Film Opening Barthes Analysis (DYM)

Enigma Code (Hermeneutic Code)

• Is the first man mad?
• Is the first man responsible for all the dead bodies?
• Is he still there?
• Is he going to kill the second man?
• Is there a reason he killed all of them?

Action Code (Proairectic Code)

• Second man shoots animal - is it dead?
• Second man discovers alive man with gun - will either get shot?
• First man is arrested - will he escape?
• First man strangles police officer - will this be a success?
• First man puts oxygen thing to someones head - what will it do?

Semiotic Code

• The desert is shown to hint at the location - Texas
• The first man looks straight up with very open eyes and not even at the officer as he is killing him - this could show insanity
• The oxygen thing could have the connotation of life as oxygen is essential to life, so this could work as a juxtaposition as it seems to just introduce death
• The police offers says 'I've got it under control' which gives the impression that he probably doesn't
• The blood of the dog has the connotations of death, which is an insight of whats to come

Cultural Code

• 'Sheriff' what Americans call a Chief Police Officer
• 'I sent to the electric chair' means sentenced to death
• The first man is wearing handcuffs so we know he's been arrested
• When we see the first man behind the police officer we know he is going to attack him from our knowledge of film
• We see loads of parcels in the back of the van which we presume to be full of drugs which the driver has been smuggling

Symbolic Code

• When he says 'I've got it under control' you would think it means hes got it under control but it could also mean he hasn't
• The Blood of the dog could be to symbolise the death to come
• The lack of expression on the first mans face could be to symbolise insanity
• The speech at the start could literally be a symbol for whats going to happen in the film but just disguised as an anecdote
• It seems every character so far has had a gun on their person, this could be to show whats to come

Film Making Conventions and Cultural Codes (BLK)

Paris, Texas (1984)

Although I have posted the whole film, I will only be focusing on the first eleven minutes.

Cultural Codes

-The doctor says 'something must of cut your tongue off' which everyone recognises as a phrase meaning that someone's being quiet.
-The doctor also goes on to ask Travis' brother for 'a little reward' in exchange for Travis' possessions, this is quite clear that he's blackmailing him into paying for the possessions.
-On the sign in the bar it reads 'the dust has come to stay' which I think is meant to mean that no one goes to the bar anymore.

Film Making Conventions

-The first shot we see of Travis' brother is from a low angle (looking up on him) which labels him with maturity and power.
-Also since the film began in a desert, a building is included in the background of the first shot of Travis' brother to show that he lives in the city.
-When Travis' brother asks for a location he replies 'where the hells that?' to the doctors answer, this makes it quite clear that its going to be pretty far away.

Film Still Analysis (DYM)

This film still is from 'Withnail & I' (1987) a black comedy produced by HandMade Films

I have chosen to analyse this still taken from the film because:

- of the calm expression and body language of Richard E Grant (left) is so calm which works as a juxtaposition with the over-exadurated anger of the middle police officer, giving quite a humorous effect

- also the framing of this shot tells the story. You can see the police van in the background and Grant is held against a car, so presumably he's been stopped for a driving related offence, which is most commonly drink-driving which is exactly what the offence was.

- and i find it quite funny that beside the anger in the police officers face you can see a bit of fear and the second officer doesn't seem to be gripping him very strongly, giving the impression they are both scared. This isnt the reality in the film, but this shot gives this impression

Film Still & Evaluation (BLK)

We didn't plan to take a film still of a film with a Roman genre, but this is what we ended up with. I think the colours work together with the stance of the figure to make this quite evident.

   The robe was what inspired us to take this shot as it is such a bright red, which seems to be very stereotypically Roman. Unintentionally, the background colours also look very roman as they are the colours of a column or something. The shot is pretty light at the top right but it gets pretty dark toward the bottom of the image, perhaps this hints that the film will be about some sort of uprising.
   The stance of the figure gives the sense that she has a lot of power and leadership, but maybe to have increased this sense we should have taken the photo from a lower angle where the camera is looking up at her. Also there isn't much emotion on her face which makes her seem quite serious which, I guess, is a quality of a leader. Also she is looking up, which could signify hope.