Charlie's Angels: Scalastical Narrative

Webster 5

TO WHAT EXTENT DOES POSTCLASSICAL NARRATIVE DIFFER FROM CLASSICAL NARRATIVE? COMPARE AND CONTRAST ONE CLASSICAL FILM AND ONE POST-CLASSICAL FILM.

It is undeniable that the types of films being released and audience expectations have changed hugely over the years. Between the 1920s and 1960s, the Hollywood studio system dominated all aspects of film production. Consequently, they needed to create films that were appealing and accessible to the masses in order to maximise profits (Gomery, 1999: 247-252). These classical Hollywood films had similar traits such as: characters with clear goals and personalities, a tight chain of cause and effect, dual plotlines, appointments and deadlines, a clear opening, a strong closure, invisible
This is not the case in _Charlie 's Angels_ as the far-fetched stunts and special effects take us out of the action. The audience becomes desensitised to the computer generated images as 'all is construction and fabulation......nothing natural remains ' (Dixon, 2002: 359). Furthermore, _Charlie 's Angels: Full Throttle_ relies on a non-diegetic soundtrack whereas Psycho relies on diegetic sound. The only time _Psycho_ is dominated by non-diegetic music is when Marion is murdered in the shower. However, the music seems to become a part of the film as 'it is a force of aggression as frightening as the flashing knife ' (Sullivan, 2006: 244). In addition, the quick cuts and 'tour de force of montage editing ' (Durgnat, 2002, 117) is ecstatic and quite overwhelming for the audience but not excessive. In contrast, the loud, bombastic soundtrack of _Charlie 's Angels_ makes the film less naturalistic so it resembles a 'bad music video ' (Smithey, 2009). However, I would disagree and believe that without the music the fight scenes would be much less exciting. In many scenes, the erratic music actually fits well with the 'jerky and disjointed ' (Knox, 2013)
Gibson, (ed.) _The Oxford Guide to Film Studies._ New York: Oxford University Press.

Knox, S., 2013. Eye candy for the blind: re-introducing Lyotard 's Acinema into discourses on excess, motion, and spectacle in contemporary Hollywood. _New Review of Film and Television Studies,_ [online] Available at: <http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17400309.2013.803906#.UscA1tJdWSp> [Accessed 9th December 2013]

Pierce, Nev, 2003. Charlie 's Angels: Full Throttle Review. BBC, [online] 3rd July. Available at: < http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/06/27/charlies_angels_full_throttle_2003_review.shtml> [Accessed 30th December 2013]

Smith, in _Contemporary Hollywood Cinema_, ed. by Steve Neale and Murray Smith (London: Routledge, 1998)

Smithey, Cole, 2009. Charlie 's Angels: Full Throttle Review. Cole Smithey Reviews, [online] 5th January. Available at: < http://www.colesmithey.com/capsules/2009/01/charlies-angels-full-throttle.html> [Accessed 2nd January 2014]

Sullivan, J (2006) _Hitchcock 's Music_, New Haven & London: Yale University Press (Ch.20, Psycho: the music of terror).

Thompson, K (1999) _Storytelling in the New Hollywood: understanding classical narrative technique._ Cambridge, MA: Harvard University