Tuesday, 15 November 2016

Pulp Fiction




  • Definition of pulp at the start
  • Starts of with Ringo and Yolanda planning a robbery, Ringo seems to be more talkative and dominant as he gets the full attention of Yolanda.
  • Brings up store owners having guns and killings
  • The robbery starts to take place, Yolanda is seen as more aggressive when making demands compared to Ringo, which is seen as unconventional as she is taken charge of crowd control.
  • OPENING SCENE
  • Cuts to the title with the soundtrack, this is odd as the opening scene is usually at the start of the movie. Showing themes of Fragmentation that can be seen throughout the movie.

VINCENT VEGA & MARSELLUS WALLACE'S WIFE
  • Introduced to Vincent and Jules, mise en scene with the suits
  • Vincent conversation consists of drugs and alcohol 
  • Getting guns from the trunk
  • Talks about Marcellus and Mia, Rumour of Marcellus being overprotective over Mia as one of the guys got thrown out a window. 
  • Vincent and Jules are associates to Marcellus so can infer he is the boss
  • Introduction to the briefcase which seems at the time a relevant plot piece. The use of gold lighting on Vincent's face might mean the contents of the briefcase could be associated with wealth. 
  • Mise en Scene - meet up place is trashy and unkept, fast foods, Vincent is smoking. Suitcase code 666
  • One of the roommates is shot, while the other is trying to negotiate, Jules continues to use intimidation and voilence. 

  • In a bar, unlike Vincent and Jules, Butch is dressed casually showing he is an outsider towards the group.
  • Butch gets offered money for a job by Marcellous
  • The plaster on Marcellus makes us question the timeline, also Jules and Vincent appear and it is pointed out their clothing is different from their normal suits.
  • Vincent is going to treat Mia with respect due to her being Marcellus wife, afraid to go out of bounds due to his boss.
  • Mise en Scene classic use of red lighting in the bar to show the confrontation between Marcellus and Butch

  • Vincent questions about piercings, also buy drugs. Discusses the seller's market and how heroin is becoming more popular.
  • When Vince insults Jodi, he apologises because its his wife. However, when she comes to the room to give him the baggies she gets pushed out of the way.
  • Masculinity trait showed when they are discussing cars

  • Different shots of drug related things, needle, lighter, etc so that the audience thinks he has taken the drugs without seeing him inject himself.
  • Introduced to Mia, who is watching Vincent through security cameras. She takes drug before meeting Vincent
  • Mia casually smoking 
  • Elvis Man and Kitty cat
  • 'Hollywood Men'
  • Pop culture references
  • Mia gets into the car first, Vincent seating position is rather laid back due to the fact he is in-front of Mia, he doesn't have to put on the facade 
  • Making a joint - Amsterdam associated with drugs
  • Marilyn Monroe- the seven year inch white dress. Over sexual? shot of the people near the bar looking at her
  • Mia in the toilet- showing women obsessed with their beauty or the way they look as seen with the women putting on makeup while Mia is taking drugs
  • Subverts most gangster movies as Mia denies the being involved with Tony as it is unreasonable. Vincent comments 'I understand that Marsellus is very protective of you'
  • Vincent and Mia are seen dancing- showing how comfortable they are around each other, compared to other mafia movies like the Godfather  that show the separation of both genders.
  • Vincent goes to the toilet- seen throughout the movie as an ominous thing because bad events happen when he is not around. Mia ODs 
  • Vincent talks to himself in a king of monologue questioning his morals

Monday, 14 November 2016

Film Treatment

When Worse Comes To Worse

Idea


The beginning


The D 'Angelo family were known for one thing and that was power. The power to give and the power to take away. Two choices that may not seem like a lot but are engrained in the mind of all who follow or hear of the family.
The first time Gabriela participated in a run was due to a misunderstanding. How was she to know Perro, her guardian had sold her off to the Rags to pay off his debt. She was given a bag to be dropped off at Adriano's place. She wasn't supposed to have started a war between the two main families.
However, the rags had a different plan for her. They came to collect their property, at her door before she was even awake. Then dropped her of in the Dormitory, the supposed 'housing facility' but was used as training grounds for the slumps bringing up the best runners and transporters for the families. It was known for its harsh treatments and the amount of dead bodies that were piled up weekly at the lake. Gabriela knew she didn't stand a chance of surviving, the mortality rate for females were close to none. Gabriela also knew she couldn't run away from the rags. Instant Death Sentence. So she did herself a favor, with the limited resources she has, she bought bandages, hair dye, scissors, clothes, and contacts.
From that day Gabriela became Gabriele.



*5 years later*



Gabriele had gone up the ranks of the family, he could remember being in the streets the survival mechanisms kicking in. Learning to trust no one as they were snitches and ears all around the Rags waiting for you to mess up. Due to his quick thinking and tactical mind, Gabriele had been bought out from the Rags by Enrico and placed at the doorsteps of the D' Angelo Family. People of this family were given power, but there was an expected way to use it. The D' Angelo family used violence. Violence in any form, it could be from killing, it could be emotional pain, or isolation. This was exactly why the hazing program had been terrible for Gabriele. One being that he had his secret of his gender and the other being breaking a family.


Gabriele looked at the boy beside him, Vincenzio, a constant reminder of the destroyed childhood that the Di'Angelo family had induced on him. The killing of his parents was supposed to be a normality, but taking him into the family and raising him as a D'Angelo was an insult. However, Gabriele knew he couldn't go against the word of the Don.


Story Plan


Vincenzio parents are killed in front of him. He thinks Gabriele did it, and hatred towards Gabriele at first but due to the mentorship from him, he comes to accept Gabriele. Later he finds out it was the Don, Massimiliano, that personally killed his parents (make up a reason). Vincenzio starts to plot against the Don.

Massim hears the Rags have been gaining more power and income due to doing their business on other mafia families territories. He decides to send out one of his capos team to do the same with Michele territory. However, they get killed after an encounter with the Rags but the Rags lose some of their merchandise due to this. Rumors of The D' Angelo being involved in the incidents arise and there are arguments in the family, some questioning Massim leadership. The D' Angelo family is put under scrutiny due to Massim poor decisions and leadership, and Gabriele and Enrico warn him not to upset the Cosa Nostra. Massim does not listen to the counsel and plans to send off another Capo team that includes Vince but due to the increase of the police alertness due to the rise of misconduct shown by the rags, calls it off.

The upcoming group is surfacing and the leader Giacomo, who we find out is the leader of the Rags which links to Gabriele wants to destroy the Cosa Nostra and come up on top. Gabriele wants revenge on the Rags for selling him to the mafia family.

Don finds out about Gabriele's Gender. Feeling angered and betrayed by this, Don puts out a hit towards Gabriele, due to this Gabriele and Vincenzio decide to team up together to take out the Don. Gabriele first convinces the administration of the D 'Angelo family with the help of Enrico and gains support from them and the rest of the members. Meanwhile, Vince confronts the Don in his office alone, Vince pulls out a gun to kill Massim, Massim to disorient Vince tell the truth of Gabe's Gender. In the moment, Massim struggles to get the gun from Vince and points the gun to kill Vince. Gabriele enters from the secret passageway and shots Massim before Massim has a chance to kill Vince. Vincenzio becomes the next Don with Gabriele as his Consigliere and accepts Gabriele gender due to her saving his life.

Other Don families feel threatened by this takeover, they call for a meeting in which Basilio brings up the issue of the Rags getting out of hand, as they are alerting police attention onto the mafia drug business. As a peace settlement, Vince and Gabriele accept the job to take out the Rags. Gabriele who has been in the Dormitory before plans out and advises the Don on how to intercept them. They confront themselves at night. In the fight between the Rags and Di Angelo family, Underboss Enrico gets killed in the process of the Vince winning by Vince killing Giacomo. Gabriele then becomes the Underboss of the D 'Angelo family. Everyone knows his true identity but is still accepted into the family.


Structure of Mafia




The Commission




----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Boss/ Don 


4 families
DONS

Abramo (Moretti)
Basilio ( Lo Vecchio)
Massimiliano (D' Angelo)
Michele (Zacchelli)

RAGS DON
Giacomo


Consigliere 


Gabriele (D' Angelo)
Edmondo
Guglielmo
Raimondo

RAGS CONSIGLIERE
Sigismondo

Underboss 



Arrighetto 
Enrico 
Federigo 
Ricciardo

RAGS UNDERBOSS
Alonza




Caporegime

Capos of the D' Angelo

Niccolo
Vittorio
Allessandro


Soldiers


Soldiers of the Di' Angelo Family


Martino 
Marcello 
Luigi 
Gualtiero 
Ermanno 
Elda * 
Armanno
Vincenzio



Associate


Angelo 
Nunzio 
Sergio 
Camilla 
Gregorio

Rat


Paolo
(Betrays the Rags to Gabriele)

Goomah


Martha

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_Mafia-related_words

Tuesday, 8 November 2016

Levi-Strauss- Binary opposition

Claude Levi-Strauss was a French anthropologist and ethnologist who developed the theory of structuralism and structural anthropology.
A binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.
Levi Strauss theory on binary opposition talks about how narrative can be split into opposites, such as Good and Evil, Man and Woman, Rich and Poor, etc. Due to having these opposites, when together it creates the conflict in the narrative story and this becomes the central climax.



In Pulp Fiction, there are some elements of binary opposition



Vincent and Jules



Ringo and Yolanda



Butch and Marcellus