is the hurt locker conventional?

Question 1

conventions of a war film

Answer 1

• male bonding/brotherhood
• emotional climax (death)
• explosions
• good v bad
• young ‘hot shot’ in need of a mentor
• negative portrays of other countries
• military equipment, hi-tech, guns
• fast edits to capture the action
• strong leader
• uniform
• mementos of home
• loud soundtrack, powerful music
• simple storylines often based around an ‘objective’
• Americans shown as heroes
• patriotism

Question 2

5 reasons the hurt locker IS generic:

Answer 2

1. over time male leads bond which creates a brotherhood. (lowkey lighting/close ups)
2. camouflage uniform
3. military equipment/guns
4. negative portrayals of other countries - Iraq
5. strong leader - James who is fearless and even soldiers above his rank are in awe of him

Question 3

how is the opening sequence of THL generic?

Answer 3

• military equipment
• uniformed soldiers
• brotherhood (making dick jokes, jokes about a grass business so are comfortable with each other)
• suggestive that we are made to feel comfortable with American soldiers (close ups, jokes) which portrayals america in a positive light
• iraq shown negatively by suspiciously watching and waiting for a bomb to go off
• explosion which causes the death of a soldier

Question 4

why THL is NOT generic:

Answer 4

• new character already more trained/qualified than existing soldiers
• illusion of a ‘strong leader’ as james cries and has a hard time deciding to do the right thing
• momentos of home are negative as if james’s family are a burden to him
• he went back to war whilst most films show family as motivation