Existing products and research analysis About Time and Submarine

Theorists and their theories

Vladimir Propp in 1920 he analysed Russian folk tales and noticed that the same events kept being repeated in each of the stories. He extended his Russian Formalist study of language to his analysis of folk talks. Broke it down into smallest possible units which are called narrateme or narrative functions which are a necessity for the narrative to exist. Each narrateme moves the narrative forward to produce a story, but not every narrateme exists in every story. The main 8 key character roles Propp came up with and said appear in films are; 1) The Villain/s, 2) The Hero, 3) The damsel in distress/princess, 4) The Father, 5) The Donor, 6) The Helper, 7) The Dispatchers and 8) The false hero.

Tzvetan Todorov He is a Bulgarian philosopher and theorist and believed all human experience is at the centre of narrative structure. His theory is based on a sequence of 5 prepositions which outline the basic state of a narration. The 1st state is Equilibrium which is the start where everything is calm and in order. The 2nd state is the Disequilibrium where the calm state is disrupted by an event. The 3rd state is Recognition of the disruption that has taken place and upset the calmness. The 4th state is the Repair which is the attempt to repair the damage of the disruption. Finally the 5th state is the New Equilibrium where a new state happens.
Levi Strauss French anthropologist and his theory is based on how we understand certain words. It relates to the understanding of the differences between a word and its opposites. He named this theory binary opposites which is the meaning of was has a relationship between opposing ideas. Constant creation of conflict/opposites. This theory means that the narrative can only end on a resolution of these conflicts/opposites. The opposites can be visual (light/darkness, movement/stillness) or conceptual (love/hate, control/panic) and to do with the soundtrack. Some other more common binary opposites are poor/rich, reality/fantasy, hero/villain, old/young, heaven/hell, sane/insane and happy/sad.

About Time

Stars - Domhall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander and Margot Robbie Writer/Director - Richard Curtis Release date - 1st November 2013 (United States) 8th August 2013 (United kingdom)

Budget - $35 million

Plot Summary - At the age of 21, Tim Lake discovers he can travel in time. The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim's father tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can't change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own lifeso he decides to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend. However, when he accidentally erases the timeline, he must try and win her over again.

Genre - Romantic Comedy Filming Location - United Kingdom, London Motion picture ratings 12A Distribution company Universal Pictures

Genre

The genre for this trailer is romantic comedy which is a hybrid genre. The conventions that make up this film being a romantic comedy is the light hearted relationship showing Tim and the girl he is in love with. The narrative shows that he obviously struggles with girls portraying the comical side of the film. As the trailer continues we see that Tim meets a girl he is fond of but due to his geeky behaviour struggles to peruse it without the help of going back in time, this portrays the comical and romantic side joined together. It involves the typical conventions of a romantic film with the storyline boy meets girl, which is made clear in the trailer. It is also shown through the events in the film, as Tim and his love interest share very close and intimate scenes together portraying there is a sense of love and relationship between them.

Narrative
From the trailer you can pick up the story that Tim struggled with women, he found out her could time travel, fell in love with a girl who liked him back, his time travel back in time meant that Tim and his girl had to start again but by the end of the trailer we can see Tim trying to repair things, whether he is successful or not the trailer will not give away. Because the trailer does not reveal the ending whether it is good or bad for Tim is clever as it makes the audience want to see whether he successes chasing the girl he likes. We can also from the trailer relate it to another theory by Tzvetan Todorov. The equilibrium of the trailer is obviously Tim leading his life as he wishes, making his quirky mistakes with girls but it is still a calm and non upsetting life. The disequilibrium from the trailer could be Tim finding out he can time travel causing his life now to be strange and broadening what he can now do with himself. The recognition of the film is when Tim maybe takes advantage of his time travel and an event that happens, the car crash, could have been prevented but it didnt because of how he used it, shocking Tim into noticing his actions. The car crash is not the only thing he realises as using time travel he loses the girl he took so long to win. The repair is Tim trying to put his life back on track and win the girl all over again. By the end the new equilibrium seems to be Tim being able to of won his girl back, marrying her and starting a new life all over again. From the trailer we can pick up characters and relate them to the theory of Vladimir Propp 8 key character roles. Tim who is obviously the centre of attenti9on comes across as the hero. This is because he is trying to pursue the girl in the film who can be seen as the damsel in distress/princess. Although abstract and not actually a character, time can be seen as the villain, ruining things for the hero and him having to fight with time to rescue certain events. Tim's dad of course can be seen as the donor as he grants Tim with this power to time travel. The only other noticeable character that appears in the trailer seems to be Tim's mother who isnt portrayed enough to get given an 8 key character role.

The theory of binary opposites by Levi Strauss can also be seen within the trailer. Past and present is one, where Tim struggles to deal with both tenses he lives his life in. Love and hate, the love between Tim and his girl and the hate which is noticeable between Tim's mom and dad. Young and old, when Tim's dad passes down the time travel knowledge to Tim. Ugly and beautiful, although not ugly, Tim would not also be seen as one to get the pretty girls which he does. Control and panic, when Tim fears he has lost control of knowing what to do with his time travel.

Media Language
The first scene we are introduce too is a mid shot involving several characters, the atmosphere is blatantly celebrating, we focus on Tim. This is when we first see he is not good with girls as everyone around him are intimately kissing but he fails to do so. This shot is a close up on hi hands which mean there is something significant about them. They help him travel in time, the setting is quite dark to portray where he is and at this point in the trailer there is no sound.

This close up of Tims face significantly shows him travelling back in time and the shock it is bringing to him, at this point non diegetic sound of whooshing is heard to emphases the movement of time. The brightness emphasises the fading cut to the next scene, as if he has travelled in time.

Two shot of Tim and his dad to highlight their relationship and how they act together in one scene. It is an over the shoulder shot, capturing the sternness of Tims dads dace. Diegetic speech is happening as there is conversation between these two.

The setting of this clip is very bright and dull at the same time to emphasise the mid shot of the girl Tim has fallen in love with. We capture he in a beautiful costume to highlight how pretty she really is.

This point of view shot helps us understand the relationship of Tim and his new love interest. Here we grasp they are both fond and comfortable with one another.

Media Language
Another long , two shot of Tim and the girl he loves where we can really establish their close relationship. The mood is very romantic linking back to the genre.

Long shot of a significant point in the film, that changes the whole atmosphere. It is quite a low shot, as if looking up to a very intimidating an scary situation. Pace o the trailer is fast and vicious.

This two shot of Tim and his dad lets us know that something bad has possibly happened and we see a different side of their relationship. Their body language with one another is embraced portraying something has happened bringing them together.

The mid shot of the girl Tim loves is very central, focusing it on her as that is what Tim always does. Her dress is red giving off conventions of love and romance, and making her extremely provocative.

Extreme long shot capturing a younger Tim having fun with his dad on the beach. The cut was a flashback as it faded white, so the audience realises this is a thought in the past.

Long shot of Tim with his new family all captured in one. This closes the trailer happily, leaving the audience to think he got what he had always wanted, happiness through variations of love.

Representation

The first representation given is of Tim, he is portrayed as the nerdy boy who is not at all good with women. The typical stereotype of a ginger man is someone who is not popular and is made fun of a lot. However Tim subverts this stereotype by being the ginger man who falls in love with an extremely beautiful girl and actually wins her. He still does the stereotypical traits of messing up a long the way but at the end of the day, she took notice of him, when it is the least expected outcome. The girl Tim falls in love with is represented as perfect through her pretty face and fashionable clothing. Stereotypically she would be more interested in a good looking and extremely masculine man. She is also stereotypically seen as stuck up and never to be seen speaking to someone of the likes as Tim. However she also subverts this stereotype and comes across as quite quirky herself. She is very friendly and herself also falls in love with Tim, whom is ginger. Ginger man gets pretty girl is maybe the main reason this whole film is comical, as it isn't the average prince and princess storyline, and subverts that stereotype as well. The dad lives up to his fatherly figure stereotype, where he helps and favours his son greatly, showing him the road in life and always seemingly being there for him.

Audience

The film is rated a 12A which immediately opens up such a wide variety of an audience. From the trailer I would say it is more directed at people aged 16 24 as a romantic is more suited to a younger age where they may be undergoing relatable experiences. The comedy side would also match this age category as the humour used is quite juvenile and therefore only really understood and appreciated by people of this age category. Immediately we could assume because of its boy meets girl and falls in love storyline that it would be more inclined for a female audience but because of its comical side to the film it isnt all aimed at females, and a male could easily enjoy such a chic flick. However its romantic side out wins it and a female audience would most certainly be the most predominant. People of the age category will of course still be in education or working in a job that does not at the moment get an exceeding amount. It isnt always too going to be aimed at young people in education, the trailer is extremely friendly and would aattract a vast amount of families with children older than 12 of course. This film can highly be related by people interested in love and have a keen hope to find the love of their life. People who may be interested in time travel and find that entertaining would enjoy this film also.

Submarine

Stars - Noah Taylor, Paddy Considine, Craig Roberts, Yasmin Paige, Sally Hawkins Writer/Director Richard Ayoade Release date - 12th September (Toronto Film Festival) 18th March 2011 (United Kingdom) Budget - 1.2 million Box Office - 2.03 million

Plot Summary - Oliver Tate a 15-year-old from Swansea, infatuated with Jordan. When Jordana invites the half witted Oliver to meet secretly after school, she take pictures of them having a snog, hoping to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. The plan backfires, but Jordana soon becomes his girlfriend. Oliver becomes concerned about his parents. His father, Lloyd is depressed. New-age guru Graham, an exboyfriend of his mother, Jill, has moved in next door. Oliver's relationship with Jordana grows, learns that her mother has a potentially fatal brain tumour. At an early Christmas dinner at Jordana's house, he witnesses her father break down. Unsettled, he decides that the Jordana he loves is at risk because the emotional events. He cuts off contact with her. Thinking that his mother and Graham are having an affair, Oliver attempts to repair his parents' relationship. While searching for his mother on the beach, he sees Jordana with another boy. Heartbroken he heads home; but, on the way, he sees his mother with Graham and assumes the worst. Enraged, he breaks into Graham's house, gets drunk, and commits minor acts of vandalism. The next morning, Oliver awakes to see that both his parents aren't angry with him and are reconciling. Oliver sad about losing Jordana; until he sees her on the beach. Running towards her, he explains his actions and learns that Jordana has broken up with her new boyfriend. Together, they walk into the sea smiling.

Genre Romantic Comedy Filming Location United Kingdom, London Motion picture ratings 12A Distribution company Universal Pictures

Genre

The genre of this film is a romantic comedy, which again is a hybrid genre. The conventions that make this film match its drama is the clear love interest from Oliver towards Jordana. Its a comedy through the way they went about their relationship and how the act around one another. Its an unusual and not expected relationship with very upfront comments made making the humorous side about it. But the fact that they do both love each other portrays the romance of the film. The film being set in Swansea with actual people from Swansea playing characters makes the film very British. The relationship between the mother and father stated in the film also shows another form of a relationship, one not as young as Oliver's, varying the variety of storylines that the film may have.

Narrative
From the trailer we can tell that Oliver falls in love with Jordana who seemingly has the same feeling for her. Along the way they develop their relationship after officially getting together. Its clear that Oliver has family troubles at home between his own mom and dad and that Jordana also has family troubles. This brings their connection together. However throughout the trailer something obviously happens to Oliver and Jordana relationship leaving him really upset and heartbroken. By the end of the trailer we see Oliver with Jordana on the beach some what resolving things. Tzvetan Todorov basic sequence of events through a narrative can be linked to the trailer as well. The equilibrium of the film is Oliver leading his life how he wants to be, mainly by himself working out what kind of person he is. In finding himself he also gets himself a girlfriend and carries on his calm happy life. The disequilibrium is an obvious fallout between Oliver and Jordana, and the upset caused to Oliver from his parents relationship. He recognises these events and becomes depressed and very heartbroken. He obviously is going to try his best to repair his own relationship in the trailer we re unsure of the outcome of his parents relationship. The new equilibrium we are left on a cliff hanger in the trifler, whether Jordana gets back with Oliver. The 8 key character role theory introduced by Vladmir Propp can be used to categorise each character within this film through its trailer. Oliver, the obvious main character will blatantly be perceived to be the hero of the story, perusing his damsel in distress/princess being Jordana. His role is to obviously win her heart over and keep her. She being the princess, she is expected to be chased by her hero, which she clearly is. There isnt really anymore characters that can clearly be put into any of the 8 key character roles as they are not portrayed enough. The villains could be Oliver's parents, for making his life harder, and having to witness a broken relationship maybe putting him under strain at not ever wanting that.

Levi Strauss theory of binary opposites can also clearly be seen in the narrative of this trailer. We can pick up of the fact that there is the opposites of normal and strange, Oliver doesnt at all seem normal and comes across as quite a weird quirky child. Perfect and broken, the relationship differences between oliver and Jordana and his parents one. Happy and sad, lots of key moments in the play where these emotions are felt.

Media Language

As its the opening scene to the trailer we are of course introduced to establishing shot that captures where the character is and what kind of location this film is set in

This high angle shot of Oliver captures the quirkiness and weirdness of his character and shows us a sense of vulnerability at the fact the audience is looking down on him

This cross-cutting editing portrays us an almost two shot of Oliver's parents, allowing us to see how their miserable and similar expressions at the same time. The separate shots almost portray their distant relationship

The extreme close up of Jordana allows us to perceive what she looks like good and proper, to get the first highlight of the girl Oliver falls for

The two shot helps us understand the relationship of Oliver and Jordana and how much they like each other from the off. The brightness in the background also indicates the flash of a camera

Here of course is a good shot of the object of significant, in this case the photos of Oliver and Jordana, giving off the impression they love each other deeply and show their affection through the closeness of photographs

Media Language

Here we have a nice long shot of the setting also including Jordana and Oliver, it really sets a nice romantic scene, next to the sea, almost a sense of calmness can be felt

The over the shoulder shot helps us perceive Oliver in a comical position, to really add to the comedy side of this film, that it isnt all just a soppy love film

The low angle shows us a different side to Oliver, he almost from this shot looks angry and hurt and that he is hating everything around it. It also portrays him as quite lonely

This shallow focus shot helps us realise the signficance of the letter and allows us to read it knowing full well it relates to Oliver because of his appearance in the background

The effect used on this shot gives it an olden day, polaroid kind of look, to make it seem like it was in the past and these were the happier times of Oliver's and Jordanas relationship

This editing of one scene fading into another helps us capture several moments of Oliver's movements and actions in a unique and quick way

Representation

Dom is represented as shy and quirky nerd who doesnt really know what to do with himself in his life. He matches up exactly to the nerd with no friends stereotypes, because thats what he does. The fact he is also represented to be so madly in love with the first girl that acknowledges him is a stereotypical young boy who isn't at all successful with girls. The fact he is also represented with a rough upbringing and an unstable family leads us to believe he is a recluse because of problems at home. Jordana is represented as a confident and not caring about anything girl. She is quite attractive and holds all the traits that this kind of girl would. Having past boyfriends and agreeing to anther one so soon after. She does subvert the stereotype of a typical girly girl as she dresses in her own unique style and her personality is indeed very bizarre. The fact she also takes interest in Oliver when he isn't the most popular boy shows her soft side. She however is on many levels like Oliver, as he states they are both not popular, making their relationship cute and quirky. Personality wise they are represented as dorks, and both live up to the stereotypical representation of them. Both Olivers parents are represented as feeble people with not a lot of control over Oliver and their own relationship. They come across as broken people, needing something new in their lives.

Audience

Submarine is rated a 15, meaning its audience are going to be ranging between 15 20. This is because the characters involved are really young and blatantly represented as still in school through their uniform costume. This means that a lot of the storyline can be related to people of that age, young people growing up and falling in love for the first time. The humour is original and not always going to be grasped by people much older. Because this film is following a boy falling in love with girl we can easily assume that is aimed at both genders fairly as boys can understand it where as girls would much more enjoy a romance film compared to boys. But the relationship is made very comical and this side of the film would of course attract the male audience and make it both equal for both genders. People who are in still at school and in college would be the best suited audience for this film as the main two characters involved are portrayed in school uniform therefore represent the audience themselves. This mean a lot of people still at school and college can relate to the film and would enjoy it a lot more as it is suited for them. The film almost portrays the first relationship young people get into and the mass amount of unknown emotions and feelings they undergo. From the trailer the characters are obviously from Wales, making it a very British and white film. It would of course attract a vast amount of white welsh people as they would feel this film predominantly represents their country.