Casestudy The Hero

Film Knight and Day starring tom cruise and Cameron Dias

Hero -Tom cruise

 In this trailer it is clear to  see who the  hero is as the shots taken are used to make him stand out for example as Cameron Dias talks  the hero  who  she called “this guy”  the camera zooms slowly into his face indicating that he is this dangerous man. His facial expression at this shot is very cheeky giving the audience more about his character. As Cameron Dias continues to narrate her experience the scene is set on a plane a typical location for a hero to violently attract the villain. The music at this point is raised and is very upbeat rock music. This style of music conventionally fits well with action going on in act of action films. There are lots of stunts used by the hero showing him up to be undefeatable. The scene then goes into an acting scene with the two protagonists. As Cameron dais asks the hero about what happened to the people on the plane the hero answered in a comedic way which brings in the comedy aspect of this film.

Throughout the trailer I noticed the typical convention of an action and comedy film. There were explosions exotic settings guns and the villains are all men they are all wearing smart suites with dark glasses and have black cars. The comedy codes were typically from the female protagonist as typically in action films females act foolish as they are always the ones getting saved and the action is left for the men. For example the mise en scene where Cameron Dais was told to run on the count of three but instead she was ran before the hero told her to. This mise en scene showed the conventional female role within an action comedy, so from this the audience can tell that it’s a combination of both genres which would attract the audience even more.

The hero is very calm and relaxed as he sips his drink explaining to her that he killed the people on the plane. Normally the hero would be up stirred and serious but as this is a combination of two genres the hero had to be completely un moved by the death of what just happened this takes way the seriousness of violence that happens. The other mise en scene that happens is when the hero lands carelessly on the car as Cameron Dias was driving herself out of the chaos. He calmly goes to her “open the door” whilst shooting the villains. This is another scene that adds comedy to the film. As normally the hero would hastily shout, but the fact that he says it smoothly to her makes it funny. Also in the film he even compliments her on her dress whilst trying to get into the car. Lastly the villains are also very clear in this film as in the trailer.

Film Man on fire starring Denzel Washington and Decoda fanning

Hero Denzel Washington

In this trailer the camera captures the hero at very good moments. At the start the camera zooms in and quality of the picture becomes dark and you can briefly see the setting of the city through his face .The hero flips the bullet out of his gun showing he’s already our hero. However at the very start of the trailer we see text which is read out by our protagonist this sets the story of the problem that the hero has to solve. The hero’s record profile is read out this is what is included in the film as part of the storylines but to the audience it helps us have a over view of who he is as a hero. His interaction with the Decoda fanning our protagonist is very distant. She asks him about his hand to which he replies no more questions this almost foreshadows the kind of love that he’s going to have for her later on in the movie. As a hero he believes that it’s his job to look after her and not develop a friendship with her. As we see I the film before she’s kidnapped they start to develop a relationship which makes his action towards the villains very bitter.

There are many codes in this film that tell the audience that there is a hero that’s going to put things right. The actual context of the film is deals with a current affair that happened in Mexico so many people watch this film to see how it would be dealt with if there was actually a hero like the one in this film. Other codes and conventions are exotic location gun bombs and explosions this is typical along with the conventional explosion behind the hero. The dialogue is also conventional after the hero does with deeds. For example in film after he ties up the villain to a bomb he says to the villain make a wish but ends up staying himself I wish you had more time. Frasers like these show the hero up to be very angry and revengeful.

The little girl is very helpful to the hero this is not like other films where there’s no input to from the damsel in distress. Through this they work together and develop a good relationship. Most of the female characters in this film have important roles and also contribute to the getting the little girl back. The villains on the other hand are all Mexicans and some are corrupt cops.