For my research investigation I am going to
apply Vladimir Propp’s theory of character functions to two texts, which have
contracting genres and audiences. The first of the films is Batman: The Dark
Knight Rises this is aimed at an older audience such as 16-30 this is because
there are some scenes of violence and would be inappropriate for a younger
audience. However it will appeal to 30 year olds as they have grown up to a
different generation of Batman and they would want to see how someone else
adapts the franchise. The Dark Knight Rises is a thriller/ action film which is
the polar opposite to the fantasy/ horror film that The Black Cauldron is this
is an animated Disney film this means that it has a young child audience
however because there are some scene which can be deemed as scary so the target
audience would be about 8-13. Before going into both films in detail one would
assume that the black cauldron has more of props functions because this is
typical to the fantasy genera.
I mentioned previously that Batman was a
thriller/action key conventions of this genre is that it mainly uses panning
and tracking shots, the first shot that was used in the film was a panning shot
not focusing on anyone just setting the scene. The first shot we see in Batman is
a high angle panning shot which looks over Wayne Manor to the memorial of
Harvey Dent. We see the scene through Bruce Wayne’s point of view this connotes
that he is looking over everyone ‘protecting’ them and relating back to prop he
would be seen as the hero in a short scene with no dialogue. It also uses a lot
of high and low angle shots this always shows the audience who controls the
scene and can make the audience feel important or can make them feel threatened
and vulnerable. An example of this would be when Bane is in the airplane the
camera is a low angle shot looking up on him even though he is on his knees
this makes the audience feel dominated and scared by him and this is a key
traits of props villain character. The diegetic music also shows that bane is
the villain as his voice is the loudest and can be heard over the noise of the
plane where as the other members of the scene can barely be heard.
There are many jump cuts between scenes as this
gives the sense of fast movement and its unpredictable what can happen.
Conventions of an action film are fighting; through all the whole film/trilogy
of Batman there is a lot of fighting. We see this when Batman returns to Gotham
to stop Bane and with just releasing the policemen there is a big fight between
good and evil there is a lot of non diegetic fast paced music over the scene
the music becomes more upbeat as Batman is wining then turns tense as Bane
knocks him back this translates to the audience that Batman is the hero and as
an audience we want him to be successful and that’s a trait of propps hero the
audience roots for him. Although Batman only has two main genres it also has
very small traces of film noir this is shown through the use of character
dialogue, low-key lighting and the use of shadow effects. Bruce Wayne (Batman)
can be seen as a cynical protagonist, we see this mainly towards the beginning
of the film when he doesn’t believe in him self and with out Rachel (previous
love interest) he is worthless, “There’s nothing out there for me”(1) A
common trait of the cynical protagonist is to have a traumatic past and this is
true for Bruce Wayne (as we learn from the earlier films and the flash back
sequence between a young Bruce Wayne and James Gordon) his parents die in front
of him at a young age also his love interest is also cruelly taken from him so
he is emotionally damaged. There are also traces of femme fatales throughout
the film, firstly Miranda who tries to help Batman at the start of the film but
we later realize she has been playing him all along to get her own way, We see
her betray Batman as she stabs him, first we see a close up of the knife
entering then a slow zoom out to revel her. She would be seen as being a full
femme fatale as she first seduces the hero then betrays him but ends up dying
herself. The second femme fatale in the film is Selina who first is against
Batman and all men, she is a real feminist proving through out the start of the
film she is strongest then many of the men. Then her character changes towards
the end of the film and actually falls for the hero. (3) The third main
character in a film noir film is a corrupted cop and in Batman this can be seen
as being Commissioner Gordon, even though he is one of the few good guys in the
film, he still goes against the law and helps the vigilante that is Batman.
Also many of the authority figures help the ‘bad guys’ and they allow the ‘low
lives’ and ‘scum’ of Gotham run the city. Also
they would take bribes so the wrong wouldn’t be arrested and crime would carry
on.
The Black Cauldron genre is fantasy however it
also has traces of horror, the conventions of these genres that are shown in
the film are low key lighting and dragging out the scenes which can been seen
as horror also the non-diegetic sounds change to increase the tension in the
film especially in scenes when the 'villain' the horned king appears on the
screen. There is a scene when only half of the horned king can be seen but his
voice dominates and he is shadow is the only representation of his whole body
we see this remains a mystery to the audience and doesn’t reveal his face too
early just like in Batman we hear the villain voice before we see him this is
one of Propps Character functions.
Many of the scenes have mist, which is a very
iconic part of very olden horror films. The conventions of the fantasy film are
the opposite to the horror aspects, there is high key lighting to make the
audience feel at ease and that nothing bad is going to happen. Again the music
changes through out the scenes that are seen to be fantasy and the music is
more upbeat and relaxes the audience and instead of them expecting what’s about
to happen the audience just enjoys and watches it more conventions of this is
there are fairies and aspects of magic which is a key element of fantasy films.
Propp believed that films followed traits from
old Russian fairy tale (this is when he got most of his influence from) (4)
Propp said that characters in film follow and go under a certain category such
as, the hero, the villain, the dispatcher, the princess, the false hero. These
types of character theories are easy to apply to The Black Cauldron as it has a
simple linear narrative however the Dark Knight Rises has a non linear more
sophisticated story line and the characters have to be explored into more
detail to determine which of the categories they would fall into. (5) Even
though Propp’s theory is simply to understand it still needs to be explored in
more detail so they can fully be applied to the right characters in my chosen
films. The main misconception about Propp is that it’s about the characters
however it is about character functions this means that one character in the
film can be seen to have two or more of Props theories this is when it becomes
more complicated. (6)
In both the films it is easier for an outsider
to determine who the hero is, Taran and Batman. However are these true heroes?
Is everything they do seen as a heroic act? As The Black Cauldron is a simple
narrative story Taran does remain the hero and the 'good guy' through the
entire film this makes it easier for people to follow the story and want Taran
to succeed. Although at the beginning of the film Taran is always being put
down especially by the other characters an example of this would be when Taran
and Eilonwy first meet Eilonwy- ‘are you a lord or a warrior?’ Taran- ‘I’m an
assistant pig keeper’ Eilonwy ‘oh what a pity’ (2) She does not think that
Taran can save her as he is ‘just and assistant pig keeper’ But later in the
film Taran proves himself to be the true hero as at the end of the film as he
defeats the villain and saves all his friends. We see that tran is the hero in
this scene as the non diegetic music picks up and becomes more celebratory then
tense as it previously was when they were fighting.
On the other hand because The Dark Knight Rises
has a much more complicated narrative it is harder to determine if Batman is a
hero through out the whole film or not. An example of this in the film would be
at the beginning when Batman first comes into the film he is being chased by
the police and deemed more dangerous then Bane, so does this make him the
villain? This shows that the audiences view of the characters if different to
the view of the other characters in the film. We as an audience see Batman as
being a hero due to the use of non-diegetic sounds such as upbeat heroic music
that gives the connotation to the audience that Batman is a hero. ‘Propp
conceptualizes these functions in two ways: the actions of the character in the
story and the consequences of these actions for the story’(11) This quote
shows that the actions of Batman make him seem the villain for example him
going after Bane consequence in the police going after him. As an audience we
see his journey to trying to be a hero but because the others in the film say
he's not to that make him a villain? Although towards the end of the film
Batman regains his hero title as he makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the
town and people who wanted him dead. We know he is the hero as the other characters
recognize him as being the hero Commissioner Gordon-‘shouldn’t the people know
the hero who saved them’ when Batman flies over Gotham and there is low angle
shots to show the people looking up to batman but not in an intimidating way
but in admiration this is obvious by the use of happy reassuring non diegetic
music.
Again in The Black Cauldron it is easy to see
who the villain is, The Horned King, we can tell this as every time he is on
the screen there are a lot of high angle shots as this shows the audience he is
incontrollable and is in power an example of this would be in one of the first
scene with the horned king in he is descending some stairs and the camera
starts of low at his feet and slowly panning up his body creating tension and
creating a big build up before seeing his face, which is scary and this is
typical to the fantasy genera of the villain being and looking scary. He also
is seen to have red eyes, which give the connotation of danger and death. It is
a lot harder to distinguish who the villain is trough out the whole Batman
film. It is easy to say that Bane is the villain as he is the one who cause the
most death and destruction but with many of the characters Bane has a
complicated story behind him for example he saved the young helpless child so
would this make him a hero/ he may not be the hero of the whole film but he is
still a hero. By this I mean he is a hero to the young girl who he saved but
even though he is seen as a villain to Batman he is still some form of hero. As
Batman is the main hero and he has to fight Bane to save Gotham
this make him the main villain by relating back to Propps character functions
the hero is the one to restore balance and the villain disrupts the balance.
(9) We can tell that Bane is the villain as in the scene when he reads
Commissioner Gordon’s letter he is positioned above everyone else and he is in
control over the scene as everyone is focused on him as he is scared of him. We
see this through the use of low angles shots and high key lighting making him
very visible and center of attention.
When looking into the princess roles it becomes
a bit complicated in each film, for example in The Black Cauldron one could
argue that Henwig (the pig) is the princess as she is the one that needs saving
from danger however this raises the argument of how Propp can be interpreted.
Can an animal be a princess? However there is a more stereotypical princess in
the film, Eilonwy, she is seen as the princess as she is very girly and there
is a distinct love between her and Taran the hero. Another trait of a princess
is to have a bit of conflict when she and the hero first meet and this is no
different to The Black Cauldron. This means she is a very independent woman who
believes she doesn't need help. We see this when Taran tries to help Eilonwy
escape from the castle she refuses him help and wants to do things her way we
see this through the use of camera shots both are at equal level showing they
are equal. (7) This links in well with 'Cat Woman' in The Dark Knight Rises a
good example of this would be when both batman and cat woman are on the roof
top fighting with Banes foots men, Selina is very in control of the situation
but denies that she needed any help she wanted to stay independent. Although
she needed help through out the scene her and Batman were very much equal, this
can be seen by the use of camera shots it is neither high or low angles meaning
nither character is looking up/down at the other. (1)
One could argue the Fox is the donor in The Dark
Knight Rises as he is the one who aids Batman by giving him lots of technical
advances that help him defeat the bad guys. This raises the point that can
science be substituted for magic? (5) As Props definition of the donor is the
person who supplies the hero with a magical object. In The Dark Knight Rises
magic is not realistic there for science fills its place, an example in the
film of when we see Fox helping Batman with the use of magic is when he shows
him ‘The Bat’ for the first time. During this scene we do not see ‘The Bat’
however by the reactions of both characters we can tell it’s a big object as
they look up at in with an expression of oar, ‘The ‘magical agents’ is not
necessarily caused their magic; it is the usefulness in helping the hero
affects a transition’ (11) this relates back to Fox showing Batman ‘The Bat’
even though this doesn’t have any magical powers it does help him out when he
is in danger for example when himself and Selina are trapped on roof top ‘The
Bat’ gets them out of trouble. This is the same look when Taran has when he is
first introduced to magic in The Black Cauldron. In The Black Cauldron there are
many references to magic as this is a key trait of a fantasy film, one of the
magical donors in the film would be King Eidilleg as he is one of the magical
helpers they meet along their journey to finding the Black Cauldron. We first
meet him after Taran and friends fall into the magical whirl pool and get
sucked under ground there they are greeted by many fairies these have the main
connotation of being magical also the non-diegetic music is widely associated
of music and things that are good. (2) King Eidilleg would be considered the
donor as he gives Taran vital information to help him on his way he also gives
them the ability to get back to land via the magic of flight.
Overall even though my two texts seem the
complete contrast of one another when they are just simply watched however when
they are looked at in more detail and have theories such as prop applied to
them they are not so different. To quote Vladimir Propp ‘The name of the
dramatis persona change, but neither their actions nor functions change’ (8)
The main uses and gratifications that the target audiences would get from The
Dark Knight Rises would be social integration as it is a mainstream film which
stirs up debates as its often compared to the last generation of Batman films.
Especially between the ages f 16-30 people are very connected to the Internet
and daily use social networking sites so can become very connected with vast
amounts of people and share their thoughts and opinions on the lasts of the
Batman Trilogy. These people who share their thoughts an ideas on a film they
have just watched are called an ‘active audience’ as they watch the film but
then go into it in more detail once the film is finished and preach your ideas
to other people. (10) Secondly the audience of The Dark Knight Rises will get
entertainment and escapism out of the film theses will be a more passive
audience who just sit back and enjoy the film and get taken over by all the
uses of technical codes and conventions. As the audience of The Black Cauldron
is 8-13 they are too young to used social media sites for the purpose for
social integration and they are more of a passive audience, as they don’t
understand how to look into films in more depth and detail. For this reason the
audience will get the gratification of entertainment and escapism.
References
(1) Batman: The Dark Rises- 2012 Christopher Nolan
(2) The Black Cauldron-1985 Ted Berman
(7) http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TomboyPrincess
(8) Morphology of folk tales
(9) Reading Popular Narrative: A Source Book
(10) Key themes in media theory – Dan Laughey
(11) Narrative and Genere – Nick Lacey
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