In Cleopatra, at the very beginning, the watcher is overloaded with a battle scene of the Battle of Pharsalus. The watcher has enough time to figure out a war is going on between two armies, and no one in particular is shows, only hordes of people and smaller groups discussing battle, or the result of the battle. I don't particularly remember, but Caesar might have had his name mentioned before the screen above, but not in great detail. The scene above is the first time caesar is given the full spotlight in the movie, and implies a few things to the watcher with the background, lighting, and mise en scene. First off, the main shot mostly in the center of the screen is of Caesar, who, among other people wearing roman-looking uniforms, seems to be wearing a slightly more ornate version, implying a sort of higher status among the people. The shot is also on even ground with Caesar, not giving any low or high angle in order to keep the watcher's attention on the scene around him, instead of further emphasizing his sole importance in the scene. While the lighting on Caesar doesn't stand out too much, the lighting on the soldiers behind him create a sense of prestige and sharpness in the eyes of the watcher. Regarding the mise en scene, Caesar is in the forefront in a full body shot, garding the most attention of any individual aspect on the screen, but not overemphasizing his presence in the scene. In the background, there are many soldiers gathered on the left and a fort of some sort on the right side. The emphasis on the details and individual features of Caesar emphasize his importance in regards to everyone else, which are also meant to be portrayed as elite soldiers of the roman army. The fort is representative, and seems like it would be a place to discuss important matters of the army, and gives Caesar a portrayal as a tactician in the army. The combination of the two gathered backgrounds both imply that the front character is am important character who is a key aspect of the army, both in regard and in intelligence. Even without knowing anything about what is going on, the watcher finally has a somewhat established sense of organization finally that leads into the next scene where Caesar directs his army to Egypt.
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Please introduce yourself briefly and talk about your background with film and/or interest in this class. What kind of movies do you like, w...
This post does overwhelm me because I was prepared to read 100-150 words, not 399 (not counting the Thank you at the end). This time I do insist that you pare it down to the essential because I at least see a lot of superfluous words that you could easily cut. Please try to edit your post and cut it down to 150 words.
ReplyDeleteI should probably wait for this revision before I comment in more detail. Just briefly, though: "The shot is on even ground" isn't quite right, given that we see steps in the back leading to a second, higher level. What you mean is that it is an eye-level shot, which puts Caesar at the same level as the viewer and creates a certain level of rapport and maybe complicity between the viewer and Caesar. This is comparable to Matthew's medium shot of Cleopatra at her triumphal entrance into Rome, except she looks sideways, towards Caesar, whereas here, Caesar seems to look straight at us.
What you say about the light and the costumes makes eminent sense. I would read the lighting symbolically too, though: Caesar is filmed in a half-shade, in contrast to his victorious soldiers. That may reflect his less-than-triumphant mood.
The shot is _not_ a full body shot because if it were, you would see Caesar from head to toe. This is a medium shot, which is more intimate because it lets us approach Caesar more closely.
The "fortress" looks more like a tent to me, maybe Caesar's command tent because of its royal purple coloring.