TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS Title: AssassinDirector: J.K AmalouStaring: Danny Dyer, Holly Weston, Martin Kemp and Gary Kemp.Date: 2015Genre: Action & ThrillerMedia LanguageCamera Work:The opening scene starts with an establishing shot of London with sun beaming through clouds. The city itself is covered with a mist which creates the mysterious and gloomy effect. This foreshadows the idea of hidden identity because you can just about tell it is the city of London.

The film title then suddenly appears in sharp, block capital shiny letters. A slight boom non-diegetic sound effect is used by the editing staff to enhance the effect of power on the audience.

Media LanguageCamera Work:

The next series of shots the audience are shown creates the sense of thrill, fast and danger. The camera has been attached to the back wheel of the motorbike, in front of where the actor is sitting and then in front of the speed gages. This enhances this thrill effect as the audience will feel as if they are on actually the motorbike as the camera moves as the bike moves. Media LanguageCamera Work:This is one of my favourite shots of the opening scene because this wide over the shoulder camera angle shows the main character who is still wearing the black helmet and how he is pointing his gun at the other character. At this moment the actor does shot the man in the shirt and from this angle you see the gun fire which enhances this action and thrill. The audience also sees the other character scream and fall to the floor as he gets hit. This all adds to the action of the film and makes the opening strong and convey the sense of danger.

Media LanguageCamera Work and Mise-en-Scene:This is the last shot in the opening scene. This medium close up truly shows the brutal killings that will be involved in this film. The mise-en-scene plays a huge part in the contribution of this as the blood make up enhances the whole shot.

This medium close up of the character which we still do not know the identity of or what he looks due to the blacked out helmet and black clothes portrays him to be mysterious and maybe undercover.Media LanguageMise-en-Scene

I will talk about this specific shot in the representation section also but I would like emphasise how the mise-en-scene from this shot portrays the place to be rough and convey the sense of crime just from the graffiti on the side of the bridge.Media LanguageSoundAt this moment of the scene the audience hears diegetic dialogue through the speaker. This dialogue contains swearing which contributes to the idea that the area is rough and the people living there are not well manoured or polite. This reinforces the stereotypical action/crime film as the characters have the north London cockney accent which can be linked to the mannerisms of gangsters.

Media LanguageEditingThe editing of the opening scene involves steady pace transitions however the content of the scene contradicts this as there is high intensity action and loud diegetic motorbike engine noise and gun shots which create the thrill and adrenaline of the piece. Representations

From the opening scene the audience can only assume that this character is the main role as the camera is only focused on him until the very end of the scene where the audience is shown the man he just shot.The character is represented to be very dominant and mysterious as the audience is never shown his face as he keeps the blacked out helmet on throughout the opening scene. This allows the audience to make the assumption that he is the assassin because he is keeping his identity from the other characters within building and also to the audience. The blacked out helmet could suggest that he is very professional because he knows that he cannot get caught and also through the action in the scene of him walking into the room and shooting the man creates him to be a deadly and dangerous character.

This character could be said to reinforce the stereotype of an assassin because he is wearing all black, a matt black helmet and rides a motorbike. Representations

The place where the film is set is represented to be a dark, gloomy area through the very first establishing shot of London. The image creates the sense of mystery because of the mist and clouds covering the town.

The second establishing shot of the character on the motorbike riding through a street which has graffiti on the sides of the bridge. This represents the area to be rough and suggests that there is a lot of gang crime which all contributes to the genre of action because already there is a sense of wrongdoing.AudienceWho is the primary target audience and how will they be attracted to this product?The primary target audience for this film are adults. However I would say young adults who enjoy films involving crime and danger would really like this film. The rating of Assassin is a 15 which ensures that the content of the film is not family friendly. The generic conventions from the poster, film title and even the trailer would attract the audience as shows the audience exactly what to expect.

Screenshots from the film trailer.GenreWhat is the genre and how is this communicated to the audience through generic conventions.

The genre of this film is firstly communicated to the audience through the poster. This is the first piece of media text that the consumer will see about the film and therefore must show them the type of film it is so they can make the decision whether they want to see this film. The gun shows the audience that the film will contain violence. From the title of the film and that fact that Danny Dyer is the main image holding the weapon allows the audience to make the assumption that he is the assassin. The film title automatically conveys to the audience that the film will contain killings and violence which all links to the genres of action and thrillerThe generic conventions from the poster is firstly the title. The audience can quickly gage the idea that it is a hit man film. Secondly the image of Danny Dyer portrays him to be a dominant figure and also the gun he is holding links to the title and the genre of action.The slogan of the film conveys the genre of action. Genre

The first shot of the whole film is of the front wheel of a motorbike which conveys the genre of action and thrill. This creates the thrill effect on the audience straight away because the bike is travelling extremely fast and the diegetic sound of the engine enhances the dangerous atmosphere.

This shot shows the character to be shooting his gun through a curtain to kill the man hiding behind it. This provides evidence to the audience that the film is in fact under the major genre of action.NarrativeTodorovs and Levi-Strauss narrative theory cannot necessarily be applied to the opening of the film because it starts with the main character killing people within the first 2 minutes. However one could say that this comes under Todorovs equilibrium stage because these actions are the everyday lifestyle of that character.

I have seen the film and when you completely deconstruct the plot one could say Todorovs theory is best fit as Danny Dyer, who plays Jamie, falls in love with the daughter of the man he has been paid to assassinate. This acts as the disruption of Todorovs Theory. Then the Kemp Brothers, who play John and Lee Alberts who are then people who paid Jamie to kill the man finds out and tries to kill them both. InstitutionAssassin was produced by Silver Leaf Pictures which is a private limited company. They are a small media institution of only around 50 or less employees. Assassin has a run time of 90 minutes and the budget of the film was $3,500,000.

The film wasnt overly successful, it didnt reach cinemas and viewers thought the script was poorly written. However it was popular due to its star actors Danny Dyer and the Kemp brothers. This is how the film became noticeable but still received quite a few bad reviews.