As the film develops the music becomes much more dramatic, by the sounds of drums and roars from the barbarians. As the background sound effects increase in volume it makes the audience become tense and apprehensive making war presented as dramatic and tense.
Throughout the first ten minutes the sound changes depending on the events happening on the screen the changes in the sound make war come across as a main event in the film. the changes in the sound make it more interesting to watch as it creates a different mood for each scene making the viewer more involved in the film making it seem as if they were there.
Next I looked in to the way that war was presented through mise en scene. Mise en scene is all about staging. The setting of the film, the costumes the actors is wearing and the movement on the screen.
In the opening scene fiery colour are used like oranges, reds, blacks, greys as the captions are displayed on the screen. The scene is set by small captions before the set is revelled as the opening scene approaches the colours change to orange and gold. The setting for the first ten minutes is cold, dark and windy giving the audience the feeling that it is eary. The wintry scenes with the bare trees also help to create this atmosphere. The costume that the character Maximus is wearing is a heavy coat and armour, as he is waiting and preparing himself for the battle, with his army following him. The tension to war is built up by the sound of the barbarians, without seeing them.
Throughout the battle many weapons are used, these include fire, arrows, spears and cannons. When fire is used in the battle it covers most of the screen, as the audience know fire is destructive. As the battle goes on it becomes more intense with mud flying and trees being burned. Near the end of the battle, Maximus becomes angry and full of adrenaline. The viewers can tell this by his actions and his facial expressions. Certain scenes near the end of the battle are shown as extended slow motion sequences. This makes war presented as it is tiring due to the length and physical effort of the battle. The final scene shows relief from the emperor as the battle has finished.
There is a huge difference between the two army’s. The roman army are presented as organised, confident and very powerful. This tells the audience that they are the stronger side. Where as the barbarians are un-organised, scruffy and act as individuals. Therefore showing they are the weaker side. The leader of the roman army, Maximus is in control of his army and is well prepared we can see this as they act as a team; an example of this is during the battle when they form a turtle shape with their shield to protect themselves from the barbarians. He is also shown to the audience as the hero of the film even in the opening ten minutes it comes across that he is respected by the people that surround him. Maximus and his army are well dressed in a uniform this is an example that they are well organised unlike the barbarian who look stuffy and un –prepared. All of these factors effect how the war in the film ‘gladiator’ is presented.
Shot and camera angle make a big difference to the way that war comes across to the audience as it depends on the way you view something to how your choose your opinion.
During the opening scenes many shots are used these include establishing shot, this is a shot that is normally taken from a great distance or birds eye view. This type of shot establishes where the event is about to occur. This is a shot used a few times during the opening ten minutes, the first establishing shot that the viewers come across is at the beginning when the camera is setting the scene showing the landscape as cold, dark and it is winter showing the battle ground as well. Long shot , this is when the subject or character is seen from distance in full surrounded by their environment an example of this in the film is a shot of the barbarians this is coming from the roman view therefore the audience are on the their side and not the barbarians as an average of around eighty percent of the shots are from the roman view. Medium shot, a shot that frames the actor from the waist up an excellent example of this is a close up of a barbarian being skewed into a tree by a spear this shows that the barbarian are weak in the war. This also shows that war is presented as two side a stronger side and a weaker side. Close up, a shot taken at close range. The close up is designed to focus attention on an actors expression to give a significance to a certain object, or to direct to the audience to some other important element of the film. Over the shoulder, a shot of one actor taken from other the shoulder of another actor normally from the point of the listener. High angle, suggests some one looking down this creates the sense of power. One of the many high angled shots in the film is when Maximus is on the floor this would make the viewer feel sympathy for Maximus, as him and his army had worked hard and now the hero of the film was in danger it also emphasises maximus weakness at this present point in the scenes. Low angle, looking up from low down. This creates a vulnerable or menacing feeling a very good example of this is when a rare view from the barbarian. The shot is fire falling down on them once again showing that they are weak. Tilted angle ,when the camera/shot is tilted.
Other effect from cameras are used in the opening scene. There is slow motion, this emphasised the speed of the cavalry even thought it has been slowed down the slow motion allows us to see it slower and emphasizes parts in more detail, making it blurred at the same time help to create this. During the first ten minutes the camera becomes shaky as if it is hand held while taking part in the battle this has been done so that the audience are more involved in the scene making it feel as if they were there. Another effect that is used is called panning this is where the camera is moved from left to right in this case it shows nervousness from the barbarian as they are attacked continuously. All of these items make war presented in a much better way.
Editing in a film is when all the shots are put together to make a film. An very good example of this in the film is when the barbarians throw arrows towards the Romans, they defence by making themselves into a turtle shape causing the arrow to hit there shield so they survive it. After the barbarian charge not knowing what to do as they are not organised it also shows the in-effect ness of some weapons. All of this shows that war is about working together and not alone.
Another example is a shot of maximus about to cut a barbarian you see maximus take the swing, but the next shot that the audience see is from a different angle which is often behind another object blocking the view directly to the incident, even though you don’t see him cut him you no he has as you always see the before and after shot but never the shot in the middle this is know as implied violence, as you never know how bad it is as it is left to your imagination to know what has happened. This is a very good technique to use during the scenes of a fight it show that war is presented as a violence and horrible event.
In the final sequence there are a mixture of quick shot this is linked to cut it, chop it and slice it this creates the suddenness of violence and war.
The opening scene of ‘gladiator’ is very successful making you want to watch more. War is presented as unpredictable not knowing what will happen, creating tension and building a climax. The battle in the first ten minutes of the film is how I expect a battle to happen in other films. I think the director ridley scott choose to opening the film with this scene as it grabs your attention and want to carry on watching the rest of the film until the end.
