CHARACTER RESEARCH

TASK

• For this task I needed to research characters of a thriller film and what makes their character. The film I chose to analyse was Enemy of state starring Will Smith. I also had to find a range of thriller films and analyse what the conventions are suggesting.

ROBERT CLAYTON DEAN

• Firstly, the main character is played by Will Smith, he is portrayed as a successful labor lawyer who lives in Washington DC. He is also portrayed as a family man who lives with his wife and son in a rich house. This reveals that he is hardworking and a dedicated family man. This tells us that he cares about his job and his family. This connotation is also shown when at a point in the movie he looses his jobs and his wife leaves him, which will cause him to feel devastated because his career and family complete him. As I continue to read the summary of the film that tells me more about the characters, the summary points out that this character is a main target. The reason for him being the main target is because of him reuniting with an old friend who was a political murder. This political murder dropped a tape in Dean’s bag, he was unaware when this happened and as the audience we know that he is innocent and has not caused any harm or broken the law. He also knows that he is innocent because he tries to save himself and prove his innocence as he doesn’t know what is going on around him. However, he becomes the suspect of the murder and the government want to take something from him and want to “get into his life” which is why the government is after him. That “something” is ambiguous.

EDWARD LYLE

• This character is also know as “Brill”. He is portrayed in many ways: the hero, good citizen, the one that saves the day and the protector. His role is to protect Robert Clayton Dean and help him out of the situation that he is in. Brill is presented as well educated and dominant because he knows that the government want something from Dean and has plans on how to save him from being caught by the government for something he didn’t do. Additionally, Brill is presented as a surveillance expert which indicates that he is omniscient and highly skilled in the job that he does. The films shows that Brill has always been a skillful person and has a wider knowledge than Robert Dean because the summary on IMDB tells us that he was a former government operative which mean he knows and is aware of what goes in society and whether someone is guilty of a crime or not. Brill is basically Robert Dean’s only hope and way out of his situation.

THE GOVERNMENT

• The government is portrayed as the antagonist of the film because they are after Robert Dean and watching every move he makes. They want something from the main character but do not yet reveal what it is that they want from him. They also want to know about his home life, career and where he is most of the time so it will be easy to find him. They aim to frame Dean for the murder. In the film the government is named the NSA (National Security Agency).

WHAT DO THE CONVENTIONS SUGGEST?

• The conventions suggest that in the film there is a misunderstanding due to someone being framed. The conventions also suggest that the main themes of the film is frame and finding a suspect. These two themes enhance the genre of a spy-thriller because a murder has been discovered, the government see to find a suspect however they found the wrong person. Robert Clayton Dean who is the main character of the film is accused of murder, at first he is not sure why but later learns that he was framed by a friend therefore the government spy on him to find and punish him. Dean has to save himself and hide from the government as it was not him. Him proving his innocence is a journey in this film.

EVALUATION

• In this task I have learnt that there can be more than one antagonist in a film and there can be someone who is trying to save the protagonist. In the film that I had picked learnt more about the characters which gives me an idea of the storyline. This can help with the opening sequence that I create with my group because in this task I have learnt about how the characters are introduced and how they are portrayed later on in the film. At the beginning of the film not too much is revealed about the character which slowly builds tension and creates a storyline.