In the early 1900’s, during a period of misery and despair, one ray of hope peered through the darkness when Frank Baum’s classic work of fictional adventure/fantasy, The Wizard of Oz was created. This marvelous film not only made cinema history but it grasped the heart of not only children but adults as well.
The setting of The Wizard of Oz starts in a happy society in Kansas and moved its way into a breathtaking place called Oz. Dorothy grew up in Kansas with her Uncle Henry, Aunt Em, and her dog Toto. One day Dorothy was in her bedroom listening to the wind which made her very tired so she fell fast asleep, and woke up to a twister outside her window. While she was asleep, she dreamed of the Land of Oz, a joyful place with several happy
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In the Land of Oz Dorothy made many new friends such as the Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion and the Witch of the North.
The Wizard of Oz is much more than a children’s story, it holds many valuable themes and messages for the audience. One of the most important and obvious being there is no place like home. Dorothy comes from a place that many people would be reluctant to call home. The prairies of Kansas are vast and tend to be very absent of color and beauty, along with dangerous cyclones. In contrast to Kansas, Oz is marvelously vibrant and stunning. It is settled with eccentric human beings, lush fields of flowers, a magnificent Emerald City, plenty of adventures and miles of hearty farmland. Most of its inhabitants are cheerful, helpful, and virtuous. At first, it seems odd that Dorothy would want to leave this glorious land to return home. However, realizing the importance of her root’s triumphs all of that. Dorothy never questions her want to return. She is from Kansas, her guardians are there, and she has responsibilities back home. Dorothy has a strong love for Oz and made many friends there, but knows it is not where she belongs. Baum understood
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Despite being an early film, the Wizard of Oz engaged the use of diverse editing techniques. The first scene opens with an absence of color, simply using a sepia tone. This instantly helped set the frame of mind and Dorothy’s overall feeling, the absence of ‘color’ and the issues that she faces while in Kansas. She dreams of someday being ‘over the rainbow,’ and after the twister scene takes place she opens the door to just that. This is the most important transition in the film, and what ultimately makes history. When Dorothy opens the door she is welcomed to a ‘rainbow’ colored world outside, at this point in the film the mood has shifted for this new world Dorothy has found herself in. The shot used to establish her first steps into the Land of Oz was the over the shoulder shot. An over the shoulder shot is a shot from behind the person towards the subject. During this scene the camera was placed behind Dorothy’s right shoulder, making it feel like we are in her shoes, anxious to see what waits on the other side. Next, it begins with a close-up of Dorothy and then slowly moves out to introduce the audience to her surroundings—such as; Munchkinland and the beginning of the yellow brick road. After panning the area, they return back to Dorothy and Toto, using a wide shot, this when she declares “Toto I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.” The next
The narrative begins with Dorothy, who lives on a farm in a black and white setting presuming the absence of vitality and the insufficiency of a place that was in poverty at the time. However, when Dorothy is picked up by a twister and wakes up in the Land of Oz, she finds herself in a completely opposite environment full of life, beauty, and color filled with new found opportunities. On her quest to Emerald City, Dorothy is presented with a few characters who are The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, and The Scarecrow who all feel like they need something more to complete them and they all seek out the “all powerful” wizard to obtain the things they want. The items they yearn for were a brain, a heart, and courage. Three things that we learn to utilize with experiences we go through. The characters eventually realize that they have always had what they have been longing for after the many obstacles they came through on their journey. In the end, Dorothy says, “If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't
Frank Baums, The Wizard of Oz is arguably one of the most popular films made. Even though it was released in 1939, nearly three-quarters of a century ago, the film continues to entertain audiences and speak to them in a personal way. The question that comes to the mind when analyzing this film is: What is it about this film that gives it such timelessness? When reflecting on the film’s timeless qualities, it seems clear the plot is one of the things that enable it to maintain its relevance. Primarily, the plot of The Wizard of Oz is timeless because it is such an excellent example of the heroic journey, both in literally and cinematically. This journey of self-awareness is a metaphor for growth, which is something we all search to discover at some time in our lives.
In relation to occult symbolism, the above quotes have illustrated these features. Toto, the inner voice, led Dorothy along her trek . Glinda, the guide, gave Dorothy the resources to lead her in the direction to what she ultimately desires, a way to return to Kansas. Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion searched for a want or need, while supporting Dorothy. In whole, each of these characters displayed good behavior in assisting the young girl in her exploration to illumination and enlightenment. “Like Dorothy’s journey, ours lead to a better self-understanding and, hopefully, to wisdom. But what does “wisdom” mean? I suspect it consists precisely in having discovered the brightness, the enchantment inside everything we have encountered all our lives.”
The Wizard of Oz was written by L. Frank Baum and was published by George Hill Company on May 17, 1900. The story wasn’t intended to become very popular, but by the year 1956, 3 million copies had been sold. Today, this story remains popular, and is forever considered a classic. In short, the story begins in Kansas with Dorothy and her dog Toto, a cyclone comes and sweeps up the house, landing Dorothy and Toto in the Land of Oz. The house had also landed on top of the Wicked Witch of the East, killing her. Dorothy simply wanting to get back home encounters the Good Witch of the North, who she suggests that Dorothy find her way to the Emerald City, following the yellow brick road, to speak with the Great and Powerful Oz and ask for his help to get back home. On her journey she encounters three characters, the Scarecrow, the Tin man, and the Cowardly Lion. As well as defending herself from the Wicked Witch of the West, attempting to
...lf-confidence. The Scarecrow was the one who believed that he had no brain even with him coming up with brilliant and clever solutions to the many problems that they faced on their journey. The tin man believed that he didn’t have a heart, but cries when bad things are brought upon the creatures they come to encounter. The lion believed that he had no courage even though he was the one brave enough to continue the journey, he always stated how brave he was and pushed forward even when the others did not want to. A famous quote from Carl L. Bankston III of Salem Press stated that "These three characters embody the classical human virtues of intelligence, caring, and courage, but their self-doubts keep them from being reduced to mere symbols of these qualities” (). This is an important quote because it highlights the self-confidence that Baum explored in his story.
Shot 1: Wide shot. View behind Dorothy in black and white. Dorothy opens the door to the color world of Oz. She steps out into Oz and stops. Straight on shot, camera moves into Oz first through the door, followed by Dorothy appearing again in the foreground. Light symphonies playing magical music, birds are singing in the background.
...s. The Scarecrow represents farmers, agricultural workers, ignorant of many city things but honest and able to understand things with a little education. The Tin Man, He represents the industrial worker whose heart has been torn out by the evils of factory work and industrialism. W.J. Bryan embodied the role of the cowardly lion. Bryan was a very loud and booming public speaker but was viewed as a coward because he did not support the Spanish-American war. OZ is the US. The emerald city is Washington D.C. filled with greenbacks and the wizard is the president. Dorothy and her “party” follow the yellow brick way, or gold standard, to find the wizard and fix her problem. When all along they way to fix her problem of how to get back home was to tap her ruby red shoes which were silver thus in the original book thus representing the Populists push for a silver standard.
The Wizard of Oz is the 1939 film musical released by the studio Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer that became a cultural icon defining family entertainment for decades after its initial release. Though it did not turn a profit until 1956 when it aired on television, it has been considered a wide success, spawning several re-releases and sequels. The Wizard of Oz set the precedent for visual effects, innovations Hollywood still utilizes today in an age of computer generated images. The film has stood the test of time with its special effects, paving the way for the future of movie magic.
The first major connection in The Wizard of Oz was the Scarecrow. The scarecrow was used to symbolize the farmers and their struggles in America in the 18th century (Foner, Eric 636-640). The scarecrow made of straw was vulnerable with no brain. The scarecrow had little control over the circumstances he was facing just as the farmers did in the 18th century. The western farmers had issues with overproduction and when prices fell farmers suffered ended up losing their farms (Foner, Eric
The Wizard of Oz the movie demonstrated all three stages Joseph Campbell's theory of the hero’s journey. The first stage or known as the departure of the hero. The hero in the movie is Dorothy. Dorothy’s call to depart is to run away from home to protect her dog Toto from being taken away from her inferior neighbor. While running away Dorothy comes upon Professor Marvel, a fortuneteller. Professor Marvel tells her that her Aunt Em is in danger and needs her assistance back on the farm. When returning to the house a twister hits the ground. As the winds started to get heavier the hero’s house moved across the air uncontrollably, but then she leaves home and enters a new world of talking animals and colorful objects. In the new world of the Oz
After the witch’s threats, the Scarecrow and Tin Man vow to stay with Dorothy. This is when Dorothy feels a familiarity with the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. They are not afraid of the wicket witch. They continue to walk, with the sound of the forest in the back ground, but Dorothy is afraid of meeting wild animals in the forest. Suddenly a lion appears, noisy and acting ferocious; he wants to fight them all. Initially, they are afraid, but Dorothy hits the lion and chastises him; the lion begins to cry and thinks his nose is bleeding. Dorothy calls him a big coward, he agrees and says he even scare himself. They suggest the Wizard of Oz could give the lion courage. He calls himself a dandelion. They head to the wizard to get a heart, a home, a brain, and coverage. The wicked witch of the west is behind the scene making a poison and puts it in the beautiful land scape of miles and mile of flowers. This is an area Dorothy must cross to get to the emerald city. Dorothy and company can now see The Emerald City in the distance. They began to walk across the colorful flowers towards the Emerald City and they can again see the yellow brick road. Dorothy suddenly becomes dizzy and sleepy, her and mentors and allies offers to pull her alone, but Dorothy and Toto and the lion falls asleep. The Tin Man and Scarecrow wants to carry Dorothy when realizing that
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
Red ruby slippers. Green emerald city. Yellow brick road. These are just of the few iconic colors that bring to life The Wizard of Oz film. But before color even gets introduced, we see Dorothy in a monotone world of black and white with a sepia toned film. Set in the middle of Kansas, the viewer gets a sense of boredom and bareness. It seems as if the only people in that whole state are Dorothy, her immediate family and the farmhands! However, after her house gets lifted up and redeposited, she opens the door to a world of Technicolor. Your eyes are shocked as the screen is filled with various bright colors. The colors of Munchkin Land symbolize a vibrant, surreal, dreamlike adventure. It creates moods of happiness and security for the viewer as we are transported back to a world we know; color. In his article Color and Storytelling in Films, Robert Mills says, “Kansas is described as grey and lifeless whilst
The Wizard of Oz is a fiction story written by L. Frank Baum. The story has two main settings. The first setting is, Dorothy’s home, the Kansas prairies. The prairies are described as dry and gray. The second setting is the land of Oz. Oz is opposed from Kansas, it is colorful, bright, and full of joy. The Wizard of Oz has a grate theme or message behind the story. The message is that we all have good qualities in us, but it is up to us to use them.
The biggest and probably most memorable special effect of the movie is the transition from black and white film to color. The film starts in black and white while Dorothy is in Kansas then as soon as she lands in Oz the film magically transitions to color. This was extra unique because during the time it was made, most movies were strictly in black and white. “As a child I simply did not notice whether a movie was in color or not. The movies themselves were such an overwhelming mystery that if they wanted to be in black and white, that was their business. It was not until I saw ‘The Wizard of Oz’ for the first time that I consciously noticed B&W versus color” Here, Ebert expresses just how wowing that effect was to him and how it really added to the movie (Ebert 1). There are so, so many other special effects expressed in The Wizard of Oz like the house getting spun up in the tornado, trees coming to life and throwing apples or a beautiful woman in a beautiful dress traveling by bubble. Frank Nugent from The New York Times makes a comment on these effects “They are entertaining conceits all of them, presented with a naive relish for their absurdity and out of an obvious—and thoroughly natural—desire on the part of their fabricators to show what they could do” even though the gentlemen does almost mock the people in charge of these effects here, he does