KELUANG MAN (1996) AND EJEN ALI (2016)

(1996)

(2016)

GENRE CRITISM : ANIMATION

The television series that I have chosen to make as a contrast is Malaysian Ainimation that is Keluang Man that was produced by UAS Animation Studios (M) Sdn. Bhd and had released on 1996 until 1998 by TV1. While Ejen Ali was produced by WAU Animation and had released on 2016 until now by TV3. Keluang Man have seven season while Ejen Ali have two season. For this task, I will make a comparison between two different tv series with the same genre using three approaches aesthetic, ritual and ideological.

First, aesthetic can be defined as a combination of several types of genre into one story. This two series animation had combined three same genre that is action, animation and comedy. Althought there are same genre between this two series, but the storyline and the content are different. Keluang Man tell about Borhan is a patient at a mental health hospital and resides at Tampoi Happy Hospital. He was a martial artist before being admitted to a crazy hospital. While, Ejen Ali tells of an elementary school student who accidentally engages himself in the intelligence world without his parents know.

Next, ritual is mean the element that need to potray in some story to ensure a story become a story. For example in Keluang Man, this story does not adopt the stereotype concept as much as the existing superhero story. The superhero characters that is Keluang Man and Tiong Man are casual and do not use magic power or technology other than instinctive guidance when faced the enemy. While, Ejen Ali and his friends using a technology called I.R.I.S that enables his users to excel in martial arts and also read the movements of their opponents.

Lastly, the difference of ideological in this two cartoon series is Keluang Man shows that at that time there were no sophisticated technologies used by superheroes when it came to killing criminals in their area because the police were often late at the scene. They only use martial arts which is martial arts when fighting with enemies. Meanwhile, Agent Ali showed that superheroes at the time had sophisticated technology to fight the enemy even though his superheroes were just elementary school kids. They also have a headquarters that houses high-tech training centers, weapons stores and more.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1D5widFqwKlg12WVixOJKlie3ZuerkY-g

                              

FILM : OMBAK RINDU 
DIRECTOR : OSMAN ALI 
CAST : AARON AZIZ, MAYA KARIN, LISA SURIHANI, BRONT PALARAE, ZAIDI OMAR, AZIZAH MAHZAN              

Ombak Rindu is a Malaysian 2011 romance drama film directed by Osman Ali that starring Aaron Aziz, Lisa Surihani and Maya Karin. The film was adapted from the 2002 novel of the same name written by Fauziah Ashari and published by Alaf 21. The film cost 1.56 million, but received a breakthrough rating and earned 10.90 million in revenue. Actress Maya Karin also won the Best Female Actor in the 25th Malaysia Film Festival as well as the Best Actor in the Film Awards 2012. In addition, the theme song of this movie titled Waves Rindu was sung by Hafiz and Adira. won the Best Theme Song award at the 25th Malaysia Film Festivals.

In short, this is a love story between Hariz and Izzah, two people born from two different worlds, Izzah travels as an Ustazah who teaches the villagers to study the Quran, prostituted by his own uncle, performed by Hariz and bought to become a mistress, eventually marriage and the seeds of love. Mila's presence in the film adds to the conflict in which she and Hariz are forced to marry. Then the presence of the Mail made slanderous remarks from Hariz's mother and escalated the conflict.

First of all,  the movie show poor view through the storyline used. This is reflected in the story of Ustazah Izzah's tragedy. The tragedy of Western storytelling is as much love as it is in the human nature of Hariz's character Aaron Aziz. The film does not incorporate elements of love because of religion even though Izzah's character is a village master. The visibility of the muslimah whose soul is not well represented in this story.

But, the movie storyline ran away from the stereotypical scenes that are often featured in films that bring about the same theme as this movie and it makes very satisfied and quite entertained watching each scene in this movie. Maybe a bit corny at first when seen in the story of a village girl who is forced by his uncle to be a servant or a prostitute without volition itself but what is interesting here is how character building Hariz depicted as a child dignitaries womanizer, hot-tempered and arrogant changed into a good man and began to know the meaning of love after meeting with Izzah who was religious. This movie is that the 'black' character that is often seen in other films will always be black towards the end of the film and will likely be punished severely in the end but it is very much against the character Hariz in this movie. How clever the writer of this story was to change the character of Hariz from 'despicable' in the beginning because every viewer was told that Hariz had actually harmed many women but when the character became so 'pure' and how powerful the religion was can purify the heart of Hariz who was previously black.

The story of a girl being raped shows up from another where no one really wants the incident to happen to them but how Izzah's character tries to address the problem in the movie is a really cool idea to watch. The story of this movie even though it is full of tears but the sweetness is still there. The tears that are shown to the audience in this movie because to me they are not tears in the trash category that do not mean anything. Each of their tears is valuable because it shows the emotions of each character that helps them convey what is implied to the audience and reinforce the storyline.

This film contains a hybrid genre combination of love and religion that can make audiences more attract to watch this film. First, we talk about the genre of love as the film emphasizes the love story between Hariz and Izzah. Most people are more likely to date first before setting up a house to get to know their spouse first. However, that does not necessarily guarantee the happiness of the couple as we are often told how the relationship has been broken despite having been in love for years and even divorced before getting married. Things like this happen too much in our own society in Malaysia and many directors make it an idea to produce a movie or drama. However, the director in this movie chose the love genre which tells of the romance after marriage which is also one of the most common things in the Malaysian society. The genre of love in this movie is further emphasized when there are plenty of romance scenes as well as some hot scenes for the audience. The ideas that shaped this genre that is love from time to time have never expired and are still fresh for use by directors in Malaysia as Malaysian audiences are more likely to watch movies or dramas that are closely related to the reality of our lives.

Religious genres are also included in the film to convey a message to a mostly Muslim audience. In this genre we can see in Izzah where a teacher in a village who also teaches. Izzah was also a girl who showed her devotion when she kept watch and prayers beside her husband during Hariz coma. This genre is very relevant and should be highlighted by directors in Malaysia as the official religion in Malaysia is Islam. However, this genre is less popular because most Malaysian audiences prefer to watch genres like love, action and humor.

Next, there are some mistakes with the script in this film with the way they close one round and switch to another. When the scene ended with the dialogue, it was closed before the dialogue was finished. Seriously, it's annoying and every time I want to move on to another round, only fade away techniques are used. We usually see this style in a power point slide presentation. Occasionally it's okay, but when it is made almost all scene, it looks not creative and lazy.

Besides, scene part also has some mistake such as there is one scene of this train taking place at the Alor Star train station. It is based on the structure of the station and the area under construction, which was once an old building. In this movie, Izzah takes the train to Kuala Lumpur. In reality, the train that Izzah traveled was actually to Arau and then to Siam. On the other hand, to get to Kuala Lumpur, the train was supposed to come from the opposite direction and it only came at night. Second, the scene that Haris was soaking wet that he helped Izzah into the nightclub with the white shirt he was wearing while saving Izzah. Strangely enough, his clothes were dry and showed no signs of wetness. In fact, when Haris opened her shirt and showed off her singlet, it did not look wet and sticky to her body. go back to meet his mom. Third, the scene when Izzah kitten he picked up at the bus station after being bought by Hariz grew up quickly. After just a few shots, we see Izzah holding an adult cat. If this grown-up cat wants to show a long period of time, then the discussion on the name of the cat should not have taken place when Hariz's house put Izzah to stay after he bought it. Lastly, the hot-bed scenes and the hotly-lit scenes in the mass media to be extremely unsuitable for minors, so the Censorship Board should put them in a classification that fits their criteria, not just for public viewing.

Meanwhile, we also can detect the audio false that is when Mak Jah and Izzah were on the stairs, when Mak Jah mentioned 'We are his servants' without moving his mouth. There was also a scene of Mila and Afiah quarreling, when Afiah said 'I and Haris have no relationship', his expression was not on his lips.

Besides, the film also made my eyes glaze over with the cinematic beauty and lighting that made me so attractive and beautiful. This is probably because the filmmaker Sharad Sharan is trying to apply Bollywood cinematography to the film and it is a great and successful attempt. In this movie too, we see how Osman's crew presents beautiful shot composition (though sometimes a bit blurry) and editing plays with color tones that fit the mood and plot of the film. We saw during the opening sequence, how Osman was using a kite prop with Izzah stranded in the waves and the moment was the most memorable moment of the day when a man carrying a banner bearing Mila's name at the airport welcomed Mila's arrival from abroad.

In this film, Aaron’s acting is brilliant. It's hard to find Aaron's weakness in any movie or drama, unless his appearance and character are too typical. The best episode was when Hariz met Izzah at the house of Mr Dollah who was holding a prayer of safety at his house. Everyone will be touched when Hariz expresses his longing for Izzah and makes a promise to be loyal to her. I held the hand of the sign of victory because his face was so good back then. However, there are some scenes that show Aaron performing Hariz's character should not have happened. Her clothes are oversize and her pants are too soft. Looking at Aaron's situation at the time looked like Mr Pandir because of his inappropriate style and in fact, it was bad for men to wear oversize clothes. If you want to look good, one of the conditions is that they must wear suits.

Next, Maya Karin's truly incredible journey into Izzah's soul has come to light. Maya Karin's patience, sadness, bitterness, misery, happiness, joy and other life-forms. Imagine how the soul of an ustazah who taught the Quran was dragged to the brothel, from an abandoned village in the middle of a city, from a virgin bought to satisfy the lust of a man who was eventually seduced into a husband for God's favor. Izzah was calm when confronted with Mila who was also his honey. Izzah was relieved when Mother Hariz drove her away.

The other character is Mila that is performed by Lisa Surihani. The impact that Mila has on the story is not so much the thing as she is merely giving jewelry. Being an artist with a fan base is not something that is unusual for Lisa, so it is easy for her to carry Mila's character, the effects of her demeanor are less prominent and many may not feel her strong influence as a celebrity forcing Hariz to marry her. There are one scene when Mila's makeup at the airport was a bit awkward at first and her fake hair looked fake. If his character is going to be bad, then bring this popular artist character. In fact, Lisa's make up is not pretty at all.

Although Bront's scenes are not many, his character is very important. Hariz's character would not have seen the playboy and the heat without the presence of the Mail who was a gentleman, a man who was courageous but still maintained his manners and affection without dying despite knowing that Izzah was married. There is a huge gap between Mail and Hariz and it is certainly surprising that Izzah has fallen more in love with Hariz than Mail.

In conclusion, this movie has its own unique storytelling force that maybe people will objectively consider it just a happy ending story but for me it's more than that because I like how the black characters that are often viewed negatively are neutralized to be holy. The actors of the film have also provided solid acting as well as the lighting and cinematography quite interesting and beautiful. I think Malaysian productions can make this film and its director one of the best examples to produce a work that is more interesting and appealing to the Malaysian audience.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=148ZwqsLsUwneTspVkbKmDKCclLClAa7G

TASK 3 – IT CROWD (BROADCAST CRITIQUE)

1.What are the conventions that make up the genre?

IT Crowd is a British Sitcom that premiered on 2006 contain four series of six episodes which consists of 3 main characters which is Roy, Jen and Moss. The convention that make up the genre is the theme that highlighting about IT (information technology) and computer department. Three of them work at IT department in Reynholm Industries, a fictional British Corporation in London. The surrounding of the company is running gag in the whole series. It is hinted that the Reynholm company is a communication company. Roy and Moss are known as the IT technician in the company. According to Reynholm they are the group of standard nerds which being ignored and underestimated by the other staff. The setting of the story mostly take place in the office located in the basement which known for the IT members. In addition, the character in the IT Crowd is significance as a team of computer person. Roy is a nerdy looking guy that seldom being lazy in doing his job. He is a character that look like a bad guy that seeking for a right woman. While, for Moss he is a second lead character which bring the funny vibes in the story. He is a full mannered person and a work-shy person. The third character in this story is Jen. She is the department head/relationship manager who had know nothing about IT.

2.If the program appears to be a hybrid genre, what are the conventions of the genres that have been combined to make it a hybrid?

For my opinion, IT Crowd obviously we can see that the genre is comedy but if the program appears to be a hybrid genre, basically there is romance in it. The conventions of the romantic genre that have been combined to make it hybrid is we can sense that there is love line between Jen and also with the male character which is Roy. In one scene at season 1, we can see that actually Roy is caring toward Jen when he accompanies her to taxi after they were turned down by their dates.

3.What are audience expectations of that particular genre?

The audience expectation on that particular genre. In my point of view, the audience expect that the fictional genre brings them to experience the office work situation that consist of different people behaviours and social interaction among them.  Plus, the comedy genre that IT Crowd brings give the audience expect that the upcoming episodes will be fill of laughter and comedy.

4.What is the narrative progression? Describe the events.

The narrative progression in IT Crowd can be see in each of them which have a mini narrative arc through this episodes. It takes place in the IT Crowd initiates each of their narrative arcs. The Set-Up that takes place in Friends, is much slower and the backstories are included very subtly but to give enough detail for the audience not to get too confused. We must remember that the very first episode of a new sitcom has a more challenging job to do when setting up the structure. The IT Crowd has an expectation that the returning audience is aware of each of their main character’s personalities. The IT Crowd does not attempt to set-up narratives that will run across series and tries to make them completely self contained. In the Friends episode ‘The One where Monica gets a roommate’ we again see a very simple episodic narrative structure that has a resolution when Monica allows Rachel to move in. The episode also sets up many narrative arcs that will potentially stretch not only across multi-episodes, but seasons and eventually years.

5.How is time presented? Are the events successive? Do they go back and forth in time, or do events occur simultaneously?

They managed to arrange every each season or episodes with a suitable time arrangement because for this task we watched it through Netflix and it more easily to access if we want to watch it. Apart from that, every episodes and season they bring different types of issues or conflict. In every new episodes they have a different content.     

6.What is the lack or disequilibrium and how is the lack removed to restore equilibrium?

The It crowd covering and restore the scenes to make it looks complete without any scenes looks hanging is by replaced their ex-boss (MR. Denholm Reynhold) with his son. And to make it more balance, while waiting to make a replacement during the funeral they also brought the new character during that time to replaced Mr.Boss.

7.Is there a hero or heroin and a villain or villainy? How is the hero or villain represented? What are their actions, and how can their personalities be derived from their actions? Does the hero or villain have superior abilities?

The hero in IT Crowd can be seen at Roy, Moss and Jen. Negative One, the challenger to Moss in the 8+ group, is identified as the villain who challenges one our heroes. The villain is not evil or extreme like in some genres such as dramas and thrillers and he is used purely for humorous effect.The three characters; Roy, Moss and Jen alter routinely inside each account bend, taking on the part of helpers, for each other to supply counsel and inspiration to their next action. Prime may be a more obvious helper in his to begin with interaction with Moss and after that he rapidly gets to be the sidekick flabbergasted by Moss’ intelligence. No, the hero does not have hero and villain have superior abilities.

8.How does conflict play out? Are there oppositions such as goods and evils, legal and illegal, work and home, and/or masculine and feminine?

The conflict in narrative comes in many forms. “Man versus man” maybe between Roy and his boss. But, traditionally conflict is a major element of narrative or dramatic structure that creates challenges in a story by adding uncertainty to if the goal would be achieved. Conflicts may not always resolve in narrative, the resolution of a conflict creates closure or fulfillment. In the sitcom, the conflict occurs when the company loss their boss and the conflict started when they try figure out who will be the next boss after Mr Reynolm. The closure towards this conflict is when his son appears at the funeral and automatically he is the next superior.

9.Is there closure or delay until the next episode? How is this presented?

There is no delay until the next episode. Each episode provide a fresh and new stories. Plus, they does not let the audience leave hanging. As at the end of the episodes IT Crowd will portrays every delayed scene that left the audience hanging.

10.Identify the stages of hermeneutic code- enigma, delay and resolution- that move the narrative forward. Can you identify the enigma, delay and resolution or several of them in the narrative?

Enigma can be defined as a puzzle or question in the narrative that the audience want to find out for example in one scene of IT Crowd that will Roy ever prove to Alistair he is not a window cleaner as he is work at basement as IT worker. The other example of enigma is what happens to Richmond, why he ends up at the “RED DOOR” like a vampire but actually he is a Goth. The Delay is when Roy and Moss prohibit Jen to enter the room like something terrible is in the room. The resolution of the Red Door case is when Jen can enter the room after Roy stuck under the other employee desk and Moss is helping him and Jen has a conversation to Richmond freely afterwards.

11.Are there elements of older stories that are retold in the narrative?

Based on the episode there are presence of older stories elements which is the computer is the old model and Roy used reel-to-feel-tape recording to answer customers phone call whenever they asked for helped.

12.Can you identify myths? Do the myths give lessons for social order?

Myth can be identified as a folklore genre consisting of narratives or stories that play a fundamental role in society. The main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural human. Social order term can be used in two senses. In the first sense, it refers to customs and the second sense is referring to a stable state of society in which the existing social structure that already being accepted.  I do believe myths give lesson for social order is because myths are a live experience and not a static structure. Each person and each society experience with myth in a specific way so for me myths give lesson in its own way of interpretation.

13.Are there archetypes and rituals in the narrative? If so, how do they relate to the myths?

The archetypes and rituals in the narrative is about the life of working people. As we know that most people are busy working during the day and their life are frequently spend at the office. That is why they get along and socialize among themselves . However, I cannot relate the story to the myths as their social life is too realistic.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=18YP6wcrxqe92Gmm2WdsBUoRYqIfLJ0O7