About Wyoming

In the 1870s Wyoming setting of this story, two strangers seeking a ride out of the approaching snow approach a bounty hunter taking a prisoner to the town of Red Rock. Major Warren Marquis, a bounty hunter who has three bodies to deliver to Red Rock, is one of the hitchhikers, and Chris Mannix, who says he is the new sheriff, is the other. The four travelers plus their driver take shelter at Minnie’s Haberdashery a stagecoach stopover on a mountain pass where they meet four unfamiliar faces who claim to be sheltering from the blizzard too. It is at the Haberdashery that the bounty hunters and the sheriff realize that they may not make it to Red Rock because there is someone among them who is working with John Ruth’s prisoners and aims to free the prisoner. After John Ruth death due to poisoning, Major Marquiz and the sheriff are determined to find out who poisoned the coffee and the individuals working with Daisy Domergue.

Describe the characters.

Major Warren Marquiz

A black former Union soldier turned an infamous bounty hunter.

John “The Hangman” Ruth

A bounty hunter is known for bringing his prisoners alive to be hung.

Chirs Mannix aka The Sheriff

A southern renegade is claiming to be the new sheriff of Red Rock town.

Daisy Domergue

A fugitive wanted in Red Rock for various charges of murder. She is John Ruth’s prisoner.

Oswaldo Mobray

Aka English Pete Hicox ”The little man, ” claims to be the hangman of Red Rock but he is working on freeing Mrs. Domergue.

Joe Gage (Grouch Douglass)

Aka ”The Cow Puncher” member of the gang working on freeing Daisy Domergue.

Jody Domergue

The leader of the Jody gang and brother to Daisy Domergue.

General Sanford Smithers

A Confederate general who hates the blacks.

Bob (Marco the Mexican)

Aka ”The Mexican.” He is a member of Jody gang but pretends to be taking care of the haberdasky.

O.B. Jackson

The courier transporting John Ruth and his prisoner.

What are the audience’s expectations for your film?

The audience expects the blizzard to clear and the bounty hunter to be able to capture and deliver all the members of the gang to Red Rock town. However, this does not happen as they all die in the haberdashery.

How does the film create a sense of time?

A sense of time is created through the actions and object in the film. For instance, when Chris Mannix lights up the candles it means that it is night time (Tarantino, 2015).

How does the film create a sense of space?

A sense of space in the film is created through the camera shots taken. For instance, long shots were used to show the distance between the blizzard and the entourage racing to the haberdashery (Tarantino, 2015).

How can you characterize the perspective?

First person perspective with narration in chapter five.

Part II: A Look at Film Genres

Questions

Answers

What are the conventions of your film’s genre?

”The Hateful Eight” falls in the Western genre of films. The conventions of these films are violence using revolvers and rifles. For instance, in the movie, most of the violence was done using pistols. Additionally, western genre central theme is that of justice which in many occasion is frontier justice. Another common convention of the western films is the time in which they are set. The majority of the western films are set in the period between 1840 and 1920 (Sanders, 2009). The environment of the setting is that of the old west which mostly consists of a small town which may be struggling o survive hence leading to the rise of outlaws and bounty hunters. Lastly, isolation is another convention that defines the western genre. The buildings are usually wooden to accommodate travelers heading to a different place (Bordwell, Thompson, & Ashton, 1997). For instance, the Haberdashery was a place to rest and get a drink for travelers heading to Red Rock town (Tarantino, 2015).

What are some of the formulas/myths of your film’s genre?

Several myths and formulas are associated with the Western genre of film. First conventional methods are the dusty small town that is associated with these films. However, in the film ”The hateful eight” instead of the traditional dusty town the director opted for a stagecoach stopover in snowy mountains.Another common formula for this genre are the horses which are used as the means of transport (Bordwell, Thompson, & Ashton, 1997).Outlaws and bounty hunters are another standard formulas for plotting films in this genre. The bounty hunters are usually tasked with the duty of enforcing the law by killing the outlaws or arresting them. Gun battle either group gun battle or individual gun battle are common formulas in this genre. The trademark of a western film is the gunslingers who engage on one on one battle to determine who is the best shooter. Lastly, frontier justice is a myth that is commonly associated with the western genre (Sanders, 2009).

What are the audience’s expectations for your film?

The audience of the western film expects to see horse riding, gun battle, and cowboys. Additionally, the audience expects to witness violence which is common in western movies (Sanders, 2009).

What are the six genres and corresponding film components of each?

Apart from Westerns genre, there are several other genres of films which are common as follows:

Comedy

The primary emphasis of films in this genre is humor. As a result, these films contain light-hearted plots which are deliberately developed to amuse and provoke laughter through the language, action, relationships and characters in them (Sanders, 2009).

Adventure

Adventure genre contains films that have exciting stories produced in exciting locales with some hint of action in them. In many occasions, the plot of the film follows individuals who are in search or expedition of lost continents, places of valuable gems (Bordwell, Thompson, & Ashton, 1997).

Sci-FI

The sci-fi genre major components include space travel, liberal interpretation of laws of the physical universe, engagement in scientific and technological discourse and aliens (Sanders, 2009).

Action

Film in the action genre usually contains high energy performance, physical stunts and chases, escapes, battles, non-stop motion in race against time, fights, break-neck rhythm and big production budget for their sets (Bordwell, Thompson, & Ashton, 1997).

Horror

The standard components of these films include dissonant music, screaming due to fear of being helpless, creatures or crazed individuals, threatening situations and feelings of guilt by the characters for something that they did (Sanders, 2009).

Documentary

Unlike other genres of film, this style is rooted in reality. The key component of this genre include being structured, and they are nonfiction as in whatever is shown is the reality, it documents and event or occurrence, provides a window onto the world and lastly, it has an effect on events being filmed (Sanders, 2009).

References

Bordwell, D., Thompson, K., & Ashton, J. (1997). Film art: An introduction (Vol. 7). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Sanders, J. (2009). The film genre book. Leighton Buzzard, England: Auteur.

Tarantino, Q. (2015). The Hateful Eight. Film. Hollywood: Red Studios.