This a response for the following question... lecturers feel free to mark it number wise any wise really and provide feedback on parts which were good and parts where i went wrong.
Q. Through the telling and recieving of stories, we become more aware of ourselves and our shared human experiences. Explore this statement with close reference to your prescribed text. ( Plan this for 20 min and write in 40 mins - although i didn't do this according to its time, i did both under 60 min);
PLAN:
- thesis: Stories enrich our human experience in seeing the world differently
- eg.1 : eye - level close up of boots and billy's face
- Billy's approach, how willing he is to break gender stereotypes for his newly made passion
- eg.2: (music): london calling
- shares the perspective of 'crime' thru Tony
- eg.3: strength ( Billy) ( low - key lighting + dialogue):
- audience empathise with Billy and see Mrs Wilkiinson outside of her orthodox image from before in the film + depths of being able to maintain past relationships from long ago
- conclusion: Human experience shown through storytelling allow audiences/responders/ourselves to improve our lives by noticing the faults/ faults experienced by others. We establish better human experiences amongst ourselves by learning the losses and struggles featured in the stories.
EXTENDED RESPONSE:
Stories are fictional or factual accounts of individuals and events. Most fictional stories that relate to the human experience have elements of factual ideas. Stories usually account someone's past events in life. In relation to human experience, the human experinence is a shared experience we are all privileged to live through and for. It is the ultimate source and justification for all knowledge, specifically when one learns the bear truths of life and their reactions to it. Stories such as 'Billy Elliot', (2000) enrich our human experience into seeing the world differently. Stories give us insight into how past human experiences have helped us attain justification for knowledge in the present.
A brief scene which displays so is when an eye - level close up of boots and Billy's face are shown in 'Billy Elliot', (2000). An eye- level close up of Billy’s boots whilist taking off, transitions into focusing upon the ballet slippers at his feet. The camera then tilts towards billys’ face to display his facial expression. The film scene describes how Billy is joining a female stereotyped sport of ballet rather than continuing on with his boxing journey ( boxing is seen as a sport associated only to males in the movie). It shows how Billy thinks differently from the other guys of his age group and how he is the anomaly by choosing ballet over boxing. This allows responders to suggest how Billys’ approach to passion in sport goes towards the sport the least likely expected by a child of his gender and age. He may even be compared to the situation to that of boys in the present of which some indeed do practise ballet.
Another film technique which describes the link into stories to human experiences is found in the music of 'London Calling', by the clash. 'London Calling', is played during the riot Tony had organised. The song starts off with a scene depicting a crowd of people flooding the streets. It then transitions to Tony opening a house door ( high - angle shot) revealing a small child. This image highlights the life of violence associated with growing up in this society and the impact that it has on the innocent. As the loud and energetic song continues, images of the police punching an old man in the face are interspersed with images of Tony running through houses and Billy looking for his brother. An extreme long - shot from behind a large group of lined- up riot police illustrates their power and number. We are provoked to see the world differently through the journey of an individual who has commited crime (Tony). We are provoked by Daldry to not always look from the bystander side or even the victims’ side but to also see through the perspective of someone who is trying to escape from their own created troubles such as Tony in this scene. The featuring of a small baby also conveys how Daldry has used purposeful decisions by embedding the baby to outline how Tony has left the world of innocence and has progressed into the dark world of crime and guilt. This is also effectively shown by the large scale of police visible in the scene.
To recognise the awareness of ourselves, we also need to focus on the human quality of strength shown in the low - key lighting scene and dialogue in 'Billy Elliot'. The low - key lighting throws shadows around the gym, suggesting some secrecy or the unknown. In this setting Billy opens up about his mother for the first time. He shows Mrs Wilkinson a letter from his mother and she comments ‘She must have been a very special woman’, to which he matter- -of - factly replies ‘No, she was just me Mum’. This scene also illustrates Billy's innocence and vulnerability. This allows us to know more about Billy’s context with his Mum when she was alive as if it was a purposeful decision of the director’s to further highlight the tight bond Billy had to his Mother. It allows us to empathise with Billy and see his life differently as well as his bond with Mrs. Wilkinson differently after seeing her empathise with Billy too. The low - key lighting emphasises how individuals have to go into ‘the unknown’ to go back to their memories with the loved ones they have lost from before.
Therefore, human experiences through storytelling allows audiences like us to justify their knowledge of what it means to be human and the perspectives of others in knowing how and what the human experience should be defined as.
thanks!
, Komal:)