Drowning Pool - Bodies Music Video Analysis

I'm teaching music video again at the moment, and I thought I'd throw up (literally) a quick music video analysis to give my students an idea of what I'm after from them. They've got to analyse five different videos in terms of the style, conventions and techniques used. Here's my example for them, but before you read it, please give the video a watch!

Drowning Pool’s music video for their song Bodies is a great example of a video that is in a similar style to many other hard rock / metal music videos. It shares many of the conventions and techniques used in other music videos of songs within the same music genre. The video mixes ‘as-live’ elements of Drowning Pool performing in a few different locations (but without an audience) and elements of a narrative style music video. The main ‘as-live’ performance parts of the video feature the band playing in a large dark warehouse and also in what looks like a very small room in a hospital. This latter location ties in with the narrative of the music video which features a male patient in what can be assumed to be a psychiatric hospital being taunted by the lead singer of Drowning Pool who is singing to him. The video ends with the members of Drowning Pool appearing to help the man leave the hospital, but actually they take him back to his room, where the patient is already sitting. Is he mad? Why are there two of the patient? Is this a dream? As with many music video narratives, it’s quite ambiguous.

The song is clearly about having a very disturbed mind state. The repetition of ‘Nothing wrong with me’ and ‘Something’s got to give’ suggest this is a song about feeling angry, particularly if you feel trapped by society, and unable to express how you really feel and who you really are. The lyrics have been interpreted by the music video creators as being about a man who is literally trapped in an institution and is perhaps struggling to come to terms with his demons or his past. Perhaps the repetition of ‘Let the bodies hit the floor’ is a reference to the past of this patient, when he went on some kind of murderous rampage. In this sense, the video consolidates the song’s meaning because both the song and video seem to be about a disturbed man. There are possible vague allusions to a film like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest which is also set in an asylum, but no clear references. Similarly, there are no direct links to other artists, but the appearance of Drowning Pool in terms of their hair, tattoos, performance style and dress sense reminds of similar bands such as Korn, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit.

In terms of techniques, lip sync is used frequently in the video. It opens with the lead singer whispering ‘let the bodies hit the floor’ into the ear of the patient, combining both performance and narrative in the very first shot. We also see the drummer lip synch some backing vocals and the patient from the narrative lip synch the line ‘nothing wrong with me’ repeatedly. There is also cutting to the beat frequently. From the opening lines of the song, the video cuts between every repetition of ‘Let the bodies hit the floor’. There are many other points in the video where it cuts on the drum beat or the strike of a guitar chord. There are multi-image moments because Drowning Pool often appear to be performing on the TV screen that the patient is watching in the hospital. There is a strobing lighting effect used at some points when the band are performing in the darkened warehouse and a fish-eye lens is used on some shots, particularly when the band are performing in the small hospital room. The strobe makes the editing and performance even more hectic and the fish eye lens emphasises how small and claustrophobic the room is, particularly for a full band to perform in. There are a lot of close-ups, particularly on the lead singer and the patient in the narrative. The video is full of conventional camera movements and angles; tracking around the drummer while playing, low angles of the guitarists, wide shots of the whole band and quick cuts between all of these.  

I think it's a cool, if pretty conventional video, particularly for the editing and use of both performance and narrative elements.   

For LOTS more on music videos, click here!

5 Minutes of Mad Max: Fury Road - Introducing Furiosa & Immortan Joe

After a breathtaking opening sequence in which Tom Hardy's Mad Max is chased through the labyrinthine warrens of a hideout full of skeletal-like figures, Fury Road really kicks off after the title appears on screen and we are first introduced to the real star of the film: Charlize Theron's Imperator Furiosa.

Furiosa is first glimpsed in an over the shoulder shot that puts the branded symbol of the film's big bad villain Immortan Joe front and centre. It has been burned into the back of Furiosa's neck at some point in the past and features a skull in the centre of what looks like a flaming steering wheel. The skull reminds of pirate flags and death, as well as the mask of Immortan Joe himself, which is revealed shortly after. This opening shot also reveals two more critical things about Furiosa; firstly she has a leather strap on her left arm and secondly she has a severe buzz cut. Director George Miller revealed that the haircut was Theron's idea, as the star argued that a woman like this would have no time to deal with having any hair, and therefore would keep it shaved. Theron immediately follows in the footsteps of other female stars such as Demi Moore, Sigourney Weaver and Natalie Portman who went under the clippers for action-heavy roles in the past.

Furiosa introduced

As Furiosa moves away from the camera, we can see that she is walking towards a group of armed vehicles that are being driven by the white-painted men that were seen chasing Max in the first scene. The vehicles include a truck, a car and a motorbike, and the car has a machine gun mounted on it. These vehicles all look old but modified and the visible engine and superchargers suggest these vehicles are prized possessions that are maintained well. The men's stance suggest they are ready for war and looking at Furiosa like a leader who they will follow into battle.

The sound of machinery can be heard, particularly the noise of a pulley system and as the camera tilts upwards, it reveals a tanker being lowered towards the ground. The next shot shows that this tanker is surrounded by the white-painted shirtless men and the pulley system allows a collection of rocks to be lifted as a counter-weight to the descending tanker. This tanker appears to be at the back of the convoy of vehicles that Furiosa was heading towards in the previous shot and there is a huge crowd of people watching as the tanker is lowered. However, this crowd keep a respectful distance from the convoy and have also cleared a path so that it can leave the area easily.

The tanker is lowered

It's clear there is a purpose here. The convoy of armed vehicles is there to protect the tanker by leading the way. The crowd have cleared a path because they know what mission these vehicles are on. Furiosa moves toward the truck with purpose and in the next shot, climbs into the cab. In a close up, we see that she has only her right arm. Her left arm is a mechanical contraption that she can use like a real arm and in this shot, she uses both 'hands' to affix a steering wheel. The steering wheel is the Immortan logo again, showing that not only is Furiosa this character's property, but this rig is also. He controls who is allowed to drive and when and only those who are granted a steering wheel can take charge of a vehicle in his possession.

Property of Immortan Joe

We've met Max. We've met Imperator Furiosa. At first, it seems like Max is the protagonist seeing as he's been running for his life in the opening scene from a bunch of psychopathic freaks. Now we've seen Furiosa is with the people who are holding Max captive, so it's safe to assume that she might be an antagonist. But now we meet the real villain of the film, the man whose logo is branded on Furiosa and was nearly branded on Max. Immortan Joe is introduced with his back to camera, like Furiosa and Max before him. But his back is shirtless, wrinkled and covered in blisters and boils. This is evidence of the skin condition that afflicts many of the people in this post-apocalyptic wasteland. What is more revealing is the way a small boy is positioned behind him. His hands are cupped as if in prayer, but he is also using this gesture to hold white powder which he blows onto Joe's back. This tells us that Immortan is worshiped like a God, but also that he is as (secretly) vulnerable as any other person; the white powder soothes his skin and the branded boy behind him is a slave that ends up as covered in the powder as Immortan. Like Furiosa, the boy is bald and branded with the Immortan logo on the back of his neck.

Introducing Immortan

In the next shot, we see that when the boy blows the powder, much of the powder blows back onto the boy's face. This explains why the men of this tribe are covered in white; they have grown up as slaves to the Immortan, either taking part in this practice of covering him in powder, or simply covering themselves in this powder to emulate the pallid look of their God-like figure. Joe coughs as the powder hits his back, introducing the idea that he also has respiratory problems and reinforcing the presence of diseases that have ravaged the people who live in this polluted dystopian future.

The following sequence of shots show the militaristic way that the white powdered men work as a unit to fix the tanker to the truck. The audible cry of 'We are War Boys' from one of the men, known as Ace, is echoed by his troops shouting 'War Boys' and repeating some of his chants as they work. The rest of the chant includes words like 'Fukushima' and Kama-crazy, both references to Japanese culture. The Fukushima nuclear disaster of 2011, triggered by the devastating tsunami of that year has left a radioactive wasteland around the site, while the Japanese kamikaze pilots were known for their suicide attacks against allied forces in World War 2. This references that the War Boys are themselves living in a wasteland and suffering from radiation poisoning, at the same time as hinting at the suicidal nature of their attacks to come later in the film. The War Boys appear to work as a well-oiled unit. They are all shirtless, bald and painted in white, with no sense of individuality. This is what the boy who blows powder on Joe will grow up to become.

The War Boys hook another spherical tanker, the caravan for carrying fuel, onto the back of the truck, with Ace crying 'Hooked on'. He then shouts to his men: 'Today,we're heading to Gas Town', to which they all chant in unison, 'Gas Town!' Ace continues that, 'today, we're hauling aqua-cola'. The mission is to trade water, which The Citadel has, for gas, which Gas Town has. As we hear Ace shouting, there is a cut to Furiosa as she flicks switches, indicating that she is preparing to drive the vehicle on this mission. The engine roars to life, with dust blowing from beneath the vehicle, emphasising its power. On the front of the truck are four skulls, trophies no doubt of previous kills of Furiosa or the War Boys.

The War Rig is readied

The sound of Ace's voice becomes quieter as we see Immortan Joe being further prepared to make an appearance to the crowd below. This shows that Ace is far below Joe, while the warlord is having his armour fitted. We can see that it takes four War Boys to help Joe fit his armour. The breathing, the boils, the coughing and the armour all help to demonstrate that Joe is a man who is aging and decaying and while he is dependent on his slaves, they are all in thrall of him and honoured to help him. When it cuts back to the War Boys below still working on the rig, we can hear that Ace has just mentioned that they will be transporting 'Mother's Milk' to Gas Town as well. This alludes to the breeding programme that Joe is running, with women slaves who produce breast milk as a resource at the Citadel.

The front of his presumably bulletproof plexiglass armour is decorated with medals, which reveal that this is a man with a military past. He also has a large metal version of the logo which we have previously seen branded on his human property, which is placed as the final part of his armour. In a sweeping tracking shot that moves us away from the rig, we see the crowds of The Wretched who are cheering on the War Boys as they prepare for the mission out of The Citadel. In the distance, we can see the Immortan's logo carved into the side of one of The Citadel's rock towers, just above three pipes. This is an early indication of how Joe has power over the masses of Wretched below. Many of the people in the crowd hold containers above their heads and the tufts of greenery that are visible on another of the Citadel's rock towers suggests that some life can grow in this Wasteland.

Finally, Immortan Joe's face is revealed as he pulls a mask over his face. The mask is made with horse teeth to give him a skull-like appearance and there are clearly two tubes protruding from it that aid Joe with his respiratory problems. A second shot from behind Joe shows the bellow-like device that is around his shoulders that forces air into his mask and therefore his lungs. The mask is a key part of the costume that demonstrates that Joe is both fragile from his ailments but also determined to look as terrifying as he can to his followers. Joe's own fear of death accounts for his desperation to get his 'wives' back later in the film, particularly one that is carrying his child, and potential worthy heir. It is interesting to note that Joe must be dressed in his armour and mask before he stands before the masses. Only a select few War Boys who are tasked with dressing him see that he is really an old, flabby man who uses the white powder to ease the pain of his skin condition.

The following shot shows the extent of Joe's War Boy army as they amass together around the machinery and pulley system that has lowered the tanker to the ground level. A huge searchlight is pointing upwards so that the War Boys can give even more power and celebrity status to Joe when he will appear. The War Boys are moving into positions where they can see Joe from and then we see the light hit the Immortan logo in the rock face, awaiting Joe's arrival. From inside the mouth of the logo, Joe is helped to his feet by a War Boy, as others kneel before him. The light from outside is blinding and we can see that the teeth of the skull are visible at the top of the entrance. Cutting from the searchlight's beam hitting the logo to Joe moving towards the light gives a sense of the space at The Citadel and how the War Boys are in a tower opposite Joe's tower and all are high above the masses.

Joe is helped to the pulpit by the bulkiest of his comrades, who are notably lacking in white powder. These men look healthy, tanned and muscular, but wear a similar uniform to the rest of the War Boys; black trousers, no shirt. The man who holds Joe's arm the longest is Rictus Erectus, Joe's youngest son. As Joe moves passed the camera menacingly, we are left with the sight of another of Joe's sons, Corpus Colossus, who is played by an actor with Osteogenesis Imperfecta and is a timely reminder of the disabilities that exist in Joe's family, most likely due to radiation poisoning. Behind him, we see the water that Joe is hoarding, helping to keep the masses subservient and desperate.

A shot then sweeps around the shouting crowds of The Wretched who are all looking up at the rock-carved logo for the appearance of Joe. They bang their pots and containers together, clearly desperate for him to emerge and share water with them. He is introduced like a rock star by one of his comrades as they look down on the Wretched. As he steps forward, the camera shrinks away from him, tilted upwards to make him appear as the dominant figure in the Citadel; just the way the crowd below would see him.

An over the shoulder shot reveals just how many people there are in the crowd and how tightly packed they are. It also shows how high above them all Joe is, and that he is not only addressing these Wretched masses, but also the convoy that are about to leave The Citadel. Joe explains what the convoy will be doing, while pointing down at them. In response, the War Boys make a gesture with their arms above their heads, as if praying to their God, the Immortan. When Joe speaks, Rictus holds a microphone to his mouth, and his voice sounds gravelly and stern.The importance of this convoy is again emphasised by the way their path is cleared through the Wretched and how clearly they are addressed by Joe.

The camera moves from outside Furiosa's truck, right up to the passenger side window to show that Furiosa is looking dead ahead, a serious, determined and tense expression on her face. She is ready to drive onto the road ahead. Her eyes are not lifted in reverence to Joe, even as he is saluting and honouring her. This is a woman who is not in thrall to Joe, but is seemingly doing his bidding nonetheless. In contrast, when Joe salutes his 'Half-Life War Boys', they raise their arms and bow their heads in respect, in fear and awe of their master. A further shot reveals that all of the War Boys are saluting Joe in this way as they begin chanting 'V-8' after he mentions that they will ride with him for eternity on the 'highways of Valhalla'. This is the afterlife that all War Boys aspire to reach by dying in combat, and is based in ideas from Norse mythology. The V-8 chant is a sign of the cult of automobile worshipping that the War Boys practice. Their engines give them power and allow them to ride into battle fearlessly.

Joe calls himself a redeemer, the man who will rescue the Wretched from the ashes of this post-apocalyptic wasteland. Jesus is often referred to as a redeemer in Christianity, again positioning Joe as a saviour-like figure to be worshipped. This is further emphasised by his ability to silence the crowd with a wave of his arms. The crowd are dirty and skinny and all of their eyes are turned upwards towards Joe, with their hands clasping containers. When the crowd goes silent, only the buzzing of flies can be heard, again alluding to how dirty these people are. The people begin to mutter, 'yes, yes' as they cannot contain their excitement at the prospect of water any longer.

The next series of shots shows Joe unleash the water from the pipes below him. It pours down on the roaring crowd who rush at the gushing water in joy and desperation. This is not an efficient way to distribute a precious resource to the people. It is a spectacle; designed to make Joe look generous, but powerful; merciful but also in complete control. The music swells to create an emotional response in the viewer. Likewise, a wide shot showing the green at the top of the Citadel's towers and the huge crowd that are nowhere near getting to the relatively small waterfall stresses the hopelessness and sadness of this bleak vision of a future where the masses have barely any access to water.

Joe watches as the people scramble for water, before shutting the pipes off. In a few simple shots, we see how much power he has over the people, and how limited his generosity is. He only gives them enough to make him look like a saviour, but he also ensures that they will keep looking up to him for more in the future. When the pipes dry up, the sound of the crowd turns to cries and sobs. It is a show of strength and greed.

It is only now when the water is shut off that Furiosa leans forward in her seat to peer up at Joe. She is framed with the supercharger of her rig in the foreground, a reminder that she is the driver of this highly powered vehicle that she will remain in charge of for the majority of the film. Her face suggests that she despises Joe, but the sound of the engine reminds that she is still working for him.

Joe then issues a warning to the people to not become addicted to water. It cuts between him speaking from his tower and the people below fighting for the last drops of water. The next few shots show Furiosa setting off as the convoy leave the Citadel with war Boys riding all over the tanker. As the remaining War Boys at the Citadel begin to lift the platform that the tanker was lowered to the ground on back up again, the Wretched attempt to cling to the platform. They are violently removed by the War Boys that ride the platform and Joe turns back into his cave now that the show is over. He does not really care for them; the spectacle has served its purpose.

The camera now cruises alongside the convoy on the Fury Road between the Citadel and Gas Town; one car in front and the tanker close behind moving at a high speed through the bright yellow of the desert wasteland. A black cloud of smoke can be glimpsed in the distance, signifying the polluted air of Gas Town that Furiosa is heading towards.

The next shot of Furiosa's hands on the wheel reminds of the fact that she only has one real arm, that she is working for the Immortan whose truck and steering wheel this is, and that she is in control of this vehicle. If it doesn't make it to Gas Town, it is Furiosa who will be punished by Joe. The town is clearly straight ahead, so any deviation from this path will cause immediate suspicion, particularly from the War Boys who are riding with her.

Finally, we get a close-up of our protagonist. Until this point, we have possibly been wrong-footed by director George Miller. The film is called Mad Max: Fury Road. It opened with Max, with his voiceover and with his capture and subsequent attempt to escape. Now, with this close-up of Furiosa, it becomes very clear that she is the hero of this film, not Max. It is her plan that is being set in motion. She is the one with the goal to achieve, not Max. It is her who has caused the plot to kick into motion and she is behind the steering wheel, not only of the truck, but of the direction of the narrative. Her eyes are slightly upturned to the right of her, as if she is looking in a rear view mirror. She is thinking about what she has left; what is behind her. Then her eyes move to the road in front of her. She is thinking about her plan; the risky maneuver she is about to pull off.

We don't get a point-of-view shot to show her looking from the mirror to the road ahead, but the next shot reveals the convoy speeding down the road from the front. The Citadel is already very distant, its towers very small in the background. The rig is clearly covered in War Boys. The landscape is completely barren on all sides. As the vehicles move past the camera, a light flickers from the Citadel; a signal to Gas Town that the convoy is on its way. Whatever Furiosa is up to, she is caught between two enemies and has an army of potentially hostile men all over her vehicle. If she means to defy Immortan Joe, the odds are stacked highly against her.

Moments later, Furiosa makes her decisive move and turns off the road to Gas Town. From that moment on, the chase begins and Mad Max: Fury Road barely pauses for a single second.

If you haven't seen it yet, find it, buy it, get it on the biggest screen you can find with the best sound system and enjoy!

If you enjoyed this shot by shot breakdown of one of the early scenes in one of the best films of the year, then please share it around!

If you think I missed mentioning anything important, please let me know in the comments below! Thanks for reading and don't forget to share!

Terminator: Genisys Trailer Analysys (see what I did there?)

Everywhere I turn people are hating on the Terminator: Genisys trailer, so I’m here to provide a little bit of cautious and quiet optimism with this analysis of the first trailer. Watch it here:

Unfortunately my CG fatigue kicks in immediately with the opening shot. I hate it when every single thing on screen is completely computer generated. Give me Cameron’s old vision of the dystopian future any day. However, it’s a nice touch having the decaying Hollywood sign visible in the corner of the screen though. I’m guessing it’s not a deliberate comment on the state of the moviemaking capital of the world but it would be nice if it was. Three flying craft enter and head for a destroyed LA skyline.

Cut to Jason Clarke’s nastily scarred John Connor preaching to his fellow war survivors as Jai Courtenay’s Kyle Reese looks on. Was Jason Clarke just picked for his initials? Only Jesus Christ and James Cameron can answer that, but hopefully Clarke will prove himself worthy, though I doubt he’ll ever take the title of coolest Connor from Edward Furlong. On a side note though, imagine if they’d got Furlong back for the role. Have you seen him recently?

The future looks suitably bleak and it’s nice to see Connor and Reese fighting side by side because no matter how many times I’ve tried to watch Terminator: Salvation, it just never feels like I’m watching the version of the future that Cameron intended. So Genisys looks like it has gotten it a bit better but still not nearly as bleak as the vision offered up in the dreams of Reese in the first Terminator film.

 There is what seems to be a quick flashback to the best bit of Terminator: Rise of the Machines as Skynet sets off the global destruction of the human race as missiles strike targets all over our silly little planet. There are also a whole bunch of Terminators ready to be dropped off the production line at any minute, suggesting Connor and Reese are going to have their hands very full getting into Skynet in order to use the time machine.

And this is the point where it gets very interesting to me. What Genisys is going to have to do, is fill in a whole lot of little details that were glossed over in the original films. We finally get to see the time machine and Reese being transported back to the 80s (if indeed it will still be the 80s). After an incredibly homoerotic handshake between the naked Reese and clothed Connor, it’s all lightning and those familiar sphere things transporting Reese.

I will be interested to see how they explain how the resistance found out about the machines’ time travel scheme and if they attempt to justify why the machines decided to target Sarah Connor just before she becomes pregnant with John and why they didn’t just try to kill her when she was a child.

My favourite bit of the trailer is the recreation of those few shots in the alley from the original Terminator film of Reese emerging from his time travel sphere to immediately start being chased by the cops. It’s an interesting touch to have the Figueroa Lounge sign in the background featured quite prominently. I don’t remember that in the original film, but Don Figueroa is a guy who provided artwork for the Terminator: Salvation prequel comic so I suppose it could be a nod to him possibly.

And then we get the biggest shock of all! Sarah Connor comes crashing in, the cop is revealed to be another T-1000 and the roles are reversed as Connor demands that Reese comes with her if he wants to live. Now she is the Mother of Dragons, Sarah Connor is not so scared and weak and in need of saving as her future son thought she would be.

 Basically I’m a sucker for any part of the trailer where they seem to be delving into the first film’s scenes. So when we get the shot of the Griffith Observatory (which by the way I went on a pilgrimage to when I was in LA) and old 80s Arnie facing off against new (really old) Arnie, it gets me very excited. The fact new Arnie has been waiting for his other self and only thought to bring a shotgun doesn’t make a lot of sense but we’ll see how that goes.

 As Sarah says, everything’s changed but why the future hasn’t changed is a mystery to me. I don’t even want to get into the time travel paradoxes of these films as I’m sure they never made any sense in the first place but the films were just so damn good that it never really mattered.

There’s a quick shot of the T-800 saving a young Sarah Connor and a few tidy action beats but by the time Connor says ‘we can stop Judgement Day from happening’, you’re starting to think ‘yeah right, heard that before’.

And finally, the less said about the school bus flip and Arnie dive bombing a helicopter, the better. Let’s hope some of the action scenes have some vaguely practical effects and a real sense of threat instead of this OTT madness.

All in all, I’m quietly optimistic that this will at least have a really interesting new take. I’ve got to say I love the new even more badass Sarah Connor and the return of a liquid metal Terminator is very welcome. It’s never going to live up to James Cameron’s original pair but it sort of reminds me of Days of Future Past which can only be a good thing.

 What do you think?

More on the Terminator franchise:No Fate But What we Make: My initial reaction to the news of a Terminator Reboot

Feminist Analysis of Terminator 1 and 2 

Genre Analysis of The Terminator 

Iconographic Genre Conventions in The Terminator 

Dystopian Visions: The Future is Bleak 

My First 10 Years of Movies: The 80s

A2 Film Studies Exam Practice: Spectatorship and Emotional Response

Creating the opportunity for emotional responses in popular films is simply to do with manipulating the audience: mainstream films don’t attempt to use emotional responses to make any more considered points.  From your experience would you agree with this?

Mainstream films have a reputation for often being shallow and involving clear-cut heroes and villains with no moral ambiguity.  Emotional response is key as audiences want diversion from everyday life and to be thrilled, happy, excited or saddened by the on-screen events.  However despite the manipulative techniques used by mainstream filmmakers to provoke responses from the audience, some films do deal with serious issues and try to raise serious points about subjects such as racism

Manipulation of the audience’s emotions can be subtle or blatantly obvious.   Sometimes this is just to make the audience feel something and to enjoy the piece of entertainment.  The films studied for this topic are all challenging and do provoke strong emotional responses in the audience.  ‘American History X’ (AHX), ‘This is England’ (TIE) and ‘United 93’ (U93) all deal with the issue of racism and conflict between races.  The films are constructed to manipulate the emotions of the viewers.  Each film is categorised in the drama genre and as expected ends with the viewer encouraged to feel sadness.  This is achieved through the narrative structure, the script, the performances of the actors and the construction of the film form (micro-elements).  The soundtracks of all the films mentioned are particularly manipulative.  The use of violins, a choir and piano music is designed to provoke strong feelings of sadness in the audience.  The end of AHX uses slow motion running, close ups of crying characters and strongly emotive music to generate a feeling of sadness in the audience when a main character dies.  Similarly the ending of U93 uses violin music and handheld cinematography to create a feeling of unbearable tension and sadness in the viewer and likewise, TIE has moments where the piano music is designed to evoke feelings of sympathy and sadness. 

However the films studied do not just use these manipulative techniques to create an emotional response.  The films use these emotional responses to make very well considered points and challenge expectations that viewers will have of characters.  In AHX, the protagonist Derek is a racist skinhead gang leader that kills a group of African Americans for attempting to steal his car.  The film encourages hatred of Derek and disgust at his actions but also gives him a platform to air his shocking and controversial but very articulate viewpoints.  The camera, the script and the narrative structure all identify Derek as the focus of the film but the viewer is encouraged to empathise most with his younger brother Danny.  The death of Danny at the end of the film makes the audience sympathise with Derek.  After he has been raped in prison by white inmates and helped to recovery and rehabilitation by his African-American school principal, Derek is changed and the viewer is challenged to change their feelings for him.  The film uses Derek as a symbol by revealing that even the most hateful characters can find redemption and deserve a second chance.  Similarly the killing of Danny by a young African American in the film suggests the never-ending cycle of hatred that is spawned from the actions of racist people.  

This is England makes an explicit link between racism, nationalism, war and politics.  The use of real footage of Thatcher, the Falklands war and extreme right-wing rallies shows the context of the film and the real-life events that were occurring in the 80s when the film is set.  Shaun’s father has been killed in the war and Combo uses his anger to mould the young boy into a racist, hateful skinhead.  This makes a serious point about the dangers of sending men to war and training them to be racist in order that they can kill their ‘enemies’.  The idea of unification and the diversity of 80s Britain is emphasised through much of the reggae/ska soundtrack and is juxtaposed with the hijacking of skinhead culture by those raised to hate.  Thatcher is explicitly blamed by Combo for starting the war and much of Combo’s anger is directed at immigrants who he sees as the cause of Britain’s problems. 

United 93 is very manipulative of the audiences emotions using a recent real-life event and tear-jerking music to gain a response from viewers.  However there are some considered points in the film that are subtly put across to the audience.  For example, the film intercuts between the passengers of the plane praying for their lives and the terrorists also preying.  This subtle use of editing implies the similarities between the God-fearing, religious Muslims and Christians.  The titles on screen at the end of the film force home the message that this is a real-life event and that many real people lost their lives on September 11^th 2001 and that the official story of what happened to United 93 is true and that rumours it was shot down are untrue.  However originally the titles were to say ‘the war on terror had begun’ implying that the people on board were the first to fight against terror in the ongoing war between America and its enemies.  This message was changed to avoid controversy however.

The films listed here are not as mainstream as Hollywood blockbusters but were all very popular with critics and audiences.  Their tackling of a serious issue like racial conflict suggests that they are going to make some serious and considered points.  However as they are mainstream narrative films, they do this with interesting characters and dramatic plot elements to encourage audiences to have strong emotional responses.  The films try to engage viewers by creating anger, sadness and even disgust but also give the viewers things to think about and a chance to challenge their own views and preconceptions, as well as extremist ideology.

Iconographic Genre Conventions in The Terminator

James Cameron’s film The Terminator is a hybrid of genres with action, science-fiction and horror being most notable. It contains many of the generic conventions of each of these three genres. Producers use genre to help sell their films, audiences use genre to help choose what films they will watch and even the creative people behind the films use genre to help script their films. Genres are about repetition and formula but they are also about creating expectations and often subverting those expectations. Genre films have to tread a fine line between being familiar enough to entice and audience but also being too repetitive and predictable.

The Terminator ensures it will appeal to a wide ranging audience by containing many conventions of different popular genres. This means there will be much that is familiar to audiences about it but there will also be a lot that is new to them as well. Generic conventions can be divided into iconography, narrative and thematic. I will focus on the iconography of The Terminator, analysing what conventions it uses to appeal to horror, action and sci-fi fans as well as how it updates, changes and subverts expectations that the audience might have.

Action movie iconography

Although early in his career, Arnold Schwarzenegger was already becoming typecast in American films by the time he starred in The Terminator in 1984. He was known for his huge muscles, a physique crafted from years of bodybuilding and for his Austrian accent. He has already starred in fantasy action films such as Conan the Barbarian and looked like the kind of alpha male hero Hollywood could feature in an action film. However Arnold Schwarzenegger was cast as the villain in The Terminator to help make the hero look like more of an underdog and therefore make the film more suspenseful and exciting.

The early scenes of the film feature a fight between The Terminator and some punk youths. This involves a knife which should be a terrifying weapon. However the Terminator is not frightened by the youths, their knife or hurt when he is stabbed. This sets him up as a dangerous villain that will be hard to kill. The film also features lots of chases, both on foot and in cars. These are fast paced and exciting for the audience and are shot, edited and scored to make them appear tense and thrilling with the sound of screeching tyres used to emphasise speed. Guns are often used and the sound of gunshots can be heard which also adds excitement as guns can be used to hurt people from a distance and they are a symbol of power and deadly force. The Terminator also features fire and explosions which are major signifiers of destruction and are caused by using weapons. The tension around an impending explosion is built through intercutting between shots of the fuse burning and then shots of the people who may be affected by the explosion as in the scene where Reese puts a bomb in the tanker that Sarah is being chased by.

Police cars and police uniforms also feature in The Terminator but they are not the heroes of the film, as is often typical with action films. The hero is a plain clothed soldier from the future and to further subvert expectations, the villain drives a police car at one point.

Science fiction iconography

The Terminator also has many iconic conventions of the science fiction film. It frequently uses special effects such as lasers that fly across the screens, representing the firepower of futuristic weaponry. The idea of a robot that looks human not something that has been invented yet and is therefore futuristic. The audience is made aware that Schwarzenegger’s Terminator is not human in a number of ways. There are point of view shots that have a red tint and written data scrolling on screen and this is accompanied by robotic noises so the viewer knows they are seeing what the robot sees. Eventually it is revealed that beneath the skin, The Terminator has a metal skeleton with bright red eyes. This signifies strength, anger and death and makes him appear to be from the future and also dangerous and almost impossible to kill.

There are also scenes set in 2029 when machines are hunting and killing humans. The future is bleak with destruction everywhere and humans living underground. The machinery looks unfamiliar to modern audiences and the world is unrecognisable. The connotations of machinery that flies through the sky shooting lasers while humans scurry around on the surface trying to fight back is that technology has taken over the planet and has become more powerful than humans. This is a typically dystopian vision of the future that is reminiscent of other science fiction films such as The Matrix and even Jurassic Park where technology allows people to re-create dinosaurs than then go on a rampage.

Horror iconography

The Terminator also has elements of the horror film in its iconography. James Cameron uses suspenseful music during chases to build the idea of threat. Most of the film takes place at night with low key lighting. The idea that only bad things happen at night and the poor visibility of night time adds to the excitement and suspense. There is blood and gore and a focus on injuries in some scenes. For example when The Terminator cuts his arm open or takes his eye out, there is the kind of graphic detail that might be expected in a horror film.

Though the killer uses a gun as his weapon of choice, he also hunts down women who appear weaker and more innocent than he is. This focus on female victims and also that we see from the killer’s point of view is similar to slasher film conventions. The fact the killer murders his defenceless victims in cold blood and never shows any remorse or emotion is also similar to slasher film villains like Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees. The Terminator is also occasionally shot from a low angle to make him look dominant and Schwarzenegger’s face never changes to show that he is robotic, inhuman and impossible to reason with... just like a slasher killer!