Assignment Seven - Narratives

“Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” is a movie that fits well with Professor Ramirez-Berg’s lecture on Narratives. The movie is one of Hollywood’s 3 Act Structure with an introduction, complication, resolution. The three act structure is good for quest and triumphant stories with a happy ending.

                The first act would be the plot point one, lasting about 34 minutes it introduces the characters and the situation.  In “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” the introduction shows Harry’s godfather Serious had escaped from Azkaban and was on the loose and assumed he was trying to kill Harry. Then we see Harry leave his house and head for the Leaky Cauldron and on the way we first stop Serious. Harry eventually meets up with his friends and is on his way to school were they meeting the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Professor Lupin.  Plot Point number one sets up the tone of the movie and introduces all of the main contributors of the film, and ends the first act.

                Act two or Plot Point two is the bulk of the movie it runs about 30-60 minutes long and explains the entire story. In act two you develop your characters, and explain relationships. They start to find out about what they will have to face, and begin to prepare. The Harry Potter movies are an Alternative Narrative where they often repeat the same action over and over. In “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” we see Harry find out that Serious is his godfather and he was the one who sold Harry’s parents Lilly and James to He Who Must Note Be Named. Serious then goes after the man who really sold Harry’s parents out. Act two is also known as the complication, or plot point two. Here is where the problem is explained and seen in action, and escalates stakes.

                Act three, the climax normally lasts about 30 minutes it shows the problem at its peak and the solution that comes up to fix it. Act three is where we see the resolution. Here the complication is implied and brought to an end. In Harry Potter the real culprit is discovered and Serious the innocent man escaped out Buckbeak another innocent creature. Act three wraps up all of the loose ends and brings an end to the 3 act Narrative.

Assignment Seven - TV Sitcoms

I want to focus on two of the aspects of the TV sitcom that I think are very important to the viewer’s relationship with the writers and the show, Campfire and Nation-Tribe.

                Campfire

·         The place where we have typically told our stories to one another

·         Something ancient and human

o   (Colin Tain TV sitcom lecture)

Campfire functions within the sitcom genre because it gives TV shows their roots, they provide a place for families and friends to gather around and spend time together. Gives people a sense of community and belongingness. There has always been throughout history something special that brings people together by telling stories, they bring people together and rally community within these people who share stories and hear them together.

                Nation-Tribe

·         TV contains national ritualistic features

·         Re-watching at certain times

·         Annual or weekly

·         Local

o   (Colin Tain TV sitcom lecture)

Nation-Tribe functions with sitcom genres because they give a time, place, and location to tell these stories and bring out emotion in the viewers. Nation-Tribe gives people a routine for different types of shows to be played at different times. For example dramas are played during the year, while lighter shows are generally played during the summer. Certain sitcoms are played on certain days of the week and annually, it makes the viewer’s feel like they are have a part in the drama or show by being there for each and every part of the story. The TV contains national ritualistic features to help the viewer’s connect with their community, learn and understand the way that the nation works.

“That 70’s Show” was a TV that came out about the 70’s and the everyday life of teenagers in America. In a part of the show the characters would all sit in the basement and tell each other stories which brought them close to each other displaying the campfire aspects of TV sitcoms. Nation-Tribe was also shown throughout this show. In each show they repeated some of the same aspects every time. The show was in a local setting in a small town in Wisconsin bringing out the small town life that many teenagers go through. The show played annually throughout the year on the same days and time each week, bringing a sense of community to the viewers.  

Assignment Six - Camera Shots

Close Up. A close up shot is a camera shot that is designed to bring you close into the character. It shows you important details, what you need to know about the situation, and shows you the emotion the character feels.

These scenes in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix in the Department of Mysteries, Harry and his fellow DA members have just been captured by the Death Eaters. Then Serious Harry’s God father shows up followed along by the rest of the Order of the Phoenix. They put up a noble fight, and then Bellatrix kills Serious. Lupin holds Harry Potter after Serious falls through the veil. The director choose to do a close up on each of the Order members as the entered the room to show what they were feeling and show the determination in their faces. Then later after Serious died the director did a close up on Harry’s face to show the terminal he was going through.  

This next shot is called a Long Shot the purpose of the long shot is an orientation shot that helps you to learn about the space and look at new things. This mostly used to indicate a sad shot.

This scene in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban is where the Dementors swarm Harry and Serious and Harry saves them.   This shows a long shot because it shows how powerless they are in this situation.

General to Specific shot is where the camera starts out from a distance and looks all around the room showing us the new place.

In this scene Snape walks into the Defense against the Dark Arts class when Lupin was sick during the full moon to teach the class. The camera shot here shows Snape walking into the room for the first time and we get to see the room in its entirety and all the changes he made to the room

Assignment Five - Studio System

Studio System of Production

•         contract talent

•         star system

•         ‘house style’ geared to star-genre formulas

Describe some specific aspect how the studio system worked, which seems particularly important to you (1 point)

•         factory-based, mass-production system

•         The studio system worked on a factory-based/mass production way. I think this is very important because it showed how the technology makes the movies and how they are produced. Factory-Based System uses a term called “Fordist” which means that everything is assembled on site. The directors, editors, writers, and actors are all on the same contract on the same site.

Discuss how that affected the kinds of films the studio made (1 point)

This effected what kinds of films are made because of the Big-Eight producer-distributors they shared one another’s films and theaters and loaned out their top talent to one another making it so that the same actors did the same types of movies over and over.

•         Big-Eight producer-distributors

–        shared one another’s films (and theaters)

–        loaned our their top talent to one another

Use one specific example in some depth to support your points (1 point)

MGM Star Judy Garland

Was discovered as a child actress in the Andy Hardy series. GMG used her to promote other MGM stars. She had a set of traits that were repeated and used over and over again for every movie. She was associated with Genres. Audience had expectations that were easily understood and were provided by shorthand markers. Had simplified forms of storytelling. Played for different producers in the Musical, Western, Horror, Comedy, and Crime genres.

Assignment Four - All in the Family

“All in the Family” can be compared with a modern day TV show called “The Secret Life of the American Teenager”. These two shows have many similarities. For instants they are both family based shows that teach lessons of what was happening in the society. Both dealt with pressing issues that were important to the time it was produced.  All in the Family just like Secret Life deals with a characters sexuality. This has always been an issue in our society. Both shows are based on a family that tries to reenact an average American family of that day and age.

“All in the Family”, “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” is different in some of the topics they cover. Where “All in the Family” focused more on the day to day troubles “Secret Life” focused more on one problem for a long period of time, one being teenage pregnancy, which is a much bigger problem now than it was in the time of “All in the Family”. “All in the Family” was more of a comedy that drove home a lesson, where “Secret Life” is a drama that tries to drive a point home.

“All in the Family” dealt with issues that effective more than one person emotionally and physically. It taught morals and values to young children watching the show. Family based shows today such as “Secret Life” show the results and ugly truth of the products of your actions and those effects on the people around you.