Discuss the techniques used in the opening scenes of The Elephant Man

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Media Essay: The Elephant Man

Discuss the techniques used in the opening scenes of “The Elephant Man”

“The Elephant Man” is a 1980’s film directed by David Lynch. The film is loosely based on the life of John Merrick, a man that lived in 19th century London and also suffered from severe deformities that plagued his body. The growths were large and made John look like an elephant and so the nickname “The Elephant Man” was coined. A vicious rumour was then circulated detailing that whilst in the womb, John’s mother was trampled by elephants causing him to become “The Elephant Man”. The plot was adapted from “The Elephant Man and other Reminiscences” by Sir Frederick Treves and “The Elephant man: A Study of Human Dignity” by Ashley Montagu. The film stars John Hurt as John Merrick, Sir Anthony Hopkins as Frederick Treves, Anne Bancroft as Fanny Kemble, John Gielgud as Mr Carr Gomm and Wendy Hiller as Mrs. Motherhead.

 

The first scene that we are presented with is the credits. They appear as white text on a black background, whilst carnival-like music is played. I believe that the director made the decision to produce the film in monochrome (even though colour was available at the time) for two reasons. The first being that the actual story happened in 19th century London, meaning that there was no colour televisions. I believe that Lynch wanted to achieve the feel that the events were on screen; he wanted you to feel like a part of them. The second reason is because of people’s attitudes. Black and white is referred to as old fashioned; people’s attitude towards Merrick was appalling. I believe that Lynch was insinuating that everyone’s attitude was old fashioned and wanted to showcase this attitude in the film.

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The carnival music used throughout the credits is dark, menacing and disturbing. It has an air of mystery about it, which begs the question: what is going on? The carnival music (which is non-diegetic) is primarily used because of the fact that Merrick was  “employed” as one of the “freaks” at a carnival.

After the credits the screen cuts to black and a low-key, high contrast picture of an extreme close-up on a woman’s eyes appears. Looking into the eyes I can see that the woman is content and at peace. The camera then tilts further down ...

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