PR3: How we respond to media products.

Leon

Part1: We respond to media products in many ways same of the approaches may be in the manner

in which we analyse:-

Genre

Narrative

Semiotics

Representation

We respond to media products by analysing specific codes in films. Talking about genre, people

analyse the genre within media products by visualising the trailer for the films and also the genre

could be specified in posters and adverts for each film. When observing the poster for Leon it

instantly shows genre by including the colours red and black, usually action thrillers and horror type

films include dark scary type colours which could represent many things. I think the colour red used

on the poster for Leon represents blood as the genre is action thriller and there is much violence and

death involved during the film so they use red to show the genre for that film. Also on the poster for

Leon the “O” is a target like what is used in the scope of a gun this mainly shows that there is guns

used which leads into deathly killing scenes and can also tell the audience that Leon is a hit man who

makes you wants to know more. The use of semiotics in the film are shown in

many ways, one being how Leon where’s a big black mysterious coat which makes

him look odd and suspicious, he represents a James Bond type figure being a hit

man and a spy type guy but dresses and is the complete opposite to the James

Bond character. They show hints in the film which can relate to the James Bond

films although the characters from each are far from being the same there are key

elements which show that both characters and films are quite similar. For

example James bond is a handsome type guy who gets girls in every movie, and

Leon is plain and isolated but manages to get a 13 year old girl which looks like it’s

trying to be James Bond. Another semiotic I discovered whilst watching the film

was how Leon doesn’t sleep in his bed he sleeps on a wooden chair fully clothed with his glasses on.

This is strange and un-normal and could relate to another type of assassin character. I later found

out that the reason he sleeps like this is because he sleeps with one eye open, this is because he’s an

assassin so people are always after him and he’s wanted by a variety of gangs/ people so keeping his

eye open he’s always on edge and nobody can get him whilst he’s sleeping. I noticed another

significant scene in the movie which could be used as a semiotic. Leon shows representation by

using a not so very famous actor to play a suspicious character who doesn’t tell you much about

himself and his past life. They do this because using a much known celebrity who had played in

bigger roles wouldn’t be good for the character who is trying to be unknown.

Directed by: Luc Besson

Produced by: Patrice Ledoux

Written by: Luc Besson

Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Release dates: 14 September 1994 (France)

18 November 1994 (USA)ng: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Leon- year and production/ director/ cast. (Briefly)

Synopsis of plot- use 3 act structure

Part 2

3 act linear narrative

Act1: Exposition inciting incidents

The exposition starts by introducing the city and setting which the film is based, In Leon the opening

scene is shots of the back streets of New York City and introduces the main character Leon by

showing what he does as a skill and job throughout the film. Instantly the first opening scenes tell

you everything you need to know about the character Leon, it then goes on to show you the little girl

“Matilda” and her life how she gets beaten and abused by her family. The Inciting incident is shown

just after the main characters get introduced, this part jumps from Matilda’s father has enemies

which want to kill him and his family. Matilda isn’t involved in the whole gang murder and later

covers herself up by joining Leon in his apartment a few doors down from where Matilda’s family get

killed.

Act 2: Rising action, Rising action, Climax

The rising action starts by Leon caring about Matilda and looking after whilst she has nowhere to go,

Leon then finds out that Matilda is planning revenge on Stansfield who is the leader of the bad guys

who killed her family so he starts to train her and help her get revenge. The climax is towards the

end with the big fight between Stansfield’s huge gang and Leon, Matilda. It finally ends with Matilda

escaping with Leon’s plant which he cares for more than his life. Whilst Leon takes his own life to

take out Stansfield, he does this by strapping bombs to himself and blowing up the whole gang

which later saves Matilda because the gang is no longer after her.

Act 3: Falling action

Denouement

Finally in the falling action Matilda is given the saved up money from Leon and is to survive on her

own, she then moves on to a boarding school for girls and plants the very same plant which Leon

cared for to show that the plant now contains Leon’s life and will grow into a big tree just outside

where Matilda is now living. The plant represents Leon’s life and that it’s going to sprout and grow

into a tree where Matilda lives.

Part 3

Genre analysis and Semiotics

Explain the connotations of elements

Setting

Character (representation)

Iconography

Style (mise on scene/ camera/ eating etc…)

And how the abuse helps to establish the Genre of Action thriller.

The setting is based in New York which is an iconic city for murder and killing, this city is used in a lot

of films to do with gangs, assassins and hit men so the use of this city in the opening instantly

describes and tells the viewer what type of film Leon is going to be, and tells you the genre which is

an action thriller. The characters show a lot of connotations and Iconography like the style and

clothing they wear describe what type of person they are and the era they’re living in at that

moment of film. The clothing describes each character by Leon wearing big coats and black beady

hats which shows that he’s not from around that place but could be from a different country which

he is. The makers of the film do this so you want to find out more about this character and why he’s

so suspicious and the leading character throughout the film. Matilda shows connotations with the

way she’s dressed, she where’s short denim shorts little coats and with tank top vests. This shows

the atmosphere and time she lives in which is the late 90’s so all the kids would have been dressed

like that during that era this is also an Iconic dress code for that time.

Transformer 2 (revenge of the Fallen)

The genre for transformers 2 revenge of the fallen is generally sci -fi, with elements of action and

drama. You can define the genre by analysing the trailer, posters and front cover for the transformer

film, this shows action and thrilling scenes which show a lot of scientific features which tell you

exactly what this film is going to contain and is about. Also when watching the trailer it shows a lot

of dramatic scenes which make you want to know more about, they use a lot of action in these

scenes and can also leave you on cliff hangers so you’re desperate to know more. They represent the

characters in this film by using handsome good looking stars which are well known and attractive.

Megan Fox (Makala) is used because she is attractive and famous so people viewing the film would

want to see it more because it contains these certain characters. Sam Witwiki played by the famous

star Shy Labouf is the same situation, he is a good looking star so using him would attract more

attention from the audience and produce more views towards the film. They do this because using

unknown actors who aren’t as good looking and famous wouldn’t get as much attention as using the

bigger stars.

Initial release: June 24, 2009 (USA)

Director: Michael Bay

Prequel: Transformers

Sequel: Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Initial DVD release: October 20, 2009

Exposition:

The exposition starts by showing little of the city which is Tokyo and instantly jumps straight into

action and sci-fi involving a city being destroyed by huge alien robots, there’s a lot of disruption in

the inciting incident which shows brutal battles and houses being torn apart.

Rising action, Climax:

The rising action starts by Sam meeting an attractive woman who is actually a robot in disguise,

sexual acts occur then straight into action by showing illegal driving and violence between the

humans and robots. The action carry’s on by showing brutal fighting and massive fights between

robots because they want to harvest Sam’s (the human) brain for important information which could

destroy the whole world. You see the main mechanical alien being stabbed and killed in brief

destruction which is a heart pounding moment during the film, action is included throughout the

whole film and climaxed when the humans are on the run from the evil robots the decepticons as

they are trying to takeover civilisation. The climax continues with the people looking for a specific

piece of alien technology which both races are looking for, this technology determines what happens

to the human race and the planet earth.

Falling action, Denouement:

The falling action begins with the final battle which is very destructive and brutal scenes with

explosions and people being injured are all shown in these few scenes. There’s individual scenes of

the army being shown, which are cases of violence are a lot of tanks have use of heavy artillery

weapons such as high calibre guns and immense bombs which produce massive explosions towards

the enemy robots. Finally the denouement is of the war between good robots and bad robots and

the humans is resolved by the main character bringing the main good robot back to life who

conquers the most powerful and evil robot and saves the earth from being destroyed, the humans

survive in peace and cliff-hangers end on edges which show significant sequels to a newer

transformers film which was later brought out in 2011.

Explain the connotations of elements

• Setting

• Character (representation)

• Iconography

• Style (mise on scene/ camera/ eating etc…)

The setting of the film is obviously a famous landmark which a majority of people will recognise. The

start of the film is based in New York which is the biggest and one of the most famous cities which

everyone will know. The film later shows Egypt where the alien technology has been hidden, the 2nd

half of the film has been set in this location which is iconic for alien language and unusual sites have

been discovered. The characters to the film as I’ve explained earlier are all well -known stars which

are good looking and attractive to the audience which are later watching the film. They do this to

make people want to watch the film more because the film contains these stars and what make films

seem more thrilling and entertaining. What’s iconic about this film is the use of landmarks such as

the pyramids of Egypt which contain the alien technology the robots are seeking, this is iconic

because there are so called rumours which people say aliens had built the pyramids and to use this

in the film tells you that the pyramids could have potentially been created by some other creature

other than us humans. Another iconic figure in this film is the use of young hard working actors

which play the main characters in this film, producers for films only use these types of characters

because if they used worn out un-known actors which not many people know then they aren’t going

to get much attention than the more healthy action type stars which they used in this film and in

other films containing as much action as transformers.

Post modernism in Pulp Fiction

When watching Pulp Fiction I noticed a few scenes which included features of post modernism,

there was a scene of an actor imitating Marilyn Monroe having her skirt blown up by an air vent

which is used as a sign of entertainment towards the people in the restaurant at that time. This

intertextuality the old film which starred Marilyn Monroe herself in the 7th year itch 1953 had the

exact specific scene which contained her skirt being blown up as entertainment. Also the use of John

Travolta dancing in the Jack rabbit slim scene is a sign of post modernization by having him dancing

relates back to his most famous film which he starred in which showed him being a very talented

dancer. Both Saturday night fever and Grease had John Travolta dancing which made him the star he

is today relates to the Pulp fiction scene where he dances in the same style as he did in his earlier

films. This is shown as a sense of parody and also pastiche how they use the same actor to imitate

the same dance from different movies which they’ve starred in. Also there was a postmodern of

self-preferentiality where Mia Wallace mentions a pilot she acted as with a group called fox force

five which has relevance to another movie made by the same people as Pulp fiction called kill-Bill.

Kill Bill mentions significant people in Fox force five; they do this as a reference to previous work for

the audience. In pulp Fiction they make people in the Jack Rabbit Slim scene wear different clothing

to suit the different era’s used from the 1950’s and the 1990’s, this is a mix of genres in one scene

and in post modernism it’s called Bricolage. They use post modernism in camera techniques as well

as past movie scenes. I noticed that the start of the scene the camera angle is head on showing

nothing but Mia and Vincent sitting in the seats of the car. This is relevant to the scene in grease

where Sandy and Danny are sat watching a film in the same position as the scene in Pulp Fiction. This

is called Reflexivity and is shown a few times in the same scene, such as Mia drawing a fake square

on the screen which is blatantly edited in and is not there but it relates back to previous movies

made by the Pulp Fiction company.