Case Study 1: Inside Man

Institutions:

A cop has to talk down a bank robber after the criminal's perfect heist spirals into a hostage situation.   Director: Spike Lee Writer: Russel Gewirtz   Cast: Denzel Washington - Detective Keith Frazier          Clive Owen - Dalton Russell          Jodie Foster - Madeleine White          Christopher Plummer - Arthur Case   Production Company: Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment   Release Date: 24 March 2006 (UK)   Country Where Made : U.S.A   Box Office Return -    Budget: $45,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $28,954,945 (USA) (26 March 2006) (2818 Screens) Gross: $88,504,640 (USA) (2 July 2006)   Audience: The target audience for this film is anyone who is a fan of the thriller/crime genre ,that conttains violence and action but still keeps the subtlety that is necessary in the crime genre.   Audience Reception: No.1 - Remains consistently watchable as a mechanical exercise. No.2 - Supremely annoying and nonsensical. No.3 - It's okay, if you like investing two hours in a whodunit only to discover that a butler who was barely in the picture did it.     Rotten Tomatoes:   Tomatometer: 86% Audience: 81%   Technology: Progression in technology has allowed us much easier access to films and information about them. One of the ways that this has happened is because technology has increased the number of ways that we view technology, e.g. the web. The audience’s knowledge has been increased because they can now view the reviews and so on much more easily. Technology has increased access to the film because people can now discover better ways to view the film, such as blu-ray, or cinema listings of the film.    Representation: In this film the detetives who try and defuse and solve the hostage situation and the robbery are shown as normal human geings with families and children etc. this is shown through bring a part of their relationship into the story especially near the end. The bank robbers in this film are normal peopleexcept that they are shown as sort of geniuses in a way, or arather the main antagonist (Clive Owen) is shown as the "Clever One" and the others as purely muscle for hire. Finally the two other antagonists who are however not involved in the robbery are depicted as upper class citizens who have been robbed of thier business, when in actual fact this is far from the truth.   Codes/forms and conventions of the thriller genre:    Location: The film is set in Manhattan, most of the scenes are set inside and around the bank. The film uses the entirety of the bank for its shots ranging from the main lobby, store rooms, offices and the vault itself.   Character Types: The detectives are shown as cool calm and collected, they dont seem to panick and have the situation very much under control. The robbers are very tightly wound and look like that they might burst at any moment and kill anyone, which is different to Clive Owen's character who is similar tothe detectives in his calm manner, but this also comes off as arrogance sometimes.   Costume: Costume is a vital part of this film as a main part of the robbery itself is based around it. The robbers and the hostages all have to wear the exact same outfit, this is so if the police were to storm the building they would all look the same. All of the upper-class people are dressed in smart tailored suits, this is so you can easily identify them as different from the robbers and detectives in what I can only assume to be off the racks suits.   Objects: Most of the objects that are sent into the bank play a big part of the story and vice versa, as there are many bugs and traps throughout this film that are used to con each of the "sides". Also when it comes to the weapons in the film they also play a vital part towards the end of the film.   Sound: When it comes to sound most of it is diagetic with much talking, shooting, music inside of the story on speakers, etc. But there is a low amount of non-diagetic sound, as most of this movie if filmed in a handheld way and having no sound effectg music or orchestra sound makes it seem more realistic.