Memories, with or without context, play a key role as plot devices in both Away from Her and “Bear Came Over the Mountain.” Used to provide context for their only semi-chronological story lines, memories in the story and movie alike give solid glimpses of the past that allow the plot to move forward. One of the most prominent memories, in both the story and the movie, and certainly the clearest of the latter, is the section in which Grant and Fiona go on a walk/ski in a park. The differences between the scene and the passage are substantial, ranging from difference in message to difference in visuals. This section is an excellent example of the drastic differences sometimes found in adaptations, and allows for the presentation of a case for …show more content…
The visuals of the film scene are filled to the brim with green and brown, setting a scene befitting of the first big thaw of Spring, rather than the “depths of winter,” described in the story. It is far from a simple difference in pallette and time of day however. Where the passage gives off the impression of solitude and barren terrain, referring to Grant and Fiona as being “under the full moon and over the black striped snow,” painting the image of two lone wanderers, isolated between two forces of nature, the movie scene is bright and alive. Grant and Fiona are walking under tree cover, but an abundance of light filters through the foliage. Even the camera shots are warm and inviting, with close views of the actor’s faces, and with great emphasis on every word spoken. The soundscape is rich with the sound of crunching leaves and chirping birds, drawing a sharp contrast with what would likely be the snow crunch punctuated heavy silence of the story passage. The reason for this difference likely has a great deal to do with how this scene needed to be perceived by the movie audiences. Grant stores his hope in the likelihood that Fiona remembering this outing is a sign of her not actually being cursed with her disease, so it makes sense that the filmmaker would want to present it in a positive, warm light, literally and symbolically. Whereas in the story, it is immediately made clear in the text that Grant thinks this is a significant sign, …show more content…
In both, Grant’s reaction to, and later thoughts on Fiona’s sudden remembrance serves to highlight his ready willingness to doubt Fiona, leading to Grant projecting his own past mistakes onto Fiona, suspecting her of faking it all to punish him. In the film, Fiona’s recognition is much more surprising. The drastic difference between the snowy forest and it’s much more verdant counterpart would make for a challenging memory to call upon for someone losing their mental faculties at such a drastic rate. In the story, both scenes are in winter, so her remembering is much less extreme. Becuase of its chronological limitation, it makes sense that the film would opt for the more visually striking difference, to apparently validate Grant’s doubts without all the extra context required to do so in the story. In the story, all Fiona technically remembers is that the same area was in the moonlight last time they were there. This smaller realization is balanced by a much more in depth fleshing out of Grant’s misdeeds. While only a few bubbles of memory are used to hint at Grant’s affairs with students in the film, an entire section of the story is dedicated to it. It stands to reason that the film would want a sharper contrast to compare to the diminished context of Grant’s affairs, and in this way, when adding up the contributions of Fiona’s remembering at the park, and Grant’s
One of the most obvious portrayals of the bleakness and desperation of the era is the overall faded and washed-out look of the whole film, due to manipulation of the film saturation; the heaviness of it almost cries out to the audience. Though the film was shot during the summer, cinematographer Roger Deakins and Cinesite colorist Julias Friede were able to use digital technology to change the appearance of the colors. “Together, they worked on manipulating the [digital] saturation of the images, and in particular selecting the greens of the trees and grass and turning them into dry browns and yellows” (Escaping, 2). These dry browns and yellows enhance the audience’s impression of the desperation of the characters and the time period. Brown is a prominent color shown not only in the overall appearance but in the specific image of the dry brown of the dirt which also clings to the clothes of the three main characters: Everett, Pete, and Delmar....
Some of the characters in the novel, like Lennie, are portrayed differently in the movie. In the novel, Lennie is said to be “a huge man” (2), but in the movie he isn’t very big, although he is bigger than George and some of the other characters. In the movie he is stronger and bigger than the others, but not to the extreme amount that the book portrays him to be. Also, Lennie is depicted as very mentally challenged, which is shown by the way he speaks. Whereas in the book, Lennie is said to have a mind of a young child instead of being disabled. As well as Lennie, Curley’s wife is represented a little bit differently. In the movie,...
When the film begins on the farm in Kansas, the scene is shot in black and white, creating a sepia tone of colour to represent the country dust in the air adding to the effect of the ordinary unsaturated colour of the Kansas landscape. In contrast to the Kansas setting, lighting is profoundly used by the director to enhance the overall emotions of the film. Fleming uses a combination of the set, lighting techniques, and colour to create a magical place with very bright colours and deep focus lens to bring the land of Oz to life. In the scene where Dorothy enters Oz, the lighting is positioned between Dorothy and the foreground plants. The director uses the three point lighting technique so both Dorothy and the colour plants are highlighted but no shadows visible. This shot was done with a background of the black and white house behind Dorothy. The Land of Oz is filled with beautiful colours to create the illusion of a happy world that enhances the feel of fantasy. The allusion of contrasts between the real world and the land of Oz support the central theme there’s no place like home. In this way, the director enhances the picture of the film by the use of colour to reflect a mood experienced by the character in the different places. This colour transition used by the director, incorporates two completely different Mise en scene
Roman Polanski's 1974 film, 'Chinatown', revolutionized the film noir genre. Aside from the absense of voice-over, the film shares all the same characteristics with earlier noirs. That is, of course, except for the fact that ?Chinatown? is filmed in color. Because of this, it is more difficult upon the first viewing to immediately classify the movie to this genre. In movies such as ?Double Indemnity? even scenes that take place during the daytime are dark, and since it is a black and white film, this is easy to do. However, in a film with color it is much harder to create this dark effect, especially in scenes that are filmed outdoors. Polanski makes references to symbols that remind the audience that although ?Chinatown? is in color, it still belongs in the genre. For example, one of the first lines in the movie is, ?I just had [the venetian blinds] installed on Wednesday.? Venetian blinds are often seen in the genre, and the reference immediately makes the connection between this...
Diane Glancy is an award winning American author. She grew up in Kansas City, Missouri, in a part Cherokee household which is what inspires her interest in teaching and writing about the Native American heritage. Glancy is from Native American descent and is also a Christian. Glancy is known for her ability to incorporate both genres into her writings. In Glany’s 1996 novel, Pushing the Bear, Glancy uses a historical novel to depict the journey of the Native American’s that walked the trail of tears. The two main characters of this novel are Maritole and Knobowtee. They are a married Cherokee couple from North Carolina. Not only does the Trail of Tears take a toll on them physically, but the trail puts their relationship to the test. Through the marriage of Knobowtee and Maritole, Glancy shows the
The film very clearly captured David Lloyds’, the illustrator’s, work on the graphic novel. The film is kept very dark and the scenes are short. The only bright portions of the film are the explosions and where Evey is tortured. But, the film is darker than the graphic novel. In the novel, David Lloyd uses a soft color overlay for each scene, which was not reproduced in the film. Without that aspect though, the coloring is nearly identical.
In atonement when briony is meeting Robbie in the field to get the letter , it is a very bright lighting which portrays a warm summer, it is a more relaxed environment
Layton chose dull, simple colors throughout the majority of the film. These choices of colors appeal to pathos. The dull colors of black and gray stir emotions- such as sad, depressed, and even scared. Thus, the use of these colors provides a perfect setting to urge the audience to keep watching. The director also decided to use darker colors when memories, old videos, or reenactments occurred in the film. This helps set them apart from the interviews and make them seem older or in the past. The interviews had little sparks of color, compared to the reenactments, but the colors were still simple and on the duller side. Although, there was more color in certain places of the film. For example, when Bourdin was imposing as Nicholas and he was riding home with the Barclay family, everything was good and things were not yet complicated; therefore, Layton decided to add more color to the scene, as well as choose more cheerful
On her way through the moor, she passes two large rocks which tower over Emily Bronte, and elicit the idea she is vulnerable and insignificant. It shortly changes to a medium shot at eye level to show her facial expression of determination, this suggests that she knows where she is going and she may have been there before. It also creates the impression that she is slowly being revealed to the audience, and that they are equal to the character because they are on the same level. Natural shadows cover some of her face This low key lighting is effective because she is covered still partly, so it is suspicious.
This is where the “leftover bond money” from her daddy’s jail bond gets delivered to her. Granik portrays a resolution and a sense of happiness that would never be attained in real life. A technique which is used to highlight the epitome of this happiness is the lighting. In this particular scene, you’ll notice it is significantly brighter than the rest of the film. This is because it’s the only scene which the sun is shining. This allows the audience to undergo a change of heart. It’s an offered resolution, which allows us (the audience) to distract away from all the misery and heartbreak. To reconsider the harshness of society. And makes us entitled to feel happy for the character. However, like earlier in the film where the dialogue was distracting away from the almost too perfect house, fit for the societal circumstances of the Ozarks. It outlines again that this film is a Hollywood representation of the unprivileged society. A resolution that is offered after the character having to go through traumatic events would be an unforeseen occurrence in real life. The particular resolution distracts away from the real life circumstances of poverty and welfare in America. This allows again for the viewers to reconsider the film and relate to real life thinking that people do get resolutions. Furthermore that people are “free to” but not understanding that they’re not “free
Alice Munro has built a career on creating narratives that bring so much complexity amidst its characters as well as remaining true to the structure of a short story. Never has she felt the need to write a full-length novel but none of the works she has in her repertoire necessarily need it. The comparison of Munro's "The Bear Came Over the Mountain" and Sarah Polley's film adaptation gives us a greater understanding of the influence short stories have within film. There is also the challenge of how directors must expand or limit specifics of the story due to the translation from the written to visual. This translation affects the story in multiple aspects, more particularly with how faithful Polley attempts to remain to the original story;
The opening shot is dark but also warm, the only source of light coming from gold string lights and a red bulb. It creates an atmosphere that is simultaneously seedy and inviting, forbidden yet exciting. The protagonist is foregrounded yet he is mostly visible in silhouette, creating a bold presence and also embodying his ambivalence towards the situation. Gus' orange neon jacket when he dances in the street echoes the color scheme of the opening shot but also puts him prominently as the focus—the dancing a recognition of his solitude. The opening shot contrasts to the bedroom the woman is in—the dominant colors are ice blue and cold white, reflecting her own dissatisfaction but also pointing to the disappointment that comes the morning after nightlife.
At times the wood was dark, gray and grim, to really set the mood of the scene. For example, when Red Riding hood is straying off the path and you see the Wolf silently watching her, Red knows she’s in a different part of the woods because of how dark and creepy it is, and how the atmosphere of the woods has changed. But at times the woods seem magical and hopeful. For example, at the end of the movie when the characters are all beaten down, but hopeful, the woods seem light, hopeful and magical compared to the scenes before. The woods had a mystical and hopeful atmosphere that perfectly captures what Into the Woods is centered
Forth are Lighting and color. In case of Lighting, this film uses High key light that makes this film look like natural light and feel warm. In the case of color, some scene of this film use warm color to express love and warmth to audience such as in the wedding scene or some scene use dark color to express about sad feeling such as funeral scene and in scene that Rosie knows her dad was died. I think in some scene if you watch it in HD, it’s very beautiful such as in scene that Rosie drinks a cup of coffee and thinks about the past in sunset time because Lighting and color of sunset time is very
The film illustrates several authentic aspects, the major one being the use of black and white film in the twenty first century, an age where colored pictures add meaning. The lack of color may slightly detract from the story, restricting the viewer to dull and dreary emotions with grey skies and colorless personalities. On the other hand, the absence of distracting colors permit the viewer to focus more on the plot and characters, enticing them to follow each aspect of the plot and engage in character development. The plot itself is full of adventure and comedy, creating characters that everyday people can relate to. Also, a clear depiction of the Midwestern life is presented through Nebraska, a place where small towns are accompanied by never-ending drama, such as Woody’s forty yearlong air compressor grudge, and a certain closeness that is difficult to obtain elsewhere.