Cinematography In The Help

The Help’, directed by Tate Taylor was released in 2011. This film conveys a powerful story about the racial struggles of African-American maids working in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960’s. The story is based around Minnie and Aibilene, two maids whose primary role is to raise white children in white households. A young writer ‘Skeeter’, writes a book written from the maid’s perspective, focusing on the prejudice that these women face. Different techniques such as mise-en-scene, cinematography and post production have been strategically selected to convey themes of racial prejudice, reinforcing the invited reading of how prejudice is a destructive force in society, which has been taught through social laws and expectations.

‘The Help’ uses

In this scene Hilly and her son are shown watching the arrest, the use of a mid shot has displayed Hilly as proud mother who is uncaring of the brutality of the situation. In this shot Hilly’s son is seated closer to the camera, this view portrays Hilly approving her son’s viewing. This reinforces the audience to view that prejudice as an aspect of society that is taught between generations. In this scene it has been made clear that children are exposed to racial prejudice from a young age. The director has purposely positioned families with children watching the arrest in order to create a powerful image, positioning the audience to view these children as exposed to racial violence in the form of prejudice. The facial expression of the mothers is that of an uncaring nature, encouraging the audience to feel that racial violence is a normality and not seen as an issue. These techniques used have helped influence the invited viewing to believe that prejudicial values are taught between the generations by what people see and how they react to situations such as that shown in this