Genre Essay

Lone Survivor (2013)

The Lone Survivor is a War/Action film but also a Autobiographical film because it is based on a true story which is subtitled in the trailer to inform the audience so. The trailer shows the different genres by showing different elements of each different genre for example, in the trailer the setting is a US army base and begins by showing a group of soldiers sitting around in a large group watching another soldier take part in what looks like some form of initiation, this informs the audience that the film is going to be War based. During this part of the trailer at the beginning the camera spends a large amount of time showing shots of three characters rather than the rest which shows their importance, the camera shows a long lasting shot of Marc Walhberg (who plays Marcus Luttrell) the audience would know he is a famous and popular actor and usually the hero or fatherly figure in most films, so due to Propp's Character types he would be seen as the protagonist and the hero due to the mass amount of camera time he gets compared to the others. The camera shows another two characters but does not spend as much time on them, one of them being Eric Bana (who plays Erik Kristensen) in the trailer he makes the other soldiers quiet down whilst they are throwing things and moaning at the young soldier who is taking the initiation, because the soldiers listen to him even though there is a huge group of them shows that Eric's character has some authority over the other men, due to Propp's theory he could be seen as a Authority Figure or Donor. The final character is Taylor Kistch (who plays Michael Murphy) who acts the young soldier "Can he say it?" referring to the initiation, the camera doesn't spend a large amount of time on him compared to the other two characters which shows he isn't as important as them, in Propp's theory he would be seen as the Heroes best friend who accompanies and helps him on his journey or mission.

Whilst the young soldier continues the initiation the trailer continues to show a montage of different action scenes, during which the young soldier is doing a VO also during the montage Marc Walhberg remains the only face that is seen which highlights his importance, the action scenes during the montage back up the idea the genre is action and involves alot of gun fights to due the montage showing the characters preparing themselves for one. After the montage white capital letters subtitling "Based on a true story", which supports how the film is autobiographical because it is based on a Mission that really took place against the Taliban which would inform the audience that the setting of the film is Afghanistan because that is where the US and UK have been fighting against the Taliban for years, this ideology is backed up due to during the montage a POV shot is used to show what one of the soldiers has his sight aimed at which is what looks to be a Taliban soldier this is clear due to his costume which is a turban and raggy looking shrouds, which stereotypically the audience would view as a Taliban soldier or terrorist. The soldiers during the montage are all wearing a military uniform and carrying guns, this shows the audience that they are military based and obviously soldiers, also the use of the gun prop is evidence that the film is war based because a rifle is a weapon of war.

The trailer continues to show the mission the soldiers will be participating in, during which the target of the mission is a Taliban leader named Ahmad Shah one of the soldiers describes him as "The bad guy" which would indicate he is the villain of the film due to Propp's Theory. During this time in the trailer the aspects of the mission are given to the soldiers and they're told their mission is to capture Ahmad Shah dead or alive, this would create a enigma code for the audience as it would interest them as to wondering whether the soldiers will be successful in their mission and would build the question "Will they kill Shah or keep him alive?" which would only be answered by watching the film.

 More enigma codes are set during the trailer for example a part shows the soldiers hiding in trees monitoring the village in which Shah and his men are camping in, and an old farmer and what seems to be his two sons stumble across the soldiers which leaves them with the decision to either kill them or let them go and home hoping that they don't tell Shah and his men about them. But Taylor Kistch's character makes the decision to free them and call their base for help, after that the soldiers free the old man and the two children and one is shown through a birds eye view shot jumping down a mountain, the audience are unaware of where he is going but due to the fact he is running could indicate that he is running to Shah which would create a enigma code for the audience. Also during the trailer there are multiple shots of the soldiers with blood on their faces, this use of make up indicates to the audience that the characters come under some pain and reminds the audience that they are mortal and can come under damage which would build the question up that the hero could potentially die, which would challenge their expectations because most often the hero saves the day unharmed.