AS Media Project: Film Analysis

The people in this clip are conforms of stereotypical and none stereotypical of the male and female gender. There are two gender groups in this clip which are shown in different ways to which the viewers would and wouldn’t expect. The first male we see in the clip is Stephen Hart who is being shouted at by a woman. The way this plays out makes the woman seem more powerful then him because after she is done shouting at him she climb into a huge Jeep, and slams the door aggressively which also isn’t feminine but a more masculine thing to do but it does show that this woman has an aggressive tone in her which is not associated with the female gender.. He is told by the series main character Nick Cutter to let her go. Stephens costume is often smart casual which reflects his character as the smart, calm member of the team. His quick thinking is often benefits the group. His hair cut is neat but manly, slightly jelled to make him look even manlier. The close up on his face shows the disappointment on Stephens face before walks back to his team who are sitting on a small table with a large umbrella over it, despite the cosy looking seating the team does not look very comfortable due to the current situation. The scene then changes and introduces you to an establishing shot of dark pine forest, this is where the team wish to find the Smilodon (sabre-toothed tiger) they have been after. This forest is dark, dense and moody, setting the scene very well along with the orchestral music which has played throughout the clip. The female character seen driving the JCB is Abby Mitland who, despite her tomboy appearance and attitude, seems to attract the eyes of males on her team such as Conner Temple who is desperate to have her as a girl friend. Abby’s costume in this scene is masculine, a dark brown leather jacket, a short white hair cut and some loose fitting black trousers and a small amount of make up which is the only feminine thing about her. Her masculine costume reflects her tomboy attitude. She is a strong and dependable character who doesn’t often show fear in most life threatening situations. As Abby is driving the JCB Cutter walks past with a large pile of twigs in his arms, this makes him look weaker then Abby in the JCB as she has a huge powerful machine and he just has a pile of twigs. Cutter is a professional palaeontologist and the head of the team. He has vast knowledge on dinosaurs and is an expert at identifying them. He is a strong character but is vulnerable to his wife who went missing threw one of the time anomalies prior to the series. His costume for this mission is simply as Cutter knows that wearing expensive cloths during missions like this is pointless as his job often involves him getting dirty and almost killed. He wears a dull blue t-shirt and some brown loose trousers. His hair is messy as he obviously isn’t trying to attract any feminine attention. This hair makes him look like a busy working male, which in a way is stereotypical of the male gender. The scene changes and Abby is digging in the ground quite messily with her JCB’s front scoop, this shows how impatient and carefree Abby can be. But as she unearths a human hand which is a few feet buried in the soil she is told to stop by Cutter. Once the JCB Ceases function all goes quite, but this is soon broken by the sound of roaring. There is a very quick pan over to the dense forest around the team but the cat cannot be seen until the next shot of it running towards Cutter who is vulnerable in the open. To escape from the huge prehistoric beast he jumps into the hole Abby was digging, I assume these holes were going to be used as pitfalls for the Smilodon as just before the digging scene there was a small scene of Conner Temple placing meat very delicately on some bed of leaves, clearly a pitfall for the Smilodon. Conner’s costume is not as masculine as Cutters, Stephen’s or even Abby’s as he is usually seen wearing a red scarf around his neck, in this scene is wearing a pink shirt, a black leather Trilby, red fingerless gloves to match his scarf, a black armless jacket, and some baggy brown trousers. Although Conner tries to be manly he often fails and looks more feminine then Abby, even with small amounts of facial hair around his jaw and top lip. He is the Geeky member of the team, he is slow, weak and not very smart when it comes to women and is also often saved by Abby or another member of the team but shows large amounts of interest in science fiction, technology and Dinosaurs, without his knowledge of dinosaurs the team wouldn’t know what to expect from the creatures they are hunting. Cutter is forced to seek shelter in the hole as the Smilodon swipes at him, the low angle camera makes cutter look weak compared to the huge muscular beast and compared to Abby who swing the JCB Scoop at it in order to save Cutter, this breaks the stereotypical view of Damsel in distress as it is usually a woman who needs saving. When the cat picks a fight with the JCB The camera movement tracks the movement of the Smilodon as it tried to beat the diggers scoop with its paws, during this a piece of mud hit the camera. This is editing to show that the surroundings are wet and muddy, not nice ground for a girl to walk on which is why Abby is in the JBC, this is a stereotypical view of women and hating getting dirty. Once Cutter climbs free from the hole he leads the creature away as part of the plan to take the animal down, he is seen as prey by the Smilodon which makes him look weak compared to the huge cat he is trying to save. Somehow he manages to run to a rope ladder and climb it faster than the cat can climb the tree next to him. Using his belt he attaches himself to a zip wire and races down it. This is a masculine thing as he has to hang on for dear life to his belt. There are loads of camera shots here which track his journey down the wire. There are POV’s to show the speed of which he is moving, tracking shots from below him at a low angle to show how high up he is. And view from him front of him to show him hitting into bushes below him which looks painful. These are all edited together quickly to make it look like he’s moving faster then the cat below him. At the end of the wire is a platform which he jumps, during this jump the camera cuts to a shot of Abby loading a dart gun and firing it. The dart hits the cat as it leaps over Cutter and off the platform. Abby has the gun to show that she is not a weak female, and it also shows how powerful and masculine she, this makes her fit into her team better as the whole team is composed of men. The music during this scene is fast and intense, but dies out as the Smilodon leaps over Cutter, which suggests that the danger has passed. The next scene is of everyone regrouping in an open pasture. The camera shows them all in the same shot, this connotes that they are all equal. Ever they regroup there are many two shots as everyone except Cutter is standing in a pair, this makes Cutter look more independent then the others. During the talk they discus a new danger and the music begins to build again leading onto the next scene with the real antagonist Jenny Lewis. She may look innocent but in this scene she is trying to black maim someone into saying that the Smilodon or ‘lion’ was actually his, and if he didn’t she would tell the police that he is breeding dogs for fighting. Her costume consisted of a cream coat, a black dress, and bright red lipstick. Her black dress suggests she is villainous and her red lipstick was a representation of blood or danger. The way she stands and the way she talks is a big give away to how twisting she is trying to be. She knows she has the upper hand against him. The camera flicks back and forth between the pair in a shot reverse shot, the male clearly not happy with the way she is trying to black mail him. When Jenny mentions that he is breeding the dogs for breeding there is a shot of the dogs laying behind him in the hay, meaning these are the dogs he is breeding. Jenny tries to walk away, convinced she has the cover story for the Smilodon, but as she turns back the male picks up a shotgun and points it at her. The music peeks and intensifies, the shots reverse shots and editing becomes quicker. When he fires a shot at the ground the dogs behind him start barking. Jenny is pulled back into the barn and is pushed onto the nay, a high angle shot showing how defenceless she with a man pointing a shotgun in her face. The edit in this shot turned to slow motion, the how scene paying out a lot slower to suggest these are Jenny’s last moments. There is a cut away to the dogs barking and trying to pull on their chain’s which increases the violence the audience see’s in the male with the shotgun. Their barks are none diagetic sounds added in when the scene was edited. The next shot is of the Protagonists, Stephen Abby and Conner. During this shot Abby and Stephen have handguns and Conner is unarmed, so he quickly grabs up a shovel. The fact that Conner is unarmed makes him look even more pathetic and suggests that maybe the group doesn’t trust him with a firearm.

This was one of my most resent textual analysis's where i had to talk about the stereotypical wayts in which gender was prtraited in a clip of primeval [The episode with the sabertoothed tiger in)

The director has used a range of techniques to create a dark atmosphere. The opening of the film is set at night at a dock and on a boat; this is a shady setting which clearly screams crime. It could be a private boat belonging any of the characters in the opening scene. It begins with an un-introduced character smoking on the floor, near him is a body; most likely suggesting that he killed the man. This character then lights a trail of petrol or another flammable liquid, from the matches he lit to light his cigarette, which has spilt onto the ground.

Behind him there are also flames meaning this is possibly the end of a fight. The music during this is slow violins meaning the scene is calm but not safe, this adds tension. As the flames run along the trail of petrol the Antagonist puts it out with his own urine from a higher level. The camera tilts up so you can see the male but the lighting is set so that you can’t see his face of any other feathers but you can see the male is wearing a long overcoat and hat. The male smoking below him is unable to move while the antagonist walks down the stairs towards him but he doesn’t attempt to move or escape meaning the two know each other

The character on the ground has to look up at the other male making him look more powerful. The antagonist has a dark calm powerful voice. You never see the antagonist face which makes the character completely unknown. As the pair talk, the flames behind the sitting character flicker, making it look almost like hell. The antagonist warns the sitting character before he shoots him, this makes him seem in control of the situation. As the dark character walks away he relights the trail of flammable fuel and the dock blows up, maybe this is to get rid of any evidence that the murder ever happened. The music intensifies as soon as the fuel trail is lit. During the scene the camera focuses on several pieces of rope which are in the dock, the reason for this is to make the audience think that maybe there’s something hidden in the rope or that the antagonist will use the rope as a weapon.

At the end of the scene it cuts away to a man bathed in white light, this effect makes him look heavenly or like an angel meaning he has good intentions, but sometimes characters are pacifically dressed in white to make the impression that they are good when they are in fact evil.

This is my textual analysis of the usual suspect. i don't have the original print out with the markings on. This was the second textual analysis i was forced to do