Introduction
There are a number of ways by which the media forms communicate with their audience and tend to convey the underlying themes and ideas using them. Specifically, in the case of films, the use of visual content, sound, construction of a shot and it’s editing, performance, recording, etc. It is obvious that an effective use of visuals aided by supporting multimedia always results in a deeper impact on the audience as the visual has a deeper response generation from the brain. This concept, when strategically used in the making of films results in tremendous changes in terms of the resulting impact on the audience when compared to the earlier ways of film-making. The latest notion used in the films for an effective portrayal of the central theme is that of the moving images and associated grammar which enhances the overall impact on the audience by using the elements of visual techniques related to the moving image.
This essay aims at comparing and contrasting two different works in films in terms of their intended impact on the audience by using the language of moving images based on almost the same context.
Theme of the analyzed scenes and the creator’s motif behind them
The essay uses two different scenes from two different films (a motion picture and an animation) which have the same context in terms of visual content but have different intended impact on the target audience. Thus, this work aims at comparing and contrasting their respective language of moving images for conveying the theme with different impact on the audience when they have almost the same context of the portrayed subject on screen.
The first scene is from the motion picture "The Lost World: Jurassic Park” (1997) and the scene is called “Mommy's Very Angry”. The context of this scene is related to the portrayal of anger expressed by the mother dinosaur, T- Rex, who is furious on the protagonists for taking her baby dinosaur with them. She comes in search of her child and then shows her anger to the protagonists by using her threatening roar and displaying her horrendous teeth. The other characters remain stunned and then they hand over the child to her. This scene is crafted so well using the moving images to create a terrifying impact on the audience and the display of extremely dangerous features of the mother dinosaur makes it a shivering experience for all the viewers, especially children.
The second scene is from the animation film “Ice Age 3: Dawn of Dinosaurs” (2009) and the scene is called “That Is One Angry Fossil”. The context of this scene is related to the portrayal of anger expressed by the mother dinosaur, T- Rex, who is furious on the protagonists for taking her baby dinosaur (hatched eggs) with them. She comes in search of her child and then shows her anger to the protagonists by using her threatening roar and displaying her horrendous teeth. As. The animation shows the life of all animals during the ice age, they all get terrified and start reacting foolishly. The scene has a portrayal of some very soft images for the mother dinosaur and she never looks terrifying enough to the audience. There are some very funny reactions from the other animals that seemed to be frightened on seeing her for the first time and they lead her to her kids. The target audience (especially children) enjoys the hilarious interaction of the dinosaur with the other animals and the scene uses some excellent graphics and soundtrack to make it more entertaining rather than a frightening experience for all.
Comparing and contrasting the language of moving images
The hypothesis of this analysis is focused on comparing the various aspects of moving image applied in both the scenes (which have a common context) and contrasting them in terms of the creator’s intention of impact on the audience (one is horrifying and the other is hilarious).
Starting with the scene from "The Lost World: Jurassic Park”, the theme of the scene is the furious dinosaur expressing her rage via using her physical enormity and her dangerous roaring. The camera shots involve the maximum use of character’s point of view and a frequent close-up of the dinosaur and frightened protagonists. This has added to the effect of rage expressed via the fierce facial expressions of the dinosaur and the consequent terror getting reflected in the expression of the protagonists. The majority of cinematography is done by using high angle camera work. This adds to the effect of the potential threat from the enormous size of the dinosaur with respect to the humans. The audience has a direct connection with the extent of danger to which the characters are exposed to via the camera work and the character’s point of view works like a simulation. There is occasional zoom on the eyes and jaws of the mother dinosaur and this exaggerates the visual depiction of fright portrayed by the imagination of potential she can cause. The editing transitions are generally ‘cut to’ another shot from the former one and this maintains a dual impact on the viewers to note the simultaneous expressions from the dinosaur and the protagonists. The practical form of lighting is used as the scene is shot in dark and the dinosaur can be clearly seen only in the light of the vehicle (RV) in which the protagonist hid them. Finally, the use of basic sound effects of roaring and shouting in the scene adds to the intended illustration of horror in the audience.
Moving to the second scene from “Ice Age 3: Dawn of Dinosaurs”, the theme of the scene is also the deception of the expressions of anger by a furious dinosaur expressing her rage via using her physical enormity and her dangerous roaring, but within the purview of comedy. The camera shots are generally bird’s eye view based which show the chaos happening in the scene and a frequent close-up of the dinosaur and frightened characters. The use of bird’s eye view makes it easier for the audience to see the relative impact on various characters and their haphazard movements make the scene more hilarious. The majority of cinematography is done by using eye level camera work from a distance. This reduces the horrifying effect of the enormous size of the dinosaur because funny expressions of other animals are also visible in the same frame. The audience has a direct connection with the fury of the dinosaur but funny expressions of terror illustrated via the various characters and lack of deadly expressions on the face of the dinosaur make it easy to accept for the audience. There is occasional zoom on the eyes and jaws of the mother dinosaur but the graphic use of her facial expressions is artistically moderate that seem to frighten only the animal characters and not the audience. The editing transitions are generally ‘jump cut’ bases transition shots which keep rapidly changing to ensure that the viewers are able to note the simultaneous expressions from the dinosaur and the protagonists. The scene is illustrated in broad daylight (sunlight) so that all the funny actions portrayed by various characters in the icy background are clearly noted by the audience. The scene ensures its hilarious theme to dominate the possibility of fright getting over the audience by always including funny animal expressions in the same frame as that of the mother dinosaur. Finally, the use of basic sound effects of mild roaring and funny shouting sounds in the scene adds to the intended illustration of comedy in the audience.
Conclusion
The essay has analyzed both of the scenes to see how the use of moving images can create different impacts in similar contexts. The first scene from a motion picture uses the images, lighting, sound, camera angle and perspectives of the characters to enhance the feeling of terror which overpowers the audience by using deliberate zoom and focus on those visual elements which reinforce the expression of horror. The elaborate display of dangerous jaws and teeth of the dinosaur and the horrifyingly loud roar are mere applications of the same concept for the scene which is shot in the dark forest. On the other hand, the use of hilarious expressions on the characters, moderate facial expressions of anger in the case of the dinosaur, and major use of bird’s eye view try to maintain the audience’s focus on the hilarious aspect of the scene and not on the horrifying presence of the dinosaur. Further, the scene is illustrated in broad daylight and with any icy-white background that makes the overall illustration of fun dominant on any chance of terror nearing the minds of the audience. Finally, use of funny shouting sounds from stunned animal characters and moderately loud roar from the dinosaur are add-ons to the overall humor effect of the scene. Thus, we have seen how the creators have utilized the concept of moving images over the same context in two different scenes to convey two entirely ideas to the audience.
Bibliography
Halverson, Bass and Woods, David. “The Process of Creation: A Novel Methodology for Analyzing Multimodal Data”. The Qualitative Report, 2012.
Wise, Andrews and Hoffman, James. 2010.“The Routledge International Handbook of English, Language and Literacy Teaching.”Government Institutes .1st ed. New York: The Taylor and Francis Publishing group. https://books.google.co.in/books?id=DDCMAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+Routledge+International+Handbook+of+English,+Language+and+Literacy+Teaching&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjM98Tz7bfMAhWLCo4KHYwBDXAQ6AEIHDAA#v=onepage&q=The%20Routledge%20International%20Handbook%20of%20English%2C%20Language%20and%20Literacy%20Teaching&f=false
YouTube.“Ice Age 3 Dawn Of Dinosaurs That Is One Angry Fossil (Orginal)”. YouTube video, Posted October 27, 2009. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXlMtSHqkH8
YouTube. "The Lost World: Jurassic Park (2/10) Movie CLIP - Mommy's Very Angry (1997) HD”. YouTube video, Posted May 27, 2011.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYGtLUZg1xA
