How typical are your chosen texts of their genre?

When looking at my three texts, Sin City, District 9 and Fish Tank we can see that they all hold conventions which make them typical of their genre. However Sin City and District 9 hold postmodern values with the use of a hybrid nature.

To start, in Sin City, during the scene where Hartigan is going to save Nancy we see typical Noir conventions being addressed. In this particular scene we see the use of low key lighting, dramatic non diegetic music and the viewing of a cynical protagonist. Hartigan in this scene and throughout, typically of Noir, presents himself with a strong and authoritative nature. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of scars on his face and the authoritative close up of his police badge. The use of a voice over narration of Hartigans voice supports this further. His voice sounds, typically of Noir, hardened and depressed with the use of fast talking and mumbling. This voice over gives us an insight into the characters personality and acts as an enigma making us as an audience wonder where this personality will lead him in the future.

Shortly after, in the scene where we see Hartigan and Bob talking we see the idea of 'good cop, bad cop' being addressed. Hartigan wants to go and save Nancy, but Bob is trying to convince him to not do so and leave. This results in Hartigan punching Bob, leading to Bob shooting Hartigan in the back later on. This 'good cop, bad cop, idea highlights the themes of mistrust and paranoia which is a common convention of Noir. Additionally, in the same scene we see Sin Citys postmodern, hybrid aspect being shown through the mise en scene. Hartigan is wearing a big trench coat which sways in the wind much like a super hero's cape would which is a typical character to be in the comic book genre. Propp can be applied in this instance also, we see Hartigan being the hero trying to save Nancy who is the princess, but is stopped by Bob who is the villan/false hero. These are typical conventions of the characters and narrative structure of a comic book story.

The second cynical protagonist we follow throughout Sin City is Marv. Marv presents him self as a strong, tough and dangerous character. However we see essences of depression through him, which is another typical convention. An example of this is when he says "Hell is walking up every goddam day and wondering why you're still here". This depression throughout Noir is commonly associated with a femme fatale who ultimately leads to the protagonists demise. With Hartigan it is Nancy and with Marv it is Goldie. An example of this is in Marvs death scene. In this we see the camera zoom up to Marvs eye where we see Goldie lying in her death bed, where Marvs disequlibrium began. The post modern aspect of this scene with the use of the colour red on Goldie suggesting seductiveness, danger and death highlights how the women in Noir are viewed and represented whilst making an even clearer link of Goldies death to Marvs.

In my second text, District 9, in the scene where Wikkus is walking through the alien zone we see evidence of a typical science fiction dystopian society being shown. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of gritty alien shack and the conflict between humans and aliens. This scene shows science fiction conventions too with the use of aliens walking around, the interaction of humans and aliens and mise en scene aspects such as the big alien spaceship. This scene also shows District 9's hybrid features with the use of a documentary style approach. During this scene we see Wikkus being filmed by a hand held camera. As he is analyzing the alien shacks he is making constant reference to the camera filming him, like he is being interviewed.

Another scene which shows typical science fiction conventions is when we see Wikkus working in the MNU headquarters. In this scene we see evidence of Todorov with his disequilibrium starting to occur through the transformation beginning through his nails falling off. This transformation is a typical feature of science fiction and this particular scene shows close reference to 'The Fly' where the same thing happens to the main protagonists nails.

During the scene where Wikkus is travelling in the MNU truck we see more evidence of District 9's hybrid nature. We see a medium close up shot of Wikkus inside the truck. The use of a handheld camera in this scene pointing at him just sitting there in the truck adds to how it seems like he is being followed and interviewed. This surveillance camera in this scene adds to his also, further empathizing the idea that they are being followed by showing their location from a higher angle. During this same scene we see the idea of a society controlled by the government being shown. Aspects of the mise en scene support this with the use of the MNU logo on the uniform, trucks and even a MNU surveillance camera highlighting how they live in this controlled society.

Fish Tank however is not a hybrid. It follows the stereotypical conventions of the social realist genre. During the scene where Mia is looking out of the window, we see a panning longshot of the area she is part of. Aspects of the mise en scene show a gritty, run down and dystopian council estate she is part of. Mia being, being the main protagonist adds to this with the use of the worn raggy clothes she is wearing. Also in this scene there is no non diegetic music, only the diegetic sound of traffic. This adds no emotional feeling through the use of a film score, thus adding to the realism of the scene.

Another scene which shows typical social realist conventions is the scene where Mia is walking through the street. During this scene we see her being filmed with a shaky handheld camera. Her walk is determined and fast, like she has somewhere and she is of some importance when in reality she has nowhere to go and she is stuck in this continuous dysfunctional cycle. During the same scene we also see Mia get into a fight with some girls and says to a man "Tell her her old mans a cunt". This conflict and the use of informal, violent language, typically of social realism, appears that is has became a normality in her life and the use of this language is part of her natural dialect.

To build on this idea of a dysfunctional cycle being shown we see evidence of this through Mia herself, Mia's mum and her little sister Tyler. Mia's mum is very much like Mia, she represents her self with a very violent and informal nature. We see this has been passed down to Mia and is being passed down to Mia's little sister Tyler who has also picked up the use of a informal and violent nature. This 'passing down of personalitys' is a clear representation of the cycle they are stuck in and adds to the typicality of Fish Tank to is genre with this representation of dystopia.

In conclusion all three of my texts hold typical conventions of their genre. However two hold postmodern features making them appeal to a wider, more modern audience.