Textual analysis- Swordfish, Collateral and Con air

Textual analysis

The three thriller films I’m evaluating are Swordfish, Collateral and my own choice Con air. The three films are all sub genres of Thriller therefore they all contain different elements and conventions to each other. I’ll analysis each film against each other in sub categories.

Sound

All three contain non-diegetic sound at the start when the cut from the titles to the opening scene. However Swordfish uses a soundtrack that doesn’t link with what’s on screen but Con air uses a voice over of an army officer talking the rangers (United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army), which lets the viewer know a bit of background information of the main character.  Collateral uses synchronous sound because the first few 30 seconds is in an airport although you don’t see the runway the viewer still knows the location.  To support the sound of the plane and to distinguish location the well known sounds for an airport. The dialogue and the way the main antagonistic characters speak are very serious and recognisable in all thriller films. John Travolta in swordfish speaks fluently and stubbornly, which enables him to get his views across. Through his tone of voice the viewer recognises he is a dominant figure and shows signs of his intellectual intelligence. The first few antagonistic characters in Con air show a negative stereotype compared to John Travolta because they result to swearing and using insults, which shows a person as having low levels of intellectual intelligence. Whereas in Collateral we don’t hear Tom Cruise speaking for periods of time leaving his character more of a mystery. The diegetic sound in the background of Swordfish appears to be muted to emphasis what’s been said by Travolta. Only do we realise the severity of the situation when he stands and the emphasised sound of military rifles been loaded can we even start to imagine what’s happening. As time goes on do we understand what is happening because of the non-diegetic and diegetic sound been edited in together, the sound bridge for the soundtrack adds to the continuity, but the diegtic sound of the helicopters and police car’s is now selective sound to add to the narrative. This is the case in many thriller films mainly for effect and to show the genre. However the sound isn’t stereotypical in Con air because the opening sequence isn’t as hectic as in Swordfish but for about 30 seconds during the opening sequence the natural equilibrium is disturbed by the fight scene. No backing track is used though; they just use synchronous sound for example the construction site which is the ambient sound along with the selective sounds of the bottle smashing on the metal fence. Also selective sound is used when punches are thrown and connect. The diegetic sound in Collateral is significant, when Foxx gets into the taxi the background noise is overpowering but when he slams the door shut we hear nothing. This shows the viewer that the inside of the taxi is his way of escaping the outside world and that he can just relax.

Mise-en-scene  

Lighting

The mise-en-scene in Collateral and Swordfish is very recognisable in the thriller world because the dark café room in Swordfish makes the scene more intense and confusion is created because the viewer doesn’t really know what is happening and the location of the café, these are conventions of the thriller genre. Whereas in Collateral the opening sequence starts with the bright lights of the airport, this is unusual because the viewer knows the location and suggests that the equilibrium is currently undisturbed.

The jump cut from morning to evening in Collateral contrasts the lighting in Swordfish. The same goes for Con air, the jump cut from day to night shows the undisturbed equilibrium, the bar is lit up with soft colours to show the film with a relaxed mood but it contrasts itself to the outside world in the car park where the street lamps provide the only light meaning something could happen because anything could be waiting in the shadows, this perfectly introduces the fight scene.

The lighting is different in the explosion scene in swordfish and the scene in Con air because one has the jump cut and the other has continuity to the editing leaving the time of day the same, however the explosion scene in Swordfish had to be done in the day to create of the effect of the equilibrium been destroyed during the busy day and the destruction is clearer to the viewer. The only dark street lamp lighting in Collateral is to show Jamie Foxx’s character having to driver his taxi all day. This creates subtle suspense because we know something is going to change Foxx’s day for the worse, which is a true thriller convention.

On Foxx and Cage soft lighting is used to create a positive relationship between these two characters and the audience, whereas the lighting on Cruise is relatively harsh with the bright intruding lights of the airport.

Costumes

The main theme between the main antagonists and even the protagonists is smart formal dress. Travolta in Swordfish, Cruise and Statham in Collateral all appear to be antagonists and wearing suits, all of the suits are black or charcoal to show them as antagonistic characters in the film, Cruise is going against the typical villain stereotype because he is wearing a light grey suit with a white shirt possibly leaving the viewer confused about whether or not he is going to be the hero or the villain in the film.

Cage in Con air is clearly the protagonist in the opening sequence; this is shown through his costume, the smart armed forces parade uniform shows he is disciplined. Compared to the protagonist in Collateral Foxx wears very casual clothing this is because he is a taxi driver and would look out of place in a suit and tie, this makes him appear as your stereotypical average man. To contrast the costumes even more the opening sequence in Con air the villains are also wearing casual clothing, but this enables the viewer to see who is going to be the superior character. They are purposely made to look like a stereotypical ‘red neck’ by this I mean not looking very intelligent and acting without any clear thought. The two protagonists in Swordfish Cheadle and Jackman wear completely different attire; this is because of their status in society. Cheadle is a highly ranked police officer who needs to dress formally to show this, whereas Jackman is dressed smart casual because he isn’t a superior character compared to Travolta and Cheadle, if he wore a suit the viewer would miss interpret his character as someone else.

Props

The props play a major role in the opening sequence of all three films. The significant prop we see in Swordfish is the cigar and cigar cutter; these items show the high class of Travolta and wealth because they are thicker than most cigars. Also the cigar is a phallic object which reinforces Travolta’s masculinity.  Both Con air and Swordfish have the use of weapons in the opening sequence, the weapon in Con air does contrast the weapons in Swordfish due to the scale of destruction that could be caused, Swordfish uses a variety of light machine guns, rifles and sniper rifles, along with the obvious explosive bomb jackets on the hostages. Also there is a lot of emphasis and exposure of the bomb trigger held by Travolta this is because he could kill and take out a street with one move of his finger. Where in Con air the main prop weapon is the knife and possibly the broken bottle, these seem like deadly weapons, this effect is created by the simplistic setting and the position Cage is in. Swordfish is the only film to use dialogue in the film to explain what could potential happen of the bomb device was triggered, this creates suspense again which is a typical thriller convention.

The most significant prop in Collateral isn’t a weapon but a black briefcase that is used between the briefcase switch. This leaves confusion for the audience and gets them guessing what it could be. This is also a typical convention of thriller.

A very subtle yet effective prop in Collateral is the advertisement used in the airport which matches the one on Foxx’s taxi; this shows the link between the characters and alerts the viewers that a meeting between the two is unavoidable.

Camera angles/ movement and editing

Most films across all the genres follow the trend of using an establishing shot in the opening sequence to show location of where the film is set. However in Swordfish the camera goes straight into a close up of Travolta, through editing Travolta appears to be talking to a CCTV camera creating enigma. Also the confusion of where the film is set, also there aren’t any cuts to other characters during this part of the scene, on the other hand the start of Con air has fast paced editing from when the viewer sees the war zone up until Cage gets off the boat in his hometown. The camera shots are high angled looking down over the squadron which shows their formation and appearance as a unit. Also Swordfish doesn’t use a shot reverse shot during Travolta’s opening scene, even when Cheadle and Jackman talk, this shows who has the power in the scene. Collateral is very in keeping with other genres of film by using the establishing shot to show Cruise walking through the airport, the cut to mid shot tracking backwards is used to show his power because no-one walking in to frame in front of Cruise, also this shows he is going to be main character throughout the film. The same shot is used on Statham but this time extras walking into the foreground of the frame to show that he isn’t going to play a major part. The two shot of both of them means that are similar to each other in terms of power because no angle change is used on either of them during the switch over. However the camera does cut to ground level and focus is on the two briefcases to emphasis what is happening. Through this sequence of events the editing is slow paced.

A jump cut through time is used in Collateral to show Foxx has a hard working taxi driver who starts in the morning and carries it on in to the late evening.  Also it shows the natural equilibrium for his character with no serious problem; however the viewer can anticipate that it could change at any time. Con air uses as a lot of fast paced editing at the start of the sequence, with many cuts between from artillery to tanks and general warfare, like Collateral, Con air uses a jump cut through time but it is more significant because it travel lot further through time than just a day. All the information though the viewer can gather about Cage’s character is very important because it sets him up as a force to be reckoned with whilst keeping him as the protagonist.

The most unique and successful editing used on Swordfish is the slow motion 360 degree panning shot which shows the audience full scale detail of the explosion and its effects on everyone in the shot and surrounding area. The slow motion puts emphasis on what has just happened. If the explosion was in full speed then so much of the action would be missed on screen having less of an effect on the audience and the opening sequence as a whole. Sound linked with this editing very well because whenever the pan got near specific events you would hear the steel pellets rushing through and parting the air. The sound was clearly diegetic even though if the editing was full speed the characters wouldn’t necessarily hear the steel pellets hurtling through the air it is still there within the scene. All these components linked together show the convention of thriller in just a few seconds because anticipation and confusion is created because it takes a while to sink in that the equilibrium has been destroyed well within a split second. Moments before the explosion the equilibrium shows signs of becoming disturbed because the editing turns to fast paced with cuts between the café, the bank and the street, this also creates a sense of confusion but shows desperation in characters because the cuts go to a close up of a character to show desperate facial expressions again another thriller convention with characters looking desperate and worried about certain events. In the opening sequences  Swordfish is the only one with as significantly large scale action sequence, whereas Collateral and Con air use hints of what’s to come and sets the narrative of the film, this is shown through the pace of editing. The fast paced editing shows disruption but the subtle cuts in Collateral show an ordinary day but the camera shots and props lets the audience know that it wont stay like that for long.

Special effects (SFX)

Special effects play a large role in the opening sequence of Swordfish to set up the plot. The most obvious use of SFX is the explosion in the street. Although explosions can be used in any genre this one is stereotypical of a thriller just because the audience doesn’t know why it has happened and the events leading up to it. The explosion is CGI (computer generated imagery), by using CGI the explosion can look s dramatic and realistic as the budget will allow. Also the cars been tipped over by the explosion is also special effects. With the technology been so advanced the whole scene looks very realistic. Con air uses CGI explosions as well for example with the tank firing the projectiles. This also gives as realistic view of what Cage’s background is, the SFX can link with the narrative by making it seem real. In contrast Collateral uses CGI to represent and show the location for the film setting. The CGI is used when the taxi is been tracked by an aerial shot driving round LA.

Actors and Representations

Both the antagonists and protagonists in all three films are recognisable for playing parts in thrillers. In Swordfish Travolta’s known for his roles in other thrillers for example ‘Pulp fiction’ (1994) which is very similar sub genre. Hugh Jackman is recognised for been in action based films like ‘X-Men’ (2000). Finally Cheadle’s role in ‘Devil in a blue dress’ (1995) made him recognisable as an actor in crime based films. With a set of actors who recognisable for certain genres makes the film more appealing to the audience also the success of the film can be increased. Travolta is represented as your powerful, strong minded villain. This is shown in the opening sequence through his    dialogue, he is very confident and intellectual because there is no stuttering and it’s very fluently spoken. The close-ups on his face show the sequence been based around him. Jackman is shown as the more thoughtful character that appears to be siding with the “bad guys” but not by his own desire. Also he seems to be phased by the surroundings shown mainly through camera shots, the shot reverse shots from him to specific people or vehicles show this. The shots are low angles looking up to him not to show power but they enable the viewer to see into the sky from Jackman’s point of view. Cheadle is represented as a character the audience can feel sorry for because he knows what could happen if people mess Travolta about and he has no control over the situation even though he should considering he is powerful figure, but he’s a powerful figure with no control.

Cruise and Statham are very similar to each o9ther because both have the appearance as powerful character, contrasting to Foxx’s character that looks vulnerable in the real world when he isn’t in his taxi which he recognises as his safe place. Cruise known for previous roles, most famously prior to Collateral was ‘Minority report’ (2002) which was action based but could pass for thriller based on the plot means he was best suited for this role due too the background and status

as one the best actors of modern times. Statham known for his highly successful role in ‘The Transporter’ (2002). With both having acted in thrillers the audience recognises the film as a thriller. Foxx is represented as a stereotypical average man. This is shown through the mise-en-scene of the opening sequence. This tells the audience he isn’t powerful or controlling like Cruise.

Although ‘Con air’ is a lot different to the others it has very much the same representations, however Cage is the dominant force which is traditionally the case to have the protagonist more powerful than the antagonist. This is shown through his representation as a Ranger for the armed forces because of his skills as a trained fighter. Whereas the villains in the opening sequence are contrasting to Travolta in ‘Swordfish’ because through the mise-en-scene and sound they are certainly less powerful and forward thinking. Another important character in the opening sequence of Con air is Cage’s wife, she is represented as been very stereotypical because she is blonde haired slim and very vulnerable when she is on her own. The blonde hair is meant to represent her as dependant on others because she isn’t capable.

Narrative

We get hints of the narrative in ‘Collateral’ right from the start. The briefcase switches over alarms the audience that it must have significant importance in the film. For most of the opening sequence though the narrative is in stage one of Todorov’s structure, this represents the five stages of a thriller film. Stage one is the undisturbed equilibrium of the film, ‘Collateral’ is at this stage because Foxx is going through his daily routine of driving his taxi. This though hints that stage two of Todorov’s structure could occur at anytime, the disturbance of the equilibrium in the film. The audience can see that Cruise is going to be the disturbance of Foxx but we don’t know why. We do get however a build up of a relationship with Foxx’s character because we can see he is just an ordinary guy who wants to move up in the world and stop his embarrassment of driving a taxi. There is significantly less narrative in this opening sequence than in ‘Swordfish’.

There is an extreme contrast between the two opening sequences because ‘Swordfish’ starts at stage 2 of Todorov’s structure then instantly jumps to stage three where the audience can recognise something is wrong. Also there is a mix up in the chronological order of the film, usually we would see the build up to understand what is happening but ‘Swordfish’ goes straight for the main sequence of film creating confusion.

Compared to the other films Con air’s opening sequence is similar to Collateral’s because we sense the equilibrium but it gets disturbed. However where it does differ is where the film starts, straight away we get information on the main character similar to Foxx’s character in Collateral but we get a sense of family orientated sequence, Cage been he alpha male protecting his wife. We don’t get that in the others because in this the protagonist can protect himself and others. As well as this we get as proper set up for the film ahead, we the audience know that Cage is going to get in trouble and that the plot involves villains.

 In the opening sequence of the films two out of the three have an actual title edited into the film. ‘Swordfish’ title links with the narrative because the text is from the original computers and recognisable to the audience.

 Con air also uses a title that links with storyline. This title is similar to the logo you see on the sides of planes therefore it is relative to the film.

However Collateral doesn’t have a title in the opening sequence of the film leaving the viewer to watch the film uninterrupted. But Con air use the title as link from the opening sequence to the main scenes.

It is unusual not to have the title in the opening sequence because the majority do; also it is not a thriller genre convention so it doesn’t hint to what the film is about.