At the start of the scene the teacher is talking in a very confident voice, he is very assertive and calm. The camera angle also reflects this, as it is set at the back of the class from the perspective of a pupil, it shows all the pupils looking at the teacher. This acts as a total contrast to what he used to be like when he had his stutter. This also makes the end of the scene seem more emotional as we see the teacher lose his temper by smashing down on the table and begin stuttering.
Throughout the scene a boy is writing lines on a blackboard. The image and sounds that this can create are put to good use to add to the meaning and to create emotions in the viewers. When Cole says about how people used to be hanged in the building the boy writing on the blackboard suddenly halts, this movement creates a screech of the chalk against the board. It’s a harsh sound. It shows the mood and feel of the scene has changed. This s because before we had the constant noise of the chalk against the blackboard but after the screech the noise has stopped creating a more uncomfortable atmosphere. The harshness of the sound also mirrors the harshness of what Cole had just said.
Another use of the blackboard is to show the downwards spiral of the teacher’s confidence. Where the boy had stopped writing on the blackboard and began looking at what was going on a line had been drawn going almost directly downwards where he was not thinking about what he was doing. This reflects how the teacher’s confidence is going down and how the teacher had no control over it or what he was doing.
At the climax of the scene where the teacher loses his temper the camera is off centre. This creates an uneasy feel to the scene, which is how the teacher and other pupils are feeling. It also reflects how the teacher is off balance from his normal behaviour. This helps you to empathise with the teacher and get a glimpse at what he is feeling.
Altogether the director uses many techniques to make the scene more emotional for the viewers. He used camera angles to show what the characters feel; there are ongoing images and sounds of a blackboard, which reflect what is being acted. Without these features the scene would be less dramatic and not have the desired effect to make the film into what the director wants.
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