THIS IS ME

This is me:

Following Neales theory of repetition and variation, we can see that This is me is a hybrid of films. It starts in a hospital, a very serious and sad place, where we see a series of CU's of hospital related props, such as a body lying on a hospital bed, hospital equipment and still body parts. Diegetic sounds such as heavy breathing through an oxygen tank and bleeping of hospital machinery are heard. Over all the serious shots of the hospital, we hear a voice over, which is spoken in a humorous way, contrasting with the shots seen on screen- "an iron lung the size of a Sony widescreen and more tubes than London Underground."

Then the film moves to a garden in the sunshine where there is humorous lines and comical moments. Non diegetic sound of Hawaiian music is heard to create a comical feel to him sitting in his back garden, 2 years ago when he wasn't ill- he calls it "London's best kept secret garden suburb." which creates irony when a diegetic sound of a plane flying over is heard. This then changes to a comic book theme, where comic like illustrations are added into the film. Elevator music is added here to give a cheap and cheesy feel to the film and the shots are slightly sped up to add an excitement to the action. The voice over also adds a cheery feel to the film. The moving images in the book also adds a comic book theme, then when the book is closed, the elevator music stops and so does the voice over.

The changing of genres keeps the audience interested and refreshed. They think at the start that they will be watching a serious film as it is set in a hospital, however as the film progresses and the voice over starts, they soon realise that they are watching a comedy with many different elements to it, eg, the voice over, the cartoon images and the comic book theme.

Stereotypical semantic codes are used to show that this is a comedy based film following Altman's theory. The Hawaiian music is ironic as he sits in his back garden in London, his swimming trunks with cartoon frog faces printed on them and his fat belly hanging out as he 'sunbathes'. These codes are also used to show that he is a typical 'Londoner', such as, the gold chain around his neck, his words in the voice over not being pronounced correctly- 'in me backyard', and the semi detached houses shown in the LS which are uneven and dirty.