The film I have been looking at is Die Hard. Die Hard is a action
film that was made for people to watch on Christmas eve. Die Hard is one
of the most renowned films in the action genre.
The
purpose for Die Hard is to entertain the audience, we know this because
throughout the film the character uses comedy to evoke laughter from the
audience.
The main genre for Die Hard is action, I
know this because the film is filmed with lots of action (Guns,
Violence, Explosions). The sub genre for this film is comedy, this I
know because the main character uses comedy to lighten the mood of the
film.
The form of this film is that it is a feature
film, this film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and shown in cinema
across the globe. It made $140.7 million in box office from cinemas.
The
style for this film is that it is made to represent venerability to
terror attacks in America, it is also supposed to show motive behind
terror attacks. The films plot and the idea of an attack of terrorism on
Christmas eve, shows to people that anything could happen at anytime.
The
story for Die Hard. Die hard is about a man called John McCLane that
go’s to see his wife Holly McCLane at her companies Christmas party.
During that Christmas party terrorists arrive lead by Hans Gruber, they
go on to lock-down the building and take the businesses employees
hostage. This presents an enigma. They plan to take $640 million in
bearer bonds from the company safe, when John McCLane (the only person at
the party not taken hostage) takes the law into his own hands and
hatches a plan to rescue the hostages. This is an example of binary
opposition( Claude Levi-Strauss 1958) where John McCLane is the
protagonist. He then go’s on to kill most of the terrorist group but is
unable to stop them from blowing the roof off of the building and
killing two FBI agents, It is at this time when John finds Hans and
kills him to stop the attack. He rescues most of the hostages and lives
on with his wife.
The storyline for this film is a
prime example for Tzvetan Todorovs narrative structure theory that there
are five steps to a films narrative. Firstly there is Equilibrium, this
is where everything is calm and everyone is happy, when John go's to
the Christmas party (11:21). Then there is a disruption, this is an
event that disrupts the equilibrium, when the terrorists arrive and lock
the building down (22:58). Thirdly is a realism that the disruption has
happened When John hatches a plan to rescue the hostages . Then there
is an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption, John starts
killing the terrorists. Finally there is a happy ending where the
equilibrium is restored, John saves the hostages by killing
Hans(2:01:57). There is also a lot of action codes throughout this film,
an example of one is when John reaches for his gun , we know then that
there is going to be a shoot out between two parties.
Content
I will now talk about the mise-en-scene of Die Hard, location, characters, gestures, props, lighting and colouring.
The
main location for this film is the Nakatomi tower, a 50 floor plaza
tower. A lot of the scenes that take place with in this building are
iconic of the action genre.
The main characters in
this film are John McCLane (portrayed by Bruce Willis) the most important
character, he is the hero and protagonist of the film. Then there is
Hans Gruber (played by Alan Rickman), he is the leader of the terrorist
group and the main antagonist of the film. Sgt Al Powell (Reginald Vel
Johnson), the police sergeant in charge and helping John throughout the
film. Holly McCLane (Bonnie Bedelia), Johns wife and a protagonist. Karl
(Alexandra Gundonov), a terrorist and antagonist.
There
are a lot of gestures within the film. An example of a acting gesture
would be the fight scene with John McCLane and Karl, where Karl fights John
for revenge and John defeats him (1:52:11). Another example of an acting
gesture is when John leaps from the exploding rooftop with only a fire
hose tied around him(1:56:26). The costumes mostly consist of suits and
evening dresses for the business employees, and all black clothes for
the terrorists however the main hero John McCLane wears only a vest, some
trousers and a gun strapped around him (this is typical stereotype of a
action hero) and the main villain Hans wears a business suit ( this is
another typical stereotype for villains).
The props
in this film mostly consist of guns, explosives, alcohol, and bags. An
example of props only used once would be a microphone or a fire-hose.
These props are used to create a dramatic effects throughout the film.
The
lighting in this film is mostly low key, this denotes to it being night
time and the building having the power cut out, the connotation of this
is that the lighting represents the dark nature of the film and when
there is explosions the contrast in light makes the scenes memorable and
iconic. The colours in this film are mostly neutral or primary colours (
reds, blues, greens) but colours such as yellow and orange make a lot
of entrances with explosions.
Meaning
I will now talk about the meaning of different aspects of the film
This
film was filmed inside of the Nakatomi tower building, this denotes to
the building being very large. When the rooftop of the Nakatomi tower is
blown up (1:56:35) it symbolises how unimportant the building is in the
scale of life or death. This makes the audience react with
anticipation, this is exactly what the producer wanted for his preferred
meaning.
Both the main villain Hans Gruber and main
hero John McCLane act in a way that is exactly what you would expect for
an action stereotype, very bold and straight to the point, this denotes
to the film following in the action genre, the connotation of this is
that its genre is very specific to its needs when it comes down to the
acting.
The costumes of the business employees denote
to them having a party but it connotes to the employees getting
surprised and not getting chance to do anything. The costumes for the
terrorists denote to the fact they don't want to be seen within the
darkness but the connotation of this is that they came prepared and that
black clothes are stereotypically seen as clothes a bad villain would
wear. John McCLane's costume denotes urgency but connotes to him being an
action hero so he only needs bare minimum to succeed. Hans Gruber's
costume denotes to him blending in with the business people, but the
connotation of this is that he may see himself as more of a businessmen
that a terrorist.
The characters use guns and
explosives the most. This denotes to the characters being inpatient and
non merciful, but the connotation of this is that they are willing to go
to extremes to live or get what they want.
The film
is mostly lit up by the explosions that happen a lot of the time. This
denotes to the explosions being bright, the connotation of this is that
the explosion is illuminating of the characters personalities. This is
supposed to make the audience react in suspense because the audience
aren't expecting them to happen. This is what the producer wanted the
audience to react like, so it is exactly the meant reaction for scene.
Production Process
I
will now talk about the production process of the film and when the
decisions were made for the locations, costumes and lighting.
The
mise-en-scene for the location of this film was most likely considered
during the pre-production of the scene, this is because the team needs
to understand what connotations they are conveying to the audience
before they start recording. We know this because the film has several
strong meanings to it and the producers would have wanted to get them
exactly correct. This helps give the audience a more in depth
understanding of the film.
The mise-en-scene for the
costumes was decided during the production because the costumes are the
same throughout the whole film and doesn't require much before hand
planning. We know this because we see the characters wearing the same
clothes in the scenes before for example we see John wearing the same
vest and trousers for the whole film.
Lighting must
have been decided during the post production of the film because it
would have been hard to estimate what kind of light they would get from
the explosion effects. This I know because the lighting from the
explosion seems to too look exact for the explosions . This is important
to the viewers understanding because without the lighting the viewer
wouldn't count the film as realistic or enjoyable. The colour filters
are to added post-production this is so that the editors are able to
re-correct the colours that are off and add colours to the scenes to add
atmosphere. I know this because the camera used to film isn't likely to
get the right colour tones that are needed. The colours in a film
sequence are very important to the understanding of the audience because
the audience needs to see the realistic side of the film and if the
colours are wrong then it may lower the production value of the film.
Camera Work
In
this film there is a variety of camera angles. An example of one is
the tilt shot that shows John McLane jumping off the building from
below. This camera angle denotes to the character being above as-if he's
falling towards the audience. The idea that he is above the watcher
connotes to him being more powerful or more important than the
audience. Another angle is the high angle that shows the police car from
above as if the viewers are looking down at it this denotes to the
police being down below the characters but it connotes that the law is
less of a problem that John McLane because it is smaller in the scene.
Die Hard also has a lot of shot movement, this is due to it being and
action film in which the main character is always on the move. One
example of shot movement is the whip pan that is used when john is
running through the offices and Karl is shooting at him, this shot
movement is a great way to show action scenes because it evokes surprise
from the audience. Another example of shot movement is the tracking
shot, this happens when the camera follows the helicopter that is flying
in-between the skyscrapers.
Editing
There
is a lot of editing in this film. This is so that the film can have a
realistic effect without endangering the actors of the stunt crew. An
example of one editing technique, is in the scene where John Jumps from
the rooftop it is in slow motion, this technique is designed to slow the
scene down, it denotes to the scene being slowed so it lasts longer,
the connotation of this is that the slow motion makes it seem as if we
are the character and builds suspense. Another editing technique is the
special effects that are edited into the film at various points. An
example of this is when John throw's a explosive down the elevator shaft
and we see a huge wall of fire coming up the shaft into John, the
editors used this special effect explosion over a real one because there
is no health and safety issues with adding special effects and it
wouldn't endanger the actors life. The denotation of this is that it
adds explosions to the film without any real destruction , the
connotation of this is that it adds action to the film so that it keeps
with the action film stereotype , these aspects of the film are very
important so that it adds verisimilitude to the film.
Sound
The
sound in this film mostly consists of sound effects and music, these
sounds are used to add realism to the diegesis. Some of the most
used sound effects used in Die Hard are effects such as gun shots sounds
and explosions. These effects are used to create realism and atmosphere
within the film. There is also a lot of non-diegetic music played
within the film, this is to create the connection between the real world
and the digital world. An example of the non-diegetic sounds is the
music that plays through Johns gun fights. This film also contains a
great deal of diegetic sounds, this means that the sounds are clearly
coming from within the narrative. For example the gun shot sounds that
are clearly coming from the film, another example of diegetic sound in
this film is the dialogue. These are used to connect timelines within
scenes this helps the audience get an understanding of the story and
when its set.
