Transformers 3 Opening Scene

Dani Wilkinson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMk9g1ZWZKE

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.

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.

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.

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.