body of lies case study

Body of Lies Case Study

Institutions
The production company for this film is Warner Bros, it was released in 2008 and directed by Ridley Scott. It was filmed in both the USA and Morocco, including locations such as Annapolis, Maryland, USA, Baltimore, Maryland, USA, Rabat, Morocco and Casablanca, Morroco. The budget for this film is estimated at $70,000,000. In the USA, by 11 January 2009, gross profit for this film was $39,380,442. The film stars famous actors Leonardo DiCaprio (Roger Ferris), Russell Crowe (Ed Hoffman) and Mark Strong (Hani). It’s based on David Ignatius' 2007 novel about a CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio), who uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader. When Ferris devises a plan to infiltrate his network, he must first win the backing of cunning CIA veteran Ed Hoffman (Russell Crowe). Although seemingly his allies, Ferris questions how far he can really trust these men without putting his entire operation - and his life - on the line.

Audience

The cast is has a high number or male actors and it seems to be very male orientated when you look at the advertisement. This tells the viewers that it is maybe containing lots of action and ‘boy’s toys’ very stereotypical. Normally when it is a male dominated film one of the men will be very attractive, this is something for the ladies I guess! The viewers would be mainly male as that is who the film Is genuinely aimed at, shown straight away with colour choice and male involvement. It looks quite a grown up film I guess, possibly aimed at the 16 and above area, with the mature start. It will contain offensive language and violent scenes.

Semiology/Location:

The Arabic man in the first scene uses Semiology when he points his finger as this symbolises a dictator or leader. The fact that he is speaking in a language other than English also shows a sense of secrecy and the film makers not wanting the audience to know things, this puts pressure on the audience to attempt to understand and they feel out of control and I suppose victimised as this is their country but they can’t understand or be in control.

There is a train rushing past which shows a sense of urgency and something bad about to happen, it also represents that time might be running out, I think the train going past is a good idea, you can hear that it is near to a popular busy place just by hearing a train, knowing there is connections to a lot of places from there. The climax is where the swot team begins to try and get past and there is a milk truck which shows how normal the street is even though something bad is about to happen. The milkman’s whistling is the start of the operation forming, it sends everyone into action, the plan is precise.

Codes/forms & Conventions of the thriller genre

The start frame of the film is quite plain yet effective. It’s a black picture starting with quiet soft music leading into deep bass music when the words ‘Manchester, England’ comes onto the screen. This gives off a sense of danger and uneasiness when reading it. The impact is good and strong. This also gives off that the area has been very much inflicted but racism or terrorism. Fear is brought over us just with these words and music, before we know anything it already has us alert and guessing.