7th October 2012

Re-written essay on movie clip- Spartacus


There is a clear divide between the upper class and lower class even at the beginning of the scene, for example, the roman guards are dressed well whilst the poor men are dressed in rags. The only person that talks through the beginning of the scene is the soldier, could this mean that the poor feel like they don't have the right to speak? The poor men are all in a single file whilst being shepherded into the 'cage' which is implying that the poor men are dangerous when in face they are not. Also the fact that they are forced into the cage shows that they are treat like animals. The scene then goes on to the upper class people, and it shows them sat in relaxed positions whilst one of the men is playing with his jewellery which was a sign of how much money you had whereas the poor men had nothing which shows the divide between the two classes. The camera shot of the cage door opens shows just how the divide between the classes works, the poor men were in the cage in rags, the soldiers were stood higher than them from a low angle shot showing they are more important than the lower class while the upper class are all at the top of the screen in relaxed positions showing their importance. During the time they are fighting, the fighters have a lot of exposed flesh which shows their vulnerability of being lower class. The first death is built up with a massive climax of music such as drums and trombones, and when the man gets killed the climax has been and gone, a lot of tension has ended and the upper class just clap politely at the end which shows that they do not care about the lower class as they are treat as animals and objects. The protagonist in the scene has a shit of him through the black mans net which shows his vulnerability and the fact he is trapped. The two men are fighting for their lives whilst the upper class are talking amongst themselves which shows how they don't care about the lower class. During the second fight, the black man is shown to have more power over the protagonist in the fight as he has a bigger weapon, also the black man has a trident and a net which were typical fishing tools of that time which was a stereotypical poor mans job so the weapons connote the lower class lifestyle.when the black man wins the fight but rebels, the upper class shout at him to kill the protagonist, this connotes that the upper class expected the lower class to do everything they say. As the black man is climbing up the wall it is almost as if he is climbing through the social classes to get to the upper class however he is stopped as he is killed and to tie it up, the rich man stabs the black man with a dagger which backs up the assumption that we don't like the upper class.
The camera shots that are used in the scene show the divide between rich and poor because they show the poor through a different view, for example at the beginning the men are shown from a shot through a cage which connotes their helplessness and vulnerability. The divide between the two classes is shown when the camera cuts from the four poor people to the four rich people, we then can see the difference in clothes and facial expressions. Throughout the scene the camera is shown to stay with the protagonist a lot so we know who he is and what situation he is in, and also to show the fact he is lower class and how he is treat. We also see a shot through the eyes of the protagonist to show that he is the main person we are focusing on. There is a high angle shot from the rich looking down on the arena to show that the men in the arena are inferior to the rich people watching them fight, we are also always looking up at the rich, or down from the riches point of view so we understand their importance.
The sound in the scene also gives us clues to the status of the people involved, at the beginning the men are walking to the cage and we hear low trumpets which can signify war or loneliness which is how the four men would be feeling at the time- lonely. The music builds tension in the fights which connotes the fight that the lower class people have to go through to survive. There is also a change in music genre when we cut to the upper class, it becomes more of a melody rather than a tension builder.
The editing has been done to make the poor seem inferior for example they are always shot from high angle shots to make them seem less important and they have not been given decent clothing to wear as they 'do not matter'