For my
deconstruction component I am going to compare the two films, ‘North By
Northwest’ directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1959 and ‘Source Code’ directed by
Duncan Jones in 2011. These two movies share many differences and many similarities;
they share the genres of mystery, thriller and action. They also share similar
narratives as both films start with a disequilibrium narrative and the include theme
of identity within the films.
In ‘North By
Northwest’ Cary Grant played the main character Roger O. Thornhill, a New York
advertising executive is mistaken for a government agent (George Kaplan) by a
group of foreign spies and is then chased across the country while he looks for
a way to survive.
The 5-minute
scene I have chosen to deconstruct in ‘North By Northwest’ is the first 5
minutes of the film, showing establishing shots of the busy New York City and
Roger O. Thornhill goes to meet three men, on his way to send a telegram and
then gets stopped by two men that kidnaps him thinking he is George Kaplan,
dragging him into an unknown car.
In ‘Source Code’
Jake Gyllenhaal played the main character Captain Colter Stevens, a soldier who
wakes up in a body of an unknown man (Sean Fentress) and discovers he is part
of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
The 5-minute
scene I have chosen to deconstruct in ‘Source Code’ is two minutes into the
film, as he is woken up on a train all astonished and shocked to find out that
he has woken up as an unfamiliar man from seeing his reflection in the window,
so he goes into the toilets to double check. After leaving the toilet the bomb
in the train goes off and then he finds himself strapped inside a small dome,
which then Air Force Captain Colleen Goodwin explains to him through a computer
screen that he is trying to complete a mission using the Source Code, which
allows him to take over someone else’s body as a re-enactment of the last eight
minutes of their lives.
I chose to
deconstruct ‘North By Northwest’ and ‘Source Code’ because of their similar
narratives and ideas within the film, as they both have identity crisis but
their identities are explored in two different ways. In ‘North By Northwest’
Roger O. Thornhill identity was mistaken where as in ‘Source Code’ Captain
Colter Steven’s identity was assigned for him already. Both films follow
Vladimir Propp’s narrative theory as the characters in the films are recognised
as certain types that Propp learnt in fairy tales. I chose the first 5 minutes
of the two films because I noticed that they both establish the whole story
line within this time. Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory within the film often
starts with a equilibrium where there is balance and harmony, however ‘North By
Northwest’ and ‘Source Code’ both start with a disequilibrium, when the balance
is disrupted by something or someone and the equilibrium is stored towards the
end.
The purpose
within these two 5-minute sequences is just to let the audience know the main
narrative but also not giving away too much information to spoil the ending.
This gives the audience an idea of what the film will be about, creating many
enigmas for the viewers so that it keeps them drawn to the film as they want to
find out how the film ends. Starting with a disequilibrium also helps building
enigmas in the film, keeping the audience thinking and asking questions. In the
first 5 minutes of both of the films we find out who both of our heroes are and
in ‘North By Northwest’ we find out who the villains are but not in ‘Source
Code’ but instead we find out who the helper is.
I have a few
potential books and websites that I might use in my deconstruction assignment.
The main website I am going to use is IMDB as it is a reliable website which
provides me most of the information about the two films.
·
Cinematography
Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors. By Blaine
Brown.
·
Practical
Cinematography. By Paul Wheeler.
·
Picture
Composition. By Peter Ward.
·
Film Art: An Introduction. By David Bordwell and
Kristin Thompson.
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