November 24th, 2022

Taking a deeper look into the visuals cinema can use to create specific emotions and responses. In this example I use Citizen Kane, The boy in the Striped Pajamas, and The Champion. No need to have seen these movies.

In Image #1 from Citizen Kane, you can see a gorgeous, large, and rich castle behind a strong, wrought iron fence. It is so close that even in the dark of night you can see the details of windows and count the towers. The fence, however, stretches across the entire screen, and despite its large, decorative holes, it is clear there is no entrance possible.

I compare this picture with Image #1 from my Movie of Choice, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. In this image from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Shmuel is close enough to Bruno that he can converse with him and play checkers. However, even though he could clearly climb through the holes of the barbed wire fence, he doesn't dare even touch the checker pieces for fear of getting shot.

My analysis of Image #2 from Citizen Kane is a little simpler. In Image #2 we see a fence and nothing else. Fog covers any image we might have been able to see and all you can see is a barrier or impossible obstacle. The lattice pattern holes and thin wire almost seem to taunt us into wanting to overcome the obstacle, but because of the thick fog, unknown dangers could be waiting on the other side. In this image, fear is what is causing us not the overcome the fence.

Comparing this image to Image #2 from my Movie of Choice, The Champion, Fear is the key factor hindering escape in this image as well. The large gaps between the barbed wire taunt us into wanting to escape with nothing but a few gashes, but the armed nazi guard reminds us that the fence is the least of our worries. If we do escape, what then? Past the fence is open, fruitless land, with no shelter for hiding during an inevitable pursuit.