As a class we watched Kick-Ass, while we did this we had to pick out the main seven areas of representation which consist of- Gender, Ethnicity, and Regional Identity, Age, Sexuality, Social Class and Physical ability / Disability. We also had to focus on the four areas of Textual Analysis which is, Mise en Scene, Sound, Camera Shots and Editing.
At the beginning of the film you are introduced to a character called Dave, he looks like a stereotypical ‘nerdy’ middle class American teenager who soon comes to be the main character in the film and also the hero (Kick-Ass). The villain in the film Frank D'Amico would be considered to be the Binary opposite of Kick-Ass, he is a middle aged white gangster, who is very wealthy and powerful. The villain’s son also turns into a stereotypical ‘Super Hero’ with his fast sports car and all the new gadgets. Other characters that we are introduced to are Dave’s friends, they also support the stereotypical view of a nerdy teenager. Then there is Katie who is Dave’s crush, Katie is the stereotypical female character in the film very pretty and helpful. Big Daddy and Hit Girl are two other characters that play a big part in the film as they want to kill Frank D'Amico. Big Daddy is the father of Hit Girl who trains her up to be a Super Hero with amazing fighting skills, there is a scene where you see him shooting at her with a gun and she has a bullet proof vest on to see how she can take the pain. Not exactly a normal father daughter activity. Hit Girl is a very strong character as she has been trained to kill from a very young age and she is good at what she does as you can see in some of the very graphic scenes, also considered as a binary opposite to Frank D'Amico as she is a young girl and he is a middle aged man. Although the age difference differs hugely during their fighting scene is it only the last thirst seconds where Frank D'Amico takes power of the situation Lastly Frank D'Amico’s workers look like your stereotypical gangsters, dress very smartly in suits and ties with that gangster attitude.
Kick-Ass is a very violent and graphic film as you are shown in some of the scenes as the camera uses a lot of close-ups, for example near the end when Frank D'Amico has taken Kick-Ass and Big Daddy hostage one of his men hit Kick-Ass round the face with a knuckle-duster, this is done up close so the audience can really get an effect of what is happening. Another close-up scene is where Dave is having a sleepover with Katie because she is lead to believe that he is not straight so she lets him fake tan her while she has no top on, this creates tension because as the camera zooms in on his face you can see that he is looking very nervous. Some of the scenes contrast with each other for example when Kick-Ass and Red Herring are driving through New York they are listening to loud music as they a speeding down the road, but when they first met it was down a dark quiet alley with only them two there.
When any film is set in New York you get that feeling of gangs and violence, even if it is not shown because that is the stereotypical view on big cities. In this film you do get the feeling of regional identity because a suburb boy is messing around with a big city gangster and usually these two people would never cross each other’s path. Also at the beginning of the film you see Dave getting mugged by a White and a Black male as he stares at them as they try to steal a car.
The overall lighting when the fighting is going on is quite dark, a particular scene which is very dark is when Kick-Ass goes to visit someone Kate use to help out to ask him to leave her alone. When Kick-Ass enters the scene he walks down this dark corridor and up to a door with a very big black male standing in front of it. When he walks into the room there are about 6 or 7 big black males sitting round drinking and smoking, which is seen to be one of the stereotypical views of black men. The room looks like no one has left for weeks and it is just filled with weapons, drugs, money and one woman who looks a little bit like a prostitute. This is the scene where Hit Girl is introduced as she storms in save Kick-Ass and kills everyone in the room, taking with her thousands and thousands of dollars. In this scene you can really see what Hit Girl can do as only a young girl, although she went in the apartment on her own her dad was watching her from a distance shooting down anyone if she didn’t look behind her back.
The sounds effects that have been used have been over exaggerated for effect, for example when the guns have been shot or when someone get stabbed the sound seems more powerful than the music playing in the background. Throughout the film upbeat music is played during the fighting scenes to make the scene seem even more exciting and action filled. During one of the scenes the Prodigy’s Omen is played, this song is very strong and powerful sounding song, i think this was a good choice of song because it would fit in well with a violent scene. In the scene when Big Daddy dies the music that is played is very soft and emotional, this really contrasts with the surroundings of the scene because there are dead bodies all around and someone is dyeing after nearly being burnt to death. In this scene also the camera shots vary from being far away where you get a good view of Kick-Ass and Big Daddy surrounded by Frank D'Amico’s workers, too being close up where the camera closes up to when they are hitting them around the face and smashing their knee caps with baseball bats.
Some of the scene really stands out due to the music they have chosen to use in it, one of the best is in the scene where Hit Girl dresses up as a school girl who pretends to have lost her mum and dad. The way she is presented in this scene is very convincing that she is just a little girl that can’t find her mum and dad as she is dressed in a school uniform, because of her deceiving appearance they decide to let her in the doors of the building. While this is happening western style music is being played in the back ground, this sets a really particular mood in the scene as she shoots down all the guards in the reception. As she moves through the building she changes into her Super hero costume and takes on about 10-15 other guard the music changes to more of a drum and guitar song, and she makes her way through the room killing anyone that gets in her way. In the scene when Kick-Ass comes to the rescue a very well known Elvis Presley song is played called An American Trilogy, this is played as Kick-Ass kills Frank D'Amico with a bomb style gun on the end of the jet pack. At the end of the film Kick-Ass and Hit Girl fly away from the building on the jet pack over the city leaving Red Mist standing watching them, leaving you with the idea that there may be another film to continue the story of his revenge on them. The song played at the end of the film is You Make Me Wanna Die by the Pretty Reckless, this song is a good song to end with because it has got a rock feel to it without being to heavy but still gives off that kind of violent vibe to it.
