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. Crimefilms
are expectedtobe inchronological orderwith otherdetailsbeing withhelduntil lateroninthe film.
In Memento, the openingscene isplayedbackwardsinreverse anditisactuallysetat the endof the
story. The nextscene,Leonardwakesupina hotel whichissetinthe beginningof the story.
Throughoutthe restof the film,the scenesswitchfromthe beginningtothe endof the story,which
eventuallymeetupatthe endof the film. Thisisbecause the protagonistLeonarddoesnot
rememberwhathappenedthe previousdays,andif the storyis toldbackwardsthenthe audience
don’tknowwhathappenedpreviously inthe storyeither. The scenessetatthe beginningof the
storyare in blackand white,whichfitsthe factthatit issetin the past. In Memento,the audience
discoversthingsalongside the maincharacterLeonard,butbecause of the backwardsnarrative we
knowwhateach piece of informationleadsto whichdiffersfromNow YouSee Me whichfollowsa
more typical crime genre narrative where youdiscoverthingsatthe same time as the police whoare
chasingthe maincharacters despite rootingforthemand beingontheirside.
Thisdefinesthe targetaudience forMementoaspeopleagedaround18-30 and social gradesC1/C2
because itisa confusingnarrative whichusuallytakesmore thanone attemptatwatchingthe film
before fullyunderstandingthe storyline. Now YouSee Me,however,doesn’thave acomplicated
narrative althoughitcan be difficulttoputall the piecestogetherandfullyunderstandthe storyby
the end,so itstill requiresforasomewhatmature audience fromanyage above 13 and social
gradesD/C2.
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. Thisdirectlylinkstothe crime genre
as bank robberiesare verycommonincrime filmssince bankscontainlarge amountsof money
makingitbeneficialforthe criminalstorobthem.Anexample of thisinothermoviesisThe Bank
Job. The disorderisrecognisedbyMorganFreeman’scharacterbecause hischaracter’srole is
someone whoexposesmagiciansandhow theyperformtheirtricks. Thisisn’tspecificallylinkedto
the crime genre since NowYouSee Me is alsopart of the magicgenre. The rest of the movie isMark
Ruffalo’scharacteras a detective attemptingtocatch the magicians whichisthe attemptto repair
the damage of the disruption. Detectivesare verycommonandconventional forcrime filmsbecause
bigcrimessuch as bankrobberiesare followedupbyaninvestigation. Finally,MarkRuffalo’s
character turnsout to be the leaderof the Eye organisationandisactuallyonthe same side asthe
magicians.Thisisthe newequilibrium.
However,Mementodoesn’tfollowTodorov’stheorybecausethe filmstartsatthe end,where
Leonardkillsthe murdererof hiswife because of the narrative,howeverthe actual storyline does
followTodorov’stheory. If youwere towatch Mementobuteach scene wasinchronological order
2. the initial equilibriumisLeonardandhiswife lyinginbedandeverythingisokay,thenthe disruption
of the equilibriumiswhentheyare attacked,hiswife iskilledandLeonardgetsa conditionmaking
himunable tocreate newmemories. Thisisconventional forthe crime genre because Leonardand
hiswife were assaulted andviolence isusedin the majorityof crime filmssince itisthe most
commonlycommittedcrime thatpeoplegetsentencedfor. The recognitionof the disruptionis
shownbyLeonardtattooingnotesonhis bodyforhim toread and understandeverydaystarting
with“RememberSammyJankis”onhiswrist.Leonardattemptstorepairthe disruptionby
murderingTeddywhoLeonardsuspectskilledhiswife. However, there are nomore scenesafterthe
scene where Teddydies sothere isnofootage of a new equilibriumandalotof people have
differenttheoriesonwhathappensnext. Mostcrime filmsend withthe new equilibriumtherefore
thisisunconventional forcrime films.Forexample,once ThadeusBradleyisimprisonedandthe
magicianshave unitedwithDylanRhodesthereisascene basedonDylanand Alma’srelationship.
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.
• 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 turned outto be the personwhokilledhis
wife.
Stylistic
Mementowassetin presentdayinthe year 2000 whenitwasreleased,the locationisn’tclearinthe
filmbuthe stays inmotel roomsand wakesupeachmorningwithnoshort-termmemory. The
3. unclearlocationrelatestoJohnG. (the personwhomurderedhiswife) asitdoesn’tmatterwhator
where theyare,justthat Leonardiscontinuingoninthem, andusingfor an endbefore movingonto
the nextunknowntown. Thisisveryunconventional forcrime filmsbecause usuallyitissetina big
citythat people have heardof whichwouldusuallyattracta youngertargetaudience.However,
NowYou See Me stronglydifferswithalarge variationof locationsincludingNew Orleans, LasVegas
and NewYorkwhere they performshows. Bigcitiesliketheseare conventional forcrime films
because the audience expectstosee themastheyare well knowntoeverykindof audience whether
theylive close toitor not whichiswhyit fitsthe targetaudience of Now You See Me well.These big
citiestendtohave highercrime ratesdue to higherpopularitythereforemakessensetouse themin
crime films.
LightinginMementodiffersasthe narrative does.The storyistoldfromtwopointsintime at the
same time byswitchingbetweenpresentandpastuntil eventuallytheymeet. The lightingisusedto
showwhetherthe scene issetinthe past or present. Thisisunconventional forcrime filmsbecause
the narrative isunusual due tothe structure of it.
Thisis a screenshotof a scene setinthe past tense toshow it useslow keylighting.Thisis
unconventional forcrime filmsbecausethe onlytime thiswouldreallybe usedisinflashbacks,
whichisn’tthe case in Memento:
Thisis a screenshotfroma scene setinthe presenttoshow it usesnatural lightingwhenitisn’tset
inthe past:
Alternatively,NowYouSee Me doesn’tuse any low-key lightingbutdoesuse highkeylightingto
clearlypresentthe maincharactersof the filmduringtheirshows.Thisisalsounconventional for
crime filmsbecause the criminalsaren’tusuallypresentedinclearwayswithlightsshiningonthem,
4. theyare usuallypresentedmore subtly:
At the endof NowYouSee Me, DylanRhodeswhoisthe police officerwhohadbeentryingtocatch
the four magiciansturnsoutto be the personbehindthe “FourHorsemen”and he framesThaddeus
Bradleyandgetshim putin jail.Thisisa majorplottwistwhichleadstothe sequel movieNow You
See Me 2. Similarly,MementoalsoincludesamajorplottwistbyexposingTeddyasthe 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 gunand see Teddygetting
killed.Thisstyleof openingscene confusesthe audience initiallybecause itisveryunconventional
for a crime filmtostart withthe murderergettingcaught.Inthisscene,youare introducedtothe
protagonistinan unconventional wayforcrime 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.
5. Reference 2:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwjBTLt8COs
In the scene where AtlasisgettinginterrogatedbyDylanRhodes,theyuse overthe shouldershots
duringconversationbetweenthe twocharacters. The editingisfastpacedwhichmakesthe scene
more intense whichisconventional forcrime filmsbecauseif theydiditina slow pace thenit
wouldn’tcreate the same tensionasitdoesfastpace.WhenAtlasusesa magic trickto shiftthe
handcuffsfromhis wriststoDylan’s,itmirrorsthe dialogue of the interrogationwhere Atlassays
that theywill alwaysbe aheadof Dylannomatterhow close he thinkshe is. Thisdoesnotfollow
typical crime filmcodesandconventionsbecause usuallythe police officer isincontrol because the
criminal ishandcuffed.InMemento, the onlyproperinterrogationsceneisshownatthe beginning
of the movie whenLeonardhasdiscoveredthatTeddykilledhiswifeandhashimpinnedonthe
groundwitha gun to hishead.
Reference 3:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q506oouLZgw
In thisscene Doddand LeonardfightandresultsinLeonardknockingDoddout.However,atthe
beginningof the scene Leonarddoesn’tknow where he isdue tohiscondition.The soundinthis
scene isdiegeticanditisusedto create tensionwiththe soundof footsteps,flushingof the toilet
and the squeakytap.The shots in the scene are all close ups of Leonard (andDodd whenhe enters
the scene) creatingamysteriousatmospherewhichisconventionalforcrime filmsbecauseitbuilds
suspensionforthe audience.The fightingscene usesfastpacededitingandonlydiegeticsound
whichisconventional forcrime filmsbecause itcreatesthe stealthyandsneakyfeelinginthe fight.
On the otherhand,NowYou See Me usesnon-diegeticsoundaswell asdiegeticsoundtobuild
tensioninthe build-uptofightscenes. Bothof these techniquesare conventional forcrime films
because theybothsuccessfullybuildtensionandshow stealth.
