The light and colour plays a big role in persuading the audience into believing that the Romans are defending their country and the Germainians are invading. He does this by using light and optimistic colours for the Romans and dark and pessimistic colours for the Germainians.
At this point in the movie there is a gold and yellow colour which makes it dreamlike. Gold and yellow are the colours of dreams. This is good because it misleads the audience into believing that it is a flashback or a dream. When there is a sudden change in colour from gold and yellow to blue. This is good because it shows the unpleasantness of reality and makes the audience feel sorry for Maximus. Ridley Scott adds red to the scene when I robin appears on a dead tree branch. The red on the robin is a light red; red is a positive colour so we think about positive things and like the roman side. When we see the Germainians come out of the forest there is a black colour which makes it really hard to see the Germainians. This makes us not like the Germainians because black in this film is seen as a negative colour because it is in contrast with the flashback or dream. When the battle has started we see gold and yellow of the fire and the Romans are filling the landscape with this positive colour. We think that’s it’s a positive colour because of the dream or flashback. We like the Romans for this because although they are killing people and burning them we like them because of this positive colour that they are using. When there is a slow-motion we see gold and yellow on the Romans. This make the audience feel as though the right side has won the battle.
The film Gladiator is a story about Maximus, a Roman general, whose dedication has helped expand and strengthen the Roman Empire. We meet the character Maximus preparing for battle against the Germainians, who are shown as barbarians. Maximus who is separated from his wife and son for more then 3 years, longs to go back home to his family although the emperor Marcus Aurelius Caesar has other plans for him.
Maximus is the only character in the film that the audience are invited to care about as an individual. We care about him because of the way the camera shows his strength, intelligence, his spirituality and his sensitivity. We are shown Maximus’ sensitivity almost as soon as we see him for the first time. We are shown a close-up of a robin on a dead tree branch, the camera cuts to Maximus, who watches it fly away and smiles at the bird. He does this despite the fact that he is about to fight in a battle. At the beginning of the film right after the opening credits we see a hand of Maximus running through the fields. This hand has a ring on it so we know that he’s married. So when we see him preparing for battle we want him to stay safe because we know that his death will matter and his wife would become a widow. Also when the hand is going through the fields you hear a child laughing. This tells the audience that the Maximus is married and has a child. This make the audience want him to survive in the battle over the barbarians because we don’t want a child to lose a father and we don’t want his wife to become a widow. We are shown his caring and passionate side because we know that he is married. When we see Maximus walking through his soldiers there is a tracking shot from his point of view. This makes us feel as he is feeling at that moment. Also all of his comrades are saluting him even though Maximus is going to be ordering them to their death. All of his comrades have a tremendous amount of respect for him; this makes the audience have a lot of respect for him as well. Just before the battle begins we see the power of Maximus when he says “At my signal, unleash hell,” this makes the audience think that he can control the fires of destruction. We see Maximus’ spirituality before the battle when he’s sitting down and picks up some soil and prays over it. This makes the audience feel as though he is going to be okay in the battle and they are going to triumph over the barbaric Germainians.
In the film we are shown a Roman side and a Germainian side of a battle, because we are shown more of the Roman side we want them to win. We are shown the Romans organized, sophisticated in technology and friendly to each other. Meanwhile on the other hand we are shown nothing like this with the Germainian side
Ridley Scott succeeds in convincing the audience into believing that the Roman army aren’t the aggressors and the Germainians are in the wrong. Ridley Scott succeeds in doing this by using sound, music, colour and light effectively. The contrast between the Romans and the Germainians are clearly shown. He makes us like the Roman side by making them look more civilised and calm. In the film the Romans speak in English so we can understand everything that they’re saying. Meanwhile the Germainians are made to look barbaric by the alien language that they speak. The way that the Germainians are made to shout makes the audience feel uncomfortable and dislike the Germainians because they seem as if they are in the wrong. The Romans seem like the civilised side to the war because they speak in English, this is good makes the audience feel as if they can relate to the characters and they don’t feel alien to the audience either. The colours used for the roman side is much brighter and have hints of red which makes us like them more and want them to win because those colour make them seem more heroic. On the other hand for the Germainians he has used dark colours such as black and so you can’t see them clearly, this makes the Germainians look barbaric. The colour black can be used to make the Germainians look good or bad but, in this film the colour black is used to make them seem evil, because black is associated with evil we automatically don’t like them. Ridley Scott shows us more about Maximus then he shows about anyone else which makes us like him as an individual. The music for the roman side is more in tune and more heroic which make them seem superior to the audience. Meanwhile for the Germainians Ridley Scott has made to music out of tune and tone deaf to make us not like the barbaric Germainians.
The film Gladiator has helped me become more aware of the different techniques used by directors to manipulate the audience into believing what the director wants them to believe. It’s important not to take films for face value because the directors manipulate you to believe what they want you to. Also the film might not be historically accurate.
By
Kanwerbir Singh
Khalsa