Essay practice paragraph



The sound in the film sends our emotions on a rollercoaster. It forebodes for us that something is about to happen in the scene. For example, when Vidal is showing the tools he is going to use to interrogate Mercedes, a sound effect is used to intensify the scene. He lifts up a hammer and an eerie stereotypical non-diegetic sound effect you would hear in your typical horror film can be heard. This makes the audience feel very uncomfortable and emphasises Vidal's detrimental side. This reflects back to the frightening idea of fascism and how dominant they were to everyone below them. Women at first portrayed that's because men were deemed as so overpowerful.We are inevitably made to empathise with Mercedes who feels powerless at the beginning of the scene. But as the scene progresses there is a complete power shift and the music supports this change. When Mercedes escapes from the rope and stabs Vidal in the shoulder, quiet non-diegetic music is played to visualise her retaliation and her exasperation she is feeling we are able to get a grip of. This shows that despite being completely weak and fatigued, Mercedes who represents women shows how fearless they are and how they do not get overpowered by the men. The exaggerated diegetic sound effect used when Mercedes is sheathing Vidal's cheek further creates suspense and shows her sheer physical and mental strength she withholds and she's not frightened used it. It has been made visible throughout the film and the audience captivates onto it but now it has been brought into action.

Comments

  1. Elliott Soraff14 November 2017 at 02:05

    Elliott, Great use of specific terminology and understanding of the scene. Very good analysis to the directors reasons for each technique. Try to include the message of the film and some context into your answer. Speak more about the representation of gender.

    Sincerely,
    Jonathan Sinyor

    ReplyDelete

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