Film essay

The sequence of the movie that I have decided to focus on is the preparation and battle scene at the beginning of the movie in Germania. In total the whole the scene takes approximately 11 - 13 minutes. I decided to use this scene because it is my favourite section of the film and it also has so many elements for me to discuss.

The battle scene in Gladiator is a great example of how mise-en-scene can create meaning within a motion picture. The director, Ridley Scott, has given a greater meaning to the film using his techniques that he has used so many times before in other block busters such as Alien and Blade Runner . These techniques such as clever uses of camera work, lighting styles, sound effects, computer generated images (CGI) and editing have added to the scene in making it more emotional and moving.

The scene begins with the troops along with Maximus preparing for the battle. Immediately you feel a sense of eeriness because of the colour of the surroundings. Everything has a touch of blue about it making you feel very cold and wet. The music from the start is moving, you can tell that something important and frightening is about to happen in the not too distant future The use of the music in this scene is an example of parallel sound where the music you hear is reflecting the narrative and what's going on within the scene, I believe that the build up of music would be similar to the warriors heart beat, getting faster and faster as the battle draws closer and they know what is going to happen to most of them. I feel that the music is portraying them as heroes at this point. The music is drowned out by the clunking of weapons at certain points leading up to the battle. The chanting of the Germans in the woods echoes and adds a sense of horror, the noise that you hear of the Germans is also diagetic because it’s still a part of the narrative despite not actually appearing visually on the screen. After this point the music changes and begins to get stronger and louder. The build up of the music is a great effect and without it the scene would be lacking as it adds so much suspense and tension. During this scene of all the preparation of the battle it just mainly shows the Roman troops preparing their weapons while the Germans just stand around each other clashing there weapons together and drumming their swords against their leather shields which is creating the beat of the music, not showing any sort of organization, this all shows what may happen in the battle and that the Germans shall lose.

With the battle begun it suddenly shows the Germans begin killed straight away with fire arrows the Romans lighted and lighted catapult munitions, the editing of this part shows the frantic start of the battle for the German warriors because a large amount of the men are dying at the start, this proves my point earlier about the Germans being unprepared for the battle compared to the Roman soldiers. With a signal the Roman soldiers start moving forward slowly in their ranks, this is showing that the Romans are calm about the battle as well as being organized. While with the Germans warriors charging very disorderly, creating the feel that aren't very organized compared to the Romans for the battle.

With the battle well under way the editing has got very fast to show how confused you can get if you was there and how panicky it is with all the sharp and quick cuts from, there also a panning POV shot from Maximus when he is hit this is also shown by the music getting more fast paced but is not as loud because you can hear the shouting of all the soldiers and warriors from both sides. While the battle is still going it shows two different camera shots, the first camera shot is a pan along a dazed which I have already mentioned, the next shot is a crane shot over the battle to show what is happen between the Romans and the Germans but with that shot both of the armies showing the audience that the battle is very much still underway.

At the end of all the fighting you see Maximus stand over the dead bodies from the battle with some of his fellow soldiers. Then you see emperor Ceaser sigh of relief, showing that he is glad to see Maximus alive with non-daigitec music playing as well which is calm and normal sounding suggesting that that the battle is now over and that Maximus and his army are the victors of the battle over the Germans.