Hancock exam questions

Q1: Explain two ways in which the characters or events fit the action adventure genre (10)

Explanation 1: The main girl shown in this clip fits the action adventure genre quite well because of the way she dresses. She wears a full black costume (top and trousers), black booted heels and darkly coloured make up. This fits in with the genre as she stereotypically looks like a dark and powerful person in which people look like action adventure films. She also fits the action/adventure genre by the powers in which she has. Being able to lift heavy items such as cars and trucks and throwing them shows she belongs in an action films. Her flying power also gives her the adventure element to link in with the genre. This is how she fits into the action adventure genre.

Explanation 2: The whole seen which occurs midway through the clip until the end of the extract links very nicely to the action adventure genre. The “fighting” scene contains many events which normally would take place in this type of film. For example the two characters fly and land in the road making massive dents and rubble explosions. This links into the genre as this type of scene which is stereotypically in all action adventure films. Also when the characters use their powers in the scene it grasps the genre more as realistically people can’t do that but action adventure films they do. The whole fighting element draws action all over and the characters super powers reveals the adventure side to the film.

Q2: Explain how each of the following is used to create effect: (30)

• soundtrack
• editing
• mise en scene
• camera work

In the extract there are many different soundtracks and instruments played throughout. At the start of the clip there is quite beat with a cymbal added to it after around every 8 beats. This occurs when the two characters are entering the caravan. As that scene continues the beat gets louder and louder. This creates more tension between the characters and the rest of the scene. During this the pace of the beat gets faster which also increases tension. The music continues but adds a violin or another sting instrument into the background. The music continues to get a lot louder and quicker but then slowly fades out as the scene changes. When they enter the scene on the street another soundtrack fades in. This time the soundtrack is a lively beat as the characters walk down the street. When the two characters stop and argue the street music fades out and a brass instrument comes in getting louder very quickly. The brass instrument then makes a different sound with a quiet drum beat in the background. The scene then changes to people talking in a conference room. At this point the music is a strong beat. Straight away the scene flicks back to the street where the music slowly builds up. This creates suspense. This slowly fades out and towards the end of the clip there is a quite noise with the odd piano key in the background.

This extract is full of editing examples. As the main part of the clip is a “fighting” scene a lot of editing is needed for the scene to work properly. The very first thing which happens in the clip is done by editing. The main girl falls into the sand creating a massive sand pit explosion. The next thing in which editing has been done on is when the two characters fly to the next scene. From here on the clip contains a lot of editing. The two characters then fall and fling across the road smashing cars and making huge thick dents in the road. Editing is done here to make this happen. Then there is various different weather which is added in. For example the dark misty clouds, the tornados and the lightning bolt. After this the girl picks up a truck and throws it. This is done with the use of editing. Everything in which goes on is there to create the effect of action and fighting. The editing shows this. Later on more explosions go off from the rubble and tornados which is shortly followed by paper flying all over the street. Then cars start to fly in places and the characters start to fly as well. The use of editing really impacts this scene because without it this scene would not work and there would be no fighting or action impact.

There are many different camera angles and work shown in this short extract.  At the very begging of the extract there is a close up on the main man’s face. This shot carry’s on but flicks between the two characters.  After a short while the characters enter the caravan where the camera quickly peds up. The camera then follows the girl around the caravan as the girl walks forward the camera comes back. As they are in the caravan there are a few over the shoulder shots when each character is talking but the camera mainly focuses on the person talking at the time. As the scene progresses they carry on to use a lot of close up shots. The camera pans to the left and slightly tilts up. It then focuses closely on the popcorn before the camera crabs to the left when following the character out of the caravan. There then is a short bird’s eye view shot followed by a pan to the left as the two characters fly to the next scene.  As the second scene starts the camera only covers the women’s legs as she walks down the street. The camera then zooms in on the man who is lying on the ground. The camera follows the two characters back using an eye level shot. There are a few more head shots before the camera tilts up and down to show what is going on.  As the weather progresses to get bad the camera tilts down to follow the tornado. The camera then goes into another bird’s eye view and then into a long shot. Shortly after the camera zooms in then pans left. Camera work creates the effect of more action going on in the scene

The mise en scene in this clip is shown through the setting, costume and lighting. In this extract the main female character wears a full black costume (top and bottom) and black heeled boots. She dresses in dark colours which matches her dark make-up. She has black/grey eye shadow with thick mascara. The main male character dresses a lot more casually in comparison to the girl. He wears a plain blue t-shirt, with trousers and a plain back jacket. He has short hair and doesn’t look like the sort of character he is meant to be. The setting for the first scene is on either a beach or desert type place as there is lots of sands with hills and it is pretty deserted. There is a caravan in the middle of the scene and there is barley anything else there. The second scene is on a city street. Where there is plenty of people in quite a large area but seems very crowded. There are many cars around and little shops and stalls on the side. The lighting in the first scene is quite bright due to the weather being sunny and the characters being outside but when they enter the caravan the lighting becomes more dim and dark. Then in the second scene, the lighting becomes dark very quickly when the storm kicks in. Throughout that scene the lighting gets darker but flashes of bright white light appear when the lightning strikes.

Q3: Discuss the ways in which people are represented in the extract.(20)

The main female character is represented in a strong and powerful manner in the extract. She demonstrates this when she uses her special powers and by the way she dresses. The character is represented to have a feminine touch to her with the way she is dressed in that particular material and how she has her make-up to represent the feminine side to her. She is also represented to be a fierce woman with a small element of evil to her. She is represented in that way due to the colour choice of her clothing and the actions she does in the extract. Although the character is not represented in the stereotypical female way she has still been stereotyped for her character as girls included in action/adventure films tend to look in a similar way to the women in Hancock. In action films the female role tends to be stereotyped to be powerful and charming character which she shows, in comparison to the real life female stereotype which she is different to her.

The main male character is represented to a strong character as he has super powers and demonstrates this in the clip. This particular character does not follow the stereotypes for a male character in an action/adventure film. This is firstly shown by the clothing he wears. As the character wears more casual clothing, this is not the stereotype as the stereotypical character would wear some sort of identity costume or armour. He is represented to be quite a normal character but his powers are used very casually. He is represented to be masculine and frustrated as he shows this when arguing with the other character.