Analysis of Dog Soldiers

1. Editing, mise en scene, sound and cinematography in Dog Soldiers.

Editing-fast paced editing in fight and terror scenes and when tension builds. Slow when discussing the plan to combat the enemy.

Mise-en -scene- dark and gloomy in the final fight, making the situation appear dangerous. Lots of shots of the werewolves to show how big they are in comparison to the humans, also lose ups of them to show teeth, claws, to make them seem scary. Humans how basic costume, typical army clothing. The location was typical of a horror film, isolated and old building, lots of mess to symbolise the chaotic situation. Shows blood and gore. e.g when the man gets eaten by the wolf.

Sound- non diagetic sound is frequently used, the music when planning and looking for the were wolves was intended to help build the atmosphere- suspenseful and scary when the wolves attacked.
Diagetic sound- lots of shouting, banging chairs and tables etc and cars starting and the characters talking to each other. Also the sound of the wolves.

Cinematography- Close ups or wolves, together with long shots of them creates scary image. Establishing shots at start and end (the one at the end shows the result as the house is burnt).

2. How do the above technical elements indicate the genre? + other elements.
-Horror as it shows blood and violence.
-Hero character throughout the film survives at the end- typical of horrors
-Music and fast editing often used to built tension in horrors and thrillers.
-lighting plays a big part as well- darkness indicates gloom and a negative outcome for the characters.

3. Are there 3 clear stages?
-equilibrium at start- group of friends, peaceful
-disequilibrium is when they meet wolves for the first time
-new equilibrium is that the hero is alone and the rest are dead

4. Gender representation.
-Males: all of them are there to fight but once they meet the not human enemy the group breaks into different attitudes: to begin with they all have the intention of fighting the wolves and then eventually certain characters want to not fight but just flee and the hero stays constant through out and takes over his sergeant.

Females: only one woman- she is quite fiesty and helps them fight but then it turns out that she is part of the enemy and leads them into a trap. Negative representation on women.

5. Representation of armed forces.
- Planning new methods of killing the enemy
-Shows that they are good at their job,also have empathy, have feelings for those who have died.

6. Target audience?
-Teenagers and young adults
-May appeal more to boys in general

7. Certification?
-12 A or 15 - due to violence and swearing but if parents see fit the children shouldnt watch.

Laura Mulveys theory:

She argued that patriarchy within hollywood film making should be got rid of because the sexualistion of women was too rife and that male dominance would remain until this stereotype was removed. Mulvey held a very feminist view and this is evident with her view.

She has the view that camera work is concentrated on a male gaze (in films women are shown in voyeuristic ways, that men would find more appealing).

When applying Mulvey's view to 'Dog Soldiers' it is important to bear in mind that there is only one woman in the film and that she turns out to be one of the were-wolves anyway. She conforms to the stereotype that women should be beautiful, tall, effeminate. Her costume differs to the costume of the male characters, as she is wearing clothes that show her figure, although not being very 'girly'. Also, her character was revealed to be the enemy, and got the blame for the outcome of the film, which reflects theory that women are typically blamed for everything, for example, in the bible, Eve is blamed for giving in to temptation.