The film, Raiders of the Lost Ark, is an action or an adventure film directed by Steven Spielberg, edited by Michael Khan and produced by Frank Marshall. It tells the story of Indiana of the Covenant that he believed would make his army invincible. This review seeks to address how the filmmakers made use of known filming techniques.
First, as indicated above, the movie falls exactly in the action/adventure genre and it achieved this through its portrayal of the star character, Indiana Jones, the style and location of filming in the jungles of Hawaii. Second, in film making, the movement of characters in a scene as well as camera movement and shots, determines the overall standard and quality of the film. In this film, Spielberg utilizes tracks and cranes to make dolly in/dolly out camera movements as well as perfect tilts and smooth pans to capture explicit details from character emotions to geographical layout of a scene (Spielberg 1).
The editing of this film also contributed profoundly in making it a really thrilling movie. At the start of the movie, the editor expertly uses cross-cutting techniques to reveal the character of Indian Jones in just a few seconds. Again, the director makes use of close-up shots and sometimes hand-held shots to bring out the emotions of characters (Spielberg 3). The film also makes use of low angle shots that point up at a character making them appear dominant as required of the character of Indian Jones. The soundtrack contains sound effects, dialogue and music including the iconic composition, The Raiders March.
The filming techniques used in this film made it a highly rated movie and was consequently nominated and won many film awards. It is still considered one of the greatest films in history.
Work Cited
Spielberg, Stevens. Raiders of the Lost Ark. Paramount, 1982. Film.
