Phantom Hunter is a fictional film that comments on many aspects of reality, including gender norms, politics, and societal issues. My biggest inspiration for this film is the Jason Bourne series, whose story – in addition to being an action thriller – serves as a subtle political comment in the aftermath of 9/11 (Gaine). If it were an actual film, the plot of Phantom Hunter would be presented in a nonlinear fashion so as to reveal information to the viewer as the story progresses.
Plot Overview
It is the year 2026. The Co-operative Resource Enhancement (CORE), a secret government agency that operates without public knowledge, has been conducting a variety of unethical experiments as well as various illegal activities. The organization’s missions are suddenly interrupted with the appearance of a mysterious vigilante, who targets the agency and continuously attempts to thwart its operations and bring it down. However, all efforts by CORE to classify this opponent fail, as his identity remains unknown. This vigilante is a master of stealth and rarely shows himself, even when fighting. He uses shadows to his advantage and typically avoids the light. As far as these agencies know, this opponent is dangerous, highly skilled, and a threat to their security. To CORE, he is a phantom hunter. It is eventually revealed to the audience that this vigilante is actually a female college student, who goes by a rather unusual name: Drei. Her real name is not presented, and in fact very little is revealed about her or her past as a whole. Her cold and antisocial demeanor coupled with her heightened mental capabilities and unique ability to see things in the big picture make her the subject of social alienation. Drei’s motivations to dismantle CORE are complicated when one of her classmates, Vivian, is targeted by the agency. To make matters worse, her vigilante persona has also attracted the attention of the CIA and other government agencies. Now that she is tasked with protecting Vivian while simultaneously keeping her vigilante identity secure, Drei must fight even harder to achieve her goal.
Setting, Décor, and Properties
Setting
The main setting of the film is New York. I decided to initially set the film in a location within the United States so that the story can serve as a comment on relevant U.S. political and social issues. However, the characters travel within the United States or between countries as the story progresses, revealing the interconnective aspect of these issues and their global impacts.
Décor
As for Drei, her dual identity as a college student and a vigilante forces her to divide her time between a normal apartment suite in New York and a secret hideout, the location of which is only known by her. She does not own many possessions, partly because she travels, partly as a safety precaution in case she is ever discovered, but mainly because she lacks the typical connection to society that most young adults have. She lives with the essentials: a bed, a few pairs of clothes, etc. The walls of the hideout are pretty bare, with the exception of her “web of connections” made over the years out of newspaper clips, snippets of articles, and other information pertaining to CORE and other major characters as they become introduced into the film. Her minimalist décor makes it obvious what her goal is: bringing down the organization that ruined her life and that is continuing to illegally ruin other people’s lives.
Properties
In terms of the vigilante persona, Drei does not have any props or weapons due to her exceptional martial arts skills; she simply doesn’t need any, and if she does find herself in need of a weapon, she makes use of whatever objects are available within the immediate environment. When she occupies the college student persona, Drei carries a pendant with her that signifies her past and her connection to CORE, which she has turned into a necklace. As for Vivian, she carries the same pendant, but does not understand its significance.
Lighting
My biggest influence for lighting in this film is actually film noir, which may sound odd. However, I was attracted to how the genre uses shadows to create mystery and portray character emotions, which I think could be particularly useful for this story because Drei relies on shadows when she occupies the vigilante persona. In this regard, William Frasca’s article “The Raw Deal Lighting of John Alton in Hollywood Film Noir” from Film Matters provided me with some inspiration. The article talks about how in Anthony Mann’s film Raw Deal (1948), cinematographer John Alton uses film noir lighting in unconventional ways by reversing gender lighting, which I found appealing since my main character transcends typical gender roles. Hollywood typically implemented the “gendered expressivity strategy,” where “the woman’s face is illuminated, allowing it to become the site of uninhabited emotional expression and the man’s face is more stoic, registering fewer expressive gestures, but the lighting style compensates by symbolizing his emotions for him” (Keating qtd. in Frasca). Alton reverses this norm, thus allowing female characters to register as less sensitive and men as more emotional (Frasca). Using film noir lighting is also important for Drei’s character because she does not easily express emotions. This type of lighting, like the typical Hollywood male lighting, instead acts as a substitute for her emotions as opposed to relying only on dialogue or facial expressions.
Costume, Makeup, and Hairstyle
Costume
Drei has two main costume designs that correspond with her two main personas. For her vigilante persona, the costume design is distinct yet not revealing of identity in any way; nor is it overly flashy. Usually, heroes or villains have some type of identification or symbol that they adopt in order to create their own individual identity. However, even though Drei displays a very noticeable style in her college persona, she does not wish to create an obvious or personal identity as a vigilante. She appears and disappears without a trace; to the agencies that are hunting her, she is like a phantom. The lack of an identifying symbol associated with this persona reinforces her mysterious nature. With that being said, her vigilante persona is characterized by an all-black outfit consisting of a plain shirt, a bomber jacket (Figure 3), a face covering that only reveals her eyes (Figure 4), cargo pants (Figure 5), combat boots, gloves, and a hat. So with this outfit, she stands out but not in a way that would compromise her identity. Drei’s college persona, while still mostly black, is slightly more expressive of her personality, which highlights her disregard for gender roles and typical gendered clothing. As for Vivian, she also does not entirely conform to gender norms, although her style is noticeably less rebellious than that of Drei. She wears skinny cargo pants, plain shirts or button-up shirts, a beanie or baseball hat, and Converse.
Makeup
There is no over-the-top makeup implemented in the film, especially since the main characters are more concerned with their goals and seeking justice rather than considerably unnecessary, time-wasting matters such as looks. Although, Drei does show some of her personality and character traits through her appearance in order to convey to the viewer information that would be absent due to her lack of dialogue and emotion. The most noticeable aspect of makeup is her eyeliner, which corresponds with her goth/punk style (Figure 6).
Hairstyle
Drei has dark brown, somewhat curly hair and sports a short hairstyle, which is more boyish in its presentation (Figure 7). Vivian’s hair is cut right below the jawline, is slightly wavy, and is lighter in color (Figure 8).
Overall, Phantom Hunter uses elements of mise-en-scène to elicit emotion and convey character traits as opposed to relying just on dialogue.
Author Biography
Ashlin Lawler is a third-year student at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. She is currently working toward a bachelor’s degree in film studies with a minor in Asian studies. Her hope is to one day express her creativity not only through cinema, but through many other art forms as well.
References
Frasca, William. “The Raw Deal Lighting of John Alton in Hollywood Film Noir.” Film Matters, vol. 3, no. 2, Summer 2012, pp. 60–63. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1386/fm.3.2.60_1. Accessed 18 Nov. 2020.
Gaine, Vincent M. “Remember Everything, Absolve Nothing: Working Through Trauma in the Bourne Trilogy.” Cinema Journal, vol. 51, no. 1, 2011, pp. 159–163. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/41342290. Accessed 18 Nov. 2020.
Images
The Big Combo. Directed by Joseph H. Lewis, Security Pictures and Theodora Productions, 1955.
Black Balaclava. Digital Image. Adidas. https://www.adidas.com/us/balaclava/EW3906.html.
Black X1 Cargo Pants. Digital Image. BlackTailor. https://www.blacktailor.store/collections/all-products/products/blacktailor_x1_cargo_black.
Emma. “Getting Those Cute Short Hairstyles to Look Better.” FashionArrow-Fashion Ideas, WordPress, 18 Oct. 2018, fashionarrow.com/getting-those-cute-short-hairstyles-to-look-better/.
Love, Kimberly. “56 Cool Disconnected Undercut Hairstyles For Men.” Style Interest, StyleInterest.com, 6 Aug. 2019, www.styleinterest.com/undercut-hairstyles-men/.
Men’s Black Bomber Soprano Perforated Hooded Jacket. Digital Image. Super Leather Shop. https://www.superleathershop.com/buy/mens-black-bomber-soprano-perforated-hooded-jacket/.
