essay

1. Unit 10: Functional Film Codes and Conventions
Crime Genre
I have chosen the crime genre.The twofilmsthatI have pickedare Now You See Me (2013) and
Memento(2000). I have chosenthese filmsbecause theybothuse codesandconventionsof the
crime genre inunique anddifferentways.
Narrative
Unlike NowYouSee Me, Memento’snarrative isveryunconventional forcrime movies.The opening
scene isplayedbackwardsinreverse anditisactuallysetat the endof the story. The nextscene,
Leonardwakesupin a hotel whichissetinthe beginningof the story.Throughoutthe restof the
film,the scenesswitchfromthe beginningtothe endof the story,whicheventuallymeetupat the
endof the film. Thisisbecause the protagonistLeonarddoesnotrememberwhathappenedthe
previousdays,andif the storyis toldbackwardsthenthe audience don’tknow whathappened
previouslyinthe storyeither. The scenessetatthe beginningof the storyare inblack and white,
whichfitsthe fact that itis setin the past. In Memento,the audience discoversthingsalongside the
maincharacter Leonard,butbecause of the backwardsnarrative we know whateachpiece of
informationleadsto. ThisdiffersfromNow YouSee Me where youdiscoverthingsatthe same time
as the police whoare chasingthe maincharacters.
Todorov’s Narrative
NowYou See Me supportsTodorov’stheoryof narrative because atthe beginningof the movie,
everythingisasitshouldbe. Itstarts withthe 4 maincharacters performingtheirownindividual
shows.The disruptionof the equilibriumiswheneachcharacterisledtomeetup at an apartment
and theyare givenblueprintsforashowwhere theyroba bank.The disorderisrecognisedby
Morgan Freeman’scharacterbecause hischaracter’srole issomeone whoexposesmagiciansand
howtheyperformtheirtricks.The restof the movie isMark Ruffalo’scharacterattemptingtocatch
the magicians whichisthe attemptto repairthe damage of the disruption.Finally,Mark Ruffalo’s
character turnsout to be the leaderof the Eye organizationandisactuallyonthe same side asthe
magicians.Thisisthe newequilibrium.
MementoalsofollowsTodorov’stheoryof narrative because
Propp’s Theory
VladimirProppfoundthatall the charactersina movie couldbe resolvedinto 8broad character
functions. Theyare:
• The villain:Lockedina constantstruggle withthe hero,oftentryingtoharmprincess.
• The donor: Givesthe heroan objector a piece of information thathelpsthemprepare for
whatis to come.
• The helper:Assiststhe herowiththeirquest,often referred toastheir'sidekick'.
• The princess:Needsassistance fromthe hero, usually because theyare insome formof
danger,typicallythe princessisthe victimwithinthe narrative.
• The dispatcher:Is the character who sendsthatheroon theirmissionorquest.
• Hero: Reacts to the donorand savesthe princess,oftenresultinginthemfallinginlove with
the princess.

2. • False hero: May appear goodbut hasan ulteriormotive,orattemptstotake creditfor the
hero'sactions.
• The father: Constrainsthe princess,orsendsthe heroona questto save her – protective of
hisdaughter
NowYou See Me defiestypical characterconventionsbecausethere isno clearvillainorherointhe
movie.Thisisbecause fromdifferentperspectives,everycharactercouldbe a heroor a villain.
However,the dispatcherwouldbe DylanRhodesplayedbyMark Ruffalobecause he isthe one who
actuallysetup the bankrobberyshowthat isat the beginningof the film.However,thisdefies
conventionsof acrime filmbecause youdon’tfindoutitwashim until the veryend. Arguably,
Michael Cane was the donorbecause theyusedhisbankaccount to give moneytothe audience.He
was unaware of itthoughas theytrickedhimintogivingthemthe information,whichchallenges
typical conventionsof crime films.
On the otherhand,MementosupportsPropp’stheorymore asthere isa clear herohoweverthere is
not a clearvillain.Bythe endof the film, LeonardkillsTeddywithbelief he killedhiswife,however
thisisnot fullyproventhroughoutthe film. Teddycouldbe consideredthe falseherobecause he
seemed andclaimedtobe a goodpersonto Leonardbut turnedoutto be the personwhokilledhis
wife.
Stylistic
Mementowassetin presentdayinthe year 2000 whenitwasreleased,the locationisn’tclearinthe
filmbuthe stays inmotel roomsand wakesupeachmorningwithnoshort-termmemory. The
unclearlocationrelatestoJohnG. (the personwhomurderedhiswife) asitdoesn’tmatterwhator
where theyare,justthat Leonardiscontinuingoninthem, andusingfor an endbefore movingonto
the nextunknowntown. Thisisveryunconventional forcrime films because usuallyitissetina big
citythat people have heardof. However,Now YouSee Me stronglydifferswithalarge variationof
locationsincludingNewOrleans,LasVegasandNew Yorkwhere theyperformshows. Bigcitieslike
these are conventional forcrime filmsbecause the audience expectstosee themastheyare well
knownto everykindof audience whethertheylive closetoitor not.These bigcitiestend tohave
highercrime ratesdue to higherpopularitytherefore makessense touse themincrime films.
LightinginMementodiffersasthe narrative does.The storyistoldfromtwopointsintime at the
same time byswitchingbetweenpresentandpastuntil eventuallytheymeet. The lightingisusedto
showwhetherthe scene issetinthe past or present.
The past tense scenesusinglowkeylighting:

3. Whereasthe presenttense scenesuse colourfullightingsuchasnatural or highkey:
Alternatively,NowYouSee Me doesn’tuse any low-key lightingbutdoesuse highkeylightingto
clearlypresentthe maincharactersof the filmduringtheirshows:
At the endof Memento,DylanRhodeswhoisthe police officerwhohadbeentryingtocatch the
fourmagiciansturnsout to be the personbehindthe “FourHorsemen”and he framesThaddeus
Bradleyandgetshim putin jail.Thisisa majorplottwistwhichleadstothe sequel movieNow You
See Me 2. Similarly,Mementoalsoincludesamajorplottwistbyexposing Teddyasthe killerafter
Leonardthoughtheywere friends.Thisispresenteddifferentlythoughbecause the audience are
aware that Teddywas the killerfromthe beginningdue tothe unusual narrative.Havingaplottwist
ina movie isconventional forcrime filmsbecause crime filmstendtowithholdinformationfromthe
audience alotwhichis revealedatthe endof the film.
Reference 1:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHhlTXyBxPM
The openingscene inMementoisplayedinreverse.The initial shotusesapropof a picture of Teddy
dead, andsince it’splayedinreverse itslowlyfadesaway.The effectof thisprop isthatit represents
Leonard’smemory asit fadesaway due to hisconditionthatmakeshimunable tomake new
memories. Afterthat,the firstpropsyousee are the camera,the shell of the bulletusedtokill him,
and thenTeddy’sglasseswithbloodonthe lenses.Finally,yousee the gunandsee Teddygetting

4. killed.Thisstyleof openingscene confusesthe audience initiallybecause itisveryunconventional
for a crime filmtostart withthe murderergettingcaught.Inthisscene,youare introducedtothe
protagonistinan unconventional way forcrime filmsbecauseintypical crime filmsthe criminalsare
introducedascriminals,whereasthe protagonistisintroducedasa criminal eventhoughhe isn’tthe
criminal inthe story.NowYou See Me somewhatfollowsatypical crime openingscene because it
introducesall the maincharactersone by one doingtheirownmagicshows,some of whichinclude
crime.For example,JackWilderstealsthe walletandwatchof an audience member.
Reference 2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjBTLt8COs
In the scene were AtlasisgettinginterrogatedbyDylanRhodes,theyuse overthe shouldershots
duringconversationbetweenthe twocharacters. The editingisfastpacedwhichmakesthe scene
more intense. WhenAtlasusesamagictrick toshiftthe handcuffsfromhiswriststoDylan’s,it
mirrorsthe dialogue of the interrogationwhere Atlassaysthattheywill alwaysbe aheadof Dylanno
matterhow close he thinkshe is. Thisdoesnotfollow typical crime filmcodesandconventions
because usuallythe policeofficerisincontrol because the criminal ishandcuffed.InMemento, the
onlyproperinterrogationscene isshownatthe beginningof the movie whenLeonardhas
discoveredthatTeddykilledhiswife and hashimpinnedonthe groundwitha gun to hishead.