Holiday Homework

Amy Pond Meets Amelia Pond - Doctor Who

Narrative: The narrative of the plot of this clip is that the Doctor's companion Amy Pond travels back in time and meets the younger version of herself in the National Museum that she visited in 1996 - the time period that she had travelled back to. The older version of Amy Pond learns the emotional story behind the box's transportation to where it is now. The Daleks - killer robots - chase after them in hopes to "exterminate" them. This doesn't follow Todorov's theory of equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium as it starts in an equilibrium, the problem that occurs is the Daleks arriving and we don't know if there is a new equilibrium because we don't know if the Dales capture them and the storyline is left on an enigma. This story is communicated to the audience mostly by reactions, Amy Pond has a shocked expression on her face when she realises that she has met the younger version of herself and the girl cast in the role of the younger version of Amy Pond looks like a child version of the actress that plays the older version of Amy Pond. The Dalek's meaning harm is communicated through the use of the word "exterminate" which literally means to kill. I think they will escape from the Daleks and Amy will end up revealing more about the future to Amelia and end up changing the past.

Character: The character of Amy Pond relates to the audience because Doctor Who is targeted towards an adult audience and so many parents may find a strong sense of personal identity linking to Amy Pond protecting the younger version of herself as in a way, it is similar to adults trying to protect the nostalgia and childhood innocence in their memories of childhood and the struggle of trying to preserve both those memories and their inner child. The character of The Doctor himself is a hero in this scene and so even first time viewers will naturally grow fond of his character thus creating the audience pleasure of personal relationships. The character of Amelia Pond is alone at the start of the clip, as many parents will be watching, they may feel sympathy for the neglected little girl which would draw them in to continue watching the episode to find out about her well being.

Iconography: The lighting has a cool bluish tint to it that is a convention of the Sci-Fi genre, this contributes to the colour scheme of vibrant and neon colours which connote the future and therefore may foreshadow the time travel that follows. In addition to this, the old relic glows a bright green just before Amy Pond appears. The Doctor's hair is dishevelled in this clip to give him the appearance of a mad scientist character type and his overly formal attire is out of place with the setting which may signify that his mind is much further above the norm as his costume is. The Daleks are probably the biggest identifying factor of the Sci-Fi genre as they are killing robots. They have mechanical movements and have one eye that glows bright yellow with a rusted exterior, this tells us that they are villainous characters and the very existence of AI  is a classic Sci-Fi trope.

Setting: The setting, of the museum, has elements of the science fiction genre such as a taxidermied specimen of a polar bear which could be used for a close up study. However, the setting strangely is unconventional for the Sci-Fi genre because it contains relics from the past rather than a futuristic dystopia where technology is at the forefront and the reasoning behind this is, the theme of the franchise is the idea of time-travel, a typical theme in Sci-Fi and it needs to showcase going back in time as well as showcasing the future. The mummy behind the relic that Amy Pond comes out of emphasises this as it creates a contrast between the futuristic theme of time travel and ancient times which may also foreshadow time travelling farther back in time in the near future.


Humans series 1 trailer:

Narrative: The narrative of this trailer follows a world where synthetics (androids) and humans co-exist and synthetics are made to serve human needs. In some households, synthetics are accepted into a family like with George and Odi where the synthetic was almost like the son George never had however in other houses, the humans are sceptical of their synthetic servants, like in the case of Laura's family and Anita. There is the common worry between humans that they will soon become obsolete and that their own technology will surpass them. Todorov's theory of storyline cannot be applied to the trailer because the trailer's main focus is to showcase all the main characters in the ensemble cast and so there is no equilibrium because in many of the character's opinions, having synths is not the norm and having them around the house and in public is a new thing that people are getting used to. The disequilibrium is that common worry that synths will surpass humans in all aspects of life and what happens to the characters is left as an enigma to make the audience intrigued so there is no new equilibrium. If I hadn't watched Humans before, I would guess that some synths (like Anita) would be sent back to the retailler and memory wiped because a human (like Laura) would find out that she is capable of caring and so she'd feel inadequate.

Character: A few characters portrayed in this could be the 'hero character type' such as Max's character as he is a synth that appears to be saving someone which will appeal to the audience because he is not supposed to have consciousness as an object, however, he is doing something out of the goodness of a heart that isn't supposed to exist. But I don't believe that any other of Propp's character types are portrayed in this trailer. Niska's character is very realistic as she says 'there is no home for us here' which I feel a strong sense of personal identity with because as a black person, I will always feel somewhat as though there is no true 'home' for me in British society. This will appeal to anyone who's ever felt like an outsider although she is referring to not being accepted because she's a Synthetic. Anita's character appeals to the audience simply because of the humour that she was unaware that she created in the statement "I'm watching you too Laura, you're right in front of me." However, I don't believe any of the human characters appealed to the audience particularly except Dr George Millican when he kissed Odi's head because many parents can relate to unconditionally loving your child despite difficulties, in Odi's case, him malfunctioning and being an older synth that needs to be replaced but in parents' case perhaps a mental disability or the child being adopted and not biologically theirs but they love them the same.



Iconography: The costume of many of the synths like Anita and Vera is simplistic and has a collar and is a muted shade of blue or grey and resembles a uniform to emphasise the fact that they are servants. All synthetics have bright green eyes, a colour often associated with the Sci-Fi genre. The number 41 on Fred's yellow uniform emphasises the fact that he isn't viewed by his employers with humanity and he is a slave to them. When Fred is in the 'hospital' the background is completely a bright white and the 'doctors' dressed in white holding a cable shows the audience that he is about to be experimented on like an animal. The makeup of the female synths is very natural looking but they are all styled to perfection with synths like Anita always having the same hairstyle that does not have one strand out of place and they look the same in every clip but the humans change their styling in every clip which highlights the fact that synths aren't human.



Setting: In some settings like outside of the strip club, there are obvious signs of the Sci-Fi genre including flashing blue lights (police siren lights) which ties in the conventional colour scheme of the Sci-Fi genre. Another example of this would be the all-white experimentation room because it has futuristic technology but looks like a hospital which is found both in the real world and in fictions. However, some settings like George Millican's house and the Hawkins' family home are normal house settings which are used to make the audience able to imagine the existence of high tech synths in their homes which links to the fiction or storytelling part of Sci-Fi.


Goodbye Mike - Stranger Things

Narrative: The story is communicated to the audience through dialogue, through this we learn that the 4 middle schoolers are attempting to slay the beast with a slingshot. When it appears as though one boy has damaged the creature, a girl appears and she has a nosebleed. We learn through the CGI that she has telekinesis and is killing the beast with her hand gestures. She turns to a boy on the floor, says 'goodbye Mike' and then screams at the beast which finishes it off. The plot doesn't follow Todorov's theory as it starts as a disequilibrium and ends in a new equilibrium but there was no equilibrium to start with. I would guess that it is revealed that they all have abilities, though none as strong as Eleven's as she was the main protagonist in this clip. I'm guessing Mike has supersonic hearing and so she said 'Goodbye Mike' because she knew the loud scream would either really damage him or kill him but she had to save the others and herself.



Character: The representation of both males and females were unconventional in this clip as the boys were ultimately unsuccessful in killing the beast and needed saving from Eleven, a female character because her abilities were far superior to theirs. So according to Propp's character theory, Eleven is the hero{ protagonist, the beast is the antagonist and the boys are the damsels in distress. Also, lookswise, Eleven's hair is in a traditionally masculine buzzcut and she is wearing a blue checked shirt so it wasn't until she spoke that I realised that she was a female and I think that was intentional.



Iconography: The lights in this clip are constantly flashing on and off, so when we get the first glimpse of the monster, it comes as a total jumpscare because we didn't get any sort of lead-up to it so in that sense, it is both a convention of Sci-Fi and the horror genre. The fact that Eleven gets a nosebleed every time she uses her abilities means that there are drawbacks to overusing her abilities which distinguishes this from the superhero genre because there is reasoning based on science behind her powers rather than it being a normal hero to villain conflict, Eleven is causing more damage to herself than the villain is.


Setting: It is set in a science classroom which ties in well with conventional themes of this genre like experimentation and experiments going wrong which I think was the reason these characters were in that situation in the first place. The notice board says 'Outer Space Travel.' which may be foreshadowing future themes and there is a diagram on the board. Also, the slingshot is a relevant prop as it is probably used in the classroom to measure elastic potential energy or the spring constant but is used as a weapon here. I think this symbolises the fact that science can help us discover more about how the world works which helps us understand it but it can also be used as a weapon for example how animal testing makes sure medicine is safe for humans to use but it kills and harms several animals.
















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