Free The Giver Essay Sample

Introduction

The film The Giver, was directed by Philip Noyce. In every piece of art, different styles are used to pass a certain message and to ensure that the desired message is passed. Styles are used to add flavor to a piece of art making it interesting and arousing the interest of its consumer. Films employ different visual and audio styles to make them interesting and likeable. The film, The Giver, is not exceptional and is rich with these devices which will be discussed in this paper. There are many styles used in the film and this paper will identify and illustrate them and their use throughout the film.

Color

There are several color used in the film. Color changes from black and white in some flashes to full color in other sections. When Jonah and his friend were attending the nurturing center, the film had a black and white color. On the other hand, Jonah was able to see things in his mind in full color. These changes in color were intentional in the film. First, they signify a bridge between the reality and utopia. The black and white sections were used to show lack of enlightment while the full color section showed enlighten and understanding of the real world. The former showed ignorance and signified darkness, which was cemented by the strict pursue for norms including seeping time, taking of medicine that they did not know the real reasons behind them among other reasons. On the other hand, Jonah was able to receive memory and vividly see a real world that was full of violence, cruelty, joy and emotions. At the same time, black and white color signified oppression. The people were not allowed to freely express themselves, since any defiance from the norms of the society were monitored, including instant warnings either through remote voices or through warnings from parents. After sliding from the high building, Jonah held hands with his friend but was quickly reminded of avoiding it. The colored photos, on the other hand, showed freedom where boys and girls could kiss and love each other, and tell each other about it.

Camera Tilting

The cameras used in the production of the film have taken different angles and heights to give different angles and meanings of the film. There are straight shots, moving cameras and even overhead cameras. During the graduation ceremony, the camera movement captures the Giver when the others were clapping by tapping their thighs excitedly. The camera movement focused on his palm tapping the thigh, then moved to his face, which showed him deep in thought and not really concentrating on the claps. The movement of this camera was highly significant because it showed the difference between knowledge and lack of it. The Giver, at the time, was listening to the story of the White Lady explaining how their predecessors conquered evil to create order. As the only one person who knew the memories of the previous world, he was the only one who looked bemused because even the other old men looked excited. He probably feels that more oppressive restrictions were introduced to govern the people rather than the order they lived in. The movement of the camera created the image of deception and untruthfulness of the governing team that included the Giver who knew the truth about the past.

At the start of the film, a master shot is taken to show the details of the land, zooming out from Jonah and his friends to eventually show their whole land, suspended in what seems like clouds. On the shot, there is a sophisticatedly designed building and drones zooming past the shot, showing the richness in architecture and technological advancement of the small land. As the camera zooms out, the voice (Jonahs) explains the equality on their land, and how their fathers fought against discrimination in order to create a perfect world. The master shot of the entire land depicts it as suspended in clouds, signifying a small heaven, which is symbolically beyond clouds according to some religions today. Therefore, it is expected that life in this heavenly land is perfect, thus creating a utopia.

Narration

Jonah is the narrator for most of the film. He introduces the Ruins and the new world that their society lived in. This introduction was necessary to give the viewer an understanding of the background and origin of the unusual country. The Ruins created a boundary between this new country and the evils from the previous regime. The narration quickly gives a snippet understanding of the past without having to show the information because the film wishes to focus on the life on the land today and not before the Ruins.

The narration also provides the viewer with a quick view over the current life. The short sentences that explained the life not only oozed finality, but also the simplicity and rigidity of the lives of the people on the land. Further, the fact that the narrator was to become the most powerful receiver makes it even more captivating because it shows the viewer that they would get a full understanding of the story because it was told by the boy who was privileged to know everything. The style creates a mood of the need for liberation. When the narrator talks of how scared he was before the gradation, it shows that some of the rituals on the land were not welcome and caused anxiety. Despite the order and accuracy of the social systems, anxiety remained with the people which showed that they were still humans after all. Simply, the narration explains that no matter what happens to human beings, some things would never change about them.

Continuity

Continuity refers to the ability for a film to have many pieces connected together to give one credible story. The film has different characters at different locations and doing different activities, but the story is joined to fit into one. The story of the ruins and the world before that is given through revelations whenever Jonah touches the Giver. The evil of the lady in charge of the community is delivered through change of scenes, either to give instructions or to bridge gaps whenever information seems not to flow properly.

It is however ironical that the lady, who can manage to move from one location to another without necessarily moving physically cannot be able to find Jonah when he hides behind a cabinet. She seems powerful and uses sophisticated equipment in her work, but she failed to track Jonah who ran away using a bike. These are a few continuity problems with the film, alth9ugh the rest remains watertight and well expressed. However, these inabilities by the lady could have signified the fall of evil. It meant that no matter how powerful one is, there is always a limit to that power, especially the power of evil. The continuity in these scenario have been deliberately left to be because they have a strong message of good defeating evil. Jonah had the will to do good and save a baby who faced imminent death. He only had his bicycle but still managed to run away from the community and saved the entire group.

Use of Dreams

Dreamsare part of life and are often used in movies and films to bring out certain meanings. Jonah dreamt being stung by a bee. Further after kissing Fiona, he said in his narration that he had dreamt of her when he was younger. In this case, there was a strong message that human beings make connections with their other selves either with knowledge or without. After the knowledge about some of the past, Jonah naturally kissed Fiona and even felt love for her. This meant that a connection with humanity is irresistible no matter the level of sophistication. Twice did Jonah dream ad twice did his dreams actualized and connected with the reality.

Mise en Scene

This concept shows the aspects that are revealed by a camera within the area it captures. It has been used in the film to explain many aspects, including evil, deception and good among the people. Jonah was chosen to do good as was captured during the graduation ceremony when the community leader forgot to assign him a responsibility. His choosing brought excitement to the Giver who was eager to find a strong-willed person who was ready to rescue the people from the bondage of lack of knowledge. The advancement of technology, evil of the ruler of the community as well as the willingness of the Giver to offer help to Jonah shows contrast in human behavior.

Conclusion

Stylistic devices increase the flavor of any piece of art. Although films try to mimic what happens in real life, they need to add something exceptional in order to ensure that the people watching will have more interest than they would observing a person in real life. The styles used in the film creates suspense and interest, thus making them an integral part of film-making. The Giver is an example of how creativity is masked in different styles to make it emerge and look like real life, albeit more interesting.

 

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