the narrative is very quickly established within the
first five minutes of the film; for instance within the first 30 seconds of the
film starting we already know from the headings and subtitles that “this film
is inspired by real people and events” so we the what its based on has a lot of
truth to it and we also know the setting at the start of the film “Scotland
1970” (from headings). During the headings being shown towards the end of them
we hear shouting and laughing from people of a Scottish heritage , it then cuts
to the opening shot of a group of young people running across a field (most of
them in their underwear). The narrative the narrative is very quickly established within the
first five minutes of the film; for instance within the first 30 seconds of the
film starting we already know from the headings and subtitles that “this film
is inspired by real people and events” so we the what its based on has a lot of
truth to it and we also know the setting at the start of the film “Scotland
1970” (from headings). During the headings being shown towards the end of them
we hear shouting and laughing from people of a Scottish heritage, it then cuts
to the opening shot of a group of young people running across a field (most of
them in their underwear). The narrative is effectively established here by the
Mis en scene; many of the young people who are not already undressed are wearing uniforms which conveys to us that they are students, but not just any kind of
uniform, they are wearing graduation gowns which puts the fact the many of them
are in their underwear and holding large bottles of champagne into context
because they are celebrating because they presumably have just graduated. As the
group race to the water, we get a long shot of the dock which emphasises the
setting being Scotland as we associate with Scotland not having good weather
(it often being cold,raining or overcast) and the long-shot depicting the landscape fits with this stereotype:the sky is overcast and grey, the lake is vast, it
stretches out for miles, the vast woodland and hills as the graduates jump into
the grey dark lake, all fit with our immediate associations with Scotland and
helps maintain the narrative and the stereotype of the Scottish man is also implied
when James Mcavoy is shouting and cheering in the water this matches up with the stereotype of the Scottish male being loud and boisterous.
The next shot (as the jump into the lake) is slightly
slowed down. The slow-motion enables us to capture the moment more easily as it has the effect of making it seem more significant as the image of them jumping into the water lasts longer so we have
more time to process it. The sound of the them jumping in and splashing around is amplified, and purposely made louder. This may also enforce the importance of this moment as it could be
argued that it symbolises how much freedom the main character has at this point and
arguably its foreshadowing the limited freedom he has later on in the film.
The narrative is
well established through the dialogue of the main character (James Mcavoy) and
his parents; it fills us in on what Nicholas has achieved (a degree) and what he
is planning to be in the future (a family doctor).
However the narrative dramatically changes after this when Nicholas gets out the globe in his bedroom later on and says “first
place you land you go” as it implies to us what the basis of the narrative is
going to be; he is going to travel to a different country(to do his work). The first time he
spins the globe the camera remains on him. We know the second time that he
spins the globe it is more significant as there is an extreme close up of it
spinning around which indicates that where it lands will greatly impact his life and have a lot of meaning to it. The narrative is well established when the globe stops spinning and there is an extreme close up of Nicholas’s finger on the country Uganda( on the globe), so we instantly know the location of where the story is going to take place which greatly helps us to establish and understand the narrative further within the first few minutes.
spinning around which indicates that where it lands will greatly impact his life and have a lot of meaning to it. The narrative is well established when the globe stops spinning and there is an extreme close up of Nicholas’s finger on the country Uganda( on the globe), so we instantly know the location of where the story is going to take place which greatly helps us to establish and understand the narrative further within the first few minutes.
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