Genre and Narrative Conventions

 Genre & Narrative Conventions

Characters:

Lovers/ usually a character as an obstacle to overcome (In both Badlands and natural Born killers this is the parents of the female counterpart)

This runs parallel to the true story of Charles Starkweather and Carol Ann Fugate who were lovers and started off their killing spree with the murder of carol's family

Lighting:

Low-key/often tinted with red/white/blue

Mise-en-scene:

Locations: Mid-west or Southern US/desert or open plain locations/the open road/diners/motels/gas stations

Props/Clothing: Leather/denim/rebellious/birdcage/cars/TV screens/newspapers

Camera:

Two-shot/wide-shot/low-angles/high-angles

Editing:

Differs between the two films we study with 'Badlands' being incredibly classic and slow paced whilst 'natural Born killers' is the complete opposite as it is quite energetic, experimental and frantic.

Key Themes

• Dysfunctional family- Ties to the idea that they are rootless and that there is usually a character to overcome, this is most likely going to be the dysfunctional family, which has lead to them to be perhaps a title twisted and this is the only thing icing them down to their old lives, with them removed, they are free to do whatever they please.