Sunday 25 March 2012

Image Analysis- Screen Shot freom 'Thelma and Louise' Ridley Scott (1991)

Camera Angles
This shot is a medium close up, this enables the audience can identify what is happening easily, it also enables the audience to get a good look at the expressions on the faces of the two characters. The woman in the shot is dominating the frame, which suggests that she maybe dominating the situation as well as the shot.
Lighting
This shot is lit by non-ambient lighting, it is a dark, menacing and threatening. The lighting enables the audience to focus on the characters and action at the front of the shot, and less on the character at the back of the shot, therefore the background is blurred.  The shining silver of the  gun is a very bright aspect of the shot, it draws focus to this prop, as it plays an important role within it.
Characters
The female character is very dominant, strong, and is in a generic positioning that in most films are acted by men, the woman in this shot is portrayed as a femme fatal due to the strong posture she has and her dominance over the man in the shot, we can see from this that he has obviously done something to provoke her anger judging by her facial expression.  
 The male character within the shot is living an un- proud moment, he is being dominated by a woman and is unused to the role reversal in this shot. His face looks as if he doesn’t believe she is ‘man enough’ to do it.
 Props
 The gun within this shot is an important prop- it plays a role of masculinity, The female is holding a male symbol, she has stepped over the line,  over the boundaries, isn’t staying within the rules of a woman’s role.
Location
In this shot, we can see an outline of a roof of a car, but it is not easy to identify that this scene is shot in a car park. This is an isolated location, as people have left their cars, and gone.

How does Ridley Scott challenge thriller conventions in the screen shot from Thelma and Louise?

Ridley Scott has firstly challenged the generic location of an enclosed space and has used an open car park instead. The cars within the car park are a male signifier, males are proud of their expensive cars, but this is not a proud moment for the man who is at gun point by a woman. He has used role reversal in this scene- the woman is playing a dominating male role, and also holding a masculine symbol. This shows the divisions between genders; it shows that women can also like cars and they can also play with ‘boy toys’ too.

2 comments:

  1. My teacher commented:

    vmbJan 12, 2012 08:54 AM
    A proficient analysis where you are able to discuss the connotations of the positioning of characters and props. Plus the challenge to conventional representation of gender in thriller films.

    When discussing positioning of characters or objects use foreground (for what is in the front of the frame) and background for the rest. For example Louise and Harlem dominate the foreground whilst Thelma the victim of Harlem's assault has her back to the camera.

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  2. You're doing this exactly right, Mandy - well done.
    Remember what I said, though - get your Evaluation on here first, then re-post all the old stuff.

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