new garments etc.);
30. PUNISHMENT: Villain is punished;
31. WEDDING: Hero marries and ascends the throne (is rewarded/promoted).

Occasionally, some of these functions are inverted, as when the hero receives something while still at home, the function of a donor occurring early. More often, a function is negated twice, so that it must be repeated three times in Western cultures.^[4]

[edit]Characters

He also concluded that all the characters could be resolved into 8 broad character types in the 100 tales he analyzed:

1. The villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in the quest.
4. The princess or prize — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. the hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5. her father — gives the task to the hero, identifies the false hero, marries the hero, often sought for during the narrative. Propp noted that functionally, the princess and the father can not be clearly distinguished.
6. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
8. False hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess.^[5]

These roles could sometimes be distributed among various characters, as the hero kills the villain dragon, and the dragon's sisters take on the villainous role of chasing him. Conversely, one character could engage in acts as more than one role, as a father could send his son on the quest and give him a sword, acting as both dispatcher and donor.^[6]

[edit]Criticism

Propp's approach has been criticized for removing all verbal considerations from the analysis, even though the folktale's form is almost always oral, and also all considerations of tone, mood, character, and, anything that differentiates one fairy tale from another. One of the most prominent critics of Propp is the famous French Structuralist Claude Lévi-Strauss, who used Propp's monograph on the morphology of the Folktale to demonstrate the superiority of the Structuralist approach, and the shortcomings of the Formalist approach. (see Levi-Strauss, Claude. "Structure and Form: Reflection on a Work by Vladimir Propp"). Defenders of Propp believe that such criticisms are largely redundant, as Propp's approach was not intended to unearth meaning in the fairy tales he examined (as may be the case with Structuralist or Psychoanalytic analysis), nor to find the elements that differentiate one tale from another, but to unearth the elemental building blocks that formed the basis of their narrative structure.

Information from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Propp

Here is a video that I believe uses some of the elements of Propp's theory. In particular in the beginning with Absentation then beginning counter action then wedding and rescue all incorporated. 

Digital Storyboard-Planning

Final Song Choice

The Final song choice for our video is Suddenly I see by KT Tunstall. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AEoUa0Hlso&ob=av3e

The Suddenly I See video by KT Tunstall is very cheerful. The song is upbeat and easy to sing along to. The video is very cheerful too, the colours are bright and there is some animation. Our video won't have any animation. We plan to focus more on the scenery as we live in London, it is easy to get to sight seeing places. We want to have lots of different people involved in this video to make it really fun and energetic. Our video will have a similar structure to this video though it will differ.

Audience-Planning

This is Rosalia Liotti she is a 19 year old Italian woman currently living in Haringey.

Despite being a student at a local university Rosa runs a boutique that was bought for her by her parents as a new years present.

Rosalia goes to the farmers market for all of her groceries after all she'll have nothing but the freshest and best ingredients. In her spare time she likes to practice her flute and be artistic in the drawing room. She doesn't read the newspaper as shes favours the latest Grazia every time.

As she appreciates nature but likes protection Rosalia likes taking the train to where-ever she is going so she can see her surroundings even if she is not suffering the elements.

Rosalia has many gadgets but of all she favours her phone which is personalised with crystals. She loves the clothing styles of Chanel after all elegance is a must when one is a student however, she often buys her clothes from Zara and Banana Republic.

Her favourite drink is a Berry Frescato from Costa it makes her feel energised and happy. When holidaying she enjoys Southern France and Marbeya.

Rosalia enjoys KT Tunstall's track "Suddenly I See" because it's very lively and happy which reflects her perfect bubble of a world.

Research - Vladimir Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Soviet formalist scholar who studied narrative structure first in Russian folk tales.

He identified 31 different functions that follow the sequence after the initial situation is presented.

1. Absentation
2. Interdiction
3. Violation of Interdiction
4. Reconnaissance
5. Delivery
6. Trickery
7. Complicity
8. Villainy or Lack
9. Mediation
10. Beginning Counter-Action
11. Departure
12. First Function of the Donor
13. Receipt of a Magical Agent
14. Guidance
15. Struggle
16. Branding
17. Victory
18. Liquidation
19. Return
20. Pursuit
21. Rescue
22. Unrecognized Arrival 
23. Unfounded Claims
24. Difficult Task
25. Solution
26. Recognition
27. Exposure
28. Transfiguration
29. Punishment
30. Wedding

These are his functions as stated by Vladimir. However some of these functions can be switched around if needed and one function can often be repeated multiple times in a single narrative. 

Vladimir also identified 8 different but broad character types in the 100 Russian tales he analysed:

1. The Villian 
2. The donor 
3. The helper 
4. The princess or prize
5. Her father 
6. The dispatcher 
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero
8. False hero 

However Vladimir Propp has been criticised for removing all verbal aspects that differ in each tale during his analysis.

This video 21 questions by 50 Cent and Nate Dogg has some of the elements identified by Vladimir Propp. For example the main character 50 Cent leaves his home, the place where he feels safe and comfortable. This is ABSENTATION. Although we do not explicitly see it we also get the impression that the hero has been warned to not go to prison and we understand this subconsciously through the conversations and the expressions of fear and sadness from his girlfriend who he calls from inside prison. This is INTERDICTION. We also come across the villain who we immediately see when our hero is in transit to prison where the villain is dressed in black and harassing the hero. This is VIOLATION OF INTERDICTION. However the villain does not perform any RECONNAISSANCE, DELIVERY, TRICKERY or COMPLICITY. We do see VILLAINY towards the victim, although it is hard to say who is really the victim or hero in the video because from one point of view we could see 50 Cent's girlfriend as being the victim of losing her hero and from another point of view we can see 50 Cent as the victim having ended up in prison and looking to his girlfriend for support and as a heroine. We see the character that harassed our hero during transit to prison now get into a fight with the hero. This could also be STRUGGLE. As we near the end of the video we come across LIQUIDATION where the audience finds out that the prison was all in the hero's head and his fear of it. This is resolved when he realises that the police have not come for him. There is then VICTORY when the villain is defeated by our main character seeing him being taken away by the police from the opposite house and also PUNISHMENT as we know that the villain is going to prison.

In this video we only mainly see the main functions identified by Vladimir and some of the others such as RECONNAISSANCE and DELIVERY where the villain tries to exploit and manipulate the victim are not seen as this would probably make the video too long as a music video.