TEXTUAL

ANALYSIS
Title: Assassin
Director: J.K Amalou
Staring: Danny Dyer, Holly
Weston, Martin Kemp and
Gary Kemp.
Date: 2015
Genre: Action & Thriller

Media Language
Camera Work:
The opening scene starts with an
establishing shot of London with sun
beaming through clouds. The city itself is
covered with a mist which creates the
mysterious and gloomy effect. This
foreshadows the idea of hidden identity
because you can just about tell it is the city
of London.
The film title then suddenly appears in
sharp, block capital shiny letters. A slight
boom non-diegetic sound effect is used by
the editing staff to enhance the effect of
power on the audience.

Media Language
Camera Work:

The next series of shots the audience are shown

creates the sense of thrill, fast and danger. The
camera has been attached to the back wheel of
the motorbike, in front of where the actor is
sitting and then in front of the speed gages. This
enhances this thrill effect as the audience will
feel as if they are on actually the motorbike as
the camera moves as the bike moves.

Media Language
Camera Work:

This is one of my favourite shots of the

opening scene because this wide over
the shoulder camera angle shows the
main character who is still wearing the
black helmet and how he is pointing his
gun at the other character. At this
moment the actor does shot the man in
the shirt and from this angle you see
the gun fire which enhances this action
and thrill. The audience also sees the
other character scream and fall to the
floor as he gets hit. This all adds to the
action of the film and makes the
opening strong and convey the sense
of danger.

Media Language
Camera Work and Mise-en-Scene:
This medium close up of the
character which we still do
not know the identity of or
what he looks due to the
blacked out helmet and black
clothes portrays him to be
mysterious and maybe
undercover.
This is the last shot in the opening
scene. This medium close up truly
shows the brutal killings that will be
involved in this film. The mise-en-scene
plays a huge part in the contribution of
this as the blood make up enhances the
whole shot.

Media Language
Mise-en-Scene
I will talk about this specific
shot in the representation
section also but I would like
emphasise how the mise-enscene from this shot portrays
the place to be rough and
convey the sense of crime
just from the graffiti on the
side of the bridge.

Media Language
Sound
At this moment of the scene
the audience hears diegetic
dialogue through the speaker.
This dialogue contains
swearing which contributes to
the idea that the area is
rough and the people living
there are not well manoured
or polite. This reinforces the
stereotypical action/crime film
as the characters have the
north London cockney accent
which can be linked to the
mannerisms of gangsters.

Media Language
Editing
The editing of the opening scene involves steady pace
transitions however the content of the scene contradicts this
as there is high intensity action and loud diegetic motorbike
engine noise and gun shots which create the thrill and
adrenaline of the piece.

Representations

From the opening scene the audience can only assume that this character is the
main role as the camera is only focused on him until the very end of the scene
where the audience is shown the man he just shot.
The character is represented to be very dominant and mysterious as the audience is
never shown his face as he keeps the blacked out helmet on throughout the
opening scene. This allows the audience to make the assumption that he is the
assassin because he is keeping his identity from the other characters within
building and also to the audience. The blacked out helmet could suggest that he is
very professional because he knows that he cannot get caught and also through the
action in the scene of him walking into the room and shooting the man creates him
to be a deadly and dangerous character.
This character could be said to reinforce the stereotype of an assassin because he

Representations
The place where the film is set is
represented to be a dark, gloomy
area through the very first
establishing shot of London. The
image creates the sense of mystery
because of the mist and clouds
covering the town.

The second establishing shot of the

character on the motorbike riding
through a street which has graffiti on
the sides of the bridge. This
represents the area to be rough and
suggests that there is a lot of gang
crime which all contributes to the
genre of action because already

Audience

Who is the primary target audience and how will they be attracted
to this product?
The primary target audience for this film are adults. However I
would say young adults who enjoy films involving crime and
danger would really like this film. The rating of Assassin is a
15 which ensures that the content of the film is not family
friendly. The generic conventions from the poster, film title and
even the trailer would attract the audience as shows the
audience exactly what to expect.
Screenshot
s from the
film trailer.

Genre

What is the genre and how is this communicated to the audience

through generic conventions.

The genre of this film is

firstly communicated to
the audience through the
poster. This is the first
piece of media text that
the consumer will see
about the film and
therefore must show
them the type of film it is
so they can make the
decision whether they
want
to see
this film.
The film
title
automatically
conveys to the
audience that the film
will contain killings
and violence which all
links to the genres of
action and thriller
The slogan of the film
conveys the genre of
action.

The generic conventions

from the poster is firstly
the title. The audience
can quickly gage the
idea that it is a hit man
film. Secondly the image
of Danny Dyer portrays
him to be a dominant
figure and also the gun
he is holding links to the
title and the genre of
action.

The gun shows the audience

that the film will contain
violence. From the title of the
film and that fact that Danny
Dyer is the main image
holding the weapon allows the
audience to make the
assumption that he is the
assassin.

Genre
The first shot of the whole film
is of the front wheel of a
motorbike which conveys the
genre of action and thrill. This
creates the thrill effect on the
audience straight away
because the bike is travelling
extremely fast and the diegetic
sound of the engine enhances
the dangerous atmosphere.
This shot shows the character to be
shooting his gun through a curtain to
kill the man hiding behind it. This
provides evidence to the audience
that the film is in fact under the major
genre of action.

Narrative
Todorovs and Levi-Strauss narrative theory cannot necessarily be
applied to the opening of the film because it starts with the main
character killing people within the first 2 minutes. However one
could say that this comes under Todorovs equilibrium stage
because these actions are the everyday lifestyle of that character.
I have seen the film and when you completely deconstruct the
plot one could say Todorovs theory is best fit as Danny Dyer, who
plays Jamie, falls in love with the daughter of the man he has
been paid to assassinate. This acts as the disruption of Todorovs
Theory. Then the Kemp Brothers, who play John and Lee Alberts
who are then people who paid Jamie to kill the man finds out and
tries to kill them both.

Institution
Assassin was produced by Silver Leaf Pictures which is a
private limited company. They are a small media institution of
only around 50 or less employees. Assassin has a run time of 90
minutes and the budget of the film was $3,500,000.
The film wasnt overly successful, it didnt reach cinemas and
viewers thought the script was poorly written. However it was
popular due to its star actors Danny Dyer and the Kemp
brothers. This is how the film became noticeable but still
received quite a few bad reviews.