How does Ridley Scott (the director of Gladiator) persuade the audience that the Romans are on the side of good and that the Germainians are wrong to defend their country?

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How does Ridley Scott (the director of Gladiator) persuade the audience that the Romans are on the side of good and that the Germainians are wrong to defend their country?

Father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife and commander of the armies of Rome, loyal to the true emperor Marcus Aurelius Caesar, he is Maximus Decimus Meridius. In 180 A.D the Roman Empire was expanding through the entire of Europe at the hands of Marcus Aurelius. Ridley Scott uses sound and music effectively to manipulate the audience into believing that the Romans are on the side of good and the Germainians are the intruders. He uses his directing skills to persuade the audience that the Romans are not invading but defending their country. Ridley Scott pays particular attention to the small and minor details such as bringing in a small amount of brown and red in the mise en scene.

Music plays a big role in convincing the audience into believing that the Romans are the good side and the Germainians are the invading side. If there was no music then we wouldn’t care as much about the Roman side as we would with the music. He does this by playing heroic music and music that flows for the Romans and playing barbaric and out of tune music for the Germainians. This makes the audience prefer the Romans form the Germainians. As they prefer the better sounding music and don’t like the music for the Germainians because it sounds like noise.

When the opening credits are showing the music is peaceful, calm but at the same time has a sense of mystery and is leading up to something big or important, this makes the audience feel anxious about what is going to happen next. At the time when the man is running his hands through the fields, the music is slow-paced, quiet and peaceful. This makes the audience feel a little confused because they don’t know who that person is yet. This is good because it makes the audience feel as if it was a flash back or a dream. When there’s a jump cut to the battle field the music changes from quite a slow tempo to quite a fast tempo and also becomes more dynamic. The music is quite heroic and tells the audience that the Romans will triumph over the Germainians. When the Germainians come out of the forest the music stops and gradually starts making unpleasant sounds which make the Germainians seem barbaric. The sudden change in music makes the audience not like the Germainians because the music is out of tune and this makes the Germainians seem worse then they actually are. At the point in time when Maximus picks up soil, rubs it on his hands and says a prayer the music changes to become warmer. This makes the audience believe that the Romans are going to be the victors and Marcus Aurelius is going to be fine.

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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 ...

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