Deconstruction of Ben. Gone.

Mad
Before I begin deconstructing my group’s debut project titled; Ben. Gone. Mad, I have to
inform you that we are missing one of the key scenes in the film. This scene would have
shown the ‘Hero’ (Tom) and the ‘Helper’ (Ollie) meeting the ‘Wizard’ (Will) who would give
the ‘Hero’ a magical object (The Lightsaber) and then tell the ‘Hero’ of the ‘Prize’ (Jem) that
needs to be saved, before sending the ‘Hero’ and ‘Helper’ off on their quest.

Aspects of Narrative

In our film, we used several of the narrative theories we have been introduced to.

We used Propp’s 8 recurring character types theory by giving each member of our group a
specific role with a certain character type; however, some roles were given more than one
character type in order to use the majority of the types in our project. Ben portrayed the
Villain in the form of a Zombie, who struggled against the Hero. The Hero was played by
Tom as he went in search of the Prize and reacted to the Donor. Jeremy played the Prize
who cannot be gained due to the villain. Ollie played the Helper, who aided the Hero in the
quest. Will played the Donor by giving the Hero the magical object. He also played the
Father and the Dispatcher by giving the task to the Hero and by sending the Hero off
respectively. He played these types in the role of a Wizard. The only character types not
used was the False Hero as there was no real need for that type of character in our film.

Todorov’s 5-Part Narrative Formula

Our film used all 5 parts of Todorov’s Narrative Formula. The first part was seen in the 1 st
scene of our film, as the state of equilibrium was seen as the Hero and Helper were sat
enjoying a normal day at school. The second part of the Formula was also used in this 1 st
scene as the villain arrived, disrupting the equilibrium. The third part can also be seen in the
1st scene as the Hero and Helper recognize the disruption and set off in search of the wizard.
The fourth part however would have been shown in the ‘missing scene’ as it would have
shown the Wizard telling the Hero and Helper how to fix the disruption and therefore
signalled the start of the attempt to repair the disruption. The fifth and final part of the
narrative formula was never really solidly shown as the equilibrium seemed to be reinstated
as the Hero and Prize walked away in one of the final scene; however the last part of the
scene showed the Villain sitting up, indicating the equilibrium was never really reinstated as
he, the disruption, was never really repaired.

Levi-Strauss’ theory of Binary Opposites and Dramatic Conflict

This theory was only used in one sense throughout our film and that sense was good and
bad. This showed the Hero and Helper battling the bad that was the Villain. Due to the fact
we had an all male cast, the binary opposite of male and female could not be used. Finally,
due to the fact we were all attending 6th form at the time, it was hard to include binary
opposites such as rich and poor.

Narrative Enigma

The only form of narrative enigma used in our film was the audience not knowing whether
good or evil would prevail. This was never truly answered as the final part of one of the last
scenes showed the villain sitting up which showed that the evil was never really defeated.

Mise-En Scene

Mise-En-Scene was used in our film in only one way, and that way was the prop we used as
the Magical Object. This was a toy lightsaber that the Wizard gave to the Hero in order to
defeat the Villain and gain the Prize. Verisimilitude is also used in the sense that the
characters are all dressed as they would for an ordinary school day, so the realism is there
within the costumes.

Audience

We aimed for the film to be in the ‘Horror’ genre and therefore our core target audience
would be teenagers, no matter what gender. Although we are aiming the film at teenagers,
we would like to think the film would attract anyone who enjoys the ‘Horror’ genre would
have to be our secondary target audience.

Sound

In our film we used several forms of both diegetic and non-diegetic. Most of our diegetic
sound has contributed to the Exposition in our film, and can only really be shown when
characters are running and the noise of footsteps can be heard, as well as dialogue which is
a common source of the Exposition I referred to earlier. An example of this is at the end
when I return to the Will and call him by his character name which was ‘Wizard’. This told
the audience Will’s role in the film. Our non-diegetic sound was primarily used to give the
audience hints towards events, and also to give them a stronger emotional reaction (Due to
our chosen genre being Horror, we tried to give the audience more scares than laughs). This
can be seen when the Zombie is dragging the Helper round the corner in order to kill him.
We also used a soundtrack between the third scene and the seventh scene. The soundtrack
we used is very well known and the title is; ‘Eye of The Tiger’. This is used in an attempt to
make the audience want the Hero and Helper succeeds in their quest. Finally, we
intentionally changed the preferred reading from Horror to Comedy when the Zombie
reappears from killing the Helper and says ‘BRAINS!’ in an edited high pitch tone.
Representations

The only representation we have included in our film a typical teenage social group that
eventually turn out to become Hero and Helper. The Prize is also a member of the social
group and in a sense replaces the Helper in the group.

Exposition

The Exposition in our film heavily relies on dialogue as the Hero almost states the obvious in
situations by saying ‘Oh no there’s a zombie!’ He also shows the audience several
characters’ names in lines such as; ‘Wizard, Wizard, I’ve got Jem’ The film itself shows the
audience the character’s intentions, however if it were not for the obvious location, the
audience would only know the setting as a normal school, not IGS.

Camera Shots and Editing

We use a very wide variety of angles and shots in our film. We have also included various
transitions and an opening title scene to set the scene. This shows a smoke atmosphere with
a black background to provide tension. The title and credits are in a blood red colour to also
provide tension and scare the audience. A thunder clap can be heard as the credits come up
in order to provide further scares from the audience.

In the first scene we use a fade transition from the title scene to a long shot to show the
zombie disturbing the equilibrium, whilst the Hero and Helper are in a moving subject shot.
The camera then tracks them as they run to search for the wizard, whilst zooming in order
to remain in long shot. The camera then pans back to track the zombie as he follows the
Hero and Helper. The smoke also remains throughout this first scene to show the audience
things are not right.

The second scene is only a quick scene, and it shows the Hero and Helper running, this
would have in fact been the third scene if the ‘missing scene’ was in fact shot and put into
the film. The shot type used is a long shot.

The third scene begins as a long shot, then briefly switches to a mid shot as the characters
move closer to the camera, before finally going from a mid shot, to a medium long shot, to a
long shot and then finally to an extreme long shot as the characters move further and
further away from the camera to cross the bridge.

The fourth scene then shows the zombie following them, from an extreme long shot, but
the angle is a slightly low one, to show that at this time in the film, he is powerful as the
Hero and Helper are running away from him.

The fifth scene gradually tracks the Hero and Helper cross the bridge in a pan type shot. The
shot type used is a medium long shot and a slight high angle is used in order to represent
the vulnerability they are experiencing. This shot is a two shot.
The sixth scene begins with a box transition to give the chase montage an extra edge and so
the audience can see that the zombie is not far behind the Hero and Helper. The scene sees
the zombie getting closer and closer to the camera and remains in a long shot until he gets
closer at the end in which it is a medium shot.

The seventh scene is a medium pan shot as the Hero and Helper arrive in a building, it
remains in a mid shot until the zombie appears at the door and the camera shot changes to
an extreme close up to highlight how evil the zombie is.

The eight scenes begins with a pull across type transition and is a close up of the Prize, it
also highlights his vulnerability as it shows him unconscious. It then zooms out to a long shot
of the Prize, with a high angle to also show his lack of power. It then follows the Hero Helper
and Prize in a mid three shot.

The ninth scene begins with a clock transition in order to represent the time taken to climb
the stairs in the building. It pans and remains in a medium long and a long shot throughout,
until it zoom in to a medium close up of the Helper being dragged around the door by the
Villain/zombie until it fades out.

The tenth scene begins with a fade in and shows the zombie reappearing from behind the
door in a mid shot.

The eleventh shot begins with a bubble type transition in a quick fashion to highlight the
speed of how the Hero and Prize are getting away. It is a point of view medium long shot as
if someone is following them as they cross the bridge, until the point where the point of
view changes to someone turning to see the zombie. This is a Dutch angled close up of the
zombie.

The twelfth shot is a mid shot of the Hero attacking the zombie and is a medium long shot
until it fades out. The Hero stands over the zombie to show the change in power.

The thirteenth shot is an extreme long shot of the Hero escaping with the Prize and is high
angled to highlight their vulnerability. If follows them until it pans back to the zombie who
sits up, the camera then zooms all the way to a long shot.

The fourteenth and final scene shows a slightly high angle of the Hero returning with the
Prize to show that he is now in power. The shot used is long shot.