Dead Poet's Society

Dead Poets Society, directed by Peter Weir, is an inspiring film about an English Teacher, Mr. Keating, who touched hearts of students through this unethical way of teaching poetry by his own ideas of free-thinking and expression to the class. His teaching methods were frowned upon by other teachers and strange to the students, as a school built on tradition and high standards, change is impossible and the schools motto "tradition, discipline, excellence, honour" proves that. Through camera angles, symbolism and the motif ‘Carpe Diem’, Weir presents a film about freedom and following your deams.

Weir explores the idea of physical freedom and confinement through the symbolism of birds. Throughout Dead Poet’s Society the audience see’s scenes

The audience is positioned in Keating’s class to share the view of the students, and close ups shots of individual students show them listening but not with the boredom shown in other classes, but with enthusiasm and optimism.This use of camera angles also allows insight into the way Keating sees his pupils, positioning himself on a level of mutual respect.In the first lesson of Keating’s class he introduces the idea of freedom to think as an individual when he declares mathematically analysing a poem is “excrement”. Keating says this because he does not believe in constructing a poem using maths and teaching how to write it, because you can’t teach poetry, it comes from the heart. Following this, he encourages the students to rip the first chapter from their poetry books, an act symbolic of free thinking. For once, he encourages the students to think for themselves, and for them that is scary because they have never been allowed to express themselves and be free with what they believe in. The use of camera angles gives the viewer a real insight of the students life, and how Keating was a real influence to each of his students to become