Moving image production 1 - Andor

Andor is a TV show released in 2022 by Lucasfilm starring Diego Luna. It has been highly
successful as evidenced by it’s 8.4 rating on IMDB1 and 96% of Rotten Tomatoes2. Those
statistics suggest that it was something that had never been seen before in the Star Wars
universe, and was refreshing for the audience to see. I chose Andor because it is an
interesting relationship between Andor and his adoptive mother Maarva which is central to
the plot line. It is also a TV series very suitable to watch and enjoy as a family.

Andor’s Genre is “Spy-Drama”, which is a subgenre of “Science fiction.” It is a production

that falls into stage 2 of genre development, experimental. This is because it relies on
several of the tropes of the sci-fi genre. For example, the ‘Heist Scene,’ in which the good
guys sneak into the enemy fortress under cover, is a very commonly used scene in science
fiction. It also uses the concept of blaster fights. However, Andor does deviate from many of
the common tropes of the sci-fi genre. For example, it depicts the ‘good guys’ committing a
plethora of atrocities to further their ends. This shows a more realistic depiction of what a
desperate rebellion looks like. Betraying your allies to protect the movement, killing your
soldiers to protect information. It makes the audience question the line between good and
evil, or if that line even exists. Most sci-fi films or shows will depict the good guys as almost
entirely virtuous and well meaning, unlike the others. This helps appeal to its target audience
of die hard star wars fans who have watched the original trilogy. The original trilogy depicts
the rebellion as the universal good guys who have not done anything wrong. Andor rips off
the band-aid, and shows us that the rebels not only can but have to commit acts of evil lest
they fail to survive. It, like most sci-fi films, is set on multiple different planets, and has laser
battles in space. The sci-fi drama is a good genre to watch as a family and can create a
bond between parents who watched star wars as children, and their kids.

This show does not fit into Todorov's equilibrium theory, but better fits into Snyder's Beat
sheet. It starts with a world in which the main character is looking for his sister, which he has
not seen in years. When he is forced to kill 2 people who try to take his money, he becomes
a wanted target and 14 police are sent to arrest him. Soon, the rebellion decided to kill him
as well. He spends the rest of the series running in terror, desperately trying to survive.
However, there is a tiny semblance of balance in flashbacks to Andor’s childhood, and
shows’s his childhood of living in the forests of Kenari. However, these flashbacks to his
balance are what show his balance come to an end when he is rescued by his adoptive
parents Maarva and Clem Andor. His life never has a balance after that. His father is hung
by the empire for resistance, and his sister goes missing, before he spends the rest of his life
on the run. The story line between Andor and Maarva adds an extra depth to the story line. It
is a multi-stranded, linear story with no resolution by the end.

Looking at the jungian archetypes, I would say that Maarva is the caregiver. This is because
she is always trying to help other people and is selfless. This is relatable as many parents
are caregivers. I would say that Andor is the Innocent. He is not actually ‘Innocent’, per se,
as he has killed several people. However, his ultimate goal is to achieve happiness.

1 Andor (TV Series 2022– ) - IMDb

2 Andor | Rotten Tomatoes
The scene mentioned below where Maarve has one side of her face shadowed. This helps the audience feel her sense of
hopelessness.

There is a clear bond between him and his mother, and they care about each other,
however, it is often a struggle to be his mother. In the scene above, where she begs Cassian
not to go somewhere that could get him hurt, she says; “It’s not safe out there, tell me you
understand.” In this shot, the light obscures half her face, and the half that isn’t obscured is
an extremely horrified face, desperate to stop her son from leaving. However, the half of her
face that is shrouded in darkness represents the almost hopelessness and desperation that
she feels, as she believes that she is tired of letting the empire take over, and witnessing her
son leave and knowing she can’t stop him. This is the joint and double emotion she feels,
hopelessness and horror.

Based on my primary research, I have concluded that many parents will relate to this scene
mentioned above. This is because several parents have told me that they are afraid of their
child doing something dangerous, but acknowledging that they can’t stop their child. My
primary research seems to confirm that many parents have similar fears. This is why most
parents might find this show appealing. It’s important to remember though, that not everyone
who watched this show was a parent. However, Cassian may not be Maarva’s highest
priority. When Cassian announced that he had been able to acquire 185,000 Credits and
Starship as his cut in a heist, he asked Maarva to retire with him to a place that the empire
had not conquered yet. She refused to go with him. She told him to leave, but told Cassian
that she planned to stay on Ferrix and fight the empire. This may look like the struggle was
more important to her than her son, but she could simply be sure that her son will be safe, or
sure that defeating the empire will protect her son.

STEAL analysis of Maarva:

Speech - She always speaks in fear, as if she is sure that something bad is going to happen
at all times. The only time she doesn’t speak with fear is when she knows she is about to
die, and is content with the fact that she did everything she could, and nothing more.
Thoughts - She always thinks of the future. What will happen to her, the galaxy, and her son.
She has lost a family member before, and she doesn’t want to do it again.

Effects On Others - She directs the entire plot of the film, with her rescue and adoption of
Andor. Her death inspired Andor to join the rebellion, indirectly causing the destruction of the
death star and the end of the empire that ruled over hundreds of quadrillions of people.

Actions - She was always a rebel. Even when she was way too old to fight, she was still
sneaking up behind the imperial forces to see if the tunnel was still open so that the
Rebellion could use it to catch the empire by surprise. She never kept up and always kept
going.

Looks - She always looked really only and frail, yet despite this, she always had a look of
determination on her face, and always wondered what she should do next. She never
flattered in her confidence and body language, and stared everyone down and demanded
people do what she said. This was especially true when addressing her family.

Maarva would have always found something to protect, something to fight for. For most of
her life, it was her family. At the end, it was Ferrix. She was always full of energy, and never
gave up, always saw everything through and never stopped speaking her mind. She even
played into the stereotype of the noble person who dies for the greater good. One of her last
acts was to injure herself doing something for the rebellion, an injury she probably died from.
Even in death she affected the actions of her son and thousands of other people for years to
come.

In this extreme long shot, maarva is giving her final speech to the galaxy. She is in a position of power at this point, finally
defying the empire. This shot shows her towering above everybody else, to show the audience how powerful she is.

Moving image production 2 - Modern Family

Modern family is a sitcom that ran from 2009 to 20203, and stars 3 families, two of which are
nuclear. It has a 90% on rotten tomatoes4, and an 8.5 on IMDB5. This shows that the sitcom
is often relatable and entertaining for the numerous families that watch the show together. It
shows both stereotypical and common experiences about families that make families
understand what they're going through with their parents and children. This is why I chose to
talk about this series.

3 Modern Family - Wikipedia

4 Modern Family | Rotten Tomatoes
5 Modern Family (TV Series 2009–2020) - IMDb
Modern family falls into the sitcom genre with a mockumentary sub-genre, and falls under
the classical stage of genre development. It embodies all the common themes witnessed in
sitcoms, including the circular narrative of each episode starting in equilibrium (Toderov’s
equilibrium theory), before 1 or more problems happen which the main characters attempt to
solve, usually succeeding by the end of the episode. Due to the fact that sitcoms usually end
with the success of the main characters, this assures the audience that the characters will be
fine, as that's how most sitcom episodes are. Modern family’s themes and plot are usually
light hearted and low stakes. The reason I describe it as a ‘mockumentary’ is because the
film often cuts to the actors giving an interview in a documentary style setting. This show is
set in Los Angeles California, with the oldest member of the family, Jay Pritchett, being an
extremely successful businessman, shows how much money the family has, and reminds
the audience that they’re well off.

Modern Family is a show that portrays the stereotype of parents being worried about their
children’s success. There is the argument between Haylee and her mother (a Jungian
caregiver) over whether or not Haylee will go to college, and the stress her parents go
through worrying if she won’t go to college. When Haylee finally decides she wants to go to
college, the family is then worried if she will even get in. This is a relatable thing for almost
every family, as most adults and children are worried about the future of their children. The
show also shows what many families imagine to be the ‘worst case scenario’ for their
children, in which Haylee drops out of College and lives in her parents’ basement. Even
Haylee regrets her decision to leave college, saying “1 in a million college dropouts become
Steve Jobs.” This is why many people watch Modern family, because it’s relatable.

Haylee and Clair argue with each other. The fact that we can see Clair’s face but not Haylee’s shows that the audience can see
what Clair is thinking, but Clair doesn’t know what Haylee is thinking.

It also contrasts Haylee’s confident character with the socially awkward but academically
intelligent character of her younger sister Alex. She almost never talks to anyone and
spends her entire life with her nose in a book learning stuff. Her mother never has to help
her with anything because she’s always on top of things. She embodies the stereotypical
smart kid trope, who always knows everything. This is in contrast to Haylee who has to be
bribed into getting good marks. Clair (the mother) discovers what Alex's daily routine is, and
has a meltdown in a couple of hours. This shows the contrast between the two sisters in this
nonlinear show.

Let’s do a STEAL analysis of Clair Dunphy.

Speech: She speaks in a panicked, condescending way, and yells a lot, quick to anger, and
is worried about her children and thinks she’s helping them.
Thoughts: She’s worried that her children will never find the wealth and happiness she wants
in life, but she is more than willing to lie to ‘help’ them get there.

Effects on others: Convinces her daughter Haylee to go to college, and helps her family with
their lives.

Actions: In the first few seasons, she is mainly a stay at home mum, but towards the end she
becomes CEO of a company.

Looks: She always seems to be angry at somebody.

They also did an episode in which one of the parents stereotypes their own child as a perfect
child who never does anything wrong. In another one of the households, Gloria, the mother
of Manni, at some point believes that her child is almost incapable of breaking most rules.
When he was caught organising a secret party without her knowledge, she assumed that it
was the idea of the other children, and not Manny. She believes Manny to be her perfect
little angel who could never do anything wrong. This is the common belief many parents
hold, that most other children are evil and are out to get their children, and that their child in
particular is one of the few good ones. This is another way in which Modern Family relates to
the feelings of parents towards their children.

This close up shot shows Gloria’s entire face illuminated. The fact that her face is illuminated means she thinks that nothing
“shady” is going on here. She is then shocked to find out that her child was in fact throwing a party, and assumed that it was not
his idea.

Finally, Modern family plays into several other stereotypes. This includes how gay men are
stereotyped as feminine, or more like women than men. The gay couple in modern family,
Cam and Mitch. They are presented as overly emotional and emotionally unstable. They are
presented this way to such an extreme degree that it becomes obvious that they are
overdoing the stereotype.
This two shot shows Mitch and Cam with extremely emotional expressions on their faces.

Another reason that Modern family is relatable to many families is that it seems like there is
an element of every family in there. There is a family with a massive age difference in
marriage, a family that’s mostly immigrants, a gay couple and their adopted child, and
nuclear family. Almost every family on planet Earth can relate to at least one of these things.
This is why Modern Family is so relatable. Because of the three main families, they have
something relatable to almost everyone.

All the characters in modern family, showing all the characters. The shot is made more whimsical by the fact that not only are
most of the characters smiling, but they have mud on their clothes, showing that they don’t care about much at the moment.

Andor and Modern Family comparison

Andor and Modern Family are similar in the same way a leather jacket is similar to the moon.
They aren’t. It’s very difficult to compare the two shows because they portray parenting in
two very different ways, (and because they are two of the most polar opposite genres in
human history.) Modern family portrays a more stereotypical version of parenting, that’s
more realistic to the world. Andor portrays parenthood as constantly trying to stop your child
from dying, and being afraid for their life. Modern family portrays parenthood with comedy
and shows frequent arguments between family members but that they still love each other
overall and can overcome their differences. Andor also shows strong parental love but in a
more serious way. Therefore they both portray parental love but in different ways.

Modern family relies on a lot of stereotypes to carry its show. Using the stereotype of the
rebellion daughter Haylee, and the nerd stereotype of Alex. Andor very rarely plays into any
stereotype. Modern family used numerous stereotypes, Andor’s only stereotype that I could
find was of the noble person who never gave up, (Maarva).

One way in which they are similar is by using Mise En Scene. Andor is set in space and the
location scenes, props and costumes help portray this. Modern Family is set in urban
America and this is portrayed by the set eg American flags, playing baseball, street scenes.
They both use lighting to set the mood of the scene. For example lots of light for the happy
light-hearted scenes of Modern Family and darkness to portray the seriousness and the
despair of the scenes in Andor.

They differ in their use of diagetic and non-diagetic music. Modern Family has a short
opening theme tune that is fun, modern and up-beat. Otherwise there is no non-diagetic
music in the episodes. Andor uses diagetic and non-diagetic music and sounds to create
atmosphere. For example, in the scene where Kino gives a speech urging the other
prisoners to revolt, sound is used to enhance this scene. The non-diagetic music is rousing
and used to build up tension for the audience. His voice in the scene is vibrating through the
microphones giving the audience an intensified sense of dramatism.

They both use camera shot types to give meaning to scenes. Here are some examples in
Andor.

This close-up shot is when Luthen tells Andor to execute Syril Karn. The shot shows Andor
with a triangle of light underneath his eye. This shows that he is a hero.This is a common
feature in films. The close up shot of his expression makes the audience feel tense and
understand the gravity of the situation. This is a dark shot as it’s a dark situation.

In this two shot, the man on the left (Kino Loy) is shrouded in darkness in the shot. This was
done to represent the fact that his personality had been darkened by the terrible experiences
he’s been through, turning him into a less happy person. The lighting in this scene is very
glum and grey, with very few colours. This shows that the situation looks bleak for these two
people, with very little hope of escape. This two shot helps the audience understand the
relationship between these two characters. They do not like each other, but Andor is trying to
convince Kino to help him.
This medium shot focuses on Andor and his adoptive mother Martha. Andor has just
become a wanted man. Martha knows this, but Andor does not. The expression on Martha’s
face is fear and anger. The lighting is shining on Martha’s face. Andor is in shadow. This
shows the audience that Martha has been enlightened but Andor is still in the dark. It also
makes the audience understand her love for Andor as a mother.

And some examples in Modern Family:

This is a two shot of Phil and Claire being interviewed. It shows the relationship between
them. The camera angle shows that it’s a mockumentary, as it is pointing directly at their
faces, and they are talking to the camera. They are locking eyes with the audience. This
makes the audience feel closer to the characters and feel like they are having a conversation
directly with the characters.

This shot is a longshot, showing all five of the characters to demonstrate how worried they
all are for their grandad who is struggling to walk. The shot shows people in order of height.
Starting with Manny, the shortest, followed by Claire and Gloria, until it gets to Jay. This
draws our eyes towards Phil and Jay. The other way this shot draws our eyes towards Phil
and Jay, is because everyone in the shot who isn’t Phil and Jay are looking at them. The
audience knows straight away to look at Phil and Jay and is made to feel concerned.
This is another multishot, showing all 4 of the characters, and they are all looking towards
the computer screen with worried looks on their faces, drawing your eyes there as well. It’s a
carefully organised scene with Cam in the middle, Mitch and Lilly on the sides, and the
police officer above and behind him to his left. As the Ipad is in the middle, this also makes
the audience feel as though it is the literal centre of attention. The fact that everyone has a
worried look on their face implies that something bad is happening, and (as it is common for
humans to fixate on bad things), makes us want to look at the ipad even more. Ultimately,
this entire scene is designed to make the audience automatically look at the ipad.

This is an over the shoulder shot of Lily with her fathers. It focuses the audience’s attention
on Lily who is having an intense conversation with her fathers.

In conclusion, despite the differences between Andor and Modern Family, they both depict
the parents loving their children and doing everything they can to protect their child. They
both show this very well and use production techniques successfully to combine that with the
storyline of their productions.