Alignment With Character
Scene
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Are we
aligned with Pyle?
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Construction
– Reference to MICRO and MACRO
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Clip One
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Yes – We
are aligned with Pyle because of the bullying. The scene is Central imaging,
where the spectators feel aligned with Pyle. We feel sorry for him, as the
sergeant insults him and chokes him in front of the whole batch. Especially if anyone has experienced any
sort of bullying in their lifetime, would align themselves more. A- Central imaging is probably also used in
this scene because the sergeant makes Pyle choke himself, evoking a physical
response from the audience, causing them to cringe at his physical torment.
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The
cinematography aligns us with Pyle, as if we’re observing from the sergeants
perspective. It looks like we are watching over his shoulder. The editing
works with this also as most of the scene if of Pyle’s torment, further
aligning us. The diegetic sound aligns us with Pyle due to the way the
sergeant speaks to Pyle. This causes us to sympathise with Pyle. This gives
the spectator a preferred reading and sympathising, which is what the director may want from of his audience. Some spectators may empathise with Pyle, if they have been through the experience of being bullied themselves.
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Clip Two
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Yes – We
are aligned with Pyle because of the insult and the bully that the sergeant
done with him. Apart from that, the comrades from his batch physically
bully/abuse him, which makes the spectators feel more aligned with Pyle,
which is Central imaging. Some of the spectators may however sympathise with
Pyle’s ‘comrades’ who experience torment due to Pyle’s greed.
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The
non-diagetic sound strengthens the military/army genre. The narrative presents an underdog story, perhaps causing the spectator to believe that
Pyle may begin to come over some of the obstacles, which is want the spectator
might want if they are aligned with him. The mise-en-scene at the end of this
scene seems to present Pyle as a child due to his costume, the doughnut Pyle
is eating and the prop of the hidden doughnut itself. A child who is alone and is psychologically being tortured, as well as physically.
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Clip Three
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In this
particular scene, we (spectators) are aligned with Pyle until he shoots the
sergeant, which is A-Central imaging. The first two scenes might be preferred
reading, where as this scene would be either negotiated or oppositional. The
spectator could not align themselves with Pyle when he goes insane at the
end, killing the sergeant. Spectators may not align themselves with Pyle
because they may believe morally that killing is wrong, which it is. Central
imaging is also used at the end when Pyle kills himself, the audience may
align with Pyle and maybe Pyle’s comrade, as all he wanted to do was to help
Pyle, rather than what the sergeant attempted to do.
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The Mise-en-scene
creates Pyle’s and the Sergeants death scene, bringing a clouded resolution
to the narrative. This may have caused spectators to take an oppositional
reading to this film if they feel themselves aligned with Pyle, believing
his death was possibly unjustified.
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