The Duchess
We watched a short 2 minute clip from the film the Duchess. Straight away the setting of the film told us that it was not set in modern times, the setting suggested a very old time period. This clip included four different settings the streets, the courtyard, the hallway and the bedroom. All four of these settings created a different mood and atmosphere representing the changing feelings of Georgina (Keira Knightly) as her new life begins.
The clip begins with a shot through an archway looking at a carriage. The reason the camera is shown as coming through the arch is because it is showing how the film will be looking through and into Georgina's life.
The camera then proceeds to follow Georgina and the carriage as it goes through the streets of London. As the carriage goes through the streets you see many things. There are many buildings either side of the street, there are also a lot of small and colourful market stalls along the streets. The streets are very busy, crowded and colourful. There is a mixture of greens, browns, greys and blacks, all coming from, various things such as buildings, market stools, mud and grass and the cobbled street.
Throughout this short 30 second clip of the carriage going through the streets we are shown multiple shots of market places. This emphasises how busy and colourful the streets of London are at that time. This also exaggerates the length of the street as it was actually filmed in a studio and the street is completely made up. The camera work in the film makes the street look very long when in fact it's actually quite short. Showing various shots of the market places and clever camera work and angles gives this illusion.
Once the carriage gets of the streets it comes to the courtyard od Devonshire House. This is actually Somerset House but acts as Devonshire House for this scene. The courtyard is shown as very bare and empty, this is a stark contrast to the streets of London that were shown as very busy and over crowded. This shows that the scene of the courtyard juxtaposes the scene in the Streets, another juxtaposition is the colours of the courtyard compared to the streets. The courtyard is all very simple in its colouring and the whole of the Devonshire House is portrayed as being white. This very pure, white, basic setting contrasts the calm, almost majestic like feel of the courtyard compared to the very colourful, vibrant, bustling and quite mad streets.
As well as the opening section of the clip the director also films through arches in two more moments of the clip, as they enter the courtyard and as they enter the house. The reason he does this is to show how the change in setting is like a new part in the journey of Georgina's new life and how we as the viewer are looking through into the new stages of her new life as it begins.
The hallway is portrayed as very big, grand and elaborate yet at the same time there's something very bare and simplistic about it. The hallway its self juxtaposes the image you get of it. You also get the feeling of being overwhelmed, not only because of the size yet simplicity of the hallway but also by Georgina's reaction. She seems very overwhelmed and as someone who hasn't seen the rest of the film I get the feeling that it is a big change to what Georgina is used to and it's a very new start for her.
The last setting of the film is the bedroom, this is big contrast to all other settings in the clip. It is very dark and gloomy and gives an almost sinister feel, furthermore the only colours visible in the room are black/darkness and red. Both these colours, especially red can suggest danger. The bedroom also feels very claustrophobic.
The camera then proceeds to follow Georgina and the carriage as it goes through the streets of London. As the carriage goes through the streets you see many things. There are many buildings either side of the street, there are also a lot of small and colourful market stalls along the streets. The streets are very busy, crowded and colourful. There is a mixture of greens, browns, greys and blacks, all coming from, various things such as buildings, market stools, mud and grass and the cobbled street.
Throughout this short 30 second clip of the carriage going through the streets we are shown multiple shots of market places. This emphasises how busy and colourful the streets of London are at that time. This also exaggerates the length of the street as it was actually filmed in a studio and the street is completely made up. The camera work in the film makes the street look very long when in fact it's actually quite short. Showing various shots of the market places and clever camera work and angles gives this illusion.
Once the carriage gets of the streets it comes to the courtyard od Devonshire House. This is actually Somerset House but acts as Devonshire House for this scene. The courtyard is shown as very bare and empty, this is a stark contrast to the streets of London that were shown as very busy and over crowded. This shows that the scene of the courtyard juxtaposes the scene in the Streets, another juxtaposition is the colours of the courtyard compared to the streets. The courtyard is all very simple in its colouring and the whole of the Devonshire House is portrayed as being white. This very pure, white, basic setting contrasts the calm, almost majestic like feel of the courtyard compared to the very colourful, vibrant, bustling and quite mad streets.
As well as the opening section of the clip the director also films through arches in two more moments of the clip, as they enter the courtyard and as they enter the house. The reason he does this is to show how the change in setting is like a new part in the journey of Georgina's new life and how we as the viewer are looking through into the new stages of her new life as it begins.
The hallway is portrayed as very big, grand and elaborate yet at the same time there's something very bare and simplistic about it. The hallway its self juxtaposes the image you get of it. You also get the feeling of being overwhelmed, not only because of the size yet simplicity of the hallway but also by Georgina's reaction. She seems very overwhelmed and as someone who hasn't seen the rest of the film I get the feeling that it is a big change to what Georgina is used to and it's a very new start for her.
The last setting of the film is the bedroom, this is big contrast to all other settings in the clip. It is very dark and gloomy and gives an almost sinister feel, furthermore the only colours visible in the room are black/darkness and red. Both these colours, especially red can suggest danger. The bedroom also feels very claustrophobic.
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