their love. I think this by the way they are both staring into each
other's eyes. Hamlet and his mother are divided, but Hamlet is also
on the same side of Gertrude which leads us to believe Hamlet does
like her really.
Also we can see that Hamlet's mother appears to be spying on the
pair. The way she is not leaning over the bannister but peeking over
it seems to show she is spying. We, the audience, know that spying
is a very important factor to this storyline. This is also exaggerated
by the split down the middle, like a wall. What this suggests to me,
is that if the pair split up, Hamlet would still have his mother to fall
back on. The effect of these lines is that the shot becomes much
more complicated then it needs to be, like the character's life.
The angle of the shot is weird so the depth of field seems skewed,
making it difficult for the viewer to take the shot in easily, hence the
director has added a lot into the shot so that a lot can be told to the
audience just from the one shot. I think this is used to represent
how the characters are feeling at the time of the shot.
Something about who the actor is and the goal... Hamlet? Still don't
know.
Having Ophelia on the left, in a red dress, makes her become the
more in control (prominant or predominant). She is also seen as the
most beautiful girl in the palace, her being on the left means the
audience see her first; this shows to me that her beauty puts her
first in everything. Another asset to this is how the two remaining
characters are looking to her from the righthand side of the shot. As
we know, the audience always reads the screen from left to right,
like a book, which always seems to make the person on the left
appear more powerful.
When looking at the picture in great detail I noticed that the
bannister was symetrical. This is not obvious if you briefly look at it
but when you examine it you can see it is. In my opinion, the
reason you dont notice it easily is because characters are in the way
but also because it is not centred and also is slightly tilted. The
symettry in combination with the tilt creates a much needed
atmosphere to the shot. It seems to create an extra tension
between the characters, my feeling when looking at the picture
are.... can't remember aint seen it in a while.
Another thing which suprised me after looking at the picture so
closely and looking at each individual aspect; I thought I knew
exactly what it was about. But then when we were played the clip,
this shot is completely out of context and it is different. Their
expressions are different, in the picture, they look concentrated and
as though the pair are the only people in the hall but are being
watched. But the truth is there are lots of people.
Overall it's a private moment in a public place. This reflects on the
couples life and how they have had to struggle to stay together
under the watchful eye of the country and the inhabitants of the
palace.
