Key frames on the representation of masculinity

This frame shows Simon entering Elizabeth's office. The look of uncertainty on his face shows how he is not confident or felling comfortable in his new environment. This supports my macro as it shows how the man is not displaying the confidence that a man should in a leading role. This frame is taken in Elizabeth's office to show her success and power she has. The colour grading of the shot is blue which represents masculinity, as blue is commonly associated with it.

In this shot we see Simon handing over his coat to Elizabeth. This shot shows Simon looking at the ground in embarrassment, whilst Elizabeth looks at Simon directly to show how she is more confident. The camera angle I have used is a medium shot to show how much smaller the masculine character is compared to the Femimine character to display the power and control she has over him. 

This shot shows Elizabeth showing Simon to his seat, this displays from my macro how woman have more powerful roles than men, this is shown through Elizabeth telling Simon where to sit instead of Simon doing so himself. This frame uses a over the shoulder shot of Elizabeth to show her looking down at Simon portraying how she is more powerful and dominant.

This frame shows how Elizabeth looks down at Simon, whilst he is crying. She comforts him acting like a mother role, this follows the Oedipal complex where a son fancies a woman who portrays qualities similar to his own mother. This shows how Elizabeth is comforting Simon in hope that he develops feelings for her, making it easier for her to manipulate him into what she wants. I've used a medium shot at a high angle so we see how the masculine character is cowering over to show how the feminine character is bigger and more dominant on the shot to show how she controls the  environment around her, this is to reinforce my macro that feminine characters dominate situations when masculine characters are present.

This frame is the flashback scene where Simon looks at his bank account balance and sees how he has no money. This shot shows how masculinity is weak  as Simons body position shows him as being afraid and not confident, which subverts hollwood character types, specifically for the leading role. This supports my macro as it shows how Simon is improsoned by higher authorities such as the bank, which could be run by a woman, this oppresses Simons free will as he must work to survive, which shows how masculinity is weak and futile. The colour grading of this shot is black and white to enforce that it is a flaskback scene.

This frame shows Simon drinking spirits to comfort himself and to ease the pain. This portrays masculinity as being destructive and reckless. The shot type is a medium shot at a high level for the audience to look down at Simon and to show how he is weak.

This frame shows Simon attempting to commit suicide. The use of the revolver is phallic imagery where Simon uses a masculine object to overpower himself. With him placing the barrel of the revolver into his mouth it show he is being dominated by a more powerful/ masculine object. This enforces my macro as it shows not only how masculinity is destructive but how masculinity can be taken away, rendering Simon as being in masculine. The use of the high medium shot is to show Simon as being vulnerable and for the audience to see the redundancy of his power and masculinity.

This frames is the return to present time and shows Simon crying and cowering over in embaresment, due to his weakness and vulnerablility, this is also supported by the use of a high angle medium shot where we look down at him which shows his weakness. 

This frame shows Elizabeth edge over to Simon and touch his thigh. This shows how she uses her sexuality to entice Simon into doing what she wants. This supports my macro as it shows the willingness of masculine characters to perform and impress feminine characters, which shows how woman are higher on the hierarchy of social standing compared to men, as women are seen as a goal for men to compete for. The idea of this shot is taken from the film Trance where Danny Boyle explores this, and how men are obsessed with women.

This is an extreme close up of Simons eyes, this shot occurs straight after Elizabeth tries to seduce him. His pupils are expanding where he is clearly feeling attracted to Elizabeth. This supports my macro as it shows how men easily subbcomb to women, which makes masculinity inferior as they are controlled by the woman's  sexuality into doing what's she wants, in order to impress her.