This document analyzes the conventions used in the crime thriller film Red Dragon, including editing, sound, mise-en-scene, camera work, stereotypes, and narrative structure. It discusses how the opening scene uses fast pacing and abrupt editing to amplify tension. Dissonant and symphonic sounds are used to make viewers uncomfortable and build tension. Character clothing, lighting, and physical traits are employed to confuse audiences and portray the antagonist as a threat. Camera angles are used to show the villain's dominance over the hero. The film goes against typical narrative structures to make its opening scene memorable.

1. Textual Analysis
Media AS level

2. • For this textual analysis I will be studying the Crime
Thriller movie Red Dragon. I will be picking out the main
conventions of the film such as mise-en-scene, editing,
sound, narrative structure as well as other elements of
film. Red dragon (2002) is film based on Thomas Harris'
novel of the same name and is a prequel to both The
Silence of the Lambs (1991) and Hannibal (2001). The
films storyline is a retired FBI agent with psychological
gifts which he uses to track down a mysterious serial
killer called ‘The Tooth Fairy’.
Analysing Red Dragon

3. • One of the first things that we notice in the scene is
the use of face paced editing. I believe this was used
by the director in order to show the intensity of the
scene and to further amplify the energy that is being
portrayed to the viewers. Furthermore we see that
once the fight scene has ended the scene suddenly
fades to black and the credits commence. The
suddenness of the transition reflects the impact of the
scene and makes the viewer realise the horrific action
that has just taken place.
Editing

4. • When studying the sound that is used in the film Red Dragon
we begin to notice a couple of techniques that are used.
Firstly the use of dissonant sound is used in the opening
sequence of the film, the unpleasant sound is played while the
FBI agent is being stabbed. This is used by the director to
amplify the horrific act that is happening in the scene, the
whole idea behind the dissonant sound is to make the viewer
feel uncomfortable which mirrors the emotions the director
wants you to feel. Additionally, throughout out the first scene
there is use of symphonic sound. This helps build up the
tension and furthermore compliments the emotion of the
scene with the parallel sound.
Sound

5. • If we take a look at the characters clothing we can see a consistency
with colour of the clothing. Both the protagonist and the antagonist
are wearing light clothing which is an anti-stereotype for genre of
film as the antagonist usually wears dark clothing. I believe the
director has done this to create confusion with the audience as it
shows that the villain is not immediately evident, which creates
mystery; moreover it shows that that the villain could be anyone
which keeps the audience on edge. Furthermore when you take a
look at the lighting within the scene we begin to notice that it quite
dark and creepy when showing shots of the antagonist. This is done
to project the antagonist dominance and to show that he is hard to
defeat. When looking at the characters themselves we see that the
antagonist is old and over weight, this could be done to amplify the
villains weaknesses and to make the protagonist (who is young and
muscular) to appear more athletic.
Mise-en-scene

6. • There is a use of close up shots on the antagonists face after the have stabbed
the hero, I believe this is used by the director to make the audience focus on not
only what the character is saying but to look at the facial expressions of this
serial killer; the villain has just stabbed a person and yet they have a calm and
pleasant look on their face which is not a reaction from a normal human being,
so the shot is used to project the danger of him and to show that he mentally
unstable which creates fear for the audience. Furthermore, when we continue
on into the opening sequence we notice that a high angle shot Is used when the
antagonist is being stabbed. I believe it is used to not only show the unexpected
action of the villain being killed but to furthermore show that even though the
villain has been weakened, he is still the dominant character in this scene, which
again adds on to the title of dangerous that this character possesses.
Additionally, we can see that over the shoulder shots are used for a long period
of time during the opening sequence, which I believe is used to project the
dominance of the villain and that he is more powerful than our hero which
obviously goes against stereotypes of the protagonist and the antagonist as the
stereotype is usually reversed, this is done by the director to show the evilness
of the villain and to again show the threat of the character.
Camera Work

7. • When looking into the stereotypes of gender in the opening
sequence we can see that the male gender comes across as
dominant, strong and controlling which is evident with both
characters. This would be very stereotypical of this gender as
this is what we would typically see in a crime thriller film. In
terms of stereotypes for the characters themselves, we have
the antagonist who has scars on his face, middle aged and
furthermore foreign which is very stereotypical for this genre;
I believe the stereotypically is particularly used so that the
hero and the villain is evident in the film. If we take a look at
the protagonist we can see he is young, athletic and appears
to be American, which once again is very stereotypical for this
genre and further amplifies that he is the hero.
Stereotypes

8. • The opening sequence of Red Dragon goes strongly against Todorov theory
as is does not start with an equilibrium, in fact the scene is very much the
opposite, with disruption happening almost instantly with a fight scene. I
believe this done by the director to project what is happening in the scene,
the fact that it goes against the theory makes the scene stick out and
memorable and would amplify the danger of the antagonist. When it
comes to typical narrative structure of crime thriller, we know that the
genre likes to keep the audience on suspense and leave them guessing what
happens next. They often have a restricted narrative with questions or
riddles that will left unanswered until towards the end of the film and this is
often the main element that keeps the audience watching, so that their
questions can be answered. The film Red Dragon very much follows this
typical narrative structure in that it starts of immediately with a fight scene
having no idea as to why or what is happening, but these questions are
answered when you continue to watch the film and you eventually find that
it was a flash-forward.
Narrative Structure

9. • Crime thriller will typically have a mass audience due to
the typical age range that would watch it and that it is
enjoyed by both genders. Crime thriller typically is a
genre that makes the audience think and get enjoyment
out of solving a puzzle which is one of the audience
pleasures. Because of this I believe that the socio –
economic scale for the genre would be around A-C and
the psychographic would most likely be reformers due to
the nature of the typical narrative structure.
Audience Theory