Setting plays a large part in how the Amish are presented as again they live in a very remote, basic, pretty place. They are surrounded by blue skies and fields of corn. Also in the film whilst they are at John Books sisters Samuel is in a bed with ‘Garfield’ on it. This shows how simple they are as he doesn’t know who Garfield is. The cartoon character has no relevance in his life.
There is one single barely used road going out of the village, only carts use it and it is the path to the modern world. This is why it is hardly used in the film as the Amish have no need to leave their own close knit community. It also represents that the link between the Amish and the modern world is very small and is rarely used. This I believe would make the audience think that again they have a very basic way of life and that they don’t have any need for the modern world.
The pace of the film varies depending on which culture the director is focusing on at the time. In the city for example just, after the murder, he shows the mother and child in a busy coffee shop with people and cars rushing outside. Also, the police station is very noisy and everyone looks very rushed. When the action transfers to the Amish community the pace of the film becomes much slower. Shaeffer is shown on the front porch swing for example, seemingly having plenty of time. Transport is by horse and carriage, a slow and calm form of transport, and when they are building the barn it is very calm and not frantic activity.
These periods of calm help the director to deliver shocks to his audience by introducing violent and frantic moments into the Amish scene which appear really out of place and heightened because of the contrast. For example, when
the killer is in the grain hold and fires the gun. Guns are not allowed in the Amish community and yet are part of life for many Americans, and when the killer fire the gun this seems particularly obscene as it is so against what the Amish believe in.
The lighting is another major factor in how the Amish are presented as they only use natural light, i.e. candles and lanterns for light, whereas in the modern world they use electricity for light. This shows how basic the Amish community are and how they only like to use natural resources in their lives. The lighting inside the Amish house is always very dim. This may be to show how far behind the Amish are with the modern world. We can see the contrasts of the Amish house with a modern house when Samuel Lapp stays with John Books sister and the whole house is illuminated. The director specifically highlights this by showing the mother and Samuel in the bedroom where they have turned the light off as this is their way of trying to keep with their own lifestyle.
The music is another device that is used in making the film more enjoyable, it also goes in conjunction with how much tension there is building up. This happens when the police officer is murdered. As soon as they jump on him to kill him the music suddenly gets very loud so as to make the audience ‘jump’. Then as the tension lessens so does the tempo and the sound level of the music.
The comic elements of the film are very important as in a thriller film the director sometimes has to find other ways to decrease tension and to make the film more light hearted in certain places so that the audience is not on the end of their seats the whole time. It also helps to catch the audience off their guard so that the director can then start to again increase tension. An example of this is when after the murder, John Book is questioning Samuel, Samuel calls Books partner ‘schumpic’ (a runt). This releases the tension from the murder and now the tension can build up again.
Tension is used to great effect in the film as. As soon as the tension decreases, it then immediately starts to build up again. The director uses this tension in many different ways. One way is when the car comes over the hill near the end of the film. The car symbolises the modern world invading the Amish way of life, and the tension rises as you cannot see the men’s faces. This creates an air of mystery and suspense as to who they are. They then proceed to walk down to the house, they fill up the road to represent that no one can escape the modern world and no one is safe. Also they are wearing suits and smart shoes, which makes them even more out of place as they are on a farm.
The camera technique used in the film is very important as it can give the audience a certain perspective of a character or place. For instance the pull back shot in which we fist see an Amish carriage, then see a huge articulated truck bearing down on it. This represents that the truck is the size of the modern world and the small Amish carriage is the Amish community, which is so much smaller than the modern world. It also shows that the Amish are going to make the modern world come to a stand still as the carriage is holding up the traffic. This is portrayed throughout the film as the thread running through it is the reluctance of the Amish community to become involved in the murder inquiry and yet the inquiry cannot proceed with the only witness, the Amish boy. It is also shown by the desperate measures taken by the chief of police to try and find the witness and kill him so that corruption can carry on. In his view this small, insignificant child and community are holding up something much bigger.
Other ways which the director tries to portray the differences in the significance of the different communities using size, is in the railway station. Samuel is looking up at the statue at the station and we see the shot though both Samuel’s eyes and the statues. This firstly makes the statue seem far bigger than Samuel although it really isn’t. It also represents how the Amish are thought of out of the modern world, small and insignificant.
