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Thriller Representation
AnalysisRepresentation of male and female characters in
thrillers
Films• V for Vendetta
o Natalie Portman (Evey)
o Hugo Weaving (V)
• Gravityo Sandra Bullock (Ryan Stone)
o George Clooney (Matt Kowalski)
• War of the Worldso Tom Cruise (Ray Ferrier)
o Dakota Fanning (Rachel Ferrier)
• The Bourne Ultimatumo Matt Damon (Jason Bourne)
o Julia Stiles (Nicky Parsons)
V for Vendetta – Evey (Natalie Portman)
Framing:In framing, Evey can be seen as an important character in a lot of situations during the film. When placed with the powerful V, Evey could still be represented as a more important figure in the film. Even if she is in the background of a frame, Evey is still represented as more important, as the focus is pulled onto her. This is the same when she is in the foreground of frames with V too, the focus is shallow and focused on her.
Costume:In terms of mise en scene, this changes throughout the film. At first, when working as the runner, she is often seen nicely dressed and respectable, almost formal. This is probably because of her job as a runner, or she could be complying with the possible regulations of this corrupted British future. This changes to represent the corruption in this film when she is captured and locked away. He hair is shaved off and she is made to wear orange outfit, much resembling a rag, dirty and ragged.
Mise en scene:Mise en scene for Evey represents her as a character of that time, that doesn’t contrast her surroundings. Her primary costume blends in with the general setting within the film. This could represent her as a more unexpected powerful force in the film, because she blends in unexpectedly, which is perhaps more prominent when in her second main costume, which does not blend in with the setting and lighting.However, this conventional first costume could also represent Evey as a rule follower, abiding by the rules of the dictatorship, so blending in is important if she does not want to be caught.
Evey’s face seems a bit uneasy, being somewhat scared of the situation. This could be a more powerful representation than content and a few powerful expressions. This constant look of uneasiness, could be represented as a more powerful image because of the power of the dictatorship.
Lighting:The lighting matches these costumes and their changes. When she is the runner, the lighting is generally bright and high-key. However, when bald and wearing her orange rag-like costume, the lighting gets a lot darker, but wearing the orange costume could still represent Evey as an important character as her costume makes her contrast against the dark lighting, as it doesn’t seem to be conventional that a female would be the main character in a film, as in other thrillers, a male is normally seen as the main character, trying to solve the problem. However, she does receive great assistance from the supporting male character, V.
V for Vendetta – V (Hugo Weaving)Costume:In terms of costume, he has the same costume throughout the film, which is very dark. His array of knives on his belt when he is outside shows that he is prepared for anything, also equipped with his increased human abilities. He is determined to complete his mission in getting rid of ‘Norsefire’. Paired with his smirking mask, which represents him as a confident in all situations, it shows that he is a powerful character.
Lighting:When it comes to lighting, his dark costume blends into the background when he is not at home, representing him as more a more mysterious character in the film. With a contrast in colour between his overall costume and his white mask represents him as a good character inside, fighting for justice. His black that camouflages represents him as a powerful force to be reckoned with, but his white mask, which could represent good and peace represents him as still fighting for justice.
In the bottom left picture, the lighting is very dark, however, the lighting behind him outlines his recognisable figure, which adds to his mysterious character, but still represents him as powerful, as purely an outline is enough to recognise him.
Framing:Framing is important when establishing how a character is represented. In the bottom left picture, V can be seen in the centre of the frame. This framing, represents him as a powerful figure, because he is the main and one of the only elements in the frame.
Sound:In a lot of the scenes, V’s speech and dialogue throughout the scenes is often focused on the most. When speaking, he is one of the only sounds you can hear, with other ambient noise being drowned out.
This represents him as a powerful figure again, because his voice is powerful enough to become the most overbearing noise in the situation, whether he is with Evey or not.
Mise en scene:Although he blends in with the darkness of night, when he is positioned in his residential setting, he can also be represented further as an important force, as he is shown to contrast with his setting.
This represents him as a powerful figure because he is confident enough to go against this light situation and wear something that contrasts with the happy façade that his home gives.
V for Vendetta -Conclusion
• In terms of how male and female characters are represented, V for Vendetta first goes against general conventions, with Evey being the main character over V.
• However, V is still represented as a strong powerful male character, with Evey being more weak, especially when seen in her cell, alone. She is seen following the rules in the outside world, however, she does fight from within and becomes more powerful at the end of the film. This then shows her as the more powerful character, because this is when V is dead, so she has to play the part of the strong hero-like protagonist and complete her mission to overthrow ‘Norsefire’.
• V could be seen as a teacher to Evey, as he leaves her to follow his legacy and wishes for her to be as strong as he once was.
Gravity – Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock)
Costume:There is not much to mention about costume, since everybody’s costume is the same until the very end. A spacesuit however, as generic as it may be, does represent Ryan in a claustrophobic and restricted way, powerless against the debris.This is an interesting costume too, as the spacesuit is the one thing keeping her safe from death in space, but when she finally makes it to a space station, this is the restriction that she makes short work of taking off, allowing her to be more free and comfortable.
Lighting:Light is only coming from a few places in the different scenes: the Sun and the Earth, with the rest in darkness. This could represent Ryan in a good way, because she always has Earth by her side to help the situation, making her feel reassured, almost like her donor in the film.The darkness is often featured when Ryan is in danger of the debris, showing her alone and powerless, in darkness.
Framing:There are two main frames that can generally be seen with Ryan Stone. She, on one hand is seen in tightly framed shots, with only her and sometimes another character. This tightly framed shot represents her as a claustrophobic in the vacuum of space, and while she may be the main protagonist, this claustrophobic feeling represents her out of her comfort zone.The other main frame that can be seen with Ryan in is when she is lost drifting in space (bottom photo). This represents her as alone, and she might not have the help she needs, especially when she loses the other main protagonist, Matt.In some cases, these shots are switched quickly to and fro. This represents her as chaotic, as she feels alone in the darkness of space, but she looks claustrophobic at the same time. This again shows her out of her comfort zone.
Sound:The sound of Ryan in Gravity almost always comes from the radio provided in her suit. The slight chaos provided from this, which slightly distorts her speech could again represent her as scared, as she is hard to understand from another’s point of view.However, the constant silence of space (especially after contact with ‘Houston’ is lost) shows her as out of her comfort zone again.
Mise en scene:The setting is obviously space, with the Earth often seen by Ryan’s side. This could represent her as our of her comfort zone, because she can’t help but constantly look back to Earth, because she may want to get home, especially at the attack of the debris.
Her facial expression also shows an uneasy, scared face a lot of the time, which also shows her as out of her comfort zone.
Gravity – Matt Kowalski (George
Clooney)Costume:Again, sporting a spacesuit, Matt Kowalski could be seen as trapped inside his shell that seeks to keep him alive.However, an addition to his costume is a jetpack. This represents him as a more confident figure perhaps, since he has control of his location. This allows Ryan, the main protagonist, to achieve her mission, so Matt and his jetpack are like donors to Matt, as well as Matt being sidekick.
Lighting:Light is only coming from a few places in the different scenes: the Sun and the Earth, with the rest in darkness. This could represent Ryan in a good way, because she always has Earth by her side to help the situation, making her feel reassured, almost like her donor in the film.The darkness is often featured when Ryan is in danger of the debris, showing her alone and powerless, in darkness.
Framing:There are two main frames that can generally be seen with Ryan Stone. She, on one hand is seen in tightly framed shots, with only her and sometimes another character. This tightly framed shot represents her as a claustrophobic in the vacuum of space, and while she may be the main protagonist, this claustrophobic feeling represents her out of her comfort zone.The other main frame that can be seen with Ryan in is when she is lost drifting in space (bottom photo). This represents her as alone, and she might not have the help she needs, especially when she loses the other main protagonist, Matt.In some cases, these shots are switched quickly to and fro. This represents her as chaotic, as she feels alone in the darkness of space, but she looks claustrophobic at the same time. This again shows her out of her comfort zone.
Sound:Again, his main source of sound can be distorted by his radio, however he still remains calm through these temperamental happenings.
Mise en scene:The setting again is Earth and space, with Earth constantly being in Matt’s eyesight at all times. So although he may show a more stabilised personality, he is still represented as out of his comfort zone as he seems to have Earth on his sights too.
His facial experiment could also show this strong façade. He always seems to look quite content and calm, however, this seems to be particularly staring at Earth. This could show that he is under control of his emotions, but the way he stays under control is thinking about home.
Gravity - Conclusion• Although she is the main character, Ryan Stone is quite an
emotionally weak character. This is unlike the main protagonist of a film because they are conventionally powerful and more stable.
• The main male character, Matt, is shown as more powerful and more stable. He puts on a strong face and keeps calm under the intense situation (which may be influenced by the fact that he is under control of where he is going). However, there may be a slight hint of where is less strong than Ryan, because he could also have the similar approach to the Earth as Ryan. He relies on it to make him feel safe in space.
• However, by the end of the film, Ryan is shown as more the more powerful character, as Ryan makes it to the end of the film, alive on Earth, however, Matt dies during the film. Matt seems to help Ryan on her mission back to Earth after the debris disaster.
War of the Worlds – Ray Ferrier (Tom
Cruise)Costume:Ray Ferrier has a average, casual costume. However, the use of a leather jacket could represent the character as strong as leather is quite hard wearing material, so this could be shown that he can be quite powerful and physical when he needs to be.
Lighting:There is quite a change in lighting in the film, primarily when the tripods being attacking. This change in lighting from quite light to dark shows that the situation is quite dark. Cruise’s character also changes with this lighting, as when the lighting is light and the atmosphere is calm, Ray is calm, however, when the lighting gets darker, you can see that Ray Ferrier changes his attitude. This could represent him in a way that he is more powerful and alert when things get dark and dangerous, signifying his power as a main character.
Framing:When on screen, Tom Cruise’s character is often as the centre of the action. This could represent Ray in quite a strong and powerful way also, since he is in the middle of the action, so he will catch all of it and know what to do, showing confidence and control.
Mise en scene:He looks very similar to the rest of the extras in the scenes. This could also represent him as a powerful character in this film. This is because he is a character who stands out from the rest, being showing more prominence as a main character than others in the film.
The mist, fog and dust in the film after the large tripods begin attacking, it can represent way with stability. This is because the dust he is surrounded in is chaotic and distressing for some, however Ray chooses to power through it and fulfil his priority to stay alive.
War of the Worlds – Rachel Ferrier
(Dakota Fanning)
Costume:Her costume is obviously very juvenile, however the use of a thick, pink coat could represent her as very innocent and scared by the tripods, with the juvenile pink representing innocence and the thickness of the coat representing her fear for the tripods. This is because she may believe the coat will keep her warm and safe from the tripods.
Framing:Dakota Fanning’s character, when on screen, is often seen as the most important element in the frame, often concentrated in the centre of the frames, being the main attraction in the scene.
This, paired with her facial expressions of fear, represent her as a young, terrified character.
Mise en scene:Her costume contrasts with the dusty parts of the setting, which could represent her stability in this chaos. The bright, juvenile colours of the costume contrast with the dusty, dark setting, representing her as a more significant character in the film, fulfilling the responsibility as the main female character in the film.
War of the Worlds -Conclusion
• In War of the Worlds, the male main character (main protagonist) is shown as a casual character, quite normal, but his costume and framing in certain scenes can represent him as a strong character.
• His daughter, the main female character, is shown as brave and contrasts with other people, however, her facial expression and relationship with her father still suggests that she is still afraid and needs protection from the villain, still vulnerable.
• She main gain this confidence from her strong father, as she stands out from the other people in scenes.
Overall Evaluation• From the films I have analysed the main male and
female characters, there does seem to be a pattern in the representation of the different genders.
• Although most of the films I looked into did feature a female character as the main protagonist, the lead male character in the thrillers did seem to dominate in terms of their strength.
• In both V for Vendetta and Gravity, the lead characters were female, but they both needed the help of the male to reach the resolution of the story.
• This is similar in War of the Worlds. The main character (Ray Ferrier) is male in this instance, however the main female (Rachel Ferrier) still needs the help of the male character to be stronger in the film.
