In the film, John Book’s car and gun which are seen to represent America as dominant and the involvement of authority, power and violence within the American community, are disapproved of in the Amish community and are hidden away and treated as an invasion of Amish culture. This is also shown because of the way Rachael holds the gun; gingerly at arms length showing her uncertainty and lack of confidence for this foreign object. The name tags that the American police officers wear enforce the idea of the lack of communication in the fast-moving modern environment and the T.V. advertisements represent the ability in American culture to take advantage and to manipulate people in to thinking ideas and doing certain things. The American flag is important in symbolising American culture as it is big, bold and colourful and this shows the nature of America in general.
Differences are also illustrated when John Book (wearing Amish clothing) is stood next to the coke machine, and it is plain to see that the two just don’t mix with the plain clothing of the Amish contrasting vastly with the bright coke machine. The raising of the barn displays the good sense of community spirit and comradeship between the Amish people and the construction of the barn is completed using traditional and natural materials such as wood and tools such as the hammer and nails, again referring back to the concept of environmentally friendly methods and a natural way of life. In general the Amish are represented by objects that signify meanings such as nature, traditional, old-fashioned and peaceful, whereas in contrast to this, modern America gains its reputation from objects that promote technology, artificial and convenience. Objects like these are brought into contrast to illustrate how much they vary and how each culture has their own individual opinions and ideas on effective methods, principals and beliefs.
Dress and appearance are important in the film, as they are the most prominent visual aspect of the film leading to the audience easily being able to recognise the differences and to relate them to ideas or opinions of the two cultures. The idea of the plain and simple Amish community is reflected in what they wear. All the men wear similar clothing to each other, as do the women and children (much like the system employed in schools world-wide, where competition is cut out). This gives a uniform sense of identity to the community, and although this may seem harsh, the Amish do this as they believe that it eliminates competition and that its one less hassle to worry about from everyday life.
The Amish clothing is old-fashioned, plain and simple, with subdued colours and no proud objects such as buttons or zips (very much a modern American idea). The men wear top hats, plain trousers and a shirt, and the women are usually seen wearing bonnets and dresses. This sort of clothing is very similar to old-fashioned American clothing, and so the audience will make this comparison and give the impression that the Amish have not moved on and are happy as they are, and are not always hungry for evolution and new discoveries such as the modern American culture is.
In direct comparison, the American dress is modern, colourful, bright and varies according to different people and circumstances. In America there are many cultures all mixed together in their society and so different people or cultures wear individual clothing, often because they want to get away from this idea of uniform identity, and instead want to be unique from other people or that they want to represent themselves and their feelings or beliefs through their clothing. Because of the hectic American culture and the need for quick communication clothing is often used to represent people in different jobs as a means of identity to others (e.g. a policeman wears a particular uniform to be easily distinguished from other people). The Amish have no need for this as the community is a very close one and people know each other personally within the community.
Dress has significance in two different scenes in the film, both have meanings to do with the cultural differences. The first is when John Book appears in Rachael’s dead husband’s clothes and they do not fit him. This is a sort of symbol of the fact that the two cultures cannot mix and John Book does not fit in with the Amish community and their way of life. Another deeper significance is John Book’s reaction to Rachael’s suggestion for the clothing, where he seems surprised and shocked at the idea, as this would be unheard of in the modern American culture, where the dead and their possessions are respected and left alone.
The second scene is when Rachael reacts to a particularly sensitive scene by removing her cap before running over to John. This is relevant as it symbolises her taking off part of her that is governed by the Amish culture and thus releases herself form the Amish and takes a step nearer to the American culture and their more modern ideas of freedom and independence.
Sound is an interesting aspect to explore and is similar to music, in that it is most effective working on someone’s subconscious, evoking thoughts, feelings, emotions and mental images that give that person a clear and persuasive impression of each world.
The sounds in each world work well by hiding themselves into the background and then evoking memories from past experiences that create a subconscious image or idea that the person associates with a certain noise or sound. These sounds can also arouse emotions and create and atmosphere for the setting which will often vary from person to person.
At the start of any modern American scene you will usually find several background sounds, each with their own characteristics, clashing with each other, which originates a hectic and chaotic setting. One of the most prominent things that is apparent on arriving at the beginning of an Amish scene is the presence of the most natural sound of them all. Silence. Silence may possess the key to unnerve people, but when coupled with the green fields and the tall elegant trees swaying in the breeze, it creates a calming and peaceful atmosphere, that is in general, what most of the background sounds heard in Amish scenes convey.
In modern American scenes, the telephone and typewriter can be heard in the background and conveys the concept of abrasive, loud, artificial and prominent sounds and is a good reflection of the modern and hectic American culture. A direct contrast of this idea is made when the pleasant, quiet and natural sound of the Amish horse hooves is dominated by the loud and abrasive American car, revving up. This again relates back to the idea of authority and dominance, with the more assertive Americans over-powering the passive Amish.
The Amish sounds such as the birdsong, the horses hooves and the footsteps are all related to the natural theme, and these sounds may provoke thoughts of a relaxing stroll in the park or a lazy summers afternoon, making the audience feel calm and comfortable. There are also more connections to be found with the impression of the American world, with the handcuffs jangling or the abrasive sound of a nearby police siren. This may remind the audience of images or thoughts involving crime, violence and authority. These sounds are intended to give the exact opposite of the audience’s impression of the Amish world, with these sounds leaning towards the unnerving, loud and rowdy side, creating a harsh setting for modern American scenes.
Overall, sounds are used well in the film, to subconsciously create an atmosphere, setting and an impression for each world, with each one tending to go in separate directions, enforcing the gulf between the two cultures.
Music is a key feature in the film, and usually accompanies scenes of importance within the film and works like sound to convey an effective (although less vivid) image in the audience’s minds. Often music is repeated in individual scenes to establish a certain theme with the piece of music that can be used to convey similar ideas or to give the audience the ability to relate from one scene to another.
In the modern American world the general idea of the music is to create tension and suspense within the confides of the scene. In the scene in the public toilet where the murder takes place, a low, repeated tune which gets faster and louder as Samuel witnesses the murder, creates suspense to go with the action. After the main action in the scene the music subsides a little, but the continuous, rippling effect of the music creates tension and makes the audience feel nervous and anxious and creates empathy for the boy as he tries to avoid detection.
The scene when Samuel sees the photo of the supposed killer, the music starts up and replaces verbal communication, working well with the body language to convey to the audience the purpose of the scene. The music in this scene is really just a set of dreamy, holy and droning notes overlapping each other, which gives a sense of the atmosphere and tells the audience that something significant is occurring in this scene. The music stays at the same slow tempo to keep this effect throughout the scene, but increases in volume when coming in on close-ups to create suspense as facial expression is dominant in this scene.
The generalisation of these scenes such as the one where John’s partner retrieves Samuel’s police file and the one at the end, where John finally defeats the corrupt policemen, is the build up of pace and volume which builds up suspense and leads to a climax that has the audience on the edge of their seats. The scene at the end has very similar music to the one in the toilet, allowing the audience to link the two scenes and to relate the events. The music is still droning and low, but in this scene it is more discordant and creates a scary, tense atmosphere. This gives the audience the impression that something is about to occur (something to do with the policemen) that is significant in the main plot of the film.
The music used in the Amish scenes is very different to the music used in the modern American scenes, and is very effective in providing this essential link between the different scenes and their events. There is one main piece of music that is repeated in a few of the Amish scenes and seems to be the piece of music that symbolises the Amish and carries their identity, creating an Amish ‘feel’ to a scene when it is played. This piece of music is very happy and joyful, a very uplifting tune that is used to represent how the Amish community come together, help each other out and work as a team to make an efficient and tight-knit community.
The music is first heard when they are raising the barn, where what seemed like the whole Amish community just stopped everything for that day and pulled together to construct the barn. The music goes well with this scene as it helps to enhance the general sense of bonding, trust and teamwork that is very evident within the Amish community. This trust and teamwork is illustrated once more, when Samuel rings the bell and then, ignorant of what they were doing, the whole community came together (just like the raising of the barn) and they all rushed across the fields to see what was going on. The same music is typical Amish music is heard in this scene, and its hearty tune symbolises good winning over evil as the humble Amish community turn the tables on the corrupt Americans and overpower them. The music is played for a final time when John leaves at the end and it’s there to show that all is well and the community can go back to its normal activities after the final trace of American culture has left.
When John and Rachael dance to the music it is strong, spiritual and romantic illustrating the strong bond between the two to show how their relationship has grown. This is the only time when music is used to show the two cultures mixing with the natural, peaceful music being played by the artificial radio. We don’t really know much about the significance of the song, but it gives a calm, romantic atmosphere to go with the scene’s events.
In general, I think that music is not as prominent as some of the other aspects in conveying the cultural differences, but instead focuses on creating different effects and establishes links between certain scenes that leave an impression on the audience.
Lighting is used in scenes to create and atmosphere or a mood, and by working together with other aspects it usually achieves its goal. The lighting used in each world is very different. The lighting used in the public toilet scene is bright, artificial and stingy conveying images associated with the night such as violence, crime and murder. This type of light creates a very unpleasant atmosphere and sets the mood of the scene perfect for the murder.
The lighting used in the modern American world is harsh and artificial giving the impression of an unpleasant and dangerous world where almost anything can happen. This type of light is frequently used in modern American scenes, where they are usually shot at night to give the light a chance to work effectively.
In comparison the bulk of the Amish scenes are shot during the day, making use of the sunlight, which is natural and soft and conveys images of love, care and tranquillity, images that are strongly associated with the Amish world. The gulf between the two worlds in widened by the big difference in lighting, which are used to manufacture different settings and moods for the different scenes.
In the scenes involving the house in the Amish world, windows are used to give natural light to the rooms and a contrast is made to this when the day time café scene is shot and it is still dark inside to help define the difference and also allow the characters to become a more dominant feature of the foreground.
The suns natural light is used for outside shots in the Amish world, of the fields and farmyards to convey the idea of the Amish being very natural and also represents them as a strong, caring and joyful community. The scenes where John is ill, the light is very dim and soft and is focused on him to make him prominent in the shot and to create a loving and caring effect that reflects the way Rachael feels for John.
The gas lamp is often used in Amish scenes an is scene as a natural way to get light (reinforcing the idea of the Amish being close to nature and using it) and also illustrates how the Amish are very dependent on old-fashioned methods and tradition ways. The lamp produces soft light that doesn’t reach very far but it is still powerful enough to make Rachael stand out in the scene where she is identified. The soft light represents Rachael and reflects her personality and her way of life; loving and caring.
The bright car lights are used in the scene where the two are dancing and produces a very bright light that focuses on them, and is very effective in showing their facial expressions (a very good clue as to what they’re thinking) and to show that this is the main event in the scene.
Overall, lighting is used effectively to illustrate the gulf between the cultures and represents each world in very different ways. Light is also used to create an atmosphere and a setting that give clues to the audience of the theme of the scene and any possible events that may occur in it.
Framing is used to amplify some of the other aspects of the film and to allow the audience to see only what they see on the screen giving different effects and allowing the audience to establish impressions of each world.
Framing is used in several different scenes to give the impression of the differences between the cultures, the first being when the Amish horse and cart are gradually brought out into the context of the modern world. The first shot is the one of the quiet, natural and peaceful Amish cart, riding through a small country lane, and then the camera begins to zoom out and the final shot is a long shot which shows a direct contrast between the overawing presence of the American lorry and the small, humble Amish cart.
A medium shot is used in the fast-food café to show that the mother and child (Amish) are sitting on one side of the table, and on the other side of the table is John Book, sat directly opposite them. This effect widens the gulf between the two cultures ever more in the minds of the audience. There is also a contrast between the calm and peaceful café and the noisy, busy and chaotic outdoors. This illustrates very much the idea of variation in the modern American world, compared to the relatively uniform Amish world. The end scene where John and Rachael part, includes lots of close-ups to show the emotions on their faces and a medium shot is used to show how they both reacted to the situation by rushing towards each other and momentarily providing a bridge between the two cultures.
Contrasting shots are used in the modern American world with lots of cuts to create tension and the effect of movement. These shots look unusual at the end where they are used in the Amish community, illustrating how modern American techniques do not fit in, in the Amish world.
In general, framing is used well to show direct comparisons and differences between the cultures, with the Amish shots being long and scenic and the American ones close and narrow. Close-ups are used in tandem with the lighting to show emotion on the characters faces and to make particular features prominent in the scene.
‘Witness’ uses all of these aspects to convey a convincing and persuasive impression of each world and uses this to illustrate the large gulf between each culture. Both subconsciously and consciously the audience are constantly bombarded with ideas and concepts concerning the differences between the two worlds, creating effective images or feelings that the audience can relate back to the two cultures. I believe that this theme works well along with the main plot and the other story lines to make a successful film. The differences are purposefully put into the film to convey opinions of modern American culture as chaotic, noisy, hectic and artificial. The images and sounds are intended to get across concepts of peace, tranquillity and nature for the Amish and I believe that the film uses the aspects expertly to convey these ideas effectively and efficiently.
