2. Propp’s Theory
• Rosie Huntington Whitely (Carly) is seen as the ‘princess’
of the film who may need saving later on as she is with
the Hero. She might be vulnerable and helpless.
• Shia Lebeouf (Sam) is the ‘hero’ as he is the main
character. He will be protective of his princess and save
the day when things deteriorate.
3. Mulvey’s Theory
• Mulvey’s theory of ‘male gaze’ is the pleasure of viewing. It shows
the point of view of a heterosexual male/female objectifying the
opposite gender in a sexual way.
• Carly is shown in this way when she is walking up the stairs in little
clothing and the camera lingers on her legs and slowly follows her
upwards as she walks towards the man. It shows the woman in a
sexual way for both the man (Sam) and the audience. The camera
takes on the male perspective and uses a tilt shot to follow her body
up.
When it reaches her face she is looking in a rather seductive way
wearing red lipstick and smiling towards the man in the bed, holding
up a toy rabbit.
4. Stereotypes and Countertypes
• Carly is a stereotypical princess character being blonde which
connotes her as being ‘dumb’. She is pretty and vulnerable and
an easy target to get taken as hostage.
She follows the stereotype of being a ‘rich girl’. She has a big
house with lots of things she doesn’t need and could take
things for granted.
• Sam doesn’t follow convention and is a countertype because
he has moved in with his girlfriend and doesn’t have money so
she pays for everything. Normally the hero would take care of
the girl but the roles have been reversed.
5. Mise-en-scene and camera
angles
• This scene shows the couple getting up, the woman is up first
and bring her boyfriend a ‘good luck charm’. It’s starts of with
a close up of the lower half of the woman, who isn’t wearing
much. The camera is in a males point of view and tilts up
slowly focusing on her body. It’s at a Dutch angle to show off
more of her body. It’s then a close up of her face to show who
the first shot is of. She throws the toy at the man on the bed
and we are introduced to the main character. It shows a
medium shot of him lying down in bed making him look
relaxed and laid back. It then shows them talking and doesn’t
cross the line as the conversation goes back and forth.
