Hancock

Titles


The actual titles for the movie Hancock start at 0.25 in the video above. The titles for the movie are a classic superhero type. They move in from one of the sides very quickly, then slow down massively stay, before flying off the opposite side of the screen. This kind of title gives the feel of an actual Superhero, because of how fast it moves onto and off the screen. The fact that the titles are white, with a hint of a grey steel colours, and are in block capitals. with all black in the background may be trying to play down the abilities of the superhero with the simplicity used. The actual titles of the movie Hancock comes up in the middle of the screen in a bigger font than the rest of the titles, this is to show that Hancock is the main character and the center of attention for more less all of the movie.


Music

The movie's music has a very modern feel to it. This modern feel we get comes from the wide variety of music played throughout the movie, for example from rap music, to indie music, to classical music. Like most movies, non diegetic classical music is used throughout the movie, and often people don't even pick up that is it playing. It adds to the emotion, and helps to tell us how we should feel about a scene, character of location. For example if music is getting faster or gradually building up, then this usually means there is something big in the movie coming. A minor key in a song can help to tell us a person is bad and so on. In the clip above, the music is slowly building up, as does the tempo of the music. This building up is an indication that Hancock is going to get up and do what he needs to do, get up and save his Superhero partner Mary, who is shown in her hospital bed a few times in the clip. The dietetic sound effect of the hospital music is almost used as a part of the music in the clip. At the end of the clip the music slows down and goes soft again. The music for the titles is very fast paced, this is because they want to get straight into the movie with little introduction.


Shot Types



Hancock has a large variety of shots used for many different reasons. In the clip above, a lot of handheld shots are used, this is to help emphasise the rough nature of the prison he is in. Short takes are used when showing the people in the prison to also emphasise how rough they are. Handheld shots are used in the video for music too to add to the drama, and help show how badly injured both Hancock and Mary are. A pan movement is used at 0.10 in the clip to show how Hancock's strength is dragging all the prisoners along the floor, and how little effort it is for him, and a pan is used again at 1.01 to show all of the people saying that he put them in jail. A slow motion shot is used at 0.20 to show how Hancock is walking through the prison with really all eyes on him, as he's the reason why most of them are in jail. A high angle long shot is used at 0.53 to show how many people have got him surrounded, and we can see how tiny he is in comparison to all the other people surrounding him, as he stands out being the only one wearing orange. At 0.18 in the video for music, we see the rule of thirds in use, with the boy at the right hand side of the screen. This is done to show the background and surroundings clearly as well as the boy. There is also a few close ups used at the start of the video for music, of Hancock's face, to show he is unresponsive and possibly fataly injured (for example, 0.24, we see Hancock's eyes are unresponsive when the light is shined in them).


Mise en Scene

 Hancock was set and filmed in Los Angeles. The location of the movie is modern, but we see no examples of real over the top technology in the movie like we do in something such as Iron Man. We can see in the video for music that during one of the dramatic final scenes, the water alarms are going off and this gives the effect that it is raining. This adds a lot more dramatic effect to the shot. For most of the shots Hancock is outside in the movie(for example outside in the prison, and for most of the video for titles), it is very bright and it looks very dry. This gives us the sense that it isn't just an average superhero movie. Throughout the movie, we see the damage that Hancock causes in a lot of detail, for example in the video above as 0.43. A lot of the damage done by Hancock is computer animated but looks very real and impressive. Hancock is always dressed quite badly throughout the movie, for example in the video above, to suggest he is a man that is currently going through some trouble. The fact he is often drinking, such as in the video above, emphasises this point.


Does this movie follow codes and conventions?

As a superhero movie I would say it does. It fits in with the action/adventure type theme and has a sprinkling of comedy as we usually get in this type of movie. It goes against codes and conventions a bit, as the superhero starts off as a troubled alcoholic with superhero powers, but like most movies in this kind of genre, it has a happy ending. The movie, for example, goes with the main character Hancock being put in prison, but by the end he is back on the good side of justice, doing what we expect this kind of fictional character to do.

Target Audience

The target audience for this film would be of all ages really, but maybe more towards the younger audiences. It would be a bit more suitable to younger audiences due to the fact that there isn't too much depth behind the story, and there is an amount of comedy. Even audiences of about 10+ would be the possible target audience for this movie, as nothing is too inappropriate and nothing is too complex.

Social Groups

The social groups that are related to in the movie is young people who have taken a wrong path and have made things better, or people who will make things better eventually. The main character can be seen a subliminal role model or inspiration to young people who need to get their lives back on track.