Visual Style of Two Films Directed by Robert Zemeckis - Term Paper Example

?Comparison and contrast Robert Zemeckis is the award winning director of the film “Forest Gump” and “Contact”. He has directed a number of films including some most renowned ones, “The Polar Express”, “Forest Gump”, Cast Away”, Contact” and “Back To Future”. The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the theme of two films directed by Robert Zemeckis. “Contract” is the famous, Oscar winning film of Robert Zemeckis launched in 1997. The film is included in the genre, “Science Fiction”. “Cast Away” is an other film directed by him that was liked throughout the world due to the remarkable show of adventure in it. Both of them were the super hit films of their times. In this paper a comparison and contrast of the central idea of the two films is made by analyzing the scenes of the films in detail. “Contact” presents the ideas about future. Eleanor Arroway believes in SETI, the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. As a young astronomer, inspired by her father, she tries to set up a contact between humans and aliens. After a lot of effort she is able to make her first contact with the aliens. This incident fills her with fervor and enthusiasm. She invites the astronomers from the whole world to discuss the matter. When the sound signals are analyzed, it is revealed that the aliens are asking the humans to build a machine. The project is carried on with about half a trillion dollars and the machine is built. Eleanor Arroway volunteers herself to be the passenger of the machine. As the machine is launched, it takes Eleanor to another world where she meets with her father. Her father discloses some facts to her and she is returned back to home without any evidence. The world finds it difficult to believe on the story of Eleanor, but the unrevealed secrets do present a proof to the claim of Eleanor. Meanwhile, during the course of her struggle, she has an affair with Palmer Joss, a spiritual guide. He is the man who believes in Ellie’s tour to space. Although the film is based on fiction, yet it presents a clear theme. The theme of the film is that humans are extraordinary creatures. They have abilities, not known to even themselves. They do not realize their powers. If they try, they can surely bring a revolution in the whole universe. The above discussed theme seems to be persistent throughout the movie. Ellie, as a child, is inspired by her father because he believes in the ultimate powers of human beings and the vastness of the universe. Then, in her life, she struggles with this concept in her mind, and ultimately she is able to develop a contact with the foreign intelligence. Her pursuit to her goal brings her the fruit of success. She is able to make the first human journey into the stars and deep space. This all depicts the central theme of the film that human nature is mysterious. Mysterious in a sense, that no one can predict; how far the end point of human approach is. This theme of the film is strong enough to convince its viewers. We see thousands of new discoveries and inventions in our daily life. Everyday thousands of scientific innovations are presented throughout the world. We can not say; when this unbroken series of inventions and discoveries will end. The newer and newer inventions and discoveries tell us that human nature is indeed mysterious. There is no end point to it. The main idea of the film is also supported when Ellie meets her father in the other world. The appearance of her father, as an alien, does not look so inspiring. The use of a typical alien appearance should have been better, instead of Ellie’s father. But, the points argued by her father are really strong. He speaks, to her, of the vast approach of human power. He attributes the development of contact and the making of the machine to humans. He tells her that humans are worth a lot. They see beautiful dreams and horrible nightmares. They can visualize their ideas by transforming these into real. Her father’s words act a source of great inspiration for her, to build a strong belief on the extreme powers of human nature. As she returns, she sets out to spread this great idea among people. She then acts as a source of inspiration for young children. She develops the minds of those children to seek truth. Actually, the struggle for seeking truth is another very clear idea presented by the film. Ellie, throughout her life, strives to learn truth. Her contact with foreign intelligence and her journey to space prove to be milestones in her struggle. She teaches people to learn truth. This idea is also supported by the short conversation of Palmer Joss with journalists, in which he deliberately says that his purpose is to find truth and, therefore, he believes on what Ellie says. The film also presents an invisible meaning. The appearance of Palmer Joss, as a spiritual guide, on the screen, his affair with Ellie and his devotion to the cause of Ellie all seem to support one clear theme that spirituality and love are very important in the struggle to seek truth. He gives Ellie a watch that remains important for her, even in her journey. The incident that concludes her journey: Ellie loses her watch and as she frees herself from the seat to get it, the machine stops, strengthens this argument that love is necessary for achieving a goal. Without love a man can not do wonders. The film making team has tried to build wonderful form through the use of actors, direction, action, adventure and thrill. Although there is a lack of suspense which is considered a necessary part of such films, yet film form is still strong to leave a strong mark on viewers’ mind. The film bears a little bit loose content. The story is based upon the book by Carl Sagan, yet there are deviations from it. The way Ellie’s childhood is spent and how the conventional love story is implanted into a modern concept leaves us unconvinced. Although, the love story is a pat of the film to strengthen the theme, it leads to the lowbrow moments. The film’s explicit and implicit meanings have already been discussed, yet to define them again, we can say that “humans’ power can enable them to achieve big goals” is the explicit meaning of the film and, “love and spirituality are the keys to success for the humans” is the implicit meaning of the film. Both these meanings are interconnected throughout the film by the use of mise-en-scene. “Cast Away” is based upon adventure. Chuck Noland works in FedEx department. His duty is to regulate the department. He has long term relationship with Kelly Frears. He boards on a plane that crashes into the Pacific Ocean and is able to escape from the sinking plane. He is washed up on an island where there are no signs of human population. He struggles to make a living there. He tries to get out of the islands, but he can not do so. After four or five years, he is able to reach in the open sea where he is picked by a ship. The theme of the film, “Cast Away” is the extreme courage of man in hopeless situations. The explicit meaning of the film is that humans possess unlimited courage and strength. Moreover, there is always logic even in most illogical situations. People, who do not lose hope, find there way out of problematic situations. Effort and courage are the keys to success. ‘Love plays important part in the struggle of survival’ seems to be the implicit meaning of the movie. How Kelly gives Chuck a watch with her picture on it and how Chuck takes care of it throughout the journey and all the time at the island, shows that love is an important part of human being. Love is the purpose of human creation. Chuck survives at the island and lives there with the help of Kelly’s love. And when he returns and finds Kelly married with his dentist, he feels himself very sad and alone. He says that the logic of his life in this civilization has ended. This thing clearly shows that the writer has tried to develop a sharp image of love in viewers’ minds. The most important theme of the film is that sometimes man has to live without a clear and apparent logic or purpose of life. Sometimes, one feels that there is no purpose of his life. He finds difficult to survive. But time proves that there is always logic to humans’ life. Chuck says that the logic of his life at the island is proved. And now he is waiting for the logic of his life, without Kelly, to appear. The purpose of such dialogues is to present the theme that there is always a purpose behind human life. Human life is not so simple. Even in the most problematic situations, some people survive because there is logic behind it. They are to act in their lives, in one way or another. Man should not lose hope in difficult situations. He needs courage and effort to support him and then he is able to get out of such situation. There has been a use of certain invisible meanings in the film. Through the use of some scenes, the writer has tried to present an idea that some factors or things provide courage and strength to a man in hopeless situations. These act like a partner of man in such situations. Love, as already told is the most important factor that boosts up a man’s courage and hope. An other interesting thing in the film is “Wilson”. It is not a character itself, but an object developed as a character. It happens so that Chuck tries to burn fire with the help of sticks. In doing so he injures his hands. In a desperate situation he throws a basket ball, he found within a package, with his bloody hand. In doing so, a print of bloody hand forms on the basket ball. He develops this print into a face. He names it Wilson and starts talking to him. This character has been showed to boost up the courage of Chuck Noland. It remains a partner of him during his stay at island; and when he loses it in the ocean, he starts crying and moaning. “Wilson” has been showed to enable Chuck, get out of the island. The presence of such little things in the films does not only create interest of the viewer in the film, but also presents some useful meanings. The film form is exceptional in the film “Cast Away”. There is a wonderful display of adventure in the film. Use of characters to establish the theme is also very good. All the things showed in the film add up to the meaning of the film. The film plot is perfect and the content is not loose. Throughout the film, the story goes beautifully to the end. There is a nice start and a nice end. Everything, in the film, seems to be coordinated perfectly. The two films discussed above are closely related to each other. In both the films we see many common meanings developed by two different storylines. There is a resemblance in the main theme of the two films. Although there are slight differences in the themes based upon the difference of genre, yet the themes resemble closely to each other. Human courage, power or strength is the main or central idea of both films. In both films, the central character represents a person with all the characteristics of an ideal human being. The situations are different, yet the basic theme is the same. Both films try to establish the idea that humans possess great strength and courage. They have the ability to progress and the ability to sort their way out of any difficult situation. In “Contract” Ellie builds up a situation and then struggles to be the winner, while in “Cast Away” Chuck faces a situation and he fights his way out of it. The basic theme or central idea is the same. It tells us that humans got unlimited strength and power. They can do anything they want. It is not difficult, for the humans, to do anything. They possess power, strength and the right combination of mind and energy to face any situation. Another most resembling theme of the films is the role of love in human life. In both of these films, the writers have tried to convey the meaning that love is an important part of man’s life. In the films, the main character finds significance in the watch gifted to them by their beloved ones and they try to keep it with them, all the time. In “Contact”, Palmer Joss gifts Ellie a watch, a symbol of their love. Ellie takes good care of it. The watch seems to play an important role in her journey to space. In the same way, in “Cast Away”, Chuck is gifted a watch, with a picture of Kelly on it, by her. He tries to keep the watch with him all the time. He keeps the watch with him throughout the journey and his living at the island. The watch, a symbol of love between Chuck and Kelly, is an important part of the film. Chuck says that he kept the watch with him. It made him feel that Kelly is beside him. The presence of watch reminds him of the presence of Kelly. He talks to it and considers that Kelly is, with him, at the island. The theme of the film is not only to show love as a part of human life, but also to show it as a key to success for humans. In both the films, the main character is able to achieve his/her goal through the symbols of love. In “Contact”, Kelly keeps the watch with her. At a point she is about to lose it. She frees herself to get the watch and as she does so, she reaches her destination. In the same way, in “Cast Away” Chuck keeps the watch with him and it reminds him of his and Kelly’s love. The watch seems to support his courage and hope. He survives at the island because of the love. He says that he lived at the island for the sake of his love, Kelly. Another view presented by the writer is that without love, human life has no logic. Thus in both the films, love has been declared an important and necessary part of human life. Both these films present one man show. The whole story revolves around a single man/woman throughout the film. Thus we can say that the writers have focused on the powers of single human being. They have showed that how a single person can reacts to a situation and fight his/her way out of it. Despite a very common central idea, there is a difference in secondary themes. The film “Contact” describes man’s approach towards future, while “Cast Away” is an adventurous film showing simply the present situations. In the former, the writer has tried to guess about the future of human being’s efforts of finding and contacting foreign intelligence. There is an involvement of science fiction to show the future prospects. Indeed human race will have progressed a lot in the upcoming years. Therefore, it is necessary to provide a touch of science fiction to support the ideas. Human inventions and discoveries are like an unbroken series. There is probably no end to it. Everyday, there are hundreds of new inventions and discoveries. Therefore, a scene of future can only be displayed with the help of Science Fiction. In contrary to this, “Cast Away” exhibits human power and courage through displaying scenes of present age. The theme is thus a little bit different. Although themes of both films resemble each other to a great extent, yet there is also some difference. The difference is about the use of human powers and courage. “Contact” shows the use of human powers to reveal the facts about future, While, “Cast Away” shows the use of human strength in fighting a problematic situation. On what bases the two films differ? The answer to the question is not difficult if we explain the story, plot, film form and content. But, while talking about theme, the answer is a bit tough. The comparison between the themes of two films has already been discussed above. The two films differ in the secondary themes. The difference in the application or use of human power and courage has already been discussed. Importance of love is a common theme of the two films. But, how this love plays part in man’s life is different in both films. “Contact” describes love as the important factor determining success. While “Cast Away” shows love to be the determinant of human survival. The former shows that love puts real life to man’s cause, while the later shows that love provides a logic to human life. The film “Contact” exhibits the efforts of humans to reveal the truth and encourages the viewers to seek truth. But, there is an absence of this theme in “Cast Away”. Contrary to this, “Cast Away” shows the thoughts and nature of a person facing difficult situation, but “Contact” does not seem to possess this meaning. The situation in “Cast Away” is prebuilt, but is built by the characters in “Contact”. Therefore, both the films show different human reactions towards different situations. “Cast Away” shows that how man fights a difficult situation, he is facing. But “Contract” offers a slightly different approach. It shows that how humans prepare and then strive in an upcoming situation. Ellie was not facing any serious situation at all. But she created it and then struggled through it. In “Cast Away” Chuck faces a sudden situation, where he acts to get out of it. Thus both of these film exhibit different human approach to different situations. “Cast Away” tells us that there is a logic behind human life. It asks us to find this logic and live for it. “Contact” goes one step further and tells us that seeking truth is the most important logic or purpose of human life. People should struggle to seek truth. They should learn more and more. ‘How Ellie spends her life to seek the truth’, provides a great display of the theme. There is a resemblance between the films that there is a logic and purpose of human life. “Contact” gives us a clue about the logic, while “Cast Away” asks us to find the logic of our lives ourselves. Another difference between the two films is how the plot of the two films travels. The film, “Cast Away” travels from present to past. The touch of past human life is provided by the style of living of Chuck at the island. The way he dwells in a cave and the way he provides food and fire for himself provides a touch of past. But, “Contact” travels towards future. There is a clear exhibition of future of human life. The science fiction that helps to create the scene takes the viewer some years further in imagination. The theme, slightly, depends upon the scene and situation. Therefore, it can be considered as an important difference. The two films discussed above, resemble each other, closely. Like other films directed by Robert Zemeckis, these films also exhibit good and strong theme. There is a high degree of involvement of direction in displaying a theme. Films’ most important constituent is the visual display or the acting. These are the factors that determine, whether the film conveys useful theme or idea, or not. These are the primary tools that establish an idea about the film and its theme. The direction of Robert Zemeckis is too profound to be discussed here. The two films exhibit a great art of direction, because both are able to cast a sharp impact of the theme in viewers’ minds. Works Cited External Source is not mandatory. Read More