Look closely at Jonathan Harker’s journey to Dracula’s Castle. How does the director give the impression of danger?

John Hepworth

Look closely at Jonathan Harker’s journey to Dracula’s

Castle. How does the director give the impression of danger?

In this assignment I will be analysing a 7-8 minute clip of the film ‘Dracula – love never dies’ which was directed by the famous director Francis Ford Coppola whose other famous films include: ‘The Godfather Trilogy’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ and I will be commenting on how the director gives us the impression Jonathan is in danger.

It is a horror film and had its general cinema release in 1992. It is based on the book ‘Count Dracula’ which was written 1897 by Bram Stoker.

The clip I am studying is Jonathan Harker’s (Keanu Reeves) journey to the castle of Count Dracula. Jonathan is a lawyer who works in London, his fiancée Mina (Winona Ryder) was married in a past life to Dracula (Gary Oldman). Dracula is immortal and has lived ever since the death of Mina. Dracula finds out Mina is engaged to Jonathan and calls the company Jonathan works for to enquire about buying a property in London in the hope he will get Mina back. He keeps Jonathan at his castle until Mina comes looking for him. Jonathan is unaware of this because he believes he is going to Transylvania on a business trip.

The director uses: setting, camera shots and the sound track to create a sense of danger around Jonathan. Jonathan’s journey begins by train, travelling from the East into the West. Then he leaves the train where he is picked up by coach and left in a remote place, then taken by a strange ‘creature’ to Dracula’s castle.

The clip begins in a tropical garden somewhere in London. Soft melodic music can be heard in the background alongside birds and running water this gives the audience the impression that Jonathan is safe and free from danger because their is no threat posed to Jonathan from anything in the scene.

Jonathan and Mina are discussing Jonathan’s return from Transylvania. They are making plans to get married. At this point, the audience’s attention is drawn to the peacock’s feather, which is moving clockwise across the screen. As this is happening, the camera is moving towards the peacock feather and the audience’s attention is drawn to one eye in particular then camera moves towards the eye until it is in the centre of the screen, the background music changes and the eye becomes a tunnel.

The audience has the view of the train from a first person point of view and at this point the music becomes louder and you start to hear the train. From the train you can see wooden tracks. This is common of the time, which would be around late 1800’s; also the train is a steam train. That is an important factor the director thought of when setting the film.

In the background you can see an orange sky that is predominant throughout the scene. The shot is slightly out of focus but a large threatening mountain range can be clearly seen in the background. One thing that is clearly noticeable is that there is no civilisation at all in the region. This gives us the impression that the area is dangerous and no one wants to live there. In the background deep, threatening orchestral music can be still heard.

Two shots merge together, one of Jonathan and the other of the train tracks. We see this as if we are the train. The director chose to do this to show that it is Jonathan who is on a journey. Then the screen is divided horizontally. On the top half is a close up of Jonathan’s diary and the other, is a long shot/straight angle shot of the train moving left to right across the screen, again the orange sky is predominant. We presume that Jonathan is reading from his diary because he says,

“25th May Budapest.

Left Budapest early ...

This is a preview of the whole essay

“25th May Budapest.

Left Budapest early this morning”

Jonathan speaks in a well-spoken English accent. In the next shot we see a medium shot/straight angle shot of Jonathan appearing to be reading from his diary and the subtitle says,

“Jonathan Harkers Journal

25th May”

He is wearing a high white collared shirt, which was typical dress of the Victorian times.

During this scene, the train is moving constantly. Jonathan looks out of the window and then at a map. The audience’s attention is drawn to a blue eye on the map, which is highlighting Transylvania. The theme of the eye is repeated throughout the scene, which gives us the impression Jonathan is being watched. Then we see a close up/straight angle shot of Jonathan’s face, with the image of the map on his face. The director chose to do this to show the importance of Transylvania. Jonathan is travelling first class on his journey and we can tell this because in his carriage, he has thick curtains and expensive looking interior. During the whole scene, the tassels on the curtain are moving constantly and the director did this to show the train is moving constantly.

We hear a voice over, which we presume to be Dracula because of the deep, Eastern European accent. We presume that what Dracula is saying, is what is in the letter Jonathan takes out and opens. The letter is sealed with blood red wax seal. On the right hand side of the screen, an eye can clearly be seen in the sky. This is reminiscent of the eyes we have seen earlier in this scene giving the audience the impression that Jonathan is being watched on his journey by something un-natural. During this scene Jonathan is unaware that he is in danger and doesn’t suspect anything so we get the impression that Jonathan is vulnerable. Then we see a close up/high angle shot of the letter from Jonathan’s eyes. It is an insert shot because it shows the importance of the letter. We can also hear very heavy breathing. This could make the audience feel like Dracula is over Jonathan’s shoulder watching him; this gives us the impression that Jonathan is being stalked by an un-natural being. In the shot an eye can be seen but it is not like the eye that could be seen out of the train window. The eye is more like an eye of a reptile or even a bat. The director could have done this to make Dracula seem not like any human.

The writing in the letter is very old fashioned, again typical of Victorian times. Then we see a close up/low angle shot of Jonathan in which he looks very sinister. This is a reaction shot because we see the concentration on Jonathan’s face. At the end of the letter is an insert shot of a ‘D’ highlighted again by the mysterious eye shape. This is very ambiguous as Dracula could be giving us the impression that he does not want to give too much away about his identity so the audience know something s not right about his journey.

Jonathan takes out a traditional black and white photo of Mina and looks at it. Jonathan’s face can be seen reflected in the picture. When he is looking at the photograph we hear the same melodious music that we heard when Jonathan and Mina were in the garden at the beginning of the clip. We can also hear Mina reading from what we presume is her diary. Mina speaks directly after Dracula and the director may have to chosen to do this to show a possible link between them, the scene becomes brighter, suggesting safety but the orange sky is still present suggesting Dracula is still there watching Jonathan the whole time.

Again we see Mina wearing a brown plain dress. The director chose to put her in these clothes to show that she is depressed because Jonathan was sent away and that she is lonely. In the background is a window and from the window we can see that it is raining. If the director had made the weather outside sunny and warm, then the scene would not be as effective because the weather makes the scene look glum. In the room is an old fashioned typewriter, which Mina is using. The room is cluttered with everyday objects and is very dark. Mina picks up a frame with a photograph of Jonathan in it. At the bottom of the frame you can see Mina’s hand. She is clutching the frame very tightly this could be seen as a metaphor, that Mina doesn’t want to let Jonathan go. Then we go back to what we presume is Jonathan because we see a very dark scene with a horse and carriage moving across the screen. Although the scene has changed completely, we can still hear the soft music and then hear Mina’s voice say,

“It must be so nice to see strange countries. I wonder if we, I mean Jonathan and I, will ever see them together?”

When Mina corrects herself at the end of the sentence it makes the audience believe that there could be somebody else and because of what the audience knows about the film, we presume this to be Dracula so the audience know something is wrong.

The coach is moving left to right across the screen and then we see a medium shot low angle shot of the driver. He is wrapped up very warm in a fur coat and this shows that the area is very cold and harsh. A flash of lightning lights up the screen and the lightning looks like a claw as it creates an eerie glow. The horses are moving towards the camera and the only real light is from the carriage. While this is happening, we can hear sounds of horses, which get louder to show us that the horses are moving towards us. Then through the howling wind, we hear the driver shout, “Hail” and the horses stop. We hear a squeak and presume it is the door opening. The next shot is a close up straight angle shot of Jonathan leaving the carriage but he has a blue light on the side of his face. He then says,

“We’re early driver no one is here”

As he moves away from the carriage, a lady stops him. We see the lady with an over the shoulder shot and she lady looks like a gypsy. There is also a man in the carriage with a strange mask on. The mask is made up of coins. In the past people used to put coins on the eyes of dead people to keep out spirits this conveys the idea that the people know something is un-natural about the area. The lady hands something to Jonathan. An insert shot shows what the lady handed to Jonathan. A crucifix, to protect from evil spirits, then we see a reaction shot where Jonathan looks confused. Then we hear a foreign voice say something that we don’t understand, a subtitle on the bottom of the screen says,

“For the dead travel fast”

This means that although Jonathan isn’t dead, he has travelled fast like a dead person would. The director had the lady say this to create the impression that Jonathan is in some sort of danger. Then the masked man slams the door shut and the driver makes a noise urging the horses to move. A long shot/ straight angle shot of Jonathan makes him seem small against the surroundings and very vulnerable. A long shot/ high angle shot of a wooden post, marks his journey. We hear wind in the background followed by a clash of thunder. Then we see Jonathan looking at the sky or the post, we can’t tell which one. We hear a screeching noise which gets louder until we hear a crash of thunder and lightning lights up the face of the creature on the post, which I think is a bat that could be connected with Dracula but others say it is a wolf. The ‘creature’ on the post could be warning people to stay away. That entire scene creates tension; again leading us to believe Jonathan is in danger. A wolf jumps from the middle of the screen toward the left of the screen. The close up/straight angle shot of the wolf makes it seem very dangerous. The main light is from the wolf’s eyes and again it is an eerie blue light reminiscent of lights earlier in the scene. We can hear the wolves howling and growling at Jonathan. The growling becomes more constant. Then a coach comes towards him and it shocks him, but you don’t hear it until the last second. The carriage looks like a funeral cart and is being pulled by four jet-black horses that appear to be floating. There is a mysterious figure driving the carriage. Under the coach we can see swirling mists that gives us the impression that the horse and carriage is un-natural. Then we see a medium shot/ straight angle shot of the driver. He is wearing a cape with a large collar. His coat overlaps like armour or scales giving the audience the impression that the driver may not be human. A hand reaches out for Jonathan and the camera moves and focuses in on Jonathan. The only light is from an oil lamp in the carriage. The hand reaches out for Jonathan. It is very long and unlike anything human. While the hand is reaching out for Jonathan, he looks very stunned and stands motionless. The hand rests on his shoulder and grabs him. Instead of guiding Jonathan into the carriage, it appears that the driver just picks Jonathan up and puts him in the carriage. The door shuts itself, which is weird. The next shot is a reaction shot. Jonathan looks pale and the only source of light is from Jonathan’s face. We hear a crack of a whip and the horses neigh. The driver is wearing a helmet that is shaped like a bird or it may not be a helmet. Jonathan then looks up at the driver and says

“Driver, is the castle far?”

Jonathan gets no reply from the driver. Instead the driver replies with a grunt. Making the audience think that the driver is not human. The director chose to do this to show that no human would go there. The driver is shrouded by mist so we can’t really tell, what he is. Then we go back to a close up shot of Jonathan looking down at a precipitous mountainside. On the mountainside, rocks and stones are falling down and the wheels of the carriage are extremely close to the side of the cliff. The director chose to do this to show the instability of the cliff face. During the scene, we can still hear the horses moving and rattling and the neigh of the horses. Then we see a close up of Jonathan back in the carriage where he looks concerned. We then see a large castle, which looks like someone sitting on a throne, watching over the landscape. The director chose to do this to show Dracula has some power. We can see the horses approaching the castle.

The next scene is where the horses are just arriving at the castle. Blue rings rise from the ground as the horses enter the castle grounds. The rings look and sound like a rush of gas or electricity. We see a shot through the rings, of the horse and carriage. We get the impression that Dracula is strange because he has strange things about him: The eerie blue light, the eye watching Jonathan and the castle shaped like somebody sitting watching over the landscape. Then we see a close up of Jonathan looking at the rings with a look of curiosity on his face. Then we can hear the mechanism of the gates as they start to close. The gates appear to look like claws, closing and trapping Jonathan in. Then there is a clash as the gates go together, followed by a period of silence in which the audience is left to ponder what could be in store for Jonathan.

In this assignment I looked at Jonathan Harker’s journey to Dracula’s castle. I looked at how Coppala created a sense of danger around Jonathan by using camera angles, background music and special effects. The director uses lighting, wolves and an orange sky to make the audience think Jonathan is in danger, and an eye, which seems to be watching Jonathan on numerous occasions throughout the clip. The eye in the peacock’s feather, the eye on the map and the eye when he’s on the train are just a few of the incidents, which create a sense of danger. I think that Coppala does a good job in creating the sense of danger because the audience still thinks something is not right about Jonathan’s journey. At the end of the clip Coppala uses the claw shaped gates to give us the impression that Jonathan is trapped which I think is very effective.