Friday, 12 February 2021

Braveheart (1995)

 Braveheart (1995)

Braveheart is a 1995 American epic and historical war film. This film was directed and co-produced by Mel Gibson. The screen was adapted by Randall Wallace and the film also stars Sophie Marceau, Patrick McGoohan as well as Catherine McCormack.




Mel Gibson as William Wallace

 

Sophie Marceau as Princess Isabelle

 


Patrick McGoohan as Longshanks – King Edward 1

 


Catherine McCormack as Murron

 

Plot Summary

William Wallace is a Scottish rebel leading a rebellion against Edward the Longshanks, the ruthless English king, who wants to inherit Scotland's crown for himself. When he was a young child, the father and brother of William Wallace, along with several others, lost their lives attempting to free Scotland. William Wallace begins his long journey to make Scotland free once and for all, along with the help of Robert the Bruce, once he loses another of his loved ones.

 

Cinematography

Cinematography is the art of photography and visual storytelling in a motion picture or television show. Cinematography comprises all on-screen visual elements, including lighting, framing, composition, camera motion, camera angles and other.

Below is the chosen scene to analysis the cinematography elements :

 

Scene of William Wallace Death

Undoubtedly, the scene in which Wallace is being tortured is the climax of the movie, since most of the film is performed using long shots, and the use of close-ups in the scene makes the theme even more prominent.



 The first shot of the film clip is a close-up shot with a bird’s eye view of Wallace in an enormous amount of pain.

 



                    


From Wallace, to the magistrate, and to Wallace's fellow countrymen, the next few shots pan back and forth. From a different camera angle, each shot is shown. A bird's eye view is the view of Wallace. The other view is a view of the magistrate from a low angle, as to indicate a placing of power. A medium to close-up shot is the shot of the countrymen to get all their feelings in the scene and what they are going through as they watch their friend die.

 

      





After William Wallace shouted "Freedom" in these scenes, the camera quickly takes a close-up shot of the King of England (Edward Longshanks) lying on his bed, immediately opening his eyes in amazement at what he had seen. Then the camera makes its way to all the other characters in the film, and each shot is a close-up of their own reactions and perceptions that Wallace is dead. These shots are low in density because they're just the characters' shots and there's nothing around them, just their own reactions.

                     





         

The next shot gives the magistrate gives the okay to kill Wallace. The camera pans back to Wallace, and he turns his head on the table to face the crowd. This shot is a long shot of his two countrymen looking on, and as the film starts to play in slow motion, the background music begins to fade and play softly. Wallace starts seeing his dead wife, who was killed in the film earlier. Behind the two countrymen, she starts walking and makes her way around them so Wallace can get a full view of her. The camera pans into a close-up of Wallace, and because he sees his wife, he starts to have this feeling of calmness for him.

 




 

The last final shots are close ups again. One of the shots was Wallace holding his wife's handkerchief, the other a shot of an axe going down to behead Wallace. Furthermore, there are also shots of Wallace's wife getting closer to Wallace between those shots and smiling at him, giving him peace of mind. To display the strength of the scene, there are three or four shots of each one from various camera views and angles. Wallace drops the handkerchief as the axe finally falls. The audience watches it slowly fall to the ground to signify William Wallace's death.

 

Conclusion

From a viewer perspective, I feel that the soundtrack of this film is masterpiece. The story from the beginning to the end is very epic. Every shot that takes in this film is amazing and I cannot quantify by words. This film also shows me love, friendship, trust, betrayal, and others. Overall, I like this film so much and may watch again another time.


Reference

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braveheart

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112573/

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/film-101-what-is-cinematography-and-what-does-a-cinematographer-do

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-cinematography/

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