Mock Exam

Analysing Phonebooth

Institutions:
-Name of film: Phonebooth
-Year made: 2003
-Certification: 15 in the UK, R in America
-Genre: Mystery Thriller
-Country of origin: USA
-Awards: 7 nominations including 2 MTV Movie Awards
-Director: Joel Schumacher
-Production Company: 20Th Century Fox

Codes and Conventions:
There are many different aspects of a thriller which are generic signifiers. Phonebooth connotes a lot of these.
The lighting in Phonebooth is as though the film was in everyday life as it was quite cloudy lighting. Although this is breaking the codes and conventions of a thriller film, the lighting does seem to work. It's not chiaroscuro or noir lighting like in generic thriller films, but the cloudiness of the setting seems to make the city 'not right'. It adds an eery feel to the 'normal' city, making the audience know something isn't right. By using a lighting like this, the audience feel less like they're watching a film and more like they are there, watching it as though it's an everyday thing.
The mise-en-scene throughout the film makes viewers more aware of the character just being in everyday life. The clothes he wears aren't usually what would be classed as generic thriller costume. However, by breaking these boundaries, it becomes obvious to the audience that he's completely innocent and just 'in the wrong place at the wrong time'. Colin Farrell's character, Stu Shepard, is dressed in a suit jacket, shirt and a pair of trousers which connotes that he was possibly on his way to work when the phone in the phonebooth rang.
The film was shot in down-town Los Angeles, even though the film was actually set in New York city. The setting is quite dismal and dirty, fitting in with the generics of a thriller film. This, of course, adds to the suspense which keeps the audience intrigued. The main character, Stu Shepard, is actually walking through a 'red light' district which adds to the creepiness and mystery of the character. This also leaves the audience with the question 'why is he there when he's got a loving wife at home and has also got a lover on the side?'. This, again, would draw in the audiences attention, making them wonder what would happen next. The area that the character is walking through makes him look quite sleazy, but as the hidden sniper threatens him, he very slowly breaks down.
The film includes a lot of split-screen shots, drawing the audiences attention to the other possible victims. There are also point of view shots which add to the suspense and put the viewers in the characters place. This would make the audience feel as though they were they are there, either as the sniper character or as one of the victims.
There is a cultural signifier in the setting as well, however, it wasn't a signifier for New York, it was a Los Angeles signifier. It's a double-decker bus which is clearly marked 'LABBS'. The setting makes downtown Los Angeles look dirty and dingy which represents it as a place where a majority of people are violent and have a strong desire for money.
The area that the film is set in, has a lot of prostitutes around and they come across as a group of quite dirty, sleazy, money-orientated people and their 'boss' seems protective but very aggressive. They are also Latino-American so this could, therefore, insult particular audiences.
The film could reflect the divide between upper and lower class Americans, e.g. the sniper in his dirty, small apartment with no-one and the main character with his wife at home in his penthouse apartment, then with his lover at her house.
The film has had 39,125 males rate it with an average of 7.3 out of 10. Females, however, have voted it 7.2 out of 10 with only 5,141 votes. This film is more popular with males than it is women as it contains scenes which can get quite disturbing and gory, for example; when the main character is shot in the ear.


Teachers Comments
Male audiences probably find the film more appealing because the central characters are men.
From your discussion, woman are represented in the stereotypical wife/whore convention, thus the film churns out the traditional message that cinema action revolves around male fantasies of paranoia and sexual liberty!