Alignment

Alignment With Character


 

Scene	Are we aligned with Pyle?	Construction – Reference to MICRO and MACRO
Clip One	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.	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.
Clip Two	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.	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.
Clip Three	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.	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.