Music plays an important role in creating the atmosphere of the film, in the battle scene the music takes a slow pace as the soldiers prepare, here the music takes centre stage as there is no dialogue. When the battle begins the music takes a faster pace and is accompanied by the sounds of the battle even pausing completely for some particularly dramatic moments where the cries and screams of the soldiers are the only noises heard. At the end of the scene the music is slow and sad and moves into the foreground once more.
The props and costumes used in the film are very realistic, the uniforms of the Roman soldiers even paying attention to the persons rank and wealth, with Maximus a senior officer and quite wealthy wearing a fur over his uniform, and the barbaric Germanians not wearing uniforms or battle armour at all. The armour is dented and bashed and swords have imperfections which adds furthermore to the films attention to detail. The costumes for the Emperor and the royal family are also very realistic with lots of jewellery and crowns.
Many filming techniques are used in the film to create different moods and atmospheres. In the opening scene a yellow/gold filter is used to add warmth to the image of the cornfields while close-up shots make the viewer pay particular attention to certain details for instance the close up shot of Maximus’ hand showing a wedding ring. In the forest a blue filter is added to the battle scene to create a feeling of cold while panoramic and panning pictures show both the advancing, chaotic Germanic army and the very organised Roman army. In the same scene close up shots are used at the same time as a pause in the music to add dimension and drama to the point where the leaders of the two armies meet in battle.
Empire of the sun tells the story of how a young English boy’s sheltered and privileged life in Shanghai comes abruptly to an end when the Japanese invade the city during the war between the two countries in the mid 20th century. During his families evacuation of the city Jim is separated from his parents in a crowd and eventually captured by the Japanese and put into a prison camp.
In the films opening scene music again plays an important part as you watch a coffin floating on a river, the music is slow and choral. As the coffin remains the focus of the viewer’s attention a Japanese military ship drives straight through the middle of the river where other coffins are also floating, the shot then changes to Jim’s school choir, the source of the music in the background.
Costumes in this film are again able to illustrate wealth and power to the viewer only with one other factor, race. While the English wear suits and expensive dresses the Chinese wear much poorer clothes, both types of which are realistic.
Props too are realistic, from the grandeur of Jim’s English style home to the bareness of the Japanese prison camp where he is taken.
There are similarities in the films plots such as the uniforms of the Roman and Japanese army and the clear illustration of order and chaos, with the very organised Roman army and the advancing chaotic barbarian army in gladiator and the order of the Japanese army and the fleeing crowd in Empire of the Sun. Although the main characters of the two films could not be more different in appearance and background their situations are very similar, both have been separated from their families and both have been imprisoned through no fault of their own.
The filming techniques used in gladiator are effective as are the techniques used in Empire of the Sun but they make the films appeal to different audiences. In Empire of the Sun the film is seen through the eyes of Jim which brings his thoughts and feelings to the viewer in very direct way. In Gladiator there is a lot of sudden contrast, from the warmth of the cornfields to the starkness of the forest in the battle scene. In the film the battle scenes are in much more depth and more dramatised bringing more action to the film and making it more fast paced and more appealing to a younger audience.
