Editing, Cinematography, and Sound in Gladiator Essay -- Papers

Editing, Cinematography, and Sound in Gladiator The film that I have chosen to analyse is Gladiator. I have chosen to analyse the scene where the gladiators are battling in the Middle East. The scene contains many features and editing techniques which make the fight sequence exciting and thrilling. The scene begins with a medium high angle shot of a goat with blood dripping down its body. This shot frames the body of the goat and gives it a sense of vulnerability. The shot creates meaning to the viewer who can predict that the scene might contain violence or bloodshed of some sort. The camera then zooms outward into an establishing shot to give the viewer an idea of the setting. The mise en scene conveys the setting, which is in the desert, the costumes are distinctive of the Middle East and to accompany this there is non diegetic Middle Eastern music. All of these aspects of mise en scene and the camera shot completely give the viewer an idea of the setting. The title of the film is Gladiator, from this the viewer would expect the film to be set in Rome, but these features are put together to highlight that the setting is not in Rome. The desert and Middle Eastern music are not typical features of Rome. The props and setting also convey the genre of the film. The genre is a historical adventure and although the scene is not set in Rome there are features such as the coliseum and chariots which suggest to the audience that the film is set in that particular time period. The props i.e. the armour plating, swords, and battle axes are also distinctive to the genre. The establishing camera shot in which all of this is shot is al... ...feels the battle as a haze. The music then begins to go quieter and at this stage the 360ËÅ ¡ shot turns to the crowd instead of Russell Crowe and here the camera begins to become dark and unclear, this is where the next scene begins. This use of the 360ÂÂ ° is effective as it ends the scene mysteriously. The shot is fast and distorted leaving the viewer longing for more exciting and thrilling battles. And because the scene is early on in the film, the viewer could predict more battles to come after the mysterious and distorted ending. In conclusion, the scene contains many camera and editing techniques such as low and high angle shots, quick speed and order of editing and the camera shot behind the netting. All of these shots created a specific meaning to the audience and are intended to create a specific response.