How do your chosen texts use genre conventions? | Sin City

Sin City use many conventions of the films genres, which are film noir and comic book. One convention shown in the film is the character roles within the film. Protagonists are typical character roles within the film noir genre and they are included in Sin City. There are three main protagonists within the film who the narrative is developed around. Each of the protagonists have an origin and back story which is a typical convention of the comic book genre. They are physically tough and driven by their past, however they are lonely and each of them have faults which include appearance and health problems. An example of this is shown in the 3rd story when dwight is driving to get rid of the police that they killed. He imagines that Jack is talking to him and that the police are going to come after him. Other character roles often shown in the film are femme fatales and corrupt cops. This is shown in the scene where jack and his friends drive to basin city and the women living there trick them. After the women trick the men, they find out that they are cops. This shows that even the authority figures in the film are distrustful. Propps character roles are also present throughout the film, which is a comic book convention. An example of this would be when Nancy is taken and Hartigan (the first protagonist) tries to save her. These two character would be the princess and the hero in Propps character roles.

Another convention of the film noir genre is the lighting in the film. When you meet a character for the first time half of their face is lit and half is unlit. This is showing us that half of the character is good and half the character is bad and mysterious. Film noir films are also shot in black and white with the occasionally colour added into them such as red in love and lust scenes and green when a character is jealous. This helps the audience have a further understanding of the characters feelings and also emphasises the comic book genre as it helps replicate an actual comic book. Another comic book convention presented in the film is over exaggerated actions and effects. For example when Marv is getting approached by the police he manages to jump down multiple flights of stairs at the same time as being shot at and he still survives. Another example is when Hartigan is shot several times in the first story and again still manages to survive and is able to talk. This shows the 'superhero' characteristics that the protagonists have, where they are able to survive such events.  The film Noir genre is also typical of having voiceovers added into the narrative explaining a protagonists past and helps the audience understand more about the character. Voiceovers appear many times during the film when the protagonists are explaining their thoughts, such as when Hartigan was in jail and was talking about his letters from Nancy.

There are many typical Film Noir and Comic Book conventions shown in the film Sin City.

Fish Tank | Narrative, Representation & Genre

Narrative

When Mia takes Connor's daughter away it represents her trying to prove that there can't be a fairy tale ending. In Propps theory, the princess often gets saved by the hero and they all have a happy ending, whereas in Fish Tank Connors daughter is the princess and Mia doesn't want to let her have a happy ending with her dad, instead Mia wants to be saved by Connor. The audience can tell that Connor's daughter is meant to represent the princess by the clothes that she is wearing. She is wearing an all pink dress which is stereotypically what a 'princess' wears. Mia, who is wearing all black, also represents the villain in a way, as the villain always tries to disrupt the happy ending and that is exactly what Mia is trying to do.

Representation

Mias family is made up of her, her mum and her sister. Her mum never treats her right in the movie and is always shouting and swearing at her and occasionally hitting her and pinching her. This shows us that she doesn't care about her family and instead pays more attention to her love interest, Connor. This goes against the stereotypical view of a women as being caring and loving towards her family. Connor begins the film being her mum's love interest and a father figure for the two girls. The first scene in the film that shows the family actually being happy and getting along is when all four of them are in the car together. They are singing and laughing and it shows Mia actually looking happy for the first time. Mia is also shown enjoying herself when they get to the location and is joking around with Connor. This shows that a family needs a father figure to hold them together and that the girls are reliant on having a man in the family.

Genre

When the family are in the car, hand held camera work makes it more realistic and as if you are actually in the car with them. This is a typical convention for the Social Realism genre to make the audience feel like they are there following the characters around to make it seem more real. In the car scene they also use point of view shots, where the camera is placed in the position of the character looking at another character in the car. This again makes it seem more real so that you can get a glimpse of what the character is seeing and therefore understanding how the characters are feeling towards the other characters in the film. These handheld and point of view shots are common in social realism films.