*WE had to explain how film techniques were used to portray themes and values
Film Study
Society still tends to show prejudice against those who are different. Films which ridicule such prejudice and abuse benefit society.
Erin Ireland
Education Queensland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Mean Girls
Date: 21/10/11
Contents page
Page 1...........................................................Title Page
Page 3...........................................................Summary
Page 4...........................................................Plot summaries
Page 5-6........................................................Discussion
Page 7………………………………………………………Recommendations
Page 8...........................................................References/Bibliography
Summary
In this report we will be analysing two films that can be studied in schools that show students how people who are not considered normal or are different in any way have trouble fitting into society and therefore get treated badly. Using the films Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows a Warner Brothers film directed by David Yates and Mean Girls a Paramount film directed by Lorne Michaels we will see how film makers use certain film techniques to convey themes of the film. These are both very popular films and would be great for analysing film techniques. However as both of these films are rated M they should not be viewed until the students are in high school and the students should have parental permission since Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows may have themes that conflict with certain world views
Plot summaries
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows:
In this film Harry Potter is a 17 year old boy who is on the run from the most feared dark wizard of all time (Lord Voldermort), with his best friends Ron Weasly and Hermione Granger. Harry is considered to be different because he has a scar on his forehead which connects him to Lord Voldermort. Voldermort does not like this connection and therefore wants Harry dead and because the entire wizarding world is following Voldermort at the time they are all willing to help. Harry, Ron and Hermione spend the next year hiding from Lord Voldermort and the rest of the world while at the same time trying to find a way to defeat Voldermort.
Mean Girls:
The movie Mean Girls is about a middle school girl Cady (pronounced Katy) who moves from South Africa to America, she has been home schooled all her life and now she has to try and fit in, in a normal American school. At first she really struggles to fit in and doesn’t understand the teacher student relationship but the longer she is there the more she believes she is fitting in, however what she doesn’t realise is that she is slipping in to the typical American poplar mean kid stereotype and as she does that people begin to hate her even more. Throughout the whole film every time someone is angry or upset with her and wants to be nasty they always resort back to making mean jokes about where she came from and her weird way of life.
Discussion
Themes and value:
In Harry potter and the Deathly Hallows the theme is about a young man who is out cast because he is different and it is his story of how he struggles against society to defeat complete evil. The values that create this theme are prejudice, fear, abuse and loneliness. The theme in Mean Girls is a girl who has been moved away from her home and tries to fit in her new environment, the film shows her making mistakes because she is getting miss treated and she does silly things to try and fit in. The values that create this film are also fear, abuse loneliness and prejudice.
Fear:
In Harry Potter there is a scene where Hermione nearly gets caught by snatchers in this scene there is no non-diegetic sound, this makes it obvious to us that it essential for Hermione to be completely quiet because the snatchers are listening hard for any sounds and as she is an outcast and a person they are looking for, having them being aware of her presence could be potentially fatal. The diegetic sound in this scene consists of Hermione’s heavy breathing, this shows that Hermione is very aware of what may go wrong and is scared.
There is a scene in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows When Harry, Ron and Hermione are walking through a field, we see this from a bird’s eye view showing us they are all alone in the field and it also shows us that they are small and insignificant. This shot type is also used just before the battle, there is a bird’s eye shot of Harrys army followed by a birds eye shot of Voldermorts army clearly showing that Voldermorts army is much bigger and that people would rather follow Voldermort than support Harry because they are too scared to go against Voldermort.
Loneliness:
A slow motion special effect is used in Harry Potter when Harry is in the forbidden forest to meet Voldermort, he knows he is going to die and as he walks and thinks about his life he is walking at a normal pace and everything around him is in slow motion. This is him realising that everyone else’s life is going to continue as normal and his is about to end. He is the only one moving at normal pace and the rest of the world is slow motion showing us that he is all alone and separated in his journey.
In Mean Girls there is a fight between Cady, Damien and Jenas-Ian. It occurs at night and Jenas and Damien drive away leaving Cady alone in the darkness. Darkness symbolises loneliness therefore when we see Cady standing by herself in complete darkness we can naturally tell that she feels very lonely and like no one wants anything to do with her.
Loneliness is also represented this way in Harry Potter when Harry is standing alone in the graveyard at night. He can’t see anything around him apart from his parents’ grave stones and is worried that he is being watched by death eaters, he has no one but himself to rely on and keep him safe and the lake of light enforces that.
Prejudice and abuse (mistreatment):
There is use of non-diegetic sound in mean girls when Cady realises that something that someone said to her that she thought was nice was actually not. Regina tells Cady that she likes her bracelet Cady says thanks and walks away. Later in the film Cady sees Regina and her friends at the shops and hears her tell a girl she likes her skirt and as she walks away Regina says “that is the ugliest f’in skirt I have ever seen.” At this point Cady flashes back in her mind to when this was said to her and realises that she was being mistreated as usual.
In Mean Girls when Cady (Lindsay Lohan) first introduces herself, the camera angels down when she is speaking and up when the other person is speaking. This give the impression that Cady is less important and the person she is speaking to is more superior. A little bit later in the film it is lunch time and nobody will let Cady sit with them, as she walks around looking for a lunch table she is in the middle of the screen, as we know from the rule of thirds this position makes the character look out of place and awkward which is exactly how Cady would be feeling when she’s treated like this.
In Mean Girls we clearly see prejudice in diegetic sound when Karen says rudely “If you’re from Africa why are you white?”
We see prejudice in Harry Potter when Hermione is held at knife point simply because she is a muggle born. We are shown how she feels through a bird’s eye view which gives the feeling of being small and insignificant.
Elaboration:
In both of these films we are led to believe that the person who is different is worthless compared to the ‘normal’ people, this is shown to us not only from the dialog but from film techniques such as camera angel, shot size, screen position, diegetic and non-diegetic sound.
Recommendations
I believe after analysing these films that they should be studied in Queensland secondary schools to show the students that people become outcasts and are treated badly because they are different. It is clear that these films portray their themes well by using cinematic techniques to support the dialog and actions between the characters. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and Mean Girls also have characters that the students will be able to connect with as they have a lot of similar problems as teenagers do today. This connection will help them understand that the people who are different and miss treated do have quite a few characteristics that they would consider normal. I believe this film will help students understand the way people are treated for their differences and see that these people really aren’t as different as they are thought to be and therefore treat people better knowing that underneath there appearance there is a perfectly normal person.
References/Bibliography
· Mean Girls 2004, Paramount pictures, Lorne Michaels
· Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallow 2011, Warner brothers pictures, David Haymen (hayday films.)
· Film techniques handout, Mr Bogan
· How to write a report handout, Rachelle Salkaled
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