Film Studies Unit 26 – Blockbuster film

The Storyline Johnny Depp is a average everyday man. He lives in an 4 story town house with his wife, Sandra Bullock. They are very happy at the start of the film. One evening when Johnny arrived home from work, he notices there is a problem with the lights, they keep on flickering on and off. Johnny decides to go to the fuse box in the basement to see what the problem is. When he is down there, creepy things start to happen such as, feeling like he is being watched, glasses on shelves start cracking loudly but slowly and and a murder of crows are starting to surround the house. Startled, Johnny runs for the basement door, on the way up he is scratched on his back by a dark demon. Johnny has no way out so he screams for his wife who appear at the top of the basement and holds out her hand to him, she looks behind him and screams, she’s seen the demon. Johnny only just makes it up the stairs and slams the basement door behind, he holds is shut but is scared for his life meanwhile, his wife is barricading the front door and the crows start swarming in. They run for the phone but the basement door is rattling, they don’t have much time. They finally get through but the door is now open they run up the stairs leaving the phone hanging still connected. They are stuck and there is no way out of the house, the only way to escape the demon is to get to the attic. They split up finding their own ways to make it to the attic, unaware that either of them are alone. Johnny is getting weaker, he doesn’t feel himself anymore and he’s not. The demon has got him.

Moodboard

7 Characteristics of a blockbuster A star – Johnny Depp & Sandra Bullock A large production budget - £50,000,000 A large marketing budget - £50,000,000 A range of merchandise – T-shirts, demon contact lenses, posters, a soundtrack 5) A wise demographic – Teenagers/young adults, 18+ 6) A holiday release date – Valentines day 7) A wide release – 20 cinemas in London alone

5 Narrative Theories Vladimir PROPP: The morphology of the Fairy Tale Tzvetan TODOROV: Bulgarian strucuralist Roland BARTHES: French theorist Claude LEVI-STRAUSS: French structuralist Victor SHLOVSKY: Russian theorist

Vladimir PROPP Vladimir Propp created fairy tales and all the story lines would have 8 specific characters, these characters would be; Characters that perform a function The Hero – a character that seeks something The Villain – who opposes or actively blocks the hero’s quest The Donor – who provides an object with magical properties The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his/her quest via a message  The False Hero – who disrupts the hero’s success by making false claims  The Helper – who aids the hero  The Princess – acts as the reward for the hero and the object of the villain’s plots  Her Father – who acts to reward the hero for his effort

Todorov created a 5 stage pattern to how a film goes:  A state of equilibrium (all is as it should be) A disruption of that order by an event A recognition that the disorder has occurred An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium Tzvetan TODOROV

Roland BARTHES

Claude LEVI-STRAUSS

Victor SHLOVSKY

Hypodermic Needle Theory

Uses + Gratifications

Two Step Flow

Reception Theory