• Continuously address 2 cinematography elements (examples of these) and how they work to address the director’s intention
  • Give audience response = correctly describe the effect for you (the effect created by the author and how we responded to it eg. suspense, highlighted what for the viewer)
  • Discuss how these reflect societal ideas/thoughts/opinions… and possibly discuss times when we’ve seen this in history, etc.

In the critically acclaimed film, Minority report, directed by Steven Spielberg, camera angles and enhancement of diegetic sounds are two cinematography techniques that are consistently explored to portray dystopian society. Through camera angles, technology is heavily emphasised and demonstrates its heavy impact through control. We see in the spider scene that as the ‘spiders’ infiltrate the building, the camera hovers above each apartment, giving a birds eye view of every different encounter occurring in the rooms. We see the spiders invading any forms of privacy that the civilians may hold, which is especially portrayed where are couple are partaking in intimacy, and the spiders climb on top of them. As we explore each room from above, it shows us the poverty within the building and the caste systems often involved in dystopian societies. Viewing people from above shows the control that the government possess, as their privacy is seized by technologically operated spiders.We also hear that when the spiders are penetrating the apartments, the tapping noises of their legs are enhanced and appear to sound very loud. The director has intentionally used this technique although the spiders are small, they have a big influence on this scene, and ultimately decide Johns fate through their power, pronouncing them further by increasing their sound. Spiders are often associated with fear so by introducing technology that is spider shaped, the fear experienced is increased. It is often seen in society where people of lower status are looked down upon and their rights are not considered, which is seen visually yet also metaphorically. It highlighted that their is no individual freedom for the vulnerable which i believe is something that is beginning in our society today. This is also evident in Minority report when john Anderton is hiding under the cold water in an ice bath from the spiders. The spiders come up the sides of the bath and perch over, looking down at John in the water. This symbolises that the controlled technology is above anything that a human is. The technology have a lot more power than the civilians and is heavily relied upon to keep order. The ability to look down on humans shows just how high up technology is in society.The spiders make screeching noises which portrays the humanistic traits of technology as it becomes so involved in every day human life. I believe that technology is no longer something that is just useful but is something that is relied upon, which adds suspense to the story as we question whether the spiders will do their job or if we will see faults in their functions.

 

Join the conversation! 2 Comments

  1. Good, Lily. Look to address sentences – meaning in the first sentence is a bit hard to gauge. Also vary lengths for effect.

    Reply
  2. FEEDBACK:
    Hi Lily,

    You raised some good points in here. I want you to now consider:
    – a societal response – how does the text reflect society? Give actual specifics from our world.
    – Give more Y moments throughout, esp. how the audience is positioned by the cinematography techniques.
    – Be more pointed in the use of the TWO TECHNIQUES TOGETHER to demonstrate the director’s purpose.
    – NAME the actual cinematography shots being used.

    Keep this in mind when you actually attack your 3.9.

    🙂

    Reply

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