“A horrifying and insidiously effective propaganda piece.” wrote Jeffrey M. Anderson on The War Game, an immensely complex and technically difficult film. Nothing that you have read, heard or researched about can prepare you for Peter Watkins’ 1965 appalling pseudo-documentary; forty-eight minutes of disturbing, alarming, distressing and important conglomerate of images of clever propaganda. The War game was filmed using a handheld documentary fashion and grainy newsreel film, and it won an Oscar as the Best documentary award in 1966. Furthermore, The War Game was banned from television screening by director general of BBC, Sir Hugh Greene. BBC then finally released The War Game for theatrical but not television screening. Firestorms raging, …show more content…
I was horrified by the exceptionally appalling way it was shot and the mere realism; I felt the pain and horror of those on the screen. The film begins with a desultory and an unconventional blurry close-up of a black woman within a large group of white people. For a moment, the woman stares into the camera lens and is consciously aware of it just as we are aware of her trauma and disorientation. The camera then cuts to a wider shot revealing the entire crowd where she disappears into. This example depicts the allegorical way that Watkins treats the personal in The War game. His handheld camera coincidentally seemed to come across this woman and irresistibly forces us to sympathize, empathize and share her sense of seclusion. Watkins chose not to use the lengthy images of suffering as the main utopian theme of this film. Instead, Watkins distributes them as personal icons to build on political assertions. Watkins underscores this later in the film by his use of abrupt cutting and montage to break the boundaries between the bogus and the real and between the personal and the political. This is prominent in the rapid editing of a composite of brutal images during a street riot. We see guns pointed at people, physical altercation and police uniforms. This is then strikingly contrasted against the peaceful streets of Britain where the camera captures one-on-one interviews by …show more content…
It is noteworthy to mention that Watkins uses live interviews combined with carefully staged vignettes, blending educational facts with possible future scenarios of nuclear anxiety. The interviewees are depicted to be naïve, notably, when the camera cuts to a different location that is suffering of the destructive consequences of war. The audience is left confused, perplexed and deprived of time to reflect on what is happening or whether this this is even true. This strongly depicts the “monoform” structure
The use of cinematography throughout this film helps to get the point of the film across to the audience. One of the most iconic scenes in this film features near the ending, in the background there is sound of an ongoing war which represents the war against the indigenous culture, while ‘Dave’ and ‘Gail’ are in a tent together holding hands. The camera zooms in on their hands, and the audience can see the difference between the skin colours, it shows how close they are regardless of what has happened in the past.
Throughout the film, the filmmaker follows the three victims around in their everyday lives by using somber music and backgrounds of depressing colors. The documentary starts off with colorful images of the scenery
It is in conclusion of viewing Radiance that gave the impression that it composed such significant issues to the public. The delicate subjects that needed to be expressed were efficiently presented by Deborah Mailman, Rachelle Maze and Trisha Morton-Thomas. Such a modern approach concerning the issues was constructed for the viewer and this film and will be remembered by many as a masterpiece in Australian cinematography directed by Perkins. The movie itself, and is agreed personally, that it is perfectly clear that there is a strong cultural and political message demonstrated to the public.
One of the first examples of a war game played occurred in the 1980’s and involved the long standing Cold War with USSR (Mark Herman). Those of us who remember these tenuous times recall the ever present...
In conclusion, while books, photos, movies and other historical documentation can portray information or a message about wartime events, they will never be able to produce the feelings of those that were personally involved in wars have experienced. Yet, it is incorrect to criticize these writers. The information they reveal is still very important historical information. Even if a reader or viewer of this media cannot feel exactly the same emotions as those involved, they still often experience an emotional connection to the events being depicted. This is important, not only for the historical knowledge gained about wars, but also to understand the nature and futility of their occurrence.
These techniques are significant as it leads the viewers into contemplating about their own High Schools, creating emotional introspection. As a younger viewer it also enables me to empathise with the students being a similar age to the victims of the massacre. The severity of the situation is also felt through the use of sound as the audience can hear the trembling and distraught tones from the emergency calls. Archival sound footage further strengthens the authenticity of the crisis. As the distressed voices are heard as a voice-over, paired with the solemn sound of the acoustic guitar, the camera techniques further complements the disaster.
Woods, Chris. "Games Without Frontiers, War Without Tears." Cover Story. New Statesman. N.p., 18 June 2012. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.
Through his uses of descriptive language Hersey exposes to the reader the physical, emotional, Psychological and structural damage caused by a nuclear attack. He shows the reader how peoples are physically changed but also how emotional psychologically scared by this act of horror. Through Hersey’s graphic detail of the horror after the bomb and the effects years after he shock the reader while also give the message that we shouldn’t let this happen again. In the book Hiroshima the author John Hersey exposes that a nuclear attack is not simply a disaster that fades away when the rubble is removed and buildings are rebuilt but an act of horror that changes the course of people’s live.
In Hedges' first chapter of the book titled, "The Myth of War," he talks about how the press often shows and romanticizes certain aspects of war. In war there is a mythic reality and a sensory reality. In sensory reality, we see events for what they are. In mythic reality, we see defeats as "signposts on the road to ultimate victory" (21). Chris Hedges brings up an intriguing point: the war we are most used to seeing and hearing about (mythic war) is a war completely different than the war the soldiers and journalists experience ( sensory war), a war that hides nothing.
When World War II broke out in 1939, many countries began using propaganda to strengthen support for the war. Countries battling in the war used propaganda to unite citizens and keep them focused on contributing to the war effort. During the World War II period, Great Britain and their allies; which included the United States and China, were one of the groups in the war that used various techniques and platforms in order to spread propaganda across their countries. One such platform that played a major role in the spread of propaganda was Britain and their allies’ use of posters to increase morale among people.
encapsulates the futility and horror of war through the use of vivid war images like
...ew war as a positive and inevitable part of life they act accordingly. If the public was shown the real horrors of war they would be shocked by what they see and view war for what it really is, a tool that governments uses for its own benefit regardless of how horrible it is. The public would act differently. There would be more protests against war because people would realize that it is not the most efficient or effective way of achieving goals. Congressmen would be less inclined to vote to engage in war for fear of displeasing their constituents and there would be less war, less lives lost, and more exploration in to diplomatic negotiations. War should be reserved for the defense of a nation. With war movies, the movie industry has a very large influence on public perception and as of now this influence is not being used appropriately for the good of humankind.
This film captures this class distinction without subduing the atmosphere through the use of a variety of cinematic devices. “A good film is not a bag of cinematic devices but the embodiment, through devices, of a vision, an underlying theme” (Barnett, 274). The audience can see this theme of the realities of the oppression, poverty and despair of this time period through the use of the things mentioned, but also through the character development that is driven by the character’s hopelessness. Each of the characters associated with the lower class is motivated by the conditions, which are viewed through the cinematic devices mentioned above: color, spherical lenses, long shots, and high angle shots. Sources Cited:.
...the predominant theme of disorientation and lack of understanding throughout the film. The audience is never clear of if the scene happening is authentic or if there is a false reality.
The film ‘V for Vendetta’ is a dystopian political thriller directed by James McTeigue. Inside Evey’s torture scene there are many verbal and visual techniques to show the depth and meaning of each technique. The techniques of lighting, camera angles, and dialogue piece together to create and effect of fear and courage. In the opening of this scene an effect of fear is displayed by the character, Evey Hammond.