Gandalf Off The Bridge example essay topic

Micro Essay Discuss how the micro elements of film making create meaning Meaning is created in film through the use of the micro elements. These elements include cinematography, editing, mise-en-scene and sound effects. Different moods and atmospheres can be created by using different sound affects and different camera angles. The use of low key lighting can make a scene feel like it is set in the night; this is most commonly seen in horror movies. If a director wishes to create a feeling of suspense, there will be close ups of characters faces, to show their anxiety, and the sound will die down until it's silent, so that the slightest noise can be heard by all. On a number of occasions after a chase scene, when it appears the action has died down, the director cuts the dramatic music and zooms in on the protagonist's face.

We can see is he is exhausted and we can hear him breathing heavily. And then suddenly, he looks up and sees the person that was chasing him and sprints off again, accompanied by the dramatic music. I'm going to analyse the way that cinematography and sound effects create meaning in a scene called The Bridge of Khazar-D^um, which occurs in Peter Jackson's 2001 fantasy epic, The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. The sequence begins with the Fellowship sprinting through a large, dark hall in the underground caves of Moria. The only lights are those of Gandalf's staff and 3 torches held by other members of the Fellowship. The darkness is frightening- they can see only a short way ahead of them in all directions, and they know they are being chased.

Huge shadows are cast by the huge pillars that are scattered all over the hall. The size of the hall is shown to the audience through the use of long establishing shots and high angled shots. They show us that there are hundreds of Orcs chasing the Fellowship, but they cannot see them. As they run, we can hear the non-diegetic theme tune playing.

This orchestral piece of music gets played throughout the trilogy of films whenever the Fellowship are about to do something heroic. It tells the audience that something important is about to happen. We can also hear the Orcs shrieking as they chase the Fellowship. They stop running, the music stops playing. There is almost complete silence, but we can hear the heavy breathing from the members of the Fellowship, and the rustling of swords on armour from the hoards of Orcs. There's a pause, no one makes the first move.

The director gives us close ups of several Orcs and of Gimli, to express their anxiousness and tension. Gimli even grunts quite loudly. The pause gets broken by a non-diegetic roaring sound from deep within the caves. It is loud and echoes through the large empty halls and corridors. A bright red light fills up one of these corridors, as we look at it through the use of a long establishing shot. The light is red to represent danger and possibly death.

It is enough to make the Orcs panic and run, shrieking as they go. We get another set of close ups, this time showing Legolas' fear and Gandalf's terror. He whispers to his friends, explaining what the sound is, and then they run off again. More music begins to play - this music is darker with a choir humming loudly in it. The music fades as Orc archers fire arrows at the Fellowship. We hear the sound of the arrows as the zip through the air.

The music gradually fades back in. The Fellowship at this point are trying to get to a bridge. A narrow path is all they have to walk on, but there is a hole in it, and it is getting larger as they reach it. As parts of this path fall, and other pieces of the cave fall we get a series of high angled and low angled shots to emphasise the depth of the hole below. If any of the Fellowship falls, they will not survive; the fiery hall is hundreds of miles deep. We can hear the crumbling of the path and the surrounding cave, interrupted occasionally by the roaring from the giant beast, which we are yet to see.

As they get stuck on this bridge, the audience start to worry about their heroes. How will they get across this narrow path with a huge gaping hole in it, whilst arrows are being fired at them, and whilst a presumably large monster is hot on their tails? We guess that they do get across because there is music playing and heroes never die while music is playing. They die when the music stops so all of your attention is on the death. For a brief moment after the Fellowship cross that hole we hear the theme tune playing again. We watch from a high angle as they sprint towards the bridge.

This shows how small and defenceless they are. Seconds later, after a close up of Gandalf's face we see the beast for the first time. It rises out of the fire surrounding the bridge. We see a close up of the Balrog's face as he roars again.

We then watch from a high angle as they sprint across the bridge. The bridge is very narrow and again there is a huge drop. Gandalf stops in the middle of the bridge, and we watch from a low angle as the Balrog steps on to the bridge. We see from a point of view shot from the rest of the Fellowship that it is about 10 times bigger than Gandalf, but Gandalf defiantly remains where he is.

The music stops. A close up of Gandalf's face follows, as he recites some sort of magic spell, forcing the bridge to collapse where the Balrog stands. We watch from a high angle as it falls, presumably to its death. A close up reveals Gandalf's relief, but then the Balrog's long fiery whip swings up, knocking Gandalf off the bridge. We watch from a high angle as the pair fall.

We hear the sound of Frodo screaming out to Gandalf in slow motion. Gandalf and Frodo have been friends for a long time; this is showed by the elongation of Frodo's scream. The audience is deeply shocked at Gandalf's death because he is one of the heroes; he is the leader of the Fellowship. We are now scared that Frodo won't succeed in his quest to destroy the ring. In conclusion, Peter Jackson has used cinematography well to express the vulnerability and fragility of human life (and elves, dwarves and hobbits). The use of high angled shots in the large hall at the beginning of the sequence and as they cross the bridge at the end of the sequence shows the audience how small humans are, making us feel weak and fragile.

Humans are not indestructible or immortal, as Gandalf's death shows. Jackson's use of close ups shows the audience the emotions felt by the Fellowship, as they flee for their lives, as they mourn Gandalf, their braveness in the face of the Balrog and the hundreds of Orcs that surround them, and the fear in all of their eyes. The use of sound in this sequence also had an affect on the audience. The sound of the constant crumbling of the cave and the path around the Fellowship as they fled to the bridge had the audience on edge. It felt very real, we feared for their lives, especially Frodo and Aragorn when they got momentarily stuck as the hole in front of them widened by more than double its previous size. The roaring of the Balrog every 20 seconds or so was also emotive.

It was getting louder, so we guessed it was getting nearer. It was almost right behind Frodo and Aragorn as they balanced the other side of the huge hole. Peter Jackson's use of the micro elements of film making worked wondrously well in this sequence, and throughout the rest of the trilogy.