Component II-Question I
The director is trying to convey a sense of seriousness throughout the extract. The director wants the audience to feel a melancholy mood. The genre being conveyed is political fiction. The theme behind the extract is that most people need logistics and won’t believe in birthright alone. It means there needs to be more evidence given to convince people to follow someone they don’t know much of. Leaders need to prove themselves ready for people to believe in them. There might be a good cause their fighting for, but without concrete unquestionable facts behind the leader, not many will help them with their goal. The director uses camera angle and movements, sound, editing, and mis-en-scene to deliver the message.
The author’s vision is portrayed in the extract. The camera angles and movements, sound, editing, and mis-en-scene helps viewers visually see the message and hear it. The message is given life once the director uses them.
An aerial shot is used in the first scene of the extract. The aerial shot is the view of the boat entering the shores of a kingdom. The shot revealed were the men on the boat are heading and how small they are compared to their destination. The watchers would feel a sense of insignificance and looking at the shot. The score of the extract is also in this scene. The music starts playing when the boat starts entering the shores of the kingdom. An impending doom is noticed when the music starts playing. The readers are inclined to believe something bad and or serious is going to happen.
Graphic matches are used to give the audience an idea of a place, object, or person. In the third scene, a spartan statue is seen in aerial view, and it jump cuts to the next scene, which is the Iron Bank. Game of Thrones wants people to correlate the strong spartan statue to the Iron Bank. The watchers are persuaded to believe the Iron Bank is unpersuaded by political views and only cares about military strength and logistics.
There are only three main actors in the last two scenes. All the actors in the scenes are men. By having men as the only actors in the scene, the show depicts how misogynistic medieval times were. The viewers notice how only the men are fit to lead. Additionally, the main lighting used in the extract is low key lighting. In the Iron Bank the only lighting is dim. A dark and critical mood can be picked up from the dim lighting in the Iron Bank. The audience can physically see there is a shift in mood from when light is shining on the kingdom compared to the almost darkroom in the Iron Bank. There are no signs that would confuse viewers as to what type of business will be made in the Iron Bank.
The final scene is of the actors having a dialogue. The dialogue is about who should rule on the Iron Throne and the seven kingdoms. A serious conversation is taking place and viewers can pick up the tone and diction used in the conversation. The unfriendly tones lead viewers to believe the discussion is significant and will decide someone’s fate. Dialogue and close-ups are used together. Game of Thrones shows an actor’s face depending on which side is talking. The watchers see how each actor felt when looking at their faces. The director wanted people to know the importance of the discussion based on the actors’ facial features. Multiple shot reverse shots are also used in the last scene. The shots switch to different actors depending on who has command of the situation. This proves who was dominating the conversation and allowed watchers to gauge everyone’s demeanor. The director is trying to persuade the audience to believe in the person who is taking over the exchange.
All these film techniques prove why the director’s vision is about leadership needing to be validated. Leaders need to stand up in what they believe in and not let others push them around. For a leader to be unwavering of their beliefs they need to be serious in important situations. If the mood is always playful, then people will not think that person who wants to be a leader is fit to lead.
