Textual Analysis

Harry White              Word Count 2082

How is the thriller genre represented in Sam Mendez ‘Skyfall’ (2012) and Kathryn Bigelow’s ‘The Hurt locker’ (2008)?

‘Skyfall’ (Mendez: 2012) and ‘The Hurt Locker’ (Bigelow: 2008) both interpret the thriller genre in similar ways and different, in both films the element of thriller is used to raise the suspense of the scene and is associated with stealth which both of these films are mainly about as in Skyfall James Bond is a spy and in The Hurt Locker William James is a soldier who have to be stealthy and practical for when they are doing tense tasks such as a raid on a compound, both the directors are trying to give the viewer a chance to see what it is like to be in the shoes of the protagonist and draw them to what is happening on the screen. The macro element I will be looking at is genre, which in some ways can be linked with representation.

The first film I will be analyzing is ‘Skyfall’ (Mendez: 2012) and is a action thriller set in multiple locations but the two most used locations are London and shanghai, the film is about a British spy who goes by the name James bond who has to prevent the antagonist Silva from seeking revenge on Bonds employer ‘M’ Daniel Craig is the man who plays Bond and Judi Dench as ‘M’. The film explores the feeling of trust, and also the more emotional side of being a covert agent. The film uses the micro element well to give the impression that it is a thriller, mise-en-scene especially as lighting plays a role in setting the atmosphere as in the scene which I reviewed, which is the shanghai chase scene where bond has to follow his contract to find more about what is going to happen and where the stolen hard-drive had been taken to and for what use, the lighting in the scene is gloomy and dark which makes the atmosphere more tense and thrilling, and injects the sense of mystery, and with the lighting being dark it creates a sense of fear as most people are afraid of the dark and what the shadows do hold. Another key element is the sound of the scene which is a drone that gets tense as bond gets closer to the target and is at its prime when Bond has to cling onto the elevator without the pursued seeing him hanging onto the bottom of the elevator, the sound is non-diegetic and it makes the viewer wonder what is going to happen in the next scene. There is a high angle shot in this scene when he is climbing up the elevator shaft where the camera is looking down on bond, this is in place because you get to see how high up Bond is and the drop which is right below him making the audience feel on edge and adding fear into them, because the fear of heights is a common fear in society so this is targeting the majority of the target audience causing them to feel un easy and thus adding to the immersion of the film. When Bond gets to the top he continues the chase the antagonist into a room with the music still going increasing in volume so adding to the suspense of the scene, however the editing of the music is well done because when bond is in the light from the advertising board which is on the building the music increases in volume and then decreases when he isn’t, this gives a feeling that this is risky business and at any one time he could get caught. This contrasts with the scene I am doing from the hurt locker because; one it is during the day and that is when the viewer is least likely to expect a tense scene, but you could argue that the building that the squad enters is dark in some places (where the enemies could be hiding) it also contrasts with the music because in some parts there is no music which is a convention of the thriller genre, there is usually no music when the main character is really close to being found out, or when the protagonist has to be really careful that he has to be focused incase they get ambushed, and it is also used in horror films before a jump scare scene, it is used so the audience are caught off guard as they are concentration on listening to the diegetic sound of the scene and then that is the point when the jump scare gets you. Although horror films are not thrillers they are closely related to each other as in there are sometimes jump scares in thriller genre so they use the same techniques as they do in horror films, making the scene absent of music so you feel as thought there is going to be a jump scare, but there often isn’t in thriller genre, leading to a false sense of in security.

Skyfall however does follow some conventions of a thriller, which is probably why it is categorized into the thriller genre the main reason being is thrillers a mostly tense and have a lot of stealth as the protagonist pursues the villain while avoiding detection. Weather that will be a spy working for mi5 or a squad of troops trespassing into a know hostile command post. Another convention of a thriller is the eeriness of the scene which is well done in Skyfall as to get the eerie feel to the scenario there has to be no other people around other than the protagonists and antagonist so the room is quiet and the only thing you can hear is the feint asynchronous sound of doors opening and closing. Another thing, which is applied in Skyfall and The Hurt Locker, is Todorov’s theory of equilibrium, where there is a state of equilibrium at the outset, when bond is following the criminal, and then there is the disruption of the equilibrium where bond gets discovered and they have a fight. to reinstate the equilibrium bond kills the criminal.

The second film I will be analyzing is ‘The Hurt Locker’ (Bigelow: 2008) which is again an action thriller set in Afghanistan and is about a man who is a hut locker (which is a person who risks their live to defuse bombs which could explode at ay time) He enjoys the danger of it, the main focus of the storyline is about combating terrorism while trying to find his inner self so he can return home to his wife and family. The scene that I will be looking at is the raid scene where the soldiers have been called into a suspected terrorist compound, this gives the film the thriller aspect of the film, as they have to go into it and search for the terrorists. The mise-en-scene is the big one here because right from the start it sets the mood as the compound is dark which makes it seem worse while having some light areas to show it is still day time, also there are some props in the compound that make it relevant as the kettle is still warm so it indicates that someone is still there thus adding to the thriller aspect that there is someone there but you don’t know where they are. The acting in the scene is vital to make the scene believable, as the soldiers have to look scared and cautious as well as maintaining their professional attitude to what they do. For this to work the cinematography of the scene has to be mainly close ups as the soldiers hardly ever look away from their rifles in case something bad happens. To give the scene the feeling that they are all vulnerable to an attack the camera stays in one spot and does a full 360-degree pan so the audience can see how open the space is. This is in contrast to Skyfall as there is no 360 degree pan in that scene mainly because there is only one person, but also because throughout that scene we know where the antagonist is at all times, but the enemies in the hurt locker are hid away from the soldiers to ambush them. Also in the Hurt Locker scene the camera is on a stedi-cam to give the impression that they are always on the move and to add fear to the scene. The sound in the scene adds more tension as there Is not dialogue or diegetic sounds or non-diegetic sounds, the only sounds you can hear are synchronous and asynchronous footsteps which makes it even more tense as you have to focus in on the scene to fully understand, the climax of the scene is when one of the soldiers accidently stands on a glass bottle and they all stand still and the camera stops with them to make the audience feel as though they are in the squad, the silence is finally broken when they find out that the building is clear and the soldiers posture changes from stiff to free moving and they begin to talk and that is when you know that the thriller scene is over and the suspense dies down. The editing involves a lot of eye line matches as the soldiers have to see what hand signals they are coordinating so there is also a lot of shot reverse shots as well so the audience can see the reactions of the soldiers and the emotions via the extreme close up of their faces. The mise-en-scene has another part with the costume which the soldiers are wearing, which is all in uniform, showing that they are a unit, and that they are being serious, they also have matching guns again to show that they are all equal and part of a team, this makes the scene have a little less of the thriller style as there is more than one person entering the compound, whereas in Skyfall there is only one person pursuing the antagonist, however in Skyfall you know who the antagonist is but in The Hurt Locker you don’t know who or where the antagonistic characters are. Contrast to The Hurt Locker, in Skyfall the protagonist is wearing undercover clothes so he doesn’t get found out, and the fact that he is on his own and the soldiers are not makes the scene in Skyfall look tenser in contrast to the scene in the Hurt Locker. There is also some use of Todorov’s theory of equilibrium in The Hurt Locker as well As before they go into the compound there is a state of equilibrium and then when hey enter the compound the state of equilibrium is disrupted so they go to sort it out and when they realize that no one is there then the equilibrium is restored and the tenseness of the scene dies down.

The two films both have the thriller aspect in them with the way they follow the conventions of the genre but execute them slightly differently mainly by the way in which the films are represented, for example the protagonists in both of the films have different backdrops, James Bond is a spy who was raised by the mi5 from when he was young and his method of approach is to sneak around and stalk his enemies, where as the soldiers chose to be soldiers and follow orders to the letter of the order, the soldiers are more direct with their approach as they go in with their uniform and their weapons out, and the soldiers have a pack mentality as they travel in squads so they feel safer taking some of the thriller aspect out of the scenes, where as Bond has a more indirect approach as he has the freedom to dress how he wants and have a concealed weapon, and Bond works on his own so the scene feels more tense because he has no-one to back him up, however you always know where the antagonist is in Skyfall, but in The Hurt Locker the enemies can be anywhere adding fear to the scene. Both of the films also show great examples of Todorov’s theory of equilibrium as that is the theory which goes hand in hand with the thriller genre as I have proven with the two scenes in the films which I studied