TV Drama

Caesar’s speech to the 13th legion

February 23, 2009 at 9:18 am (Uncategorized)

First shot is a panning wide shot. It allows the audience to see various characters dressed in the Roman style, therefore acting as an establishing shot that tells us details such as the year, and also we can see some of the building so we get an idea of the location. The camera moves in relation to the action of the scene. Abruptly, the character’s shift from relaxed, slouching about, to upright and ready. This shows someone important is on their way and the camera moves in relation to this, panning across to locate the important person and zoom in to a Mid shot, bringing full attention onto them, reinforcing their superiority.   

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            Another establishing shot is used. The camera pans across the many soldiers, lined up. This shot establishes a large army has formed, all mimicking the upright, readiness of the soldiers in the previous shot, thus showing they too await the presence of Caesar.
            As Caesar walks in-between two rows of soldiers, the camera tracks him in a medium close up of his face. Soldiers are seen behind him with the backs of heads of more soldiers briefly appearing in front of Caesar. The camera moves quickly, preventing any details of the soldiers to be taken in so that they cannot be viewed as individuals. Instead the audience is made to keep focus on Caesar and view the soldiers as props to the scene.

            The camera changes to view Caesar from the front, walking towards the camera. A man bends down to allow Caesar to use him as a step-up to his horse. Angling is important here as it is at a very low angle, so that we are on the same level as the man who bends down. This establishes the fact that Caesar is superior and the audience are made to feel they are on the same level as a man who has to do something as undignified as being a step-up onto a horse.
            Throughout Caesar’s speech the camera will cut from close ups on his face to individual or groups of soldiers. When the focus is on him the camera will linger for a much longer duration because these shots are used to make us pay attention to what he says as well as the expressions that go with them. With shots of the soldiers, the purpose is purely to see how they are responding to his words. This means these shots are much shorter because it is quicker to get across. Another effect is that it disallows too much attention being drawn to soldiers so we do not sympathise with them, as individuals but see them as almost being 2D characters, without their own identity. Through this all focus is kept on Caesar and Caesar alone. It should also be mentioned that a low angle shot is used for the close ups on Caesar to reinforce his superiority and importance. Soldiers, however, are seen at eyelevel. Like with the low angle shot before, this causes the audience to feel on the same social level as the soldiers. The fact that within shots of the soldiers more faces of other soldiers can also be seen in the background also adds to keeping them generic. With Caesar the background is bland, being just the sky, making sure he gains our full attention and that we pay attention to what his saying without distraction.  

            Within Caesar’s speech the editing involves a lot of Cut in, Cut away shots. At times the shot’s are not close ups of faces, but wide shots that show off the location. This helps re-establish the location as well as flaunting the scale of Caesar’s army. It can be used to show the full mass of his army reacting to his words, reinforcing his superiority and power, as well as allowing his movement’s on his horse to be shown.

            One character in the army is made to have our attention drawn to him. Every so often the camera will cut to him at mid shot. Initially, he stands out because he’s not dressed in the Roman uniform and he’s centre of the shots, but another technique used to pull focus onto him is that he is the only one who looks towards the camera. While the other soldier’s have only the sides of their heads shown, his full face is caught on camera. Audience perception dismissed the other characters in the scene as mere background.

Colour and lighting is highly important for the clip. Black/grey and red are the main colours on the screen. The darkness creates a tense, moody atmosphere that shows the seriousness of the scene and suggests sinister things are accruing. Red will also tie in with this as it is associated with danger as well as the thing this series is known for, lots of bloody scenes.