PR3

1. PR3: CRITICAL RESPONSES TO MEDIA PRODUCTS
Leon the Professional
In this article I will discuss how people respond to media products in different ways. I will
be discussing 4 different areas in which we analyse products and these are; Genre,
Narrative, Semiotics and Representation. We analyse
The Genre of Leon the Professional is well portrayed in a stereotypical fashion. With it being
a thriller filmwe obviously see weapons and fight scenes throughout the whole film. It is
also set in New York and this is the first location we see, it shows central park and the
skyline. These are common establishing shots which let us know where the film is set due to
them being well known landmarks and are usually in most films that are set in New York.
After this is there is a shot into the city which moves towards little Italy. There are shots of
New York that presents it in a stereotypical way, with lots of people rushing about as well as
common sightings such as yellow cabs and hot dog stands. These are all common
conventions for a filmbased in New York.
A glass containing milk is the first prop the audience see of Leon which is not a convention
of thriller films as it is more expected to see the character drinking alcohol. Leon’s costume
involves him wearing a pair of sunglasses with
black lenses, this gives a sense of mystery as
we don’t yet know who he is/what he does. In
his glasses we see a reflection of a male
character called Benny sitting a table with a
red checked cloth and a bottle of drink,
lighting his cigarette. This is included to hide
his eye which is done in order to not reveal his
identity. This creates mystery as the audience are wondering who the character is and who
the character smoking is.
The first person we meet is Leon and he is wearing “John Lennon style” glasses making him
look cool and interesting. But due to them being blacked out this still gives us the mystery to
who he is and intrigues us to find out more about him. The majority of the characters in the
film have a clear representation of gang members. This including almost everyone having
some sort of weapon and are usually involved in drinking/smoking/drugs. However, there is
a young girl character is out of the norm for a thriller film genre and she is not conventional.
The young girl is played by Natalie Portman and her character is called Matilda. In an action
thriller filmlike James Bond there is normally an overly sexualized female love interest
which is a similar age to the main
protagonist. However, in this the
female love interest is very young in
comparison. Due to this it gives the
film an awkward feel as it makes the
audience uncomfortable at the
inappropriate nature of it. There is use
of binary opposition between Matilda
and Leon as there is a major age gap
between the two characters.

2. We meet the main antagonist of the filmand we
find out that he is a “Dirty Cop” and one of the first
things he does when we meet him is take some sort
of drug. This sets in stone the persona of “Bad Guy’
that we instantly gain from looking at this
character.
Famous land marks like central park and the world
trade center both in the opening shot. Other things
such as yellow NYC cabs. Things such as guns seen
early on in the film setting the scene for future events.
The lighting in this filmis used to resemble good and evil through light and dark light. In one
scene we see the character Matilda knocking on a door in tears to be let in, if she doesn’t
get let in then she will die. In this scene her face is encased in darkness resembling he
liniment death. Then when the character Leon opens the door her face is lit up resembling
her getting rescued and a new lees of life.
The narrative of this filmis Linear, meaning it has a start middle and an end and is in a
chronological order. Films with a linear narrative usually start off by introducing characters
and setting the filmup for the rest of the film. In this filmthe character development of
Leon starts mysterious with his dark glasses hiding his identity. This gives us the impression
of someone who doesn’t want to be seen. This could reflect what he does and makes the
audience wonder and eager to find out more about him. During the same scene we also see
a group of men enter all wearing smart suits, they have guns and a suitcase of drugs, this is
all iconography of a standard action/thriller. Todorov’s narrative theory says that there are 5
key elements to all films and these are:
● Equilibrium
● A Disruption
● Realisation
● Restored Order
● Equilibrium Again

3. These 5 elements are clearly used throughout the film. Equilibrium in this filmstarts with
Leon doing what he does on a daily routine. Where we see what he does for a living with his
assassin/hitman career and him getting through his day normally. This is Leon’s Equilibrium
where everything is going smoothly. After the Equilibrium there is a Disruption and the
disruption for Leon is the brutal murder of Matilda’s family. Leon then realises that with the
death of her family, he is going to have to take up the role as a father figure to Matilda and
this is the Realisation stage. Restored order is where Leon and Matilda decide to get
revenge on the people killed her family. They finally manage to kill them and get revenge
but this results in the death of Leon,
which means that Leon doesn’t get
his Equilibrium again. We see how his
equilibrium is brought to a close
physically when Matilda plants his
favourite plant in a park. However,
we do see an Equilibrium with
Matilda with her going to a boarding school where she can gain a life for herself.
As well as Todorov’s theory Leon also shows the common conventions that form Vladimir
Propp’s Character Theory. Propp suggests that every narrative has eight different character
types, their character types are:
● The Villain – Which is shown through Norman the “Dirty cop” who is responsible for
the death of Matilda’s family.
● The Dispatcher – Which is shown through the character Tony, who assigns Leon with
his jobs, he also holds Leon’s money until he needs it.
● The Helper – Which can be shown through Leon when he takes Matilda into his care
after the death of her family.
● The Princess – Matilda in common films the Princess is usually a goal for the hero as
they wish to marry them. However, in Leon there is a huge age gap and the hero is
more like the father figure than a love interest.
● Her Father – We see two father figures in Leon, Leon being one of them to Matilda
and Tony being a father figure to Leon.
● The Donor – Tony again, he looks after the money and income Leon earns from his
jobs.
● The Hero – Leon is the hero as he helps Matilda gain revenge on the people who
killed her family and he seeks to eliminate the Villain.
● False Hero – Norman who plays the role of the “Dirty cop” is a false hero in the sense
that he killed Matilda’s family and then pretended to try and solve who committed
the crime in his Police officer persona.
The filmwas produced in 1994 and was Directed by Luc Besson. The main
cast consisted of; Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman and Danny
Aiello. The outline of the plot of the filmis we follow Leon (Jean Reno) and
see him carrying out his normal day to day routine of being a hitman.
However as Norman (Gary Oldman) sets out and kills Matilda’s (Natalie
Portman) family we see Leon take Matilda in and train her to become a
“Cleaner”. Leon and Matilda join together on Leon’s cleaning jobs and
seek out to get revenge on those who killed her family.

4. Deadpool
Deadpool is a 2016 action parody starring
Ryan Reynolds and The film is Directed by
Tim Miller. The opening credits to Deadpool
are different to norm, they don’t include
anyone's real name but they use funny
alternatives. For example instead of the
Director Tim Miller they use “Some Douchebags film”. With this being at the start of the film
it instantaneously tells the audience that the film is going to a comedy/parody. There is also
music playing during this opening scene which wouldn't usually be used if you are trying to
make an action film which is what Deadpool is. Instead of having an opening scene full of
action where it tries to set an underline for the plot and characters like most Marvel films.
Deadpool uses humor as it's hook and makes people want to continue watching through
this technique. There are also some hidden message and references used within the
opening sequence. Ryan references
himself in a previous film“Green
Lantern” as the film didn't do that
well in the box office and it is used
within this film due to it being a
parody and it is mocking his previous
work, this is self referentiality. We
also see a magazine with Ryan on
labled as “Sexiest Man Alive”,
however it also has an article about
Will and Kate the royal couple getting
engaged. This shows that this is
something that happened in the real
world, meaning that it is breaking the fourth wall. This is a technique used in parodies fairly
often as it can be used for a comedic effect, the character Deadpool is also well known for
breaking the fourth wall. The non-diegetic sound used doesn’t resemble that of an action
film at all it is a romantic song instead of the loud music soundtrack you would expect for a
normal action film or similar films to this genre. However even though there are a lot of
things that are trying to say the filmisn’t an action film. There are still key elements of an
action film and this supports Steve Neale's theory of repetition and difference. this means
that there is repetition of the usual genre such as there being a Hero and Villain as we see
used within the opening scene as “a british villain”. as well as common conventions like
weapons, blood and explosions which are all key elements used within an action film.
However the difference being the parody side of the film with the large quantity of humour
thrown in throughout the film.
PostmodernFeatures
In the film Pulp Fiction, there is a
particular scene in Jack Rabbit Slims
where postmodern features are
abundant. At the start of the scene we
see some intertextuality with the actor

5. John Travolta, we see him pulling up in a red car which has the same shot and feel to the
one in the film Grease. This is self-referentiality as he is making homage to his previous
work. As the scene isn’t funny it wouldn’t be considered a parody of it more as though he is
paying respect to his past work. As well as this we also see some extra characters dressed
up as some familiar people. For example we see a lady dressed as Marilyn Monroe, they
also show her re-creating the famous image of her standing over a grid and her skirt blowing
in the wind. I wouldn’t really say this is a parody either but more as a though a feature to
remind people of the era of the film. Later on in the scene John Travolta and Uma Thurman
enter a dance competition where they have to dance together in the middle of the stage.
We see Uma dancing well and in the typical saturday night fever style, however John is
dancing like a typical dad. This is funny to watch and is clear that it is a parody due to him
mocking himself as we know that he is a good dancer and what he is doing looks awful and
this is again self-referentiality. Its also interesting how the roles of the lead dancer have
switched in this scene and Uma’s character is the one that is copying the dance moves that
John performed in Saturday Night Fever. As well as this we see another postmodern feature
called reflexivity, this is when Uma Thurman’s character talks about not being a square. The
illusion of filmis then broke as we see her
draw a square with her fingers and a square
appearing in front of her this reveals the
mechanics of filmmaking. Lots of techniques
have been used within this scene alone and
the use of Bricolage is also noticeable
throughout the whole scene which is used to
reference the era of the film again. This
included things such a segregation between
white and black people during that specific era.

6. In the 1950’s/60’s postmodernism would not have been used within film making. This was
because back then production and distribution techniques were a lot less advanced.
Meaning the only way someone would be able to view a filmwould of been to go to the
cinema and watch it, they wouldn't of been able to purchase a DVD or stream it online and
watch it at home whenever they
wanted. However as filmgrew,
techniques such as parodies and
other postmodern features could
start being implemented into film.
With more films being made it
gives them more opportunity to
reference previous work for
intertextuality and other
techniques solely on the fact that
there are more films to refrence
now. A big example of how films
can include postmodern
techniques now thanks to the
technology we now have is
StarWars. They reference by superimposing images of the actors directly from those older
films. With the filmindustry getting as popular as it is it also made distributing films a lot
easier. For example shops such as Blockbuster’s started selling DVDs of popular movies
meaning families wouldn’t have to go to the cinema to watch a filmthey could watch it in
the comfort of their own home. This widened the audience greatly as it meant those who
wouldn't usually go to the cinema to watch a filmcould now get to purchase and watch
films. As well as DVDs there are other means of watching films now and companies that
offer a service to stream a filmdirectly from your home, so you don’t even have to go to the
store to purchase a DVD. This has made the film industry a lot easier and accessible. It has
also made it grow commercially.
Shrek
In this article, similar to Leon the Professional I will
be looking at 4 key elements in which we respond to
media products. Some of the approaches may be the
way in which we analyse; Genre, Narrative, Semiotics
and Representation.
Shrek is a 2001 American computer-animated fantasy-comedy film. It was directed by
Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson and production started as early as 1995 straight up until
the film was released in 2001. The main cast of Shrek is made up of Mike Myers, Eddie
Murphy, Cameron Diaz, John Lithgow, John Lithgow. The plot consists of an ogre who
enthrals himself in solitude, however when he finds his lonely swap compromised by
hundreds of fairy-tale creatures he ventures out to find whoever is responsible with his not
so reliable companion Donkey. As they seek Lord Farquaad to send the fairy-tale creatures
back out of Shrek’s swamp, they are given another quest to rescue a beautiful princess
trapped in a castle, protected by a fierce dragon. After rescuing the princess and making it

7. back to Farquaad Shrek finds out Fiona’s hidden secret, that she is turned into an ogre at
night and the spell can only be reversed by a kiss from her true love. After Farquaad realises
that he isn’t her true love he orders for Shrek to be killed and Fiona detained. Luckily for
Shrek, with a quick whistle his new dragon friend comes flying through to gobble Lord
Farquaad up and Shrek and Fiona can live happily ever after.
The setting that Shrek is set in is a mythical
land called “Duloc” where Shrek’s Swamp,
Lord Farquaad’s castle and Dragons Keep
are all located. By the names of the
locations alone it shows us that this is in
fact a fantasy film. It also has an opening
scene of a story book which introduces us
to the film, it also tells us a little bit about
the plot. Everything we see in the film
screams fairy-tale if it’s from the food that Shrek eats or the character’s that we meet
during the film. This setting is very conventional to a stereotypical fairy-tale, In the opening
scene it shows scenes such as Shrek brushing his teeth with mud and bathing in a swamp.
There is also an upbeat song playing during this mini opening montage which sets the tone
for the film to be funny and happy.
The characters in the have a clear fairy-tale representation. They all fit into a classic fairy-
tale and all have roles. For example, if we look at Propp’s theory of narrative we can see
that the characters all fit in these roles:
● The Villain – Lord Farquaad
● The Helper – Donkey
● The Princess – Fiona
● The Hero – Shrek
● False Hero – Lord Farquaad
These are the main roles within the filmand they all fall into a specific place in his theory.
Propp also suggested that all Fairy-tales follow a specific narrative structure. Shrek has a
linear narrative meaning every scene follows suit and has a noticeable start, middle and
end. As well as looking at Strauss narrative theory we can also see some binary opposition
within the film. For example, if we see the word “Villain” we think about the binary opposite
of the word “Hero” but the most common ones being good and evil. In Shrek there are
some clear binary opposites and some can be seen visually. The hero
being Shrek and the Villain being Lord Farquaad, we can see
some obvious binary opposites. One of these is there height,
Shrek being a giant Ogre and Lord Farquaad being a small
Human. There is also binary opposition between Shrek and
Fiona, this being Shrek being ugly and Fiona being beautiful.
The beautiful princess and an ugly monster style is in theme
with other Disney films such as “The Beauty and the Beast”
which is intertextuality which is a postmodern feature.
By following Nick Laceys Repertoire of elements we can see whether or not Shrek fits into
the Fairy-tale genre. By looking at; Setting, Character, Narrative, Iconography and style. The

8. mise en scene consists of things usually found within fairytale films. This includes things
such as Mythical Creatures, Castles, Kings and Queens and magical spells. Shrek follows
Steve Neale's genre theory, it does this by following the typical conventions of this specific
genre just enough for it to still be recognizable. However it changes it in some areas to give
it the element of difference as well as the repetition. The character Shrek differs from the
common convention of a hero in this type of genre. Usually the hero of a fairytale film
would be considered a “Knight in shining armour” and is a handsome character who goes on
a quest for a princess. However Shrek isn't a handsome character which gives the audience
a whole different perspective on the filmand genre. By him not being a typical handsome
prince, this is just enough to give it the difference it needs to be successful.