The Films - Essay Example

The film Shane (1953) is remembered as one of the most classic Westerns, with its wandering gunslinger Shane, who appears out of the wilderness and makes a big impression on young Joey Starrett who is fascinated by the six guns that he wears. The plot of the film is rather predictable since there is a clear definition between “good” and “bad” characters, an emerging crisis that is solved by Shane’s intervention, and a return to the quiet settler life again at the end.  One aspect of the film makes it especially memorable, however, and that is the visual presentation of the landscape, which conveys subtle messages about the cultural meaning of the movie.

The setting of the film is obviously a very early pioneer community in which there are frequent disagreements about land ownership and use. The first appearance of Shane shows him in the distance on horseback, against a background of impressive hills and wide landscapes. This contrasts with the Starrett family’s small log cabin which is enclosed by log fences and a flowing river. The family scenes mostly take place in this small enclosed area, which appears to have been created out of wood by the peaceful father figure of Joe Starrett. The villains, on the other hand, are pictured in dark saloon settings, with shades of brown and grey, and the key gun battle which resolves the danger to the community takes place in such a small, dark room.

The hidden message in the visual camera work is to highlight the broad vista of freedom and justice that Shane represents. In the scene where Shane leaves the community, the camera shows young Joey standing on the porch of his log cabin, watching the figure of Shane retreat into a small speck against craggy mountains, just as in the beginning he was first spotted from afar. The message is that a single American hero can travel the whole wide world and make a difference and he is presented as a hero through the eyes of young Joey. 

Group B. Question 3.

The auteur theory of film criticism highlights the creative role of the director. Film-making is a team effort, and it involves many different technical skills contributed by specialists such as the camera operator, the actors, and professionals in areas such as lighting, music, make-up, costumes, etc. All of these people collaborate to make a film, but the auteur theory singles out the director and examines the way that the story is put together using the skills of the whole team. The advantage of this approach is that the viewer can appreciate the whole film as a creative unit, and see the creative vision that lies behind each film. Over time there is also much to be gained from observing how a particular director develops his ideas, quoting from his or her earlier work, and setting up expectations of what will come next.

One of the greatest auteur directors is Alfred Hitchcock. In their long film career, he developed a very recognizable directorial style. Using unusual camera angles he managed to create a feeling of unease, for example in the movie “Rear Window”  (1954) which uses a repetitive angle through a window to represent the main character’s confinement to a wheelchair. In his movies The Birds (1953) and Psycho (1960) the dimension of suspense is given a psychological twist, so that the viewer can imagine what is going on inside the characters’ minds, adding to the emotional impact of the film. Hitchcock’s tendency to focus on the apprehension of more attacks from birds, for example, makes ordinary things take on a spooky, supernatural aura. This educates the audience to experience fear so that towards the end of the film, the sight of just one bird sitting on a wire sets off a feeling of panic. This power to create suspense in a subtle way shows the director’s creative skill and confirms that the auteur theory is a useful approach to aid in understanding how this is achieved.