TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

TEXTUAL ANALYSIS Title: The ExpatriateDirector: Philipp StlzlStaring: Aaron Eckhart, Olga Kurylenko and Liana Liberato.Date: 26th September 2012Genre: Action & Thriller.

Media Language

The fist shot of the opening scene is a slow pan across what looks like a wall of capsules which then comes to a brick wall with a metal gated door. Non-diegetic music starts before this shot appears. The music is soft but creates suspension as it is quite eerie like something is about to happen. At the same time the audience can hear diegetic alarm ticks and beeps from the capsules.

Suddenly as the pan reaches the door there is diegetic machine gun shots fired breaking the suspense of the music. The camera tilts down to the injured man on the floor and a loud diegetic sound effect of the man smashing into the gate is empahsised to create the thrill and action atmosphere. Media Language

Next, the audience sees a close up of a person in rubber gloves and they assume that this will be the same person who fired the gun previously shooting down the guard. The fact that this character is wearing rubber gloves shows the audience that he doesn'tt want his fingerprints on anything and could also suggest he is an experienced criminal. At this exact moment the non-diegetic music builds up tension as pace and volume picks up which increases the adrenaline and thrill. The editing also picks up in pace with quick shots and transitions adding to the adrenaline of the scene. There is then a close up of the card swipe machine where the audience sees the red light turn green. This close up is showing the audience that this criminal is highly skilled as he has broken into the secured room. The next shot is of the man completely covered up so he is unidentifiable, I will discuss more about this shot and character in the key concept of representation. However this side angle shot shows the audience the criminal and the substance he is there to find and steal. Media Language

The following shots in the opening scene are all close ups of the actions the man carries out. For example firstly, there is a close up of the man unlocking the specific capsule and once again the red light turns green which portrays to the audience the sense that he is highly skilled and can gain access to things that are not meant to be in his possession. Secondly there is a over the head shot of the pulling out of the capsule which shows the audience exactly what is is and gives the impression its very valuable.Then there is a shot emphasising on the bag that he is putting the capsule in and zipping up which shows the audience that he is stealing the object and hiding it from other people, once again portraying this to be a well thought out mission. Media Language

The next shot is CCTV footage of the man leaving the room pointing his gun. The mise-en-scene of the gun and background characters on the floor with fake blood and wounds create the thrill and dangerous atmosphere as it shows that this man is extremely dangerous and wont think twice about shooting someone. The tracking shot of his feet as he walks through the corridor shows his panther like walk as he slowly creeps around portraying his mysteriousness. The non-diegetic music also slows down reflecting his walk.Media Language

At this moment in the opening scene the editing is very effective. The use of match on action which is defined as: the technique for continuity editing which one shot cuts to another shot portraying the action of the subject in the first shot.

The first shot shows the man shoot his gun which is followed exactly by the man being shot falling to the fall. The continuity is spot on which enhances the thrill and action in the film as it is so fast paced. Media Language

Once the character is out the building and exchanged the bag with a man on a motorbike driving past an establishing shot is shown on the street when diegetic typewriting sounds occur as the words: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM appear letter by letter. This shot and text communicates to the audience where the film is set. There is then a transition to a car pulling into a side road under a dark bridge which is quite secretive which contributes to the whole idea of the mission going unnoticed etc.

An extreme long shot is then used to show the motorbike swooping in and throwing the bag onto the floor. This action is quite discreet with smooth but fast paced transitions which reflects how this group easily carried out a crime. This enhances the danger because it is communicated to the audience that this is a highly intelligent gang that know what theyre doing.Representations

This is the main character that the audience is shown in the opening scene. From the screenshots obviously the audience cannot see any part of his body apart from his eyes. This represents the character to be undercover and have the aim to be unnoticed and unidentifiable. He is reinforcing the stereotypical criminal and allows the audience to make the judgement that this he is the bad guy because of his clothes and actions.

His weapon also contributes to this idea because it reinforces the idea that he is dangerous which links to the genre of this film which action and thrill. AudienceWho is the primary target audience and how will they be attracted to the product?The primary target audience for this film are adults. However I would say young adults who enjoy films involving crime and danger would really like this film. The rating of The Expatriate is a 15 which ensures that the content of the film is not family friendly. The generic conventions from the poster, film title and even the trailer would attract the audience as shows the audience exactly what to expect.

Screenshots from the trailer. GenreWhat is the genre and how is this communicated to the audience through generic conventions.

The gun shows the audience that the film will contain violence. The generic conventions are the weapon and the images of the characters. The woman is showing serious emotion of fear and the man looks intimidating. This portrays to the audience that this is not a romance or comedy film. The colour scheme used in the poster is cold and gloomy which can represent the film to be nature of cold hearted actions e.g. shootings and fighting etc.NarrativeTodorovs narrative theory can be applied to this film because The Expatriate is a linear narrative which means the events occur in chronological order. The film begins with the equilibrium of a father and daughter living their everyday life making breakfast in their home and he is excelling in his business which is some sort of secret agent company. Then the disruption would be the fact that the business completely disappeared and the recognition is when he was told he never worked there. The plot then goes on to the Restoration which is where the action of the film occurs as the father and daughter go on this thrilling adventure to find out who is behind this. Then a resolution is found in the ending where a new equilibrium is established.

InstitutionThe Expatriate was produced by E-motions, uMedia, Informant Films Europe and SMASH Media and was distributed by The Weinstein Company (USA).

This film had many large media institutions involved in the media text and the budget of the film was 12 million.

However this large amount of input did not determine its success; Rotten Tomatoes said, Derivative to a fault, The Expatriate squanders some nifty potential and its talented cast in a bland retelling of a story action fans have seen too many times before.