Clip 3 Confederate Proclamations
So in this clip a sad, scared atmosphere is created by the use of heavy rain a dark the night sky, meanwhile whilst the Confederate Proclamation is being read out towards the Black men more Close up shots are used to show the scared and confused emotion that the Black men are feeling, then this is followed up by a wide shot of all the men to reveal that this is how all the men are all feeling. You could say that this is a sign of weakness, as they are showing sad emotions but then this is also felt by the white soldiers and officers to, which portrays both Black and White men as the equals.
Later on a close up is used in two places on Robert Gull Shar to reveal the disbeliefs in his own men, thinking that they wouldn’t return the next day; furthermore another close up was used to once again show the disbelief that the Black soldiers would also return the next day. So this shows weakness from his point of view because he did not believe that his men would return to fight another day.
Nether less when a wide shot angle was used to show the vast amount of men that had, stood what they believe in and return to fight for there freedom. This shows a huge amount of strength and achievement to get back out there and stand for what they believe in, also to magnify all of this, another technique of changing the weather to a dry sunrise fit perfectly for the scene.
All together this clip portrays the Black men as everything that clip 2 portrayed them to be so now that weak to strong, dumb to smart and also low achievement to high achievement. So this scene shows Black men in a VERY positive light.
Clip 4 Rifle Training
Starting of, during the first part of the clip there is a sense of high achievement and strength when Thomas (one of the Black soldiers) is successfully shooting down the targets set out in front of him. The reason why there is a sense of high Strength and achievement is because he would of worked hard to learn to be able to shoot a gun so accurately, and then the achievement to shoot down all the bottles with a single bullet each time. Meanwhile later on into the clip, Robert Gull Shar turns up to over see how they are all doing in there training, firstly the Cornel congratulates and compliments Thomas’s success, this shows a lot of achievement as they were thought to be useless dumb animals but this contradicts all of this. On the other hand, a short time later as the atmosphere is happy among the Black Troops, as they are a laughing and joking, this is soon to change. Whilst Thomas is reloading his gun, he is doing it to fast as he’s under pressure; this is magnified because of the close up angle that is used, showing his facial expressions to be the same as an scared and anxious person. This continues until finally he drops his gun in fear; this reveals weakness as he is too nervous to do it to his full ability, also this portrays a low achievement as everything he had work towards and broken up in front of him.
All together in this clip the Black men are seen to be portrayed In Positive and negative light using a number of different techniques to achieve this.
Clip 5 Treatment
To begin with the use of a snare drum being played echoes around the a fearful atmosphere which tell the Black men But also the viewers that there is going to be a punishment served, also just before the punishment is to begin music is played to amplify fear towards the viewers. During the wiping close ups of the black man face reveals no emotion until the end when a single tear trickles down his face, this consequently shows a high portrayal of strength of now that as he is so used to being whipped he can now handle the pain with shows a lot of physical strength. Meanwhile the use of a tear is to make the cornel feel guilty for his actions as all the Black man was trying to do was running to this person to find some shoes to wear. Also the use of eye to eye contact between both the Black male and the Cornel magnifies the thought of guilt that the Cornell is feeling. To add to this the silence heard throughout the Black regiments during the punishment amplifies the distinctive sound whipping which also makes the viewers feel symphony and maybe even guilt towards the Black male. Further into the clip as the Cornel is trying to Talk towards one of the Black men about the punishment, he doesn’t reply which shows a bit of strength as he doesn’t wont to talk to him to due the orders that he gave; finally the Black man talks to him but the things the man says add more guilt onto Robert Gull Shar. In my opinion this adds Low Strength and Achievement, as the Cornell didn’t stand for what he believes in but his action were just to shows power over everyone else.
All together in this clip doesn’t portray Black men in many ways but more about the Cornell and how he showed a low amount of strength and achievement.
Clip 6 Pay
Once again the technique of making the Cornell up higher forcing the Black men to look up gives out the thought of intimidation, also the Cornell gives out the news that they will now be earning a lower wage due to the skin colour, many of the men are not fussed by this but just glad to now be earning money, but anyway this shows a high amount of achievement because now they are earning money instead of not earning anything at all like what would be happening if they were still in slavery. The use of wide shot showing all the slaves lining up to receive their money shows low strength as all but 1 will stand up for what they believe in.
When one of the slaves is about to get this money, he is asked by one of the white men for his name so he could write it down, as the man didn’t think that the black man could write it himself, this shows that many people still think of Black people to be dumb.
Meanwhile a close up on the black males face who is outraged by the fact that they will be getting less money due their colour, is trying to get the message to his other soldiers , many just ignore him as they are just pleased to be getting money; it takes a long time to get the men to join him, until eventually all of the slaves are chanting towards the White men in Tearing up the payments. This shows a high sense of strength and achievement as they will not give in to this exploitment anymore and are standing up to the white men even though they know that being involved may result in punishment. SO this clip portrays Black men in a positive way showing them as strong people as they are standing up for what they believe in.
Clip 7 First Mission
To begin with the use of a wide shot to include all the men is used the show of their new uniform which shows a high amount of achievement as they are now all one. That is all there is in that clip that portrays black men in anyway, so all together this shows black men in a positive way.
Clip 8 Final Mission
Once again a wide long shot is used to fit all the men in wearing there uniforms, but also the America flag is the centre of attention which gives out the message of high achievement because they are now accepted to be citizens of America; To add to this the white soldiers are cheering on to Black soldiers which also shows high achievement as they have also been accepted by many white men and women! Furthermore the use of happy music expands on the achievement that is portrayed throughout the scene.
Also the use of a clear sunny sky adds a it more happiness and achievement to the scene.
The white commander releases his horse of so that it can be free, which consequently means that he now has to fight on foot, this shows a lot of strength as he wants to be equal to all his troops (black and white) this also shows strength to the black soldiers as the commander thinks they are all the same!
Next the question is asked “If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry on” then the following soldier replies “yes”, this shows and almighty amount of strength and achievement as he is proud to be involved in this war and will proudly carry the American flag to victory.
Meanwhile another long wide shot of all the men marching in to battle symbolizes all the Strength and achievement that these men have worked towards and now it is time to show everyone what they are made of.
Close ups of many of the black men’s faces shows the determination that these soldiers have to fight on and win this battle ,showing a lot of strength to carry on even thought all around them many of the people who have been like brothers to them are being shot or blow up.
The shots of white and black men from the same sides fighting side by side sums up this clip , that it portrays black men as the same , as equals; in my opinion this clip portrays black men in every positive way STRONG, SMART , DETEREND and many others .
Comparing Clips
In this short section I will be comparing different techniques used from some clips saying how they create the same or different effect when and how they are used.
Firstly the use of music was used a number of times but it didn’t always create the same atmosphere, for example in Clip 5 the Punishment a snare drum and also music was played to set the atmosphere but the atmosphere that was created because of this was sad and scared, which was felt by both the men and also the viewers. But on the other hand in clip 8 The final mission the atmosphere that was created was happy, proud, Strong which is totally different to clip 5 , so the use of music can totally change a happy scene to a sad scene in an instant .
Another technique that was preformed was, making a certain character higher up than another, this technique was used in clip 1 and also Clip 6 ; both time it created the sense of intimidation that the blacks were felling towards the white man but also the sense of the white s were more powerful than the blacks’, both times this effected how the blacks were portrayed by decreasing there amount of strength that was show in the clips!
Finally another technique was the use of weather the create or effect and atmosphere, as which was used in every single clip ; but I am going to use clip 3 Confederate Proclamation and also clip 8 The final mission. To begin with in clip 3 the use of a dark and heavy rain creates a very sad and scared atmosphere, meanwhile in clip 8 a sunny clear sky creates exactly the opposite atmosphere so sad is now happy and scared is now proud , so the use of the weather can really effect an atmosphere in many different ways.
So in that short section I have hopefully shown how a number of different techniques can really effect how the scene or clip is portrayed towards the viewers!
Conclusion
To conclude this piece of writing I am going to express my opinion on how does the film glory portray black people during the American civil war, taking into consideration any bias and referring to points from my essay. So to start of with I think that the film glory is very balanced due to in different scenes black people but also white a seen in a different light, for example in clips 1, 3 ,6 and 8 overall black people are portrayed in a positive way , meanwhile on the other hand in clips 2, 7 and maybe 4 and 5 overall black people and seen in a more negative than positive way. But just because I said that different clips overall portray black people in either a positive or negative manor doesn’t mean that the whole clip was positive or negative .As most clips had parts that contradict other like in clip 4 Rifle training one of the black men was doing really well at shooting down the targets which is a positive portrayal, but then whilst under pressure by the commander to reload the black man was to slow eventually dropping his gun to the ground, which in my opinion is a negative portrayal, so in each clip it has both positive and negative ways of portrayal, but sometimes a clip contains more than the other.
So to answer the question “ Can we trust glory as an accurate portrayal of black people during the American civil war” taking points from both sides of the argument I would say, YES it is an accurate portrayal of black people during the American civil war.
by
callumbingham10 (student)
