The Mummy Returns extrect Q's 2-3

The sound track behind the film in the opening establishment shot was a very Egyptian style song with lots of percussion and wind instruments giving it an ancient Egyptian feel. This same tune was played as it panned over each establishing shot for the dessert in Egypt. During scenes like the fight in the house the sound track became very high pitched with strings and more of a bass tone. There was a lot of editing during the fight scenes especially with the muzzle flair of guns being placed in as VFX and some explosions as well. The opening shot of the army is quite possibly adapted by SFX judging by the sheer mass of people that appear to be in the frame at one point. In the opening scene there is also a very old looking Serif font that keeps the ancient theme of the film. All the people in the opening master shot of the armies marching are all in very ancient clothes and holding their regiment signs which shows order and the discipline of the soldiers. The costumes fit with the Egyptian theme and the big golden lavish jewellery makes us think the soldiers are rich and jewellery is often linked to Egyptians as we often see them burying people with jewellery and wearing expensive jewels to show a status. The opening master shot sets the scene for a science fiction quest and action and adventure film and the many pans during the film help the audience relate to where they are at each point. The hand held camera in the first section of the extract is used to make us feel as though we are actually in the battle.

In the opening extract there is a male dominated army and an obvious inequality to women which was not uncommon in those days however we don’t even see a woman while the men are shown to be well disciplined soldiers and brave on the front line to fight the feared scorpion king. Despite this later in the film the main characters wife and attractive young, able bodied female, fitting all the physical criteria of a superhero is shown to be brave and daring in fight scenes showing women to be in many cases superior fighters to men as she can beat up the men and mentally strong dealing with the stress. The men in the film are also portrayed as the typical heroes with their muscly bodies and young male frames. The Egyptians as antagonists are shown to be stupid as they get outwitted by an American child and can’t catch the bracelet they are after. They are also shown as evil while trying to raise the undead and destroy the world. On the other hand the white British and Americans are showed and the good attractive protagonists who can outwit the bad guys. London is shown in a very dark light and looks gloomy as it is shown in low angle shots late at night. The architecture of London is shown to be very grand as consistent establishing shots of places like the museum are used to show the huge mansion of a museum with its grand pillars.

Themes & representation

1.        The main characters are very conventional hero figures in the fact that they are physically attractive, able bodied and young. Despite these qualities they do also go against conventions because they are thieves and criminals. This means that they are set up as anti-heroes. An example that shows this contrast of hero to anti-hero is just after they pull off the Heist one man says, ‘without a gunshot fired’ showing that unlike most thieves they have a regard for others and execute their jobs with minimal casualties. We see them as heroes partly because of the way they are presented to us in centre frame, well-mannered and respectful but also because the force of good that opposes them is shown to not be doing their job and is put in a worse light than the criminals that we consider to be the heroes

3.  The two primary nationalities that are presented are American and supposedly Northern American as well as Italian. While the Americans are presented as the heroes who are doing good despite the fact that they are criminals we are drawn towards them through a combination of the fact they have good morals not to kill or harm people but also the fact that we can understand them and relate to their friendly banter as males building up our relationship them as characters. On the other hand the Italians who would in a normal situation be considered the good guys as they are the police, we as an audience are lead to think that they are actually bad and it almost justifies the actions of the thieves in our minds. We first see the stereotypical Italian police officers sat in the top room of a building smoking and drinking and having a laugh, while loading guns. They are portrayed as just having a laugh but also the way they are kept in the shadows that how we rarely see their faces it makes an audience believe that they are bad guys.