The Gunfighter [Kissack, 2014]
Genre:
Throughout the Gunfighter, it is a usual genre western film. This is established through mise-en-scene such as cowboy hats, a dusty saloon and stereotypical character archetypes. These characters include a female prostitute, two bunty hunter brothers and a gunslinger. However, our main character the gunslinger could be seen as a anti-hero. As usually in typical westerns the audience are used to supporting the white male hero of the desert. But in The Gunfighter we learn our protagonist has killed children, similarly to Clint Eastwoods character, William Munny in Unforgiven [Clint Eastwood 1992]. These characters can be labelled as anti-heroes. This shows how The Gunfighter somewhat subverts the typical genre type of western but clearly fights with the modern take on the genre. Other characters such as the black bartender although playing a role of a bartender which features in all westerns, this role being played by a black man shows how the modern western is creating change within the genre while still sticking to it's roots to a certain extent. This is also showcased with the female protitute character, as she still plays this role but in fact has more dialogue lines in this short film than most female characters would have in a full feature length western film made in the 40s. Language/dialogue also clearly fits within the genre convention.
Narrative:
The Gunfighter's narrative is explicitly linear and throughout the short film it is made clear that narrative exists as a tool to drive conflict. Therefore, within the film this conflict has to be resolved. Throughout this short film there is a narrator (Nick Offerman). This narrator is a non- diegetic sound which is highly unusual in film as narrators are usually diegetic and can usually be explained as the films protagonists own thoughts. Where as in The Gunfighter, the narrator can be heard by all characters on screen and speaks all the thoughts of all the characters. This opens lots of questions such as: why can they hear the narrator? Is this the voice of God? These questions are all enigma codes that the audience can ask themselves. Therefore not all of the conflicts are resolved. But in the actual story, the conflict between characters such a the gunfighter himself and the Henderson brothers is resolved at the end of the film with the gunfight. Only one conflict is left unresolved which is at the end of the film, Sally (the prostitute) is said to be eaten by a bear the net day. This is more used as a punchline to a joke rather than a significant plot point that needs to be resolved for the purpose of making the film make sense/fully complete. Narrative is also restrictive and also very predictable, and the purpose of the narrator is to satire this and explain all future thought the character has and explain what will happen next in the narrative.
Key Elements:
The music throughout the film is synchronized with the events of the film. The music is synchronized and underscores the emotional intent of the scene. This is most clearly shown in the scene the gunfighter has his motivational speech. The music is a light, uplifting orchestral phenomenon. Where as when the gunfighter had entered the saloon, a stereotypical western soundtrack which fits the dusty saloon setting. Throughout the film, it also follows the formulaic nature of the western genre but certain rules with camera the film has to stick to. Such as the whip pan when a gun is drawn. This adds to the swift nature of the gun fights. The editing throughout the film is fairly generic for the genre. And performances are strong and match personalities of characters in this genre. Similarly, with the mise-en-scene of the film we are presented with a dusty saloon, and cowboys in dirty lived in clothes, very much matching the time.
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