PR3: How we respond to media products

As a consuming audience, we respond to media products in many ways. The way we view

and react to them can be from the way we analyse the genre, narrative, semiotics and

representation. In the following article, I will discuss the above four topics at length, while

discussing three films: Leon (American title: Leon the professional), Pulp Fiction and Skyfall.

All three are unique in the way of their narrative, characters and themes.

The 3 act linear narrative, each of which consist of sections to help the film progress:

Act 1: Exposition. Inciting Incident.

Act 2: Rising Action. Climax.

Act 3: Falling Action. Denouement.

Leon (or Leon: The Professional) is a 1994 English-Language French Action-Thriller film. The

film was written and directed by Luc Besson and was supposedly written in just 30 days. It

was produced in the years 1993 and 1994. The film was distributed by Gaumont Buena

Vista International and Columbia Pictures and was released in the UK in 1995. The film

features an assassin for hire (or a ‘cleaner’) named Leon (Jean Reno), who becomes a

mentor/guardian for a young girl named Mathilda (Natalie Portman) when her family are

murdered by corrupt police, including the drug taking, psychopathic Stansfield (Gary Oldman).

The 3 act linear narrative can be applied to this film as it is conventional in this way (though

not as much in terms of characters and story).

Act 1: Exposition:

The very first shots in the movie are panning shots of different areas of New York City. This

immediately establishes the setting. The City is identifiable by the huge iconic and

recognizable skyscrapers such as The Twin Towers (film was made pre 9/11) and The Empire

State Building. There are other distinguishable features such as Central Park and yellow

cabs.

A narrative enigma is created during Leon’s first appearance in the film. The audience sees

Leon being assigned a ‘job’ by someone in a dark, murky room and it is clearly established

that Leon is French. This makes the audience think: who is he? Why is he in America? His

seriousness and almost stoic, deadpan style add an element of mystery to him, which can be

something that intrigues the viewer. This can be classed as a narrative enigma.

The scene following this depicts Leon doing his job, killing people with a brutal and

professional efficiency. We then realize that he is a serious individual who can do his job

with ease.

In another scene we see a family, including a young girl named Mathilda. Her father is

shown to be hiding drugs for a group of corrupt police officers, who tell him they are going

to come back for it soon. Mathilda is shown to be very unhappy, as she is neglected and abused by her family, while also having taken up smoking.

Inciting incident:

The inciting incident in the movie is shown soon thereafter, when the corrupt police, led by

the psychopathic Norman Stansfield, show up to get the drugs from Mathilda’s father.

However, her father has stolen some of the cocaine and replaced it with flour/ an inactive

substance, with the idea to sell the original drug himself. When the drug is tested for its

purity, its dip from 100% to 90% makes it clear to Stansfield that some has been taken.

Subsequently, he and his men kill Mathilda’s father, mother, sister and brother. Mathilda,

throughout this entire incident, has gone to the shop and is therefore not present for the

killings. She returns and calmly walks past the dead body of her sister in the doorway and

straight to Leon’s apartment next door. Leon debates letting her in but, eventually does

once the man outside Mathilda’s apartment becomes suspicious.

Act 2: Rising action:

Once Leon has accepted Mathilda into is home, he agrees to look after her, although he

initially contemplates killing her while she is sleeping. Leon is a loner and finds it strange

that someone is living with him, especially a young energetic and enthusiastic girl. Leon and

Mathilda’s relationship is almost father/daughter, as he makes her drink milk, plays games

with her and teaches her various things. However, Mathilda almost acts as an

unconventional love interest. She acts in a flirtatious way towards Leon, especially during

the aforementioned game. She also seemingly acts seductively towards him in some other

scene during the film. In one scene at a hotel/apartment reception, she corrects the

receptionist’s assumption that Leon is her father, but is rather her ‘lover’.

A conventional plot is soon established, as Mathilda offers to pay Leon a fee to kill the men

who killed her family. This turns the unconventional plot of a hitman and his ‘apprentice’

into one with elements of revenge.

During the run up to the climax, Leon teaches Mathilda some basic weapon skills, such as

how to aim and shoot through a sniper rifle and how to use various other guns. While Leon

is out one day, Mathilda arms herself and goes to the police station with the intent of killing

Stansfield. However, he corners her and threatens her before he has to leave. She is

subsequently taken to an office in the station. When Leon realizes what has happened, he goes to the police station and kills several of Stansfield’s men, before rescuing Mathilda.

Climax:

A large force of police officers soon converge on Leon’s apartment, taking Mathilda hostage

in the process. Leon uses his skills to take out most of the officers, rescuing Mathilda (who

was being held further down the corridor from his apartment) and returning to his room for

the inevitable siege. He helps Mathilda escape by making a hole in the wall for her to escape

through, while he returns to the police at the front of his door and engages in a bloody

shootout.

Leon manages to escape the apartment disguised as a police officer, using the mask and

body armour of one that he had killed. He manages to evade the majority of the police and

is feet away from escape but, he is gunned down from behind by Stansfield. He manages to

live long enough to give Stansfield something “from Mathilda”. Leon dies and Stanfield

opens it up to reveal a pin from a grenade. He opens Leon’s jacket to see numerous grenades and utters one last profanity before being blown up and killed instantly.

Act 3: Falling action

Mathilda visits Tony (the mobster who set up Leon with his ‘hits’) to collect Leon’s money.

She also asks if there are any jobs that she could do to earn some extra money. She says

that she can ‘clean’ (kill) but Tony reacts angrily by her proposal and throws her out.

Denouement

Mathilda visits a private high school and asks for a place there. The woman isn’t sure at first

but, eventually accepts her. Mathilda then goes outside and plants Leon’s plant (which he

had cared for throughout the film).

Part 3:

In this part of my assignment, I will be looking at the setting, character representation,

iconography and style of Leon. I will then discuss how the above help to establish the films action thriller genre.

Setting: The first few shots in the film are panning, high-up shots of a huge sprawling City. It

is easily identifiable as New York City, owing to its iconic appearance and recognisability.

Some of the things that establish the fact it is NYC are the yellow taxis, the huge, panning

shot of Central Park and the appearance of the Twin Towers and other New York skyscrapers.

New York City has been the setting of many films, including a lot from the action genre.

These have included Taxi Driver, The Warriors and Ghostbusters (Action/comedy). The city

even has historic film roots in the genre with films such as King Kong (1933). Therefore, I

believe the City is a highly iconic setting for an action film. I myself have grown up viewing

many action films set in New York in recent years, which cements its place in my mind as a

conventional setting for an action film. There have been many films including hybrids, but

many still remain a core action genre (The Spiderman trilogy, Kick Ass, A walk among the

tombstones).

Apart from the fact New York City is highly iconic; a general sprawling metropolis is too.

Many action films feature a huge city as it’s setting, as a city will generally allow for more

engaging features. For example, a small town would not feature criminal gangs, SWAT

teams, drug dealers or many buildings, all of which are huge conventions of the action

genre.

Character Representation:

The characters that are featured in the film Leon are highly unique, in the way that they

don’t adhere to normal action film character conventions. I will discuss three of the main

characters in length and whether I think they are conventional/unconventional.

Leon- The titular character of the film is played by French actor Jean Reno and is a hitman,

who is assigned his targets by mobster Tony (Danny Aiello). Leon breaks many conventions

of an action movie star as he is very unique. He isn’t good looking, doesn’t wear clothes

usually worn by people in action movies nor is he particularly intelligent or ‘cool’, as so

many action movie stars are.

James Bond, a very prominent movie character, has a cool swagger, wit, intelligence and

good looks, as well as nice cars, clothes and attention from females. Leon seems to come

across as a bit ‘slow’, while also being slightly older than your normal young and fi t action

movie star. He wears a long trench coat, a vest, trouser suspenders and big boots, as well as

a very small hat and round-rimmed sunglasses. Apart from Mathilda, Leon is never seen to

interact with females on a personal basis, while he doesn’t have a car and is shown walking

everywhere. Due to the stark contrasts between a ‘normal’ movie star in James Bond and himself, Leon is a very unconventional character.

Mathilda- The only female protagonist in the film is probably the most unique and

unconventional. She is played by Natalie Portman in her debut role and is taken under

Leon’s wing after her family is murdered by corrupt police officers due to her drug -dealing

father’s deeds. Though they seem to have a father-daughter type relationship, Mathilda

seems to want more from Leon. She seems to be attracted to him and therefore a love

interest. This is extremely unconventional as the love interest of an action film will almost always be a beautiful older woman, while Mathilda is 12 years old.

This makes the audience uncomfortable as they don’t want Leon to become the ‘lover’

Mathilda wants him to be. However, Leon is also shown to be very uncomfortable towards

the idea, as seen in several scenes of the movie. For example, during the game they play in

which they dress as film characters while the other one guesses, Leon seems very

uncomfortable and awkward while Mathilda is acting seductively. Mathilda is also very

brave and behaves in a very maverick way. She isn’t opposed to violence and guns and

seems to wholly embrace it when Leon begins to teach her various things. While her

character is very unusual, her motives in the film are very conventional of an action film. She

wants revenge on the corrupt cops that murdered her brother- and wants Leon to help.

Stansfield- The primary antagonist is your classic villain- he has power (he is a corrupt police

officer), weapons, drugs, a large group of ‘henchmen’ (both cops and drug dealers) as well

as a strange, almost insane personality. Many classic villains throughout film history have

been a leader of a group of people while also being somewhat ‘mad’, so Stansfield is

conventional in this sense. Stansfield is portrayed by Gary Oldman in the film.

Most of the supporting characters in the film are very conventional. Tony is a mobster who

assigns hits to Leon, while working from his restaurant. This seems to be a stereotype of

Italian gangsters. Mathilda’s father is portrayed as a very angry man, who takes out his

frustration on his children (Mathilda is seen with a black eye, heavily implied to be inflicted

on by her father). I believe he does this to make up for his feeling of weakness when in the

presence of Stansfield and his men. Other characters are all very conventional of an action

film –corrupt cops, SWAT team members, drug lords/dealers and armed gangsters.

Iconography- There are many things within the film that are conventional and stereotypical

of an action movie. There are guns, cops, hitmen and gangsters, all of which are commonly

found in an action film. Guns represent violence and death, both of which are conventions

of action movies and which feature in Leon. As mentioned in the setting section above, New

York City is a very conventional location for an action movie, as are huge sprawling cities in

general. While Leon is strange and not a conventional character, he has strength, skills and a

talent with weaponry. These things are common traits of action movie characters.

Style- Leon is a highly stylistic and unique action movie. Unlike some action movies, the

characters in Leon are very unconventional and I think this helps contribute to the style of

the film. Although it is an action film, it is also somewhat gritty and doesn’t appear as flashy

or big-budgeted as many others in the genre are. I think this may be due to the dark revenge

plot within it, as well as the fact there are many dramatic elements within the film. It has a

somewhat noir style to it as it isn’t a stand out film, by which I mean it has generally dark

colours and unique characters. The fact Leon is French almost makes it seem like a non-American movie, although the other characters are and the setting is in America.

In terms of mise en scene, there are many guns present in many of the scenes of the film.

They are conventions of an action movie and therefore you almost expect them to appear a

lot. The camera techniques and editing are all very unique in Leon. The camera shots seem

to have an emphasis on emotion, as there are lots of facial close ups throughout the film,

including some where we see from a characters point of view. An example would be when

Mathilda is playing Marilyn Monroe and seductively singing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Leon. There

are shot reverse shots of Leon and Mathilda, with the latter looking into the camera for her

shots. The editing is very fast-paced at certain points in the movie, especially during fight scenes. This will be to jeep up the hectic action that is occurring within the movie.

There are many themes in Leon that fit the mould of an action movie, with even the poster

displaying connotations that the film is clearly from the action genre. It is red and black,

colours which are commonly associated with blood, death and violence. First and foremost

there is conflict, a cornerstone of any action movie. Leon is constantly in conflict against

others throughout the movie, engaging in gunfights with the police and gangsters. He is also

in conflict with himself, as he initially doubts whether or not to let Mathilda into his

apartment. At one point, he also contemplates killing her in her sleep. However, the story of

Leon and Mathilda effectively goes in a full circle. Initially he does not want her in his life

and contemplates leaving her to die and then killing her himself. However, he then trains

her, makes arrangements for his money to be given to her, saves her and eventually dies for

her, by sacrificing himself to avenge her dead brother. This shows that he went from not

wanting her in his life at all to wanting nothing but her and genuinely caring about her.

There are also many others parts of the film which can be viewed as being contrasting and

evolving. In one scene, a gangster is on the phone to the police to try and save himself from

Leon, who appears from the shadows and puts a gun to his head. The phone effectively

represents life, while the gun represents death. During the denouement of the film,

Mathilda plants Leon’s plant and refers to it by his name. This means the roles have been

changed, as Leon was once protecting Mathilda, while she is now looking after his plant, who is Leon in spirit.

The life (police on phone, right) and death

(knife on throat, left) situation.

Leon trains Mathilda.

While Leon may dress unlike normal action movie characters, he possesses conventional gun

and fighting skills.

Mathilda planting Leon’s plant in the denouement.

Part 4:

Skyfall is a 2012 action/ spy thriller film and the twenty-third in the James Bond series. The

film features Daniel Craig as Bond in his third appearance as the spy, following Casino

Royale and Quantum of Solace. The film was directed by Sam Mendes and was produced in

the years 2011 and 2012, following uncertainty over the series future, due to the

distribution company’s financial problems. The distribution companies were Metro-

Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures. The film was released in the UK on the 26th of

October, 2012. In the film Bond gets shot and steps away from MI6 for a while, until he is

needed in the field again. Meanwhile, M is facing scrutiny and is facing pressure to step

down, while MI6 comes under a cyber-attack from a former agent. I will now apply the 3 act linear narrative to Skyfall.

Act 1: Exposition: The movie opens with a chaotic chase scene between James Bond and

Eve and a mercenary named Patrice, who is in possession of a hard drive which features the

names of dozens of undercover MI6 agents. The chase leads them through a market and

eventually onto a moving train, where Bond and Patrice engage in hand to hand combat on

its roof. M is feeding orders through to Eve, who is positioned on a hillside with a sniper

rifle, and tells her to take a shot at Patrice. However, she misses and hits Bond, who falls off

the train and into the water below, while Patrice escapes. The theme song then begins.

Inciting Incident: In the aftermath of the operation, M comes under political pressure to

retire from Gareth Mallory, the chairman of the intelligence and security committees. After

a meeting about the operation, she returns to MI6 and while in the car, she receives a

taunting message on her phone. Moments later, the MI6 headquarters explode killing many

of the employees. MI6 subsequently relocate to their emergency underground offices. Bond

had previously been using his supposed death as a way to retire quietly, though upon

learning of the attacks, he returns to London. He fails psychological and physical tests, but M

approves of his return and he is sent to Shanghai to recover the stolen hard drive from

Patrice. Bond follows Patrice to a skyscraper where he is carrying out an assassination. They

then fight, which results in Patrice falling to his death, without Bond having received any

information. Bond finds a chip intended as payment within Patrice’s equipment and he then

goes to the casino it came from. He is then approached by Severine, who was an accomplice

in the assassination Patrice carried out. He asks for her to take him to her boss which she

agrees to, but only before he has to kill the people that were guarding her. The pair then

take a yacht to an abandoned island, where they are taken prisoner and delivered to Raoul

Silva, a former MI6 agent who had worked under M but had been left for dead during a

mission. He is no involved in cyber terrorism and is the one behind the attacks on MI6. Silva

kills Severine, but Bond overpowers him and his guards, capturing him for removal to Britain.

Act 2: Rising Action: Silva is in custody at MI6’s underground HQ, while M is at a public

hearing. Q attempts to decrypt the codes on Silva’s laptop and does, but by doing so he

allows a virus to enter MI6. This results in all of the doors in the building opening, which

means Silva can escape from his cell. Silva disguises himself as a police officer and manages

to lose Bond in a crowd on the London Underground. He and two other accomplices make

their way to the public hearing- Silva’s plan all along. There is a shootout in the courtroom

and M manages to escape after Mallory takes a bullet from her, while Bond and Eve manage

to repel the attack. Bond decides that it is too risky to take M to another MI6 HQ as Silva’s

computer skills would allow him to track her. So, he decided to take her to his old childhood

home in Scotland- Skyfall.

Climax: Bond and M go to Skyfall and find Kincade, the old gamekeeper, still living there.

They prepare for the inevitable attack by Silva and his men by making booby traps,

dynamite and scraping together what ammunition they have left. The three fight off the first

wave of Silva’s men, though M is wounded. However, Silva soon arrives by helicopter, which

bombards the house with automatic machine gun fire. The three quickly escape through a

trap door, which leads to a chapel a few hundred yards away. Before Bond escapes, he

throws a stick of dynamite onto some gas canisters, which creates a huge explosion,

destroying the helicopter and killing many of Silva’s men. With Kincade and M in the chapel,

Bond finishes off the last of Silva’s men. However, Silva had seen Kincade’s light in the

chapel and goes there, with the intention to kill M. Bond soon arrives and kills Silva, though

M succumbs to her earlier wounds and dies in his arms.

Act 3: Falling action: Following M’s funeral, Bond stands on the top of the MI6

headquarters looking off into the distance. Eve comes up to him and they have a brief chat, which ends in her giving him something that belonged to M. The two then head inside.

Denouement: Once inside, Eve officially introduces herself as Eve Moneypenny, as they

had not before been formally introduced. Bond is then called into M’s office. Mallory is the new M and gives Bond a file entitled ‘top secret’.

Setting: There are many different locations featured throughout the film, both

conventions of the action genre and the James Bond series. Firstly there is the crowded

market in Istanbul, which features a hectic chase scene. Places like markets have many

people there and seem to be a convention of action films. There are also many exotic

locations throughout the film including Shanghai and Macau, while British locations include

London and Scotland. There seems to be a classic convention in James Bond films where he

visits many different locations within a film and it is adhered to here.

The HQ of MI6 features prominently in this film, just like almost all of the other James Bond

film. However, a spy base as a location also seems to be a normal action movie convention

(The pentagon and CIA HQ have featured prominently in films). London and Scotland seems

to add that extra grittiness to the film, as they are not, especially the latter, particularly

flashy locations. Though London is very iconic, it isn’t as big and bright as places such as New

York or Shanghai and isn’t really a very common location for action films. It isn’t a sprawling

metropolis but rather a large, flat City. However, MI6 HQ IS located in London as well as may

other things of note, so it makes logical sense to have the primary setting of the fi lm in

London. The city is a convention for James Bond movies.

Character representation:

James Bond: Played by Daniel Craig in the film, Bond is the epitome of an action movie

character. He is cool, intelligent, strong, a hit with the ladies and talented in combat. All of

those things listed are very common conventions of the protagonist of an action film and it

could be argued that Bond was the original. The first James Bond film was released in 1962

and have been action-packed ever since. Many action movie character have since followed

in his footsteps and become similar to him. He wears a suit, works for a spy agency, drives a

nice car, all of which have commonly featured in films in recent years (Olympus has fallen,

The Bourne films).

M: Played by Judi Dench in the film, M is the matriarchal figure to James Bond. They

constantly bicker and argue, yet deep down they have great respect for each other and in a

motherly-son fashion, love each other. If a film features a no-nonsense boss, it will

conventionally be in the style of M- brutal, cold-hearted and not afraid to make big

decisions.

Severine: She is the brief love interest of Bond until her untimely death. A girl in a James

Bond film (a Bond girl) is a tradition and has become a convention in action fi lms as a whole.

They are almost always very attractive and serve as the love interest for the protagonist, as

is the case with Severine. She also acts as a damsel in distress, another convention of action films, due to the fact she is somewhat under the control of Silva.

Silva: Played by Javer Bardem, Silva has a classic action movie motive: revenge. He wants

to kill M after she chose to leave him for dead while on a mission. Like many others movie

villains he is a genius in a certain area (cyber terrorism) and could be viewed as slightly mad.

In the end, like many villains, he meets his death at the hands of the protagonist (James

Bond) in what is generally a convention of action films.

There are also many other characters in the film that add to the action movie conventions.

Eve Moneypenny acts as a peripheral love interest, while Q is the reliable, intelligent ally

who can be called upon in many different circumstances. There are also many other

conventional characters within the film such as numerous gangsters, police officers and

assassins.

Iconography

There are many things in Skyfall that are conventional of an action film. There are numerous

guns, shootouts and villains. The film is also a spy thriller and thus it can be said the fast-

paced chases and numerous spies are obvious conventions. As mentioned above, characters

like spies, police officers and assassins can all usually be found in action movies, as can fast

cars beautiful women and guns. The settings during the film are also very conventional, such

as exotic cities and English ones too. Even the poster has connotations of action, in the form

of a prone James Bond firing his gun. The large 007 behind him also establishes the fact that

it is going to be a Bond film.

Style

The editing in Skyfall is very fast-paced, to suit some of the dramatic, tense scenes within it

(shootouts, chase scenes etc.) and I think this is generally a convention of action movies.

The mise en scene also typically features a lot, as if the director is paying a very close

attention to detail

This film effectively reboots the James Bond franchise, carrying on from 2006’s Casino

Royale. Subsequently, newer characters have been gradually brought in to replace the pre-

Daniel Craig ones. This film included a new M, a new Q and a new Moneypenny. It also brought the series a sense of realism, following years of wacky villains and plots.

Further on in my essay, I will be discussing post-modernism in Pulp Fiction, though it can be

heavily applied to Skyfall. The film makes many references to previous James Bond films. In

one scene, Bond complains about the lack of equipment Q supplied to him and Q responds

by saying “Were you expecting an exploding pen? We don’t really go in for those anymore”.

This is a reference to the exploding pen in Goldeneye (1995), in which Bond (Pierce Brosnan)

is given an exploding pen by the then Q, Desmond Llewelyn. A huge reference to another

Bond film is the appearance of the Aston Martin DB5. The car is extremely iconic of the

James Bond series and when it appears in Skyfall, the old 60’s James Bond theme begins to

play. The original DB5 first appeared in Goldfinger (1964) while Sean Connery was Bond. The reference is a pastiche and homage to the original Bond character.

The DB5 on the left in 1964 and on the right in 2012.

Though not from Skyfall, I found a

very interesting use of post-modern

media from another James Bond

film, once again referencing

Goldfinger. In Goldfinger a woman

was killed by being covered in gold,

while in Quantum of Solace, a

woman was killed by being covered

in oil. The two are even positioned

similarly on the bed. This is a use of

both pastiche and a homage to the

original idea.

Pulp Fiction

Pulp Fiction is a 1994 action-crime film directed and written by Quentin Tarantino. The film

was produced in the years 1993 and 1994 and was distributed by Miramax Films. It was

released on the 14th of October 1994. The film is episodic and consists of various smaller stories, some of which intertwine with each other. The stories within the film are entitled:

"Prologue—The Diner"

Prelude to "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"

"Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife"

Prelude to "The Gold Watch" (a—flashback, b—present)

"The Gold Watch"

"The Bonnie Situation"

"Epilogue—The Diner"

The stories are told in the order as shown above and therefore the story is NON-LINEAR, instead being EPISODIC. I will now order the story as if it was in linear narrative:

Exposition:

The exposition of the film shows a young boy watching TV, when his mother calls him to say

a guest is there to see him. Captain Koons presents the boy with a gold watch that had

belonged to his father while they were in a POW camp. The watch had humorous ly been

stored in several men’s rectums to stop it from being discovered. We are then introduced to

two hitmen, Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield, played by John Travolta and Samuel L.

Jackson respectively. The two are on their way to pick up a briefcase from Brett, who had

stolen it from their boss, Marsellus Wallace. They kill two of the men and take the third with them in the car, who was their ‘inside man’.

Inciting Incident:

Vincent accidentally shoots Marvin while they are in the car, leaving the two hitmen

covered in blood. They then go to Jimmie’s house, who calls Marcellus Wallace, who in turn

calls up Winston Wolfe. The man is a well-respected gangster and can get rid of the problem

effectively and efficiently. The two men get cleaned up, put on old clothes and decide to go

to a diner. While there, two robbers (honey bunny and pumpkin) decide to rob the diner.

One of them tries to takes Jules’ wallet but he pulls a gun on him. The two have a small

discussion before he hands them some money and they leave. Jules and Vincent then depart

to meet with Marcellus Wallace. They give the briefcase to Wallace, who is having a meeting

with a boxer named Butch. He tells Butch to throw a boxing match that is to happen the

next night. Wallace then tells Vincent to keep his wife company while he is out later that

evening.

Rising Action:

Vincent and Marsellus Wallace’s wife, Mia, go to a retro 50’s restaurant named Jacki Rabbit

Slims. They talk and take part in a dance competition, in which they win. However, later on,

Mia overdoses on cocaine and collapses, forcing Vincent to take her to his drug dealer for

help. He gives her a shot of adrenaline and she is revived. They both then promise not to

speak of the event ever again. The next night, Butch is ready for his fight but, rather than

throwing it he KO’s and kills his opponent. He meets up with his girlfriend in a motel but,

becomes furious when he realizes that she has forgotten his golden watch. He then goes back to the apartment to retrieve it.

Climax:

At the apartment, Butch notices a gun lying on the side. He then hears a toilet flush, so he

picks it up. Vincent emerges from the toilet and is shot dead by Butch. Happy that he now

has his watch, Butch goes to meet his girlfriend but sees Marsellus Wallace in the street,

who also notices him. Butch runs him down and then crashes. Butch runs away with Wallace

in quick pursuit. They fall, brawling, into a pawn shop. The man behind the counter pulls a shotgun out and knocks Butch unconscious.

Falling Action:

Butch wakes up, bound and gagged, alongside Marsellus Wallace. They are being held by

two men, who have a person named ‘the gimp’ as their pet-like partner. The two men takes

Marsellus into a back room where they violently rape him. Butch manages to get loose from

the ropes tying him together and knocks out the gimp. He then contemplates leaving but,

chooses to go back and save Wallace. He picks up a samurai sword and kills on of the men

and holds the other at sword point. Wallace gets up and shoots one of the men, wounding

but not killing him. He then agrees to stop his feud with Butch if he leaves town immediately.

Denouement:

Butch leaves and goes to pick up his girlfriend from the motel. They then drive off on a motorbike.

There are many uses of postmodern media during Pulp Fiction. This is where a media text

may use or reference another media text in their own work. Uses of intertextuality include

the 50’s diner, which includes posters of many movies, as well as waiters dressed as many

Fifties icons including Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley. The Marilyn Monroe

waitress has her dress blown up in a direct reference to the famous ‘Subway scene’ in the

Seven Year Itch. This is a homage to Billy Wilder, the man who directed the film. The Buddy

Holly waiter also calls Mia ‘Peggy Sue’. This was one of Holly’s biggest songs. John Travolta

parodies his earlier work in Saturday Night Fever by taking part in a dance scene.

There is one use of reflexivity in the film, which is when the filmmaker refers to the

filmmaking process. While sitting in the car, Mia tells Vincent not to be a ‘square’. While she

does this, she draws a square with her hands which appears on screen. This breaks the fourth wall as the graphic is implied to be known to be there by Mia.

This part of the film is a bricolage. This is where there are references to a mix of

genres/historical eras within one shot or scene. There are many references to different

historical eras during the scene. During the Monroe waitress dress scene, there are many

different styles and looks for people. Many are dressed in 90’s clothing; the waiters are

dressed in 1950’s while some 60’s styles appear. There is even an appearance from a 1960’s

TV presenter.

There is also use of self-referentiality within the film, with both the director and actors

making reference to previous media texts. In the run up to the ‘Jack Rabbit Slims’ scene,

Vincent and Mia are sat in a 1950’s style car with neon lighting glowing on it as they drive.

John Travolta (Vincent) famously appeared in 1950’s set movie ‘Grease’.

Mia Wallace tells Vincent that she was in a TV pilot called ‘Fox Force Five’ which was about 5

deadly female assassins. A group of assassins in Kill Bill are called ‘Deadly Viper

Assassination Squad’. Uma Thurman played the knife expert in both. Though Kill Bill was

made after Pulp Fiction, it can now be considered a reference to another of the director’s

media texts. John Travolta is effectively referencing his previous work in ‘Saturday Night

Fever’ by dancing in Pulp Fiction. It is done in a more humorous way, so in a way he is mocking his younger self.

1 2 3

4

Task:

A: Find out the name of the film, director and year of production for each of the films above

1 and 2: Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino. Produced 1994.

3: Saturday Night Fever, John Badham. Produced 1977.

4: The Seven Year Itch, Billy Wilder. Produced 1955.

Genre elements Conventions Setting- mise en scene/ location

The City featured in Pulp Fiction is a very general setting and isn't a huge, flashy location like New York or any other high rise city. It is a small American city that seems very gritty, with apartments, cheap shops and rife crime.

Characters – representations, stereotypes, behaviour, body language, specific actors/stars

There are so many characters within the film that are stereotypical of a crime film. There are hitmen, drug dealers, crime bosses and drug addicts. The characters are all very unique and all behave in distinct ways. There are several stars that feature within the film such as John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken. Jackson and Willis have appeared in many action films and are known for their roles as 'hard men'.

Narrative events –how is the narrative ordered and structured? Is it elliptical/enigmatic (elements left out to intrigue/entice the audience)

As mentioned above Pulp Fiction is episodic and features many small stories that intertwine with each other. One element that is left out in the film is what is in the briefcase. It is opened several times to reveal a mysterious glow and shocks from its viewers, though no-one knows what is in it. This is a very intriguing element of the film that entices the viewer to ponder over its contents.

Iconography –Well known or recognisable people/objects/buildings mise en scene/ props, costume, setting, symbolic codes

As mentioned above, many recognizable actors feature in this film. Guns appear frequently, which are conventions and iconic of the action/crime genre. There are also black suits, which are closely associated with gangsters. Quentin Tarantino had previously used black suits for gangsters in his earlier film, Reservoir Dogs. The things such as guns and clothing are very symbolic of the genre. Even the large amount of profanities spoken in the film, especially by Samuel L. Jackson, are conventions of the genre.

STYLE: Technical and audio codes – camera use, editing, diegetic/non diegetic sound, sfx. Mise en scene/lighting, colour

There are a lot of close ups within the film, as well as point of view shots. I think they are to display emotions more effectively. The lighting and colours throughout the film are generally very dark, which matches the literal dark, gritty nature of the film. When Mia draws the on-screen square, non-diegetic sound is used in the form of a 'boop' like sound. There is a lot of diegetic sound within the film, in the form of gunshots, shouting and car crashes.

Summarise how the above helps to define genre in the text: Suits, guns, criminals and a general American City are all conventions of an action film and help to define the genre. There are murders, shootings, robberies- all iconic of action and crime films.