Obsessed
Obsessed is a film that was brought out in 2009, and given a certificate 12A. I chose this trailer because it involves a stalker/obsessive woman, and despite it being a woman who is the stalker, something I have not yet considered, I think that the style of the trailer could relate to any stalker film, whether male or female
Genre
The film 'Obsessed' could be seen to show some aspects of Steve Neale's theory on genre, "Genre is a repitition with an underlying pattern of variations." We could say this, due to the fact that the film Obsessed seems to show the similar aspects to the more dated film, such as "Fatal Attraction". The idea of the female being the 'bunny boiler' is repeated through many films. The fact that the woman becomes too attached, goes crazy, or tries to split up a marriage is a recourring theme through many films of this genre. We can obviously see some variations from other films, however when you look further at the connotations of Obsessed, the idea of the film is very similar to Fatal Attraction and similar films. We could also say then, that we could apply Andrew Sarris' theory to Obsessed, who said that if a film has an exisiting recognisable style, it could draw on an exsisting audience. We could say that Obsessed has a recognisable style, and so it would draw an audience similar to the films before it, due to the fact that the storyline is similar. Although Obsessed is a much more updated and recent version, it could be possible that people who liked films such as Fatal Attraction, would then like the more up-to-date film Obsessed.
Representation
We could say that "Obsessed" breaks some stereotypes, as when we think of a stalker, we seem to assume that it is usually a male stalking a female. However, obviously this is not always the case. In Obsessed, it is a woman who is obsessed with, and is stalking the male whom she works with. This could show a role reversal. However, we could aslo say that some aspects of Obsessed convey stereotypes. The fact that the woman is clingy, is something which is portrayed often about women. She is reading into things too much, which is a stereotype of females. We can also see a stereotype coming from the wife. We could say this, due to the fact that she seems insecure, and worried about her husband, when she finds out that he has a woman working in his office. This is something which we associate more with females. Also, the trailer could follow a stereotype of the male being the one that is cheating. However, there is an exception to this, due to the fact that the male is the one who is trying to stop the woman, he does not want the affair. This breaks the stereotype of the male cheating on his wife.
We could also say that Laura Mulvey's theory of "The Male Gaze" is used in this trailer. The theory of The Male Gaze looks at women being seen through a mans eyes; this could mean they are seen as either sex objects, or alternatively seen to be a mother and house wife. At the beginning of the trailer, the woman is seen to be objectified. This can be seen through the shot types, of the woman's short skirt, and the way she is portrayed. Particularly when the boss of the office says that it is "always nice to have a pretty girl around the office", and the shot type shows her walking away from them. We could also say that the wife in the trailer is seen through the eyes of a man, we are not made aware of whether she has any occupation, and she seems to be a hose wife and mother, who looks after their little boy and waits for her husband to come home from work.
Narrative
In terms of narrative, we could say that all three characters in the trailer are "active", the stalker and the main male characters wife being more active than the male. We could say this because the wife seems to make all the decisions, and she is the character who chooses to face the stalker head on, as we see at the end of the trailer.
We can also see Todorov's Equilibrium Theory throughout the trailer for "Obsessed". We see the equilibrium at the beginning of the trailer, as there is harmony for the main character, he is at a normal day at work, where he has a new co-worker. There are no problems for the main character at this point, until the disruption of the equilibrium, when the new Office temp comes on a bit too strongly. We can see that this is causing distress to the main character. We can also see the disruption through the way in which the character's wife is becoming concerned and insecure over her husband working with the new Office worker. However, we are unsure as to whether or not the Equilibrium had been resolved, due to the fact that the last point in which the trailer shows, is off the Office temp and the Wife are having a fight, and we are unsure whether either of them are okay. However, the fact that the wife is going after the stalker, shows that she is trying to resolve the problem.
It could be said that you can loosely see Character Types from Propps Theory in the trailer. It is obvious to whom the role of Villain should be given to; the Office Temp/Stalker. However, we could say that the main male character is a hero, as he is the one whom is going into battle with the villain, however - he is not the character who resolves the situation head-on, it is his wife who does this. I think the trailer is a lot more complicated than it may seem, we cannot assign roles to each character, as we are unsure of each characters role in the film, as the trailer does not show us the end result, purposely.
Audience
In terms of audience, I would say that the film Obsessed requires the audience to be quite active, it seems to be one that you have to concentrate on, in order to pick up the initial clues given to the audience, that the woman was to be psychotic and a stalker. We can see in the trailer that the clues are given initially, when the woman is in the lift, the clues gradually progress into something totally out of hand, and so the audience needs to be concentrating on this, in order to understand the basis behind the progression into the feud between the wife and the stalker.
Media Language
Cinematography
A jump cut is used when the woman is trying to seduce the man in the bathroom whilst at the party, I would say that this is in order to show the struggle of the man, as this is not something that he wanted. The shot types also showed a close up of the woman's thighs, which emphasised how short that her skirt was, in order to foreshadow later events in the film/trailer.
Editing
The editing is very fast paced, in order to create tension, due to the fact that the film is of the Thriller genre. A short montage was also used in the trailer, when the wife has phoned her husbands friend, short clips are shown to the scene from the hotel room, where the woman has tried to kill herself.
Sound
Throughout the trailer, sharp music is playing, which adds more of a tense atmosphere to the trailer, this becomes more sharp throughout the trailer, being emphasised when more drama is erupting. Also, when the wife is on the phone trying to get hold of her husband, the dialogue sounds hazy as the word "Derek" is repeated, this indicates to the audience that something has gone wrong.
Mise-en-scene
In terms of mise-en-scene, we can see just from the costume that the Stalker is promiscuous. She is wearing short skirts, and clothing which emphasises her curves, she is seen to be very womanly. Where as the wife is seen to be wearing high necked t-shirts or baggy jumpers, this forms a contrast between the two women. In terms of location, the use of the underground car park is seen to be something shady, as this is somewhere that the male has taken the female to tell her that he doesn't want to take things further, but also the connotations show that he has taken her here in order to keep it a secret.
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