‘Seeing’ the credits helps us in many ways. It tells us the name of the actors/actresses, Directors, the studio name and other information of the cast. The credits in this film are situated in the middle of the screen. The credits are all in the same font and are all in capitals. Important information such as the Studio name and Main characters are in larger font to catch the viewer’s attention. The director uses white lettering on a black background. These two opposite colours make the credits stand out and make the viewer focus on the credits. It also makes the credits easier to read. For example if you had dark green background and yellow writing it wouldn’t stand out as much and would be harder to read.
‘Seeing’ the contrasting colours make the credit scene very effective. This example of foreshadowing prepares the audience for further situations of opposites.
After viewing the credits, the film then moves on from the credits overlapping with a scene showing a small hill with flowing grass being blown in the wind in front of a sky blue background which is the sky. This scene is very appropriate as it represents the Amish who are very simple people who live of the countryside. The green grass also represents the Amish as farmers which they have to do in order to live. This is another type of foreshadowing.
‘Seeing’ the film makes us realise that the Amish are very secretive people. They do not like mixing with outsiders very much. After the scene with the wind blowing the grass, the director slowly introduces the Amish using a long shot. This type of introduction suggests that the Amish are against modern inventions. The distance is just about close enough for us to see their outlines but not what they look like.
The director then brings them closer and shows them walking from the right of the screen to the left. The director suddenly switches to a scene with a horse and carriage for a few seconds and then switches back again. We then see the Amish slowly walking towards us which eventually introduces us to them and shows us what they look like.
‘Seeing’ the movie has now passed for now. It is now time to focus on the music in the Opening scene. The music is very high pitched. This type of music leaves the viewer in anxiety and leaves him/her thinking about what is about to come. The music in this opening scene is stretches with only a dew notes being used. The music sets a mood of mystery. The music also has comforting sounds which adds to the mystery. This then leave the viewer thinking again about what is causing the soothing but suspenseful music. The music then progressively introduces new instruments such as the trumpet. At the end of this music it sound as if two tracks have been mixed together.
‘Seeing’ the Amish and understanding them makes me think that the introduction to them is not very good. The introduction does not tell you enough about them and should show them doing more things such as farming, milking and doing other things that other people would not usually do. This would be a much easier introduction to them especially for people who have not known about them before. If the introduction showed more activities of the Amish, the film will be even easier to understand, not that it is hard to understand at the moment.
‘Seeing’ the hill shot only shows us the head and shoulders and then shows the gradually disappearing into the horizon. This effect only shows us glimpses of them to make us focus on them for when they show all of them as we will want to know what they look like in full form. Although this is a good way of introducing them I would not choose this type of shot/angle as some people may become impatient and stop watching the film.
‘Seeing’ the introduction could have been done in other ways but the director does not position the cameras on top of the hill with the Amish coming towards the viewer because this will introduce them to us very quickly. According to my understanding I think that the reason the director has not used that shot is to show that it takes a long time for the Amish to interact with the ‘English’ and that they live their own lives according to the Amish rules and regulations. The slow introduction can also suggest that as the Amish do not like living with modern inventions, the Amish would refuse to come towards the camera as that is also a modern invention in real life situations.
‘Seeing’ the composition of this shot it suggest that the Amish, like I have said before, would like to stay away from modern day inventions like the camera which is why the director uses this type of shot.
‘Seeing’ the scene where Rachel and Samuel are told that their train has been delayed, Samuel and Rachel go to a bench to have a rest. This scene at the bench is shot from close to the floor looking up to create a larger than life atmosphere and makes the focus on Samuel and Rachel. This makes them the centre of attention.
‘Seeing’ the different types of shots used the camera then moves up to Samuel’s height to show his fascination with the drinking fountain. While showing this, the director blurs everything apart from Samuel and the water fountain to make him the centre of attention. This scene shows how Samuel takes little things for granted which we use every day. The camera is continuously used from the bottom up to make adults look much taller than usual compared to Samuel. At the scene where the statue is included, the director uses an over the shoulder shot of Samuel to show what he is looking at. Samuel see’s an angel holding a lifeless body. This is another example of foreshadowing which suggest that Samuel is being protected by an angel.
‘Seeing’ the over the shoulder shot of the statue shows us that Samuel is very small and insignificant in this big world and could be venerable to danger.
‘Seeing’ Samuel getting up and leaving his mother leaves Samuel isolated. The director uses a far shot to show this. As Samuel walks away from his mother, the camera pans Samuel’s walk towards the toilet. The further away he walks, the smaller he gets. It suggests that the smaller he gets the more venerable he becomes.
‘Seeing’ Samuel walking to the toilets and getting smaller, we then see the murder scene in the toilets. At first we can only hear footsteps and water until the knife gets taken out. When this happens the music starts. The director only uses two sounds at the beginning to create tension then introduces the dramatic music. The camera then switches to Samuel for an extreme close-up shot of his eye. This is where the director gets the name of the film from, ‘witness’. Samuel witnesses more than one thing. Not only does Samuel ‘witness’ a murder, Samuel also witnesses the real world, the modern world, The ‘English’ World. Samuel then realises that the small Amish world is very different to the large outer world. I think that the murder scene is filmed very well as it gets to the point quickly but doesn’t give away too much information.
‘Seeing’ the search for Samuel made me think for quite a while as it is very hard because not much happens in it. But after a lot of thinking I have come to a decision that the search was well filmed. In the search every time McPhee opens or closes a door the director switches back to a close up of Samuel. This creates tension. In the toilet cubicle the position that Samuel standing in is very similar to the position of Jesus on the cross. Overall the search is well filmed because it is quick and interesting. After the search it leaves you thinking what would have happened if Samuel was found.
‘Seeing’ the film and trying to relate it to the music is not very easy but I have noticed that every time the director tries to build up tension he uses music which I think is not a very good idea as it eventually becomes boring. I think that the director should come up with new ways to build tension like using flashbacks or other things.
‘Seeing’ the film, the music used in this movie is only used for one reason, Building up tension. Whenever there is a tense moment the director plays music which is a downside to the film. According to my thoughts, I think that the director looks as if he has run out of ideas. Being a director of a film is a very big thing and I am surprised at how the director keeps repeating things. This just demotes the movie.
The Amish are very interesting people. They live in the and and are divided into several major groups. The Amish use horses for farming and transportation, dress in a traditional manner, and forbid electricity or telephones in the home. Church members do not join the , apply for Social Security benefits, take out insurance or accept any form of financial assistance from the government.
At home, most Amish speak a mix between and English. The Amish are all about bringing the community together. For example, if you get married, the community will help build a suitable home/barn for you. If there is a funeral then everyone will attend the funeral. Some people may argue that the Amish make life confusing for others as most families in the community have the same second name,’ Lapp’. If there was a crime committed by the Amish it would be hard to indentify who did it because of the second name as shown in the film. Another fact about the Amish is that the Amish are very strict about the rules, if you break a law of the Amish community you will be ‘shunned’ out the community which simply means that you will be told to leave the community.
‘Seeing’ the film made me realise that the world is a very corrupt place. What is the point having a police force if the people who are working for them are corrupt? It just makes matters worse. The police are to help us and prevent crime. In the film, McPhee just shows the opposite of what they are really supposed to be doing for the country. Book trusts Schaeffer to tell him about McPhee but the corruption just gets bigger. It starts off with Just McPhee and ends up with the top of the rank police sergeant. All credit to McPhee about the way he planned the ‘Drugs Bust’. Who would have suspected it! A police officer is trying to kill another police officer. I wonder how many other corrupt police officers there are in the world because that part of the film where we find out that McPhee is a police officer makes me feel insecure. Next time I approach a police officer will make wonder-Is he like McPhee?
Overall I think that the film is very good and entertaining. Unlike some other films I have watched, this film has a point to make. The actors are well chosen and so is the area where the film has been shot. The story is also very easy to understand. Although this film has many good points, if I had a choice I would not watch it for any more than two or three times. The downsides of this film are that the music is not very appealing and the way of the Amish is not clearly shown. Also some parts are not clearly shown like when McPhee gets shot at the Amish farm. It doesn’t show you anything else about it. Out of a mark 0f 10, I would give this film a 6.
