Thursday, May 21, 2009

Hello Mrs. Amos this is my second Mean Creek essay

Briefly describe one important scene or event in your film or television programme and explain why it is important.

One important scene in the film Mean Creek, directed by Jacob Aaron Estes is the opening scene where George beats up Sam. This event is important because it was the reason that the revenge plan was developed, which is what the film is based on. The opening scene also shows the position of Sam and George in society and helps the audience to form opinions about them. It also introduces the video camera as an important object in the film.

An important scene in the film Mean Creek is the opening scene. The first person we see is George, through the lens of his camera. He is a fat boy and is alone as he films himself playing basketball at school. The second person we see is Sam, also through the lens of George’s camera. Sam is a smaller boy and is also alone. Once George realises Sam is touching his camera, he begins to yell verbal abuse at Sam and tackles him down, telling him to ‘never touch my camera again’. George begins to beat up Sam, who does not defend himself, while continuously yelling obscenities. A group of children gathered around to watch being beaten up but no one stops George or helps him up after George leaves.

This event of George beating up Sam is important because it is the reason that the revenge plan was formulated. The revenge plan was developed after Sam told his older brother about the bullying incident with George. If George never beat up Sam, there would have been no need for the revenge plan, and therefore, the plot would be different, or the film would not exist. The event of George beating up Sam is how the story starts and without it, there would be no story. Sam’s anger and frustration towards his maltreatment by George fuelled his decision to pay George back and plan a revenge with his brother. It is also important because it makes the audience feel sorry for Sam and understand or support his revenge plan as vengeance.

The opening scene is also important because it introduced two of the main characters and gave the audience an insight into the position of George and Sam in society. It also gives the audience an idea of their personality and behaviour. The opening scene shows that George is a bully and is in a position of power, as he has a physical advantage over his victims such as Sam, who is much weaker and submissive. The initial opinion audiences have of George will be made upon his rough behaviour and rude language, and will be likely to be negative. This negative first impression will be important because George is portrayed differently later in the film, and the change in their opinions of him will be larger, especially when his video camera was found at the end of the film. It will also help show that first impressions are not always accurate and that George was just misunderstood. The opening scene also shows that neither of them are popular at school or have many friends. This is important to the film because it shows the audience that the boys were just ordinary teenagers so that the film is more believable.

The opening scene introduces the symbol of George’s camera as a way into George’s mind. The opening scene begins through the lens of George’s camera and most of the scene is shot using the perspective of the viewers of the video. In this way, Jacob Aaron Estes makes it obvious from the beginning how important the video camera is to George, and will be to the film. The use of the video camera is important because it demonstrates how unusual George is and how connected he is to it. George’s unusual behaviour of videoing himself playing basketball alone can be used to capture the audience’s attention and at the same time put emphasis on the importance of the camera. It is also important because it is a link to the end of the film when the audience also watches from George’s video recordings to obtain a better understanding of George’s purpose for the video recordings.

In the film Mean Creek, directed by Jacob Aaron Estes, the opening scene of George beating up Sam is important. It is an important scene because it introduced the two boys and showed their relationship and position in society to the audience. The video camera was introduced to the audience in the opening scene, and its importance was emphasised. It is also important because it was the reason the revenge plan was developed to teach George a lesson, forming the beginning of, and the reason for the film.

1 comment:

  1. Merit+. Great structure and good detail. You could inprove with reference to specific film techniques in P2 and reference to the theme in P3, your plot example is a bit obvious. Come on Anna - give me an Excellence!!

    ReplyDelete