Purpose
The purpose of the film that I have chosen is to entertain. The Fault in Our Stars is entertaining as although it is a sad and moving film it has funny parts throughout especially with the main characters, an example of this is the jokes that are made throughout the film. This film was made for a mass audience. 20th Century Fox produced this film to earn a profit when it was sold so it was for commercial gain as 20th Century Fox is a commercial company.
Genre
This films main genre is a romance as the two main characters have a connection and fall in love. I guess this film could also be classed as a drama as one of the main characters dies and it is about cancer. The sub-genre is romantic comedy or rom-com this is because funny things happen throughout when the two main characters are together or with friends.
Form
The form of the film is a feature length film as it has a duration of 2hrs and 13 minutes. The Fault in Our Stars has been distributed online by streaming and also on DVD and Blu-Ray, it also aired in the movie theatres or cinema before all of this to target a mass, young audience.
Style
The style of the film is modern as it is set in the present day, the 21st century. The film creates verisimilitude as it is very realistic and is set in places that we know are real such as America and also Amsterdam.
Content and Meaning
For content and meaning we are going to speak about a few different things and theories. The first is Todorov's theory. He said that a film has to have 5 stages although, we are only going to look at three of these which are an equilibrium, disequilibrium and a resolution but it doesn't always have to follow these steps. My film starts of as an disequilibrium as the main character is ill and suffering from cancer. It then has its equilibrium when the main character Hazel falls in love with the other main character Augustus. The equilibrium is then followed again by another disequilibrium when things start to go wrong for Augustus as he is then re-diagnosed with cancer and in the end has his life taken too early. There doesn't seem to be a resolution, which could connote a potential sequel.
Next we are going to look at Kate Domaille's theory...
Her theory was that... " every story ever told can be fitted into one of eight narrative types"
These types are...
- Archilles: the fatal flaw that leads to the destruction of the previously flawless or almost flawless person.
- Candide: the indomitable hero who cannot be put down
- Cinderella: the dream comes true
- Circe: the chase, the innocent and the victim
- Faust: selling your soul to the devil may bring riches but eventually your soul will belong to him
- Orpheous: The loss of something personal, the gift that is taken away, the tragedy of loss or the journey that follows the loss
- Romeo and Juliet: the love story
- Tristan and Iseult: the love triangle, man loves woman unfortunately they are both spoken for.
The Fault in Our Stars fits into, two of these narrative types which are Orpheous and Romeo and Juliet. This is because the two main characters fall in love which is why it fits into the Romeo and Juliet narrative. It fits into the Orpheous narrative because their is the loss of one of the main characters lives to a fatal illness.
In 'The Fault in Our Stars' we see binary opposition as Augustus always shows his emotions throughout the film whether he is happy or sad an example of this is when he is crying, when he tells Hazel that his cancer has come back. The clip above shows some of the emotion that he shows throughout the movie. It also shows Hazel's emotion and they are not so different in most ways. They are both protagonists and the Cancer for both of them is the antagonist. In this film everyone is led to believe that Augustus is the Underdog as he is expected to carry on living and Hazel is expected to die as she seems more ill than him. But halfway through the movie there is an unexpected twist and the audience finds out that Augustus has cancer again and that is all over his body. Towards the end we realise that it is no longer Augustus that is going to come out on top, we know that it is going to be Hazel.
Laura Mulvey (1975)
' The male gaze' - the way males see females. She believes that women are 'objectified'
The Fault in Our Stars has little to no objectification of women. The only part in this movie where this happens is when Isaac is feeling his girlfriend up.
In the trailer for my film there is both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds are the dialogue different bits of different scenes have been taken and put into it, one example of this is when Hazel says ' why are you staring at me' and Augustus replies 'because your beautiful'. This connotes romance as it foreshadows the love story that is going to happen. This is also an example of binary opposition as Augustus the male main character is very emotionally out there, and is not the average stereotypical man that is not in touch with his emotions. This could be because it is a 'side effect of dying'. It also has non-diegetic sounds such as the voice over at the beginning of the trailer and also the music that is played throughout the trailer. For different parts of the trailer there are different songs or music. The first piece of music is non-diegetic as it is played over the actual film. It has quite a slow tempo at first which connotes that the film is going to be sad. Then the next piece of music is diegetic as the music can be heard in the diegesis or the story world. The third piece of music is non-diegetic as it is again played over the film instead of in the diegesis. The tempo denotes that the music gets faster and also becomes more upbeat. This connotes that the film is going to become more dramatic.
This extract from the movie only contains diegetic sounds. These are dialogue and also the sounds of creatures in the background, this is called ambient sound and it is in the clip to create verisimilitude of the setting. An example of the dialogue denoted in this clip is when Augustus says "Hazel Grace I hope you realize that you trying to keep your distance from me in no way lessens my affection for you all your efforts to try and keep me from you are going to fail". To which Hazel replies "look ah I like you and I like hanging out with you, everything that I, I can't let this go on any further". This dialogue connotes romance and heartache as the two characters are falling in love but are both suffering from a terrible illness. Another example of dialogue that is denoted in this clip is the rest of their conversation.
Augustus "why not?"
Hazel "because I don't want to hurt you"
Augustus "I wouldn't mind"
Hazel "no you don't understand"
Augustus "I do understand"
Hazel "no you don't"
Augustus " no I know what your trying to say. Hazel I'm saying I wouldn't mind, it'd be a privilege to have my heart broken by you"
Hazel "Gus I'm a grenade, one day I'm gonna explode and I'm gonna obliterate everything in my wake. And I dunno I just feel like it's my responsibility to minimise the casualties"
The conversation overall reinforces the connotations of love, romance and heartache. The mode of address all the way through this clip is peer to peer as they are speaking to each other quite informally and like they are both equals. Again in this clip binary opposition is very clear as Augustus is very emotional and in touch with his feelings and shows them where as normally a stereotypical male wouldn't do this.
This clip from the movie 'The Fault in Our Stars' again only contains diegetic sounds. Some of the sounds denoted are the dialogue, the eggs hitting the car and the house, the sounds of the three friends laughing and finally the car alarm going off. All of these sounds connote fun and friendship although, they also connote anger as they are annoyed at the girl who broke 'Isaac's' heart. An example of dialogue from this clip is when Hazel asks Isaac:
Hazel- 'so how're your eyes Isaac?'
and Isaac replies by saying:
Isaac- 'They're good they're just not in my head that's the only problem'.
This connotes fun and humour as although he is now blind because he has had to have both eyes removed he can still joke about it.
Mise en Scene is a French word that means everything within a frame. Everything within Mise on Scene is encoded which means that it was embedded on purpose and it is meant to be there.
The location is the diegesis. All the locations in 'The Fault in Our Stars' are realistic as they are places that ordinary people would go to in day to day life. The locations in the film do create verisimilitude as they are real locations. Most of the locations are normal everyday places such as a persons home and the park. Another location in the film though is a hospital which creates verisimilitude as the target audience may have family that are in the hospital which means that this is a normal everyday place too. One final location in the film is Amsterdam where the two main characters and one of the parents went on a holiday. This creates verisimilitude as many people do this on a daily basis. The main location of this film though is Indiana, Indianapolis in America this creates verisimilitude as it is a location that really exists which means that the target audience may live their or may have visited but even if they haven't then they have heard about it.
In this clip the scene is a restaurant in Amsterdam, the restaurant connotes romance and young love. It also connotes a form of freedom for the two main characters as it shows them on their own with out having to be monitored like they usually are. Also with the air of freedom that is connoted it make them feel like their actual age because they are on a date like any other normal teenage couple. This is realistic in the diegesis or the story world as it is a real place and so does create verisimilitude for the audience.
The two main characters are acting loved up and excited in this clip. One of the main characters is also acting quite shy as she has never been on a date before but as it progresses she becomes more open. This reinforces stereotypes as most women are portrayed as submissive and shy whereas men are more dominant. All of this connotes happiness and excitement as they are having a great time and they are trying things that they have never tried before such as the champagne or 'the stars' as they call it. This connotes that they are falling in love with each other, this is also shown as Augustus tells Hazel that he loves her in this clip.
The two characters are in their best dress in this clip as they are on a date. Hazel is wearing a blue dress and her oxygen tank, and Augustus is wearing his suit (as you find out later on in this part of the movie it is his death suit). The oxygen tank is iconography as it stands out in the movie and it helps people to recognise what the film is. This connotes that they want to look their best for the exciting date that they are going on. This also connotes that Hazel is really ill as we know as she has to wear and carry her oxygen tank all the time as she cannot breathe otherwise. This all creates verisimilitude for the audience as the suit and dress remind people of their first dates or how they wanted their first dates to be. The make up worn by the characters is natural for the lighting and connotes neutrality and also that it is worn everyday and creates verisimilitude.
The props denoted in this clip are champagne glasses. This connotes that they are on their date and that it is a special time as they are drinking champagne and not wine. This could also connote that it is their first date (if you haven't seen the movie that is). This creates verisimilitude for the audience as it reminds them of their first dates and how nervous and happy they were to be there. These are the only hand held props in this clip that are denoted. The champagne is also an example of iconography because as the waiter serves them he tells the young couple about Don Perione and what he said after he invented champagne. He tells them that he said: 'come quickly' he said, 'I am tasting the stars'.
This relates to the title of the film and also connotes the romance between the couple.
The lighting denoted in this clip from the film is low lighting. Low lighting normally connotes suspense and mystery but not in this clip. The connotations of the lighting in this clip from the film are love, romance and also happiness.
One shot type that is used during this clip is a Medium Close-Up. The shot denotes Hazel reading out Augustus's eulogy. This connotes that Augustus is going to die soon and she is reading it so that he gets to hear what she is going to say at his real funeral. The shot type connotes Hazel's emotions and feelings and makes the audience feel included in the diegesis and also makes them feel the same emotions that she is feeling at that moment in the film. A Medium Close-Up is used also in this clip to show Augustus's emotions as it is his 'pre-funeral' the one that he has arranged himself so that he can hear what the love of his life has to say and also his best friend. This clip also relates to binary opposition as Augustus the male is showing his emotions where as a stereotypical male wouldn't do this. Augustus again reiterates that the audience is included in the diegesis as they feel the same emotions that he is feeling in that moment in time. The narrative stage that this connotes is both an equilibrium and a disequilibrium as although it is a sad part in the movie it is also a happy part as he gets to hear what two of the most important people in his life have to say about him before he becomes worse. It is also an equilibrium as it says in the film that this was one of Augustus's good days. One of the angles used in this clip is a low angle as it shows Hazel reading the eulogy which connotes that she is the stronger one or the more dominant one as she isn't the one who is dying. This is another example of binary opposition as it shows the female lead as the stronger more dominant character, where as the male lead is the weaker one that is dying although, it is originally thought that she would be the weaker character and lose the battle to cancer. This links in with the narrative type again as it is a disequilibrium as the audience knows that Augustus is losing the battle. Another shot type used is a Crowd Shot as it shows all three of the friends partway through as Hazel is reading the eulogy. It denotes Augustus and Isaac listening intently to what Hazel is saying. This shot connotes respect as they sit silently throughout her speech. One more shot type that is used is an Extreme Close-Up this is used to connote the emotions shown on Hazel and Augustus's faces whilst the eulogy is being read. It also connotes sadness and hurt and the audience can relate. A shallow depth of field is used in this clip as you can see the emotions denoted on the lead characters faces and this then connotes the way that they feel about each other and how much Hazel doesn't want to lose Augustus as he is the love of her life and she is his.
In this clip only two types of editing have been used and these are:
Insert Shots- a close up shot that is designed to draw the audience's attention to something that was only part of the previous shot.
Shot Reverse Shot Structure- Juxtapose two images in order to create a link between them. This is used between conversations (dialogue between two characters). Shot reverse shot structure links in with binary opposition.
The insert shot denoted is when Hazel gets out the piece of paper that she has written Augustus's eulogy on this is also a close up as it zooms in onto the paper. This connotes the importance of the eulogy as it means a lot to both Hazel and Augustus as he is the one that arranged the 'pre-funeral' this is because he knows that this could be one of his last good days (if you have watched the film then you will know that it is!). The shot reverse shot structure is denoted when there are cuts between seeing close-ups of Hazel and Augustus's faces and also the crowd shot of all three of them in the clip and it creates that link between them whilst Hazel is speaking. This connotes that again the speech is very important and again very emotional for all of the characters in the clip.
The Production Process- One example of pre production for this film would be location scouting as it is set in many different places and even two different countries which are America and Amsterdam. Location scouting would also include finding all the different buildings and parks that they used during filming. The places used would have had to be rented or they would have had to gain permission to use them. An example of one of the locations scouted is the 'Anne Frank Museum' in Amsterdam as they go all the way through the museum and they were trying to keep all the same locations as what the author 'John Green' put them as. Another example from pre production would be finding the cast and crew. The producers would have had to audition and choose the cast. An example of production is filming the different scenes, this means that both the cast and crew would go to the locations that had been picked during pre production to film them. An example from the film would be when they filmed the scene in Amsterdam and they are on their date, as they go through many different locations and obviously many different camera sequences. Another example of production would be recording the audio, this means that the dialogue will be recorded for the different scenes in the film. One final example that would be part of production is the wardrobe designers and the prop designers creating the illusion of a prosthetic leg because the main character doesn't really have one, in post production they would edit this so that the audience cant tell that this isn't real. This is because there could be something that gives it away and by editing this the audience wont be able to tell whether it is real or not. An example of something that would be done in post production is the editing of the footage this means that things will be edited in and out to make the film run smoother and also make it longer and shorter depending on how long the film is meant to be. One final example of what would happen during post production is adding any music or extra audio into the film this will be done in specific parts of the film to help the mood of the diegesis to be set. An example of when music has been added into the film is when the Hazel and Augustus are in Amsterdam and they are on a boat going along a river and the soundtrack 'Boom Clap' is being played over the top of the movie to create verisimilitude and show the mood of the scene. The song that is denoted connotes love as they are a young couple who have just got together and are going on their very first date whilst on their very first holiday together.
Well thanks for watching again guys and see you again soon!
Well thanks for watching again guys and see you again soon!
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