Douglas Sirk was a notable figure in Hollywood during 1950’s, most notably known for his melodramatic films such as All that Heaven Allows (1955), Imitation of Life (1959) and Written on the Wind (1956). Sirk would often showcase themes of domestic violence, gender related issues, symbolism and conforming or refusal to conform to enforced social norms as well as adding conflict within his stories which later are resolved by the protagonists.
The essay aims to conduct a short analysis on the film Written on the Wind by Douglas Sirk. The scene that I have selected to conduct the analysis on is the opening sequence, it introduces the audience to the Hadley family and to the main conflict within the first 3 minutes of the opening. The analysis aims to break down the scene and analyze the mise-en-scene such as lighting, set, editing and the music to see how each element plays its role in creating the narrative.
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The scene opens with a man speeding on the narrow roads in a yellow sports car as he races to his mansion, he downs a bottle of alcohol from the very start till he reaches his home.
We see the town of Hadley as well during the sequence. The wind blows the dying leaves form the trees. Noticing his return from the upstairs window is his friend Mitch with Kyle’s wife Lucy is shown sleeping in the bed. Kyle smashes the empty bottle against the wall and storms into the study as his sister Marylee whose eyes are spotlighted in the shot, listens from upstairs. Dead leaves are blown through the open door into the empty foyer as Marylee swoops down the long staircase. From outside, a gunshot is heard and an unidentified figure staggers out of the mansion and collapses. Lucy watches it all go down form her window and collapses, as the camera zooms toward a closeup of a desk calendar, reading Tuesday, November 6, 1956. The wind rifles the pages back to Monday, October 24, 1955, a year earlier, to flash-back to events that led up to the
tragedy. As most Classic Hollywood films, Douglas Sirk uses continuity editing in “Written on the Wind”, it is evident in the opening scene as it sets the space and time within the film. The continuity editing allows us to see the setting/location of the story. The dry terrain and oil wells surrounding the narrow road is somewhat reminiscent to Texas. Douglas Sirk would often incorporate phallic symbols in his film such as the rifle held by Rock Hudson at waist length in “All that Heaven Allows” and as such these symbols make a return in Written on the Wind. The film has several phallic symbols from the very beginning to the end, the oil wells, Hadley tower, the yellow sports car and, of course, the pistol are all masculine symbols. The oil wells as well as the tall brooding Hadley tower can be considered as phallic symbols as they connote patriarchy and male dominance within the setting. The phallic symbols also comment on Kyle Hadley’s insecurities and sterility. The music playing in the background has an almost ominous sound to it from the beginning to the end of the opening sequence, it felt as if Kyle’s character was doomed from the very start. The lighting design used by Douglas Sirk, when introducing Marylee comments on her character, with just the eyes spotlighted, he uses it to convey the character’s traits which are devious, lustful and envious.
Literary theorist, Kenneth Burke, defined dramatistic explaination by the prescence of five key elements. This list of elements, now popularly known as Burke’s Pentad, can be used to asses human behavior as well as dicipher literary themes and motives. The five elements; agent, purpose, scene, act, and agency, have been found highly useful by performance study practitioners in translating texts into aesthetics. When systematically applying Burke’s Pentad to “Burn Your Maps,” a short story by Robyn Joy Leff published January 2002 of the Atlantic Monthly, the analyzer can realistically grasp the emotional and logical motivations and tones of the text. By doing so, the performer becomes an enlightened vessel for the message Leff wants to communicate. The Pentad can be described with simple questions like: Who? What? When? Where? How?, but asking the small questions should always lead to more in depth analysis of the element, and it should overall, explain the deeper question: Why?
A common person’s knowledge about sea disasters comes from what they have read in books and articles, and what they see on TV and in movies. The average person does not get to experience the fury of a hurricane while on a boat. In order to capture the audience’s attention, consideration to details and vivid descriptions are needed to paint a realistic picture in their minds. For this reason, the stories have to provide all of the intricate details. In The Perfect Storm, the story starts out with a radio call, not a dramatic scene that immediately foreshadows the possibility of danger. Rather than describing the storm and its fury, the only mention of the setting is of the visibility and the height of waves. However, in “The Wreck of the Hesperus”, the poem begins by stating there is a hurricane possible right away. The current weather conditions are pointed out to the reader as shown in the following quote.
Frederick Douglass, a slave in America until the age of 20, wrote three of the most highly regarded autobiographies of the 19th century, yet he only began learning to read and write when he turned 12 years old. After an early life of hardship and pain, Douglass escaped to the North to write three autobiographies, spaced decades apart, about his life as a slave and a freeman. The institution of slavery scarred him so deeply that he decided to dedicate his powers of speech and prose to fighting it.
'The Storm' begins on a stormy spring day, with the protagonist Calixta at her sewing machine. She is alone, her husband Bobinot and son Bibi have gone to the store. Calixta seems to be a bored woman, confined to her duties as a housewife and mother. As the distant storm approaches she is unaware of what the storm brings, her former lover Alcee. Calixta allows Alcee into her home and opens her whole world to him. There is a connection between the storm that is going on outside and the storm of emotions going on in Calixta and Alcee. The weather sends Calixta into Alcee?s arms, he wraps his arms around her, and they can no longer hide their feelings for one another. They gave into their raging emotions and made love. Outside the weather was subsiding and Calixta and Alcee?s bodies felt relaxed and calmed. ?The rain was over; and the sun was turning the glistening green world into a palace of gems.? (1614) His face beamed with light like the sun. The storm inside of her was satisfied and for a brief instant Calixta felt liberated from her ordinary dull life.
words so that the sound of the play complements its expression of emotions and ideas. This essay
Therefore, the distinctive visual techniques employed by the composer provide a vehicle for the respondent to understand the ideas and themes prompted by people and their experiences. Tykwer’s film, Run Lola Run demonstrates the effect of the distinctive visual in Lola’s exploration of the themes of chance and time, whilst Mackellar’s poem ‘My Country’ provides the audience with an evocative experience of the Australian environment.
The protagonist Hazel in ‘Yesterday’s Weather’ carries the insights of her slightly unhappy marriage and her motherhood. The story illustrates the occurrence of family gathering and how Hazel was affected by this particular trip. In this piece of the story, the readers will pick up on Hazel’s using the third person narration. “Third person limited point of view offers the thoughts and motivations of only one character” (Wilson, M & Clark, R. (n.d.)). That is to say, third person’s usage in the story is only able to give the set of emotion and actions. Therefore, limits the ability for the readers to see the insight of the other characters in the story.
The first section, which lasts for the first 35 seconds, has a predominant non-diegetic foreground and a subtle diegetic background. The foreground segment corresponds to a musical score made by multiple violins playing a lengthy discordant piece. It is characterised for its high pitched notes which create a feeling of tension and anticipation to the audience. On the contrary, the background sounds, which encompasses both, the ripping paper and Marion’s body movements, are both diegetic and lower in intensity and volume in comparison to the forefront. It is possible to affirm that the background noises do not play a major role in the fragment but rather complete the picture the audience is
Next let us consider the vivid scenery depicted throughout this specimen of literature. Compared to other attempts at re-imagining this piece of literature none of them materialized virtually close to the number of scenes in this film. First, amidst the introductory we are given the scene of Lena catching the public bus transportation system home from work, affording us the opportunity to view the magnificent city on...
Throughout history writers have offered readers lessons through themes and often symbolized. In the story, “The Storm” by Kate Chopin is quite different from “The Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid; both have a different theme, symbol, throughout the stories. “The Storm” in Kate Chopin 's story can symbolize a number of different things: temporary, fleeting and quick action, and without consequences.
Through the use of dialogue, stage directions which enable us to envisage the scene on stage and characterisation we can see how dramatic tension is created by Miller. These aspects are to be explored for each act.
Chopin's short story, "The Storm," shows the reader some of the controversial issues she wrote about. It was written in 1898 and was one of the last stories that she wrote before Awakening. It tells of the struggles of one woman to find happiness and excitement in her everyday life. The reader really does not get much information on the relationship at the beginning of the story, but one can imagine that it was becoming monotonous and boring. The title itself lets the reader know that this storm is the result of a long chain of events that have built up over time, like a thunderstorm in the middle of the summer comes after many long days of intense heat. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the events that lead to the apex of the 'storm,' the consequences that follow the decisions that are made, and how this short story could be seen as feministic.
Although many different positions could be taken on writing an essay for this Shakespearian play, the author took it upon himself to write about Hamlet’s grief. His grief is obvious from the beginning of the play and he continues to grieve althroughout the play. Within his twenty-one-page essay, I chose this line to represent that I agree with his outlook on the play. “…his focus is on his grief and the profound impact in which the ghost has upon it. (Hamlet pg.18 paragraph 3)
Storytelling has been a common pastime for centuries. Over the years it has evolved into different styles containing different themes. Kate Chopin, a well-known author of the 20th century, wrote stories about the secrets in women’s lives that no one dared to speak of. Her work was not always appreciated and even considered scandalous, but it opened up a world that others were too afraid to touch. In Chopin’s story “The Storm,” a woman has an affair that causes an unlikely effect. The story’s two themes are portrayed greatly through an abundance of imagery and symbolism, along with the two main characters themselves.
Within the Shakespearean tragic drama Hamlet there are a number of themes. Literary critics find it difficult to agree on the ranking of the themes. This essay will present the themes as they are illustrated in the play – and let the reader prioritize them.