CHARACTER
CHARACTER
1) How Important are characters particularly in the opening 2 minutes of a film?
Characters are important in a film because they signify the genre by their emotions or body language or mood. If the character is a clumsy or funny you can figure out the genre is on comedy and associate the character to the film easily when introduced in the first two minutes. This makes the film more understandable in regards to genre as families or individuals can understand a rough judgement of the film from appearance, language and personality.
Characters are also important in regards to setting the scene. Setting in a film is varied in relation to genre such as an eerie dark atmosphere for a Horror film or a modern, social area such as the city for a comedy. However, the character introduced in the scene is a crucial part to link with setting to create the specific convention of genre. the character has to have a dark, horrifying appearance or personality or body language to match the genre to help the audience understand the genre or be satisfied with the quality and standard of the film. It also makes the genre more realistic as the characters set the scene and the mood with correct body language and emotion giving the audience the reaction or feeling which corresponds with the genre such as fear for the Horror Genre or laughter and amusement for the Comedy genre.
Character development is important in order to create an in depth, relatable character. Creating a relatable character is necessary to engage the audience, as they have a character to connect and empathise with. A basic, plain character will not be relatable, as they appear inhuman and are therefore not engaging because they are seen as boring. If the audience cannot engage with the character, it will make the film less entertaining and people will be less inclined to watch it or enjoy it. Therefore, by introducing the character in the first two minutes of a film the audience relates early on and can base their own opinion and relate before they understand the plot just because they feel a sense of understanding and connection between themselves and the character, especially the main one. A character used merely as a plot device cannot engage the audience as a sole character, and they don't really add much to the film besides aiding the plot. Moreover, characters with certain personality traits, including a fatal flaw, can impact what happens in the story, and therefore makes the plot more in depth and thought out.
The most powerful way to reach an audience is through the characters' emotions. character emtions are also important because it helps the audience connect and establish some sort of emotion wether its likeable, hatred or even supportive. For only when we connect with the characters on an emotional level, does the interaction become deep and meaningful. Well-written scenes that include characters' emotions allow the audience to viscerally take part in the story and bond with the characters giving them a sense of involvement making them feel exited and interested wanting to watch on as in the first two minutes they catch emotion or some sort of involvement with a character then want to follow through the film to see what happens to this character and test their emotions such as a romance to see who the girl will marry out of two men and then gain an opinion on what man they prefer, enticing them to watch and encourage them to feel a sense of relation to the film or involvement.
2) character profiles of 3 existing feature film characters;
Characters are important in a film because they signify the genre by their emotions or body language or mood. If the character is a clumsy or funny you can figure out the genre is on comedy and associate the character to the film easily when introduced in the first two minutes. This makes the film more understandable in regards to genre as families or individuals can understand a rough judgement of the film from appearance, language and personality.
Characters are also important in regards to setting the scene. Setting in a film is varied in relation to genre such as an eerie dark atmosphere for a Horror film or a modern, social area such as the city for a comedy. However, the character introduced in the scene is a crucial part to link with setting to create the specific convention of genre. the character has to have a dark, horrifying appearance or personality or body language to match the genre to help the audience understand the genre or be satisfied with the quality and standard of the film. It also makes the genre more realistic as the characters set the scene and the mood with correct body language and emotion giving the audience the reaction or feeling which corresponds with the genre such as fear for the Horror Genre or laughter and amusement for the Comedy genre.
Character development is important in order to create an in depth, relatable character. Creating a relatable character is necessary to engage the audience, as they have a character to connect and empathise with. A basic, plain character will not be relatable, as they appear inhuman and are therefore not engaging because they are seen as boring. If the audience cannot engage with the character, it will make the film less entertaining and people will be less inclined to watch it or enjoy it. Therefore, by introducing the character in the first two minutes of a film the audience relates early on and can base their own opinion and relate before they understand the plot just because they feel a sense of understanding and connection between themselves and the character, especially the main one. A character used merely as a plot device cannot engage the audience as a sole character, and they don't really add much to the film besides aiding the plot. Moreover, characters with certain personality traits, including a fatal flaw, can impact what happens in the story, and therefore makes the plot more in depth and thought out.
The most powerful way to reach an audience is through the characters' emotions. character emtions are also important because it helps the audience connect and establish some sort of emotion wether its likeable, hatred or even supportive. For only when we connect with the characters on an emotional level, does the interaction become deep and meaningful. Well-written scenes that include characters' emotions allow the audience to viscerally take part in the story and bond with the characters giving them a sense of involvement making them feel exited and interested wanting to watch on as in the first two minutes they catch emotion or some sort of involvement with a character then want to follow through the film to see what happens to this character and test their emotions such as a romance to see who the girl will marry out of two men and then gain an opinion on what man they prefer, enticing them to watch and encourage them to feel a sense of relation to the film or involvement.
2) character profiles of 3 existing feature film characters;
The first character is Harry Potter from the Harry Potter films based on the books written by J.K. Rowling. The film is a fantasy Genre with wizards, giants and Dragons therefore, the film is fictional. He is the main character in both films and the books and has two other main friends who are also key characters. In the film he has a very famous reputation of surviving from a boy when approached by the main evil character and has the potential to be the best wizard in the world at young age. He is aged between 12-19 throughout the films and is also an orphan, with both parents killed and with strong relations with friends he is staying with their families due to popularity and the kind personality he holds which is shown strongly in the film. J.K Rowling chooses this age as he is still at school age and is similar age to the target audience so the audience feel like the film is relatable and also feel like they can attach to the characters as they are all similar age and understand the characters better emotionally. He has pale white skin with jet black hair with circular (non trendy) glasses and usually school uniform or plain, simple wear such as jeans and a plain jumper due to being middle class and not treated equally to his cousin by his auntie and uncle therefore the clothes make it more realistic and believable that he is not spoilt or upper class and arrogant. He also has a scar on his forehead which reminds him about his enemy who caused it and is noticed by extra characters and the audience throughout the films. His personality is very normal by not being arrogant and he is very content and quiet to others but is open to his friends and audience as it is his friends and you as the audience who knows him best however, everyone knows of him due to his past and misfortunate events leading to his popular parents death. whist becoming timid and not sociable his is strong in battle and very strong willed and protective over his friends and others he cares about. He spends a lot of time with friends and is seen as intelligent but stereotypically better at practical than theory. He is sporty and also daring by risking his life for his friends and other students to save the school.
The second character is Finn from the film, Star Wars directed by George Lucas from Lucas Films. The film is in the category of Sci-Fi with aliens, space ships and out of space action including fictional characters and planets. He and Rey are the main characters whom are centre of attention throughout the film. In the film he is very sceptical of his true identity as he is ashamed of his past and previous devotion to the Dark side. He is aged around 20-25 as a young adult whom is still masculine however nervous and timid about his true identity. being an orphan he has no recognition of his parents and was raised by the Dark side to fight for them and to hate the rebel alliance and was not given a name just a number and not taught to have an opinion or to challenge an concepts and to just follow orders. George Lucas chooses this age because this is the target audience age and relates to any young people as they can feel a connection and gain feelings for him. the audience at similar age ma feel they can relate to him as well, for example they may also feel timid or ask themselves how they would feel in the same situation if they were him which also means it gets the audience thinking and gets them involved. This may also relate to young adults joining the army and how they would feel to take orders and kill if necessarily and then relate to Finn's reactions and feelings. He is a black male with simple clothing but from which he owns, it is only clothes issued from the First Order. He has a simple short haircut and is regular sized male around 5'10 whom is fit and healthy. He comes across rather timid and shy and not confident in his own actions however, he has a sense of humour and relative sarcasm. He was afraid of war and death and feared the First Order however, gained confidence and became brave and put his life on the line for the rebel alliance. he is Human in the film but has no family and relies on friends he makes such as Ray, Chewbacca and Po.
The third character I chose was Jay from the inbetweeners which was directed by Ben Palmer. The film is in the category of Comedy which includes 4 main characters from which are teenagers based around the age of 16-19 years of age from whom are in the last year of school to having a lads holiday to party hard. His age is based around 16-19 who has just left school. He is still very immature and not very masculine however has a very dark sense of humour which involves adult humour on sexual references and offensive jokes. The director chooses this age because it matches the target audience age range and makes the audience feels like they can relate or feel like they know that character with similar personality at their own school or someone they know. older audiences may also reminisce if they had similar times or events in their past. because the film is realistic and could be true and also based on a group of mates people will have similar moments and humour making them attach themselves to the character and gain emotions as they feel connected or feel like they can compare them to the characters in the film. Jay dresses very informally (probably too seem cool) and tries to keep up with fashion to blend in with everyone else in school so he is not an outcast. He has pale white skin and a blonde natural bowl hair cut. He has a sense of humour which is very dark and is very abusive towards people who he can pick on however, is seen as a wimp in front of people who are bigger than him and Jay is a very bad liar and is very weak but acts harder than he is which may be a reason why he picks on other people to make himself feel better about himself and boost his confidence. He has a small friendship circle and isn't very close to his parents as his dad picks on him and winds him up. He is disliked by many people apart from three of his best mates until he goes on a wild party and meets a girl.
3) What makes these characters so iconic?
what makes Harry Potter iconic is that he is influential to people similar age and younger in regards of his personality and to be kind thoughtful and also kind even to the unkind people. He is a likeable character which makes all the audience become emotionally attached as if they were also friends. Another way on why Harry is so iconic, is that he puts his life on the line for all of his friends and all of the good wizards to protect the school and risk dying all to save the others. this shows bravery to the biggest extent and shows he faces fear inspiring bravery to anybody watching. I also believe is that he was once a child who didn't know he was a wizard until he was told meaning children can believe it is real and feel like they are apart of the film and await to be called a wizard as he is so nice it can also make children believe the fantasy is as real as it gets.
Moreover, what makes Finn iconic is he changes who he is and becomes a better person despite his past. He also overcomes fears and becomes brave by putting his life on the line and fighting against stronger people to protect the people he loves and to save the world. This motivates bad people to change and do the right thing and helps make people better human beings and also motivates children and adults to be brave and protect loves ones and to do the right thing no matter how bad your past is. This influences everyone and also then becomes an icon or a influential person as he becomes from a no one to a war hero which tells you to fight for what you want and anyone is capable of great things.
Lastly, Jay can be deemed as iconic because he is very realistic and many people can associate someone who his characteristics and dark humour with him because of his age and being at school where so many different, yet similar personalities are developed. many older school children with humour can stereotypically be immature and at that age its more often darker and sexual humour which Jay portrays perfectly. People also wish to be like him because of his humour and people would like to have that sort of fast thinking humour as if he wasn't scripted and he was actually real which then makes him an icon.
4) What do they add to narrative?
Harry Potter throughout the film is portrayed as a good guy and comes across as a friendly easing going caring boy which leads to adding to the narrative and plot because this means he can be backed up by friends such as Ron and Herminie when facing danger and going on adventures because his kindness leads to nice friends and this wouldn't happen if he wasn't a nice guy. Also Harry Potters parents are the key to the film as they were killed and gave birth to Harry and without the parents There would be no Harry Potter therefore, its clear they add a lot to the narrative.
Finn plays an important part in adding to the narrative because he alters a lot which without his actions would not lead to the same outcome of the first order being defeated. Firstly without him saving Po (the best rebel alliance fighter pilot who single handily defeated many first order planes to save most important characters) therefore him being a big part and without Po being saved, the Rebel alliance wouldn't of stood a chance no had the confidence to go and do the impossible. Moreover, If Finn never met or crossed paths with Ray and never became a traitor to rebel alliance the new Jedi (being Ray) would of never defeated Kylo Ren and yet again the first order would of destroyed the universe and he would of been the strongest person alive by finishing his training. However, most importantly if he never met Ray, she would of never been part of the rebel alliance and found Luke Skywalker to boost the Jedi power and crucially save the universe so its important that Finn is centre of the narrative and influenced a lot of the plot and events lead by his actions.
Jay is probably the most influential character in the inbetweeners in terms of narrative because he is the loud mouth and is the main character to lead the group of friends into regular trouble. In the first film, it was his initial idea to go on holiday and is the one who comes up with the ideas, therefore without him none of them would of gone on holiday in the first place meaning the whole narrative of the film is no longer there or relevant as it is the main event of the story. School also influences it as socially, that's how the group met and Jays social skills is what brings them together
and without the school they would of never of met therefore there would of been no group of friends so there would be no film story if there was no group of friends.
5)How much of them does the audience find out in the opening two minutes?
Harry Potter in the first film is introduced as a baby. The scar is shown very visibly and shows an importance due to the size and how his hair isn't in the way and how clear and unusual the shape is in the shape of a lightening bolt. This shows the character is important as it makes him stand out from the rest and makes him special. From the way the other characters dress their is indication he may not be human or live in a real world due to appearance of clothing however, his appearance and features are human like. They way they are protective over the baby and are too old to be his parents could portray his importance or even royalty status due to the over protection and how they want the best for him to protect him from danger. They also state it is family members whom he will live with so you know he has relatives and is known and not an outcast.
https://youtu.be/IpYHbdh9yTM
The Star Wars movie shows in the first two minutes, Finn on another planet in a battle with other people with space guns and futuristic spaceships to indicate he is from the future. You cannot see his age or even voice therefore, his ethnic origin and accent is hidden and not much is revealed apart from his body language which gives the audience a big insight to his personality especially from his reactions towards fighting and death. When he is supposed to be fighting he looks very nervous and sceptical and when his friend died his body indicates sadness and depression rather than adrenaline and anger which is confirmed when the shot of him not shooting innocent people when the others who dress the same as his so his people are showing weakness but also shows goodness and shows maybe he is emotional or cannot have the strength to do the wrong thing. The shot where he is alone and grabs the attention from the main bad character and the audience shows he is different and also he is considering what's going on around him and considering what is the right thing to do to show he is changing and leading to becoming a main or key character
https://youtu.be/0G7XMoZViBo
The Inbetweeners movie shows in the first two minutes Jay in a fictional world in his mind to portray his lying habits. moreover, it shows he has a group of close friends from which he is able to share banter without offense referring to they probably have conversations like this on a regular basis. He fictional world evolves round women showing his ego and desires but also his sort of humour as you can tell its very immature. Its also a realistic view of his appearance apart from his dress sense as in real life he dresses informally rather than robes and doesn't pay much attention to self appearance. You can figure out his age and features by him having a main part in the first scene. You may also tell he is British due to his accent and work out his ethnic origin based on his skin colour.
.https://youtu.be/BX6qjJbp_y0
JK
The second character is Finn from the film, Star Wars directed by George Lucas from Lucas Films. The film is in the category of Sci-Fi with aliens, space ships and out of space action including fictional characters and planets. He and Rey are the main characters whom are centre of attention throughout the film. In the film he is very sceptical of his true identity as he is ashamed of his past and previous devotion to the Dark side. He is aged around 20-25 as a young adult whom is still masculine however nervous and timid about his true identity. being an orphan he has no recognition of his parents and was raised by the Dark side to fight for them and to hate the rebel alliance and was not given a name just a number and not taught to have an opinion or to challenge an concepts and to just follow orders. George Lucas chooses this age because this is the target audience age and relates to any young people as they can feel a connection and gain feelings for him. the audience at similar age ma feel they can relate to him as well, for example they may also feel timid or ask themselves how they would feel in the same situation if they were him which also means it gets the audience thinking and gets them involved. This may also relate to young adults joining the army and how they would feel to take orders and kill if necessarily and then relate to Finn's reactions and feelings. He is a black male with simple clothing but from which he owns, it is only clothes issued from the First Order. He has a simple short haircut and is regular sized male around 5'10 whom is fit and healthy. He comes across rather timid and shy and not confident in his own actions however, he has a sense of humour and relative sarcasm. He was afraid of war and death and feared the First Order however, gained confidence and became brave and put his life on the line for the rebel alliance. he is Human in the film but has no family and relies on friends he makes such as Ray, Chewbacca and Po.
The third character I chose was Jay from the inbetweeners which was directed by Ben Palmer. The film is in the category of Comedy which includes 4 main characters from which are teenagers based around the age of 16-19 years of age from whom are in the last year of school to having a lads holiday to party hard. His age is based around 16-19 who has just left school. He is still very immature and not very masculine however has a very dark sense of humour which involves adult humour on sexual references and offensive jokes. The director chooses this age because it matches the target audience age range and makes the audience feels like they can relate or feel like they know that character with similar personality at their own school or someone they know. older audiences may also reminisce if they had similar times or events in their past. because the film is realistic and could be true and also based on a group of mates people will have similar moments and humour making them attach themselves to the character and gain emotions as they feel connected or feel like they can compare them to the characters in the film. Jay dresses very informally (probably too seem cool) and tries to keep up with fashion to blend in with everyone else in school so he is not an outcast. He has pale white skin and a blonde natural bowl hair cut. He has a sense of humour which is very dark and is very abusive towards people who he can pick on however, is seen as a wimp in front of people who are bigger than him and Jay is a very bad liar and is very weak but acts harder than he is which may be a reason why he picks on other people to make himself feel better about himself and boost his confidence. He has a small friendship circle and isn't very close to his parents as his dad picks on him and winds him up. He is disliked by many people apart from three of his best mates until he goes on a wild party and meets a girl.
3) What makes these characters so iconic?
what makes Harry Potter iconic is that he is influential to people similar age and younger in regards of his personality and to be kind thoughtful and also kind even to the unkind people. He is a likeable character which makes all the audience become emotionally attached as if they were also friends. Another way on why Harry is so iconic, is that he puts his life on the line for all of his friends and all of the good wizards to protect the school and risk dying all to save the others. this shows bravery to the biggest extent and shows he faces fear inspiring bravery to anybody watching. I also believe is that he was once a child who didn't know he was a wizard until he was told meaning children can believe it is real and feel like they are apart of the film and await to be called a wizard as he is so nice it can also make children believe the fantasy is as real as it gets.
Moreover, what makes Finn iconic is he changes who he is and becomes a better person despite his past. He also overcomes fears and becomes brave by putting his life on the line and fighting against stronger people to protect the people he loves and to save the world. This motivates bad people to change and do the right thing and helps make people better human beings and also motivates children and adults to be brave and protect loves ones and to do the right thing no matter how bad your past is. This influences everyone and also then becomes an icon or a influential person as he becomes from a no one to a war hero which tells you to fight for what you want and anyone is capable of great things.
Lastly, Jay can be deemed as iconic because he is very realistic and many people can associate someone who his characteristics and dark humour with him because of his age and being at school where so many different, yet similar personalities are developed. many older school children with humour can stereotypically be immature and at that age its more often darker and sexual humour which Jay portrays perfectly. People also wish to be like him because of his humour and people would like to have that sort of fast thinking humour as if he wasn't scripted and he was actually real which then makes him an icon.
4) What do they add to narrative?
Harry Potter throughout the film is portrayed as a good guy and comes across as a friendly easing going caring boy which leads to adding to the narrative and plot because this means he can be backed up by friends such as Ron and Herminie when facing danger and going on adventures because his kindness leads to nice friends and this wouldn't happen if he wasn't a nice guy. Also Harry Potters parents are the key to the film as they were killed and gave birth to Harry and without the parents There would be no Harry Potter therefore, its clear they add a lot to the narrative.
Finn plays an important part in adding to the narrative because he alters a lot which without his actions would not lead to the same outcome of the first order being defeated. Firstly without him saving Po (the best rebel alliance fighter pilot who single handily defeated many first order planes to save most important characters) therefore him being a big part and without Po being saved, the Rebel alliance wouldn't of stood a chance no had the confidence to go and do the impossible. Moreover, If Finn never met or crossed paths with Ray and never became a traitor to rebel alliance the new Jedi (being Ray) would of never defeated Kylo Ren and yet again the first order would of destroyed the universe and he would of been the strongest person alive by finishing his training. However, most importantly if he never met Ray, she would of never been part of the rebel alliance and found Luke Skywalker to boost the Jedi power and crucially save the universe so its important that Finn is centre of the narrative and influenced a lot of the plot and events lead by his actions.
Jay is probably the most influential character in the inbetweeners in terms of narrative because he is the loud mouth and is the main character to lead the group of friends into regular trouble. In the first film, it was his initial idea to go on holiday and is the one who comes up with the ideas, therefore without him none of them would of gone on holiday in the first place meaning the whole narrative of the film is no longer there or relevant as it is the main event of the story. School also influences it as socially, that's how the group met and Jays social skills is what brings them together
and without the school they would of never of met therefore there would of been no group of friends so there would be no film story if there was no group of friends.
5)How much of them does the audience find out in the opening two minutes?
Harry Potter in the first film is introduced as a baby. The scar is shown very visibly and shows an importance due to the size and how his hair isn't in the way and how clear and unusual the shape is in the shape of a lightening bolt. This shows the character is important as it makes him stand out from the rest and makes him special. From the way the other characters dress their is indication he may not be human or live in a real world due to appearance of clothing however, his appearance and features are human like. They way they are protective over the baby and are too old to be his parents could portray his importance or even royalty status due to the over protection and how they want the best for him to protect him from danger. They also state it is family members whom he will live with so you know he has relatives and is known and not an outcast.
https://youtu.be/IpYHbdh9yTM
The Star Wars movie shows in the first two minutes, Finn on another planet in a battle with other people with space guns and futuristic spaceships to indicate he is from the future. You cannot see his age or even voice therefore, his ethnic origin and accent is hidden and not much is revealed apart from his body language which gives the audience a big insight to his personality especially from his reactions towards fighting and death. When he is supposed to be fighting he looks very nervous and sceptical and when his friend died his body indicates sadness and depression rather than adrenaline and anger which is confirmed when the shot of him not shooting innocent people when the others who dress the same as his so his people are showing weakness but also shows goodness and shows maybe he is emotional or cannot have the strength to do the wrong thing. The shot where he is alone and grabs the attention from the main bad character and the audience shows he is different and also he is considering what's going on around him and considering what is the right thing to do to show he is changing and leading to becoming a main or key character
https://youtu.be/0G7XMoZViBo
The Inbetweeners movie shows in the first two minutes Jay in a fictional world in his mind to portray his lying habits. moreover, it shows he has a group of close friends from which he is able to share banter without offense referring to they probably have conversations like this on a regular basis. He fictional world evolves round women showing his ego and desires but also his sort of humour as you can tell its very immature. Its also a realistic view of his appearance apart from his dress sense as in real life he dresses informally rather than robes and doesn't pay much attention to self appearance. You can figure out his age and features by him having a main part in the first scene. You may also tell he is British due to his accent and work out his ethnic origin based on his skin colour.
.https://youtu.be/BX6qjJbp_y0
JK
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