The establishing shot of “Men in Black” shows Tommy Lee Jones in a black suit walking away from his partner and car, showing that he is moving on to something else and somebody new, heading towards a group of policeman. Tommy Lee Jones then says “INS Division 6”, with which the policeman replies with a quiet exclamation to his friend “There is no Division 6”. This already puts the audience on a higher state of alert, as a common policeman is undermining, not only a man in a suit who seems to have more authority, but also Tommy Lee Jones who is one of the main characters of this film. We can identify the higher authority that Tommy Lee Jones carries, not only by acknowledging the black suit – which complies with the theme of secrecy - and the policemen are wearing tan coloured uniforms, but also his body language and tone of voice. He appears to walk calmly towards the on looking policemen, not being intimidated by them and not being threatened by the context of the situation. Furthermore, he talks in a calm, collective tone of voice and of a person of experience. All of this supports the main theme of authority undermining all that we do. Conformity is also present as a main theme within this scene, due to the fact that the two groups of characters are wearing uniforms.
Conformity is a main theme, both within Lucas’s film and Sonnenfeld’s. In “Men in Black” Tommy Lee Jones is always wearing the same black suit; this shows that he is committed to his job and that he has no life or existence outside of the agency. There is also a scene with Will Smith in the top of a stairwell. He is wearing a casual outfit consisting of a white sports jersey and trousers; he is holding a police badge and a pistol. As the trailer progresses we see Will Smith gradually conforming with the rules of this highly funded, unofficial government organisation. At the end of the trailer we see both Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith wearing their black suits holding their futuristic weapons. In this final scene, the two lead characters kick open a door with futuristic weaponry in their hands, this shows that violent action must to be taken to get something done, this coincides with American ideals, and is what happened recently with the war in Iraq.
In the beginning of the Men in Black trailer, Will Smith is continually talking in the vernacular and able to communicate with the men in the street, although as the trailer progresses his tone of voice and the context of what he is saying is more serious, as though he is being removed from the system and from the rest of society, which complies with the theme of secrecy and the theme of conformity.
Conformity is also a main theme within “Star Wars the Phantom Menace” but it does not play such a significant part as it does within Men in Black. Conformity is dealt with in a more subtle way. For example, the robots of the enemy are lined up in very neat rows and they also all look identical. Evidence for conformity within Lucas’ film is also the fact that most of the characters in this film appear to be wearing uniforms, whether it is the soldiers or even the Jedi.
Obi Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Qui Gon (Liam Neeson) play the main Jedi characters within this film. The costume they are wearing resembles our view of Jesus Christ, they wear earth coloured, flowing robes and they also have long, unkempt hair. Because these two main characters resemble Jesus, it shows us that they are on the side of good, and not necessarily associated with war, more to do with the protection aspect, coinciding with the main theme of protection of land and values. On the other hand, Darth Maul is wearing a black flowing robe with red and black make up. This shows that he has as much power, if not more that the Jedi’s but also that he definitely on the side of evil. Another presentational device that is used to show us who is good and who is evil is the tone of their voice. For example, Both Ewan McGregor and Liam neeson speak with a serious yet re-assuring and calm voice, whilst Darth Maul speaks with a threatening, forceful tone of voice. Although both of these tones are serious and sometimes commanding, we feel more intimidated by Darth Maul’s voice rather than Obi Wan’s and Qui Gon’s because of the clothes that they are wearing and their contrast between the two tones of voice.
In conclusion I believe that both Men in Black and Star Wars the Phantom Menace contain references to the same main themes, but using different aspects of the same presentational devices to highlight them. Although both of these films are of the same genre – science fiction, they have both applied varied degrees of subtlety as to how they reveal this. Sonnenfeld has decided to use recognisable contemporary aspects of subtlety, whether it is in the form of aliens looking like humans or keeping the suspense of aliens being involved to the latest moment. Where as George Lucas has immediately exposed the fact that this is a sci-fi film, by showing new technology in the first scene and also showing futuristic cities on unknown planets. I have enjoyed studying these two film trailers as it has showed me the deeper processes that the director has to got through to reach the final production.
