NCFOM essay question

How far do your chosen films demonstrate the importance of visual and soundtrack cues in influencing spectator response? Refer in detail to at least one sequence. [40 marks]

opening scene:

- establishing shots of dessert scenery- typical western- however, images of barbed wire fencing and electric wires subvert ideas of a western, which are typically set in the 1800s. 
- the camera eventually pans to a police car, which also subverts the western tropes.
- the voice-over of a sheriff speaking with a thick Texan accent also establishes the western elements of the film.   
- however, the lack of non-digetic music may subvert ideas of the western genre, which typically uses non-digetic music to set the scene and atmosphere.

The Coen brothers portray through No Country for Old Men, a postmodernist Western, whereby they both conform to and subvert the typical conventions. By manipulating the typical Western tropes through visual aspects and sound aspects, the directors persuade audiences become active spectators through re-evaluating their understanding and notions of the Western genre form as early as the first scene. This reaction from spectators is vital, as the film intends to portray the disillusionment of the Western story-line, which depicts a victory of good over evil, and the 'hero' riding off into the sunset. 

The police car and barbed wire which can be noticed during the first scene highlight's immediately to spectators that the film intends to subvert notions of Westerns. The camera pan towards the police car signifies that the film will take place in modern day, which already subverts the typical period of Westerns which was the 19th century. the barbed wire in the extreme long and wide establishing shots of the desert also undermine this typical Western trope of the desert landscape, by conveying the element of modernity. Therefore, before any characters or plot indications are introduced, spectators are made aware of the subversive nature of the film, which intends to demonstrate how modern perspectives of the world world view morality as blurred,  and that people are not so clear cut as being either a 'villain' or 'hero'. this is evident through the later portrayal of Moss and Chigurh, as although Moss is ostensibly the hero, he nevertheless steals money, and although presented as the villain, Chiguhr walks away from the story mostly unharmed. This idea of clear cut villains and hero's are typical tropes of Westerns, which intend to reflect the integrity of the American nation, whereby good is rewarded and bad is punished without error. 


the final scene of Chigurh further illustrates the use of visual and soundtrack cues in presenting the subversive nature of the film. When the car crash between Chigurh and an unknown driver occurs, spectators are persuaded to believe that Chigurh has been killed, mirroring the typical formula of western films whereby the 'villain' reaches an inevitable downfall. However he survives,and the back to camera tracking shot of him walking away from the scene instead mirrors the conventional end to the narrative of a 'hero'. Here, spectators are persuaded to become active in questioning the ability for such a morally corrupted character to be exonerated and walk away as a hero. spectators pre-conceived conceptions of Western films portraying two characters at either end of the spectrum of morality, and the hero surviving is challenged. Instead, the Coen brothers highlight through a modernist story line, the disillusionment of this conventional message which is seen not only in Westerns but the majority of American cinematic creations. perhaps the film intends to convey how in reality, there is no 'morally pure' individuals, and instead everyone internalises a multitude of characteristics and moral codes.