SNOW WHITE

& THE

HUNTSMAN

A DECONSTRUCTIONPresented by

Nur Aida & Nadiah

Snow White and the Huntsman Trailer Official 2012 [HD] - Chris Hemsworth -

YouTube.flv

Syntagm & Paradigm

• Movie trailer – spatial & temporal syntagm

• narrative, sequential syntagm

• Bracketing syntagm (montage of brief shots)

• Opening frame – dark clouds & ravens; final frame - doves

• Changing shots(focus, long shot) . Long shots to convey ideas of journey & magnitude of war, close up shots on characters’ faces to convey the emotions

• Binary – black/white, natural/unnatural leader, natural/supernatural, good/evil

• Soundtrack selection/dark overtones

• Deeper voice of characters• Choice of font• Choice of costume

Choice of shots

Dialogues

Queen: Do you hear that? It’s the sound of battles fought and lives lost. It once pained me to know that I am the cause such despair, but now their cries give me strength. Beauty is my power. (hegemonic reading)

Queen: Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who’s the fairest of them all.Mirror: You are the fairest, but there’s another destined to surpass you. Consume her. Then, you shall live forever. (paradigmatic choice of words)

Queen: Find me someone who doesn’t fear the dark forest to hunt her down.Huntsman: Why is she of such value?Queen: That is none of your concern.Huntsman: If I refuse? (oppositional reading, paradigmatic choice of words)

Queen: Lips red as blood, hair black as night. Bring me your heart, my dear, dear Snow White. (paradigmatic choice of words)

Hegemonic reading & Myths• Text – movie trailer• Beauty is power• Stepmothers are the adversary/to be feared• Conventional Beauty = youth, innocence, natural,

nobility• Women = witchcraft• Negative view of women in power• The men will save the day/damsel in distress• Royal succession – primogeniture• Fairy tales = magical elements

Oppositional Reading

• Snow White as modern woman – take up warrior role, a woman fighting her own cause

• The huntsman – defiant / anti-establishment, choice of weapon (axe)

• The huntsman teaming up with Snow White and the dwarfs (the underdogs)

• Huntsman – London’s Saville Row label, USD5000 for an entry, by appointment only

Intertextuality : Snow White’s costume = Grimm’s fairy tales, 1937 Disney version

Intertextuality: Snow White in armour = Joan of Arc

Intertextuality: Queen’s black robe = Madonna’s music video ‘frozen’ & turning into ravens

Intertextuality: The huntsman & axe = Thor (Chris Hemsworth) & hammer

Iconic images

• Castles• Vast plains• Dark forest • The kiss• Knight’s armour • Horses and knights, battle on the beach –

Indexes

• Facial expression – queen, snow white – Queen = anger, satisfied, distant, cold – Snow white = scared, struggling, bewildered – huntsman = serious, angry, masculinity– direction of the eyes – looking up, looking ahead

• Sounds – horns – battle/ war – laugh, sigh – queen’s cruelty/ evilness

Symbols & Connotations

• Mirror

• Red apple• white horse

• Raven

• White doves

Used in traditional witchcraft, cannot lie, if broken 7 years of bad luckTemptation, lust, sin Carries patron saints/ world saviour in the end timesEvil, black magic and deathLove, peace/ as messengers; in Judaism, Christianity, military & pacifist groups.

Symbols & Connotations • Black

• Purple light/smoke

• Silver & gold

• Winter

• Axe

Evil witches; worn by religious Christian figures Associated with royalty and nobilityRiches; strength; power, perfectionBleak, frozen feelings that the characters harbour; death; suggest the absence of hopeAuthority; fascism - ancient roman symbol of authority & strength through unity

Codes

• Social code– Verbal language – the

queen, the mirror, the huntsman

– Bodily codes – the queen, Snow white, the huntsman

• Textual code– Aesthetic, genre &

stylistics – romanticism, narrative

– Mass media