MS4 - Text, Industry & Audience: Film

'A' Grade Exam Response

Section A: Text

To what extent are your chosen texts typical of their genre? [30]

The three chosen texts that I have analysed are 'Sin City', 'District 9' and 'Fish Tank'. All of which use different genre codes and conventions to create an interesting text that communicates a unique message to its audience.

'Sin City' is a product of postmodernism and is a hybrid of comic book and film noir conventions. This film focuses and is influenced mainly by the film noir genre and takes the feelings and attitudes felt at the time of the cold war, post WW2. These feelings include mistrust, paranoia, corruption and depression. This could also be linked to how film noir protagonists are cynical. For example, Marv says “I don’t even know why I’m on this Earth”. This is clearly a sign of depression that adds to the cynical attitude that Marv has throughout the film. A good example of the corruption within the film is the scene where Bob (John Hartigans partner) shoots John in the back because he wants to stop the senator’s son from hurting Nancy (a young girl).

Another convention of film noir that is present in 'Sin City' is the use of voice over narration. These are used only for the main protagonists to allow the audience to gain a deeper insight into that they are feeling at that moment in time. An example of this is when Dwight is talking about how he misheard his girlfriend saying, “Stop” when she actually said, “Cop” after the women in Old Town had just killed him. With this narration it helps guide the audience into what is happening with each interweaving storyline within the film and is typical of classic film noir from the 40's.

Other typical conventions of the film noir genre is the consumption of alcohol, prostitution and smoking. This is shown throughout the whole film. For example, the scene where Marv gets kidnapped in the bar, when he is drinking. The scene whereby Dwight has just fought off the cops with the women, he is clearly shown to smoke. Finally the scene whereby JackieBoy is trying to pick up one of the girls in old town hints at the idea at prostitution and perverse sexuality, clear indications of noir conventions.

All of the above are typical conventions of the film noir genre, however 'Sin City' also includes comic book conventions to create a more modern and interesting film that would appeal to a wider modern audience. For example, the protagonists have superhero powers often found in comic book/films. A scene which shows this well is when Bob shoots John in the back 5-7 times after he tries to save Nancy from the senator’s son. After getting shot this many times he still doesn’t die, instead he falls to the floor and continues talking - a reference to superhuman abilities, typical of the comic book genre.

Within 'Sin City' there are clear hero/villain roles, a convention often seen in comic book/films. The character of Marv, Dwight and John are seen as heroes by saving the princesses (regarding Propp's character theory) i.e. Nancy and Goldie. The most obvious villains within the film are Kevin, the villian who ate many prostitutes and the ‘Yellow Bastard’, the person who kidnaps Nancy near the end of the film who finds sexual pleasure in his victims screaming so then he can rape them.

Another film that could be considered postmodern for its experimentation with genre conventions is the sci-fi film ‘District 9’. The film contains conventions of the science fiction genre and a documentary approach to many of its stylistics, in effect it takes a similar approach to ‘Sin City’ in adopting new conventions. The film could be seen as science fiction, for its use of intertextuality within the genre. The scene in which Wikus begins to transform, biting off his own nails in the mirror, is a visual reference to David Cronenberg’s film ‘The Fly’. This is postmodern for its use of intertextuality and therefore makes it typical of the sci-fi genre. However, there are also more blatant science fiction conventions that could also be mentioned. For instance during the final scenes of the film, Wikus fights the MNU soldiers in a giant robotic suit, displaying his ability to use new alien technology. The use of new and futuristic technology here is a key element of science fiction, a genre that is heavily influenced by the realities of modern scientific discoveries. This action sequence is also reminiscent (and a convention) of many other science fiction films, most notably ‘Aliens’ when Ripley fights the alien creature in a similar way. The genre also lends itself to long futuristic action sequences, something that a sci-fi audience would expect. As well as this, District 9 features a completely new social and cultural way of living. The scene that depicts a street sign saying ‘No non-human loitering’, is an example of how the social way of living has adapted itself to alien life. This convention is typical of the science fiction genre, as it takes a futuristic way of life and combines it with reality. It is reminiscent of the science fiction film ‘Serenity’ which combines a futuristic setting with genre conventions of a western.

Despite its heavy science fiction influence, ‘District 9’ also takes conventions of the documentary format, thus making it less typical of the science fiction genre. As with ‘Sin City’, the film’s exploration in convention dilutes it from being considered one genre alone, making it postmodern. For example, its use of on- screen graphics and news montage is a convention of documentary, applied to a fictional text to give it the illusion of reality. In the opening sequence, an on screen newsreel reading ‘Aliens riot in the streets of Johannesburg’, accompanies news footage of rioting aliens. Blomkamp is using irony here, to reflect the reality of the themes and representations: the aliens represent the black people during the apartheid in South Africa. By giving something so obviously fictional a realistic documentary convention, it makes it postmodern, again making it impossible to identify it as one genre. Another example of documentary conventions.

'Fish Tank' is more typical in its use of social realism conventions and could also be considered very much a 'kitchen sink drama'. Social realism conventions include the use of predominantly diegetic sound, hand held camera work, a narrow depth of field, working class lifestyles and social problems, but it also presents a linear narrative for the audience making it appear more realistic. Hand held camera work can be seen throughout the film, it helps to show to the audiences Mia’s point of view, it helps to track her movements and constantly follows her round in the film. At the start of the film the audience sees Mia walking around on her own, the use of a wide angle shows that she is comfortable in the environment she is in and shows that she is in touch with the environment. This stylistic quality clearly makes 'Fish Tank' appear the most realistic representation of the texts I have studied and sets it apart from the other films discussed as it has more relevance to 'real life' than the fantasy aspects of both 'Sin City' and 'District 9'.

The locations and regional accents also help to reinforce social realism conventions, it helps the audience recognize that Mia's from London, this can be identified through the accent and the language they use “tell her that her old mans a c**t”. The mise-en-scene helps to establish the location of the film; working class council flats, which are also a regular convention of the genre.

Fundamentally when analysing to what extent a film is typical of its genre, it is important to look at the codes and conventions used within the text. With this in mind, many films can experiment with conventions, creating a hybrid of genres showing that many modern films are now considered postmodern. Both 'Sin City' and 'District 9' mix elements of genres and style whilst 'Fish Tank' could be said to be more typical of its use of classic conventions.