Strictly Ballroom/Aladdin notes - speech form (1 Viewer)

hilwea

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this is a speech - assessment...hope u ppl find it useful.. the question was to answer the ways which the composers use image to portray ppl, places n ideas... N.B IDEAS I FORGOT TO MENTION or didn't mention so much? shows u that u have to kno the question bak to front b4 attemptin to answer. these include relationships, multicultralism etc.. oh n if it doesnt make sense fix it up...i had no time, printed it at 3am.. LOL... got 14/15 for it..hope its useful


Good afternoon teachers and fellow students. Image in modern times can be exposed in various ways such as in the film “Strictly Ballroom”, this perfectly emphasises how image is important and that ideas and concepts can be portrayed in diverse and sometimes melodramatic scenes. This is shown through different techniques used by the director called the mise en scene such as; contrasting characters, music, editing techniques, costumes, lighting, the setting, as well as how each character is represented to the audience through the use of camera angles and shots. Another text that portrays image vividly is Disney’s classic storybook “Aladdin”. The illustrator uses image to portray the signs of good and evil to young children. This is exemplified through techniques such as contrasting characters, the use of colours, and costuming. Images are used throughout the world and in various forms with different meanings for individuals.

Baz Lurrmann the director of “Strictly Ballroom” uses a variety of scenes to portray Scott, Fran, and Barry, Doug and Shirley as well as the pseudo documentary in which it is set like. The pseudo documentary is shown through a variety of cross-cutting editing such as flash backs between Shirley and Doug to where Scott and his partner Liz were dancing at the District Championships. The scene also cross-cuts between Liz and the championship showing a distraught looking girl with heavy make-up sobbing about Scott not using Federation Steps. This technique shows the audience that it is a documentary and that the championship itself is a flash back. Through the use of this all major characters are introduced to the audience.

The music used in the opening scene “The Blue Danube Waltz” is heard just as the red curtains are pulled apart to reveal the words “strictly” followed by underneath the word “ballroom”. The use of introducing the film to the audience through a red curtain and with the “blue Danube waltz” playing in the background gives the viewers that they are in the theatre. The Waltz is a complicated and a structured dance style. The use of this music gives the audience a preview of the strict dance styles and strict rules. In this scene the fast paced music is compared to the slowness of the scene. It emphasises the way people see ballroom dancing which is stylised but as the scene catches up with the music the real competitive and fake nature of ballroom dancing is exposed, this shows what the world of ballroom dancing is really like with over-the-top make-up, and strained smiles on their faces. The costumes the dancers are wearing are glitzy in nature with bright colours and lots of sequences. This is to show elegance and prestige in ballroom dancing and how it also contributes to the fake environment of ballroom dancing.
Barry Fife, the President of The Australian Dance Federation is presented to the audience as the villain and antagonist of the film. A scene which portrays this is where he is cast in red lighting to accentuate his power and his sinister side like that of the devil. This symbolises danger to those people who he tries to manipulate and dominate. Another scene where Barry is portrayed as the antagonist is when a low angle shot and in a booming voice proclaims “there are no new steps!”

Shirley Hastings, Scott’s mother hides all emotion as shown in sequence 2 where she keeps on a smile to show that she is happy when in fact does not like what is going on. She has always worn a ‘mask’ for so long to hide her true emotions and always displays a false smile through various images and hysterical crying in some such as when she tells Doug to stop that shuffling. This exposes her real feelings because she relies upon her “mask” to get through emotional situations. Scott on the other hand is the protagonist of the film. He is presented to the audience at first as a conformist in the opening scene with him being perfect in the world of ballroom dancing by the use of graceful and harmonious steps, but then as a rebel when he dances non-federation steps a few seconds later. This shows that Scott is torn between two worlds. Fran in contrast to Scott is shown as at the beginning as an “ugly duckling” but at the end of the film the two contrasted Fran’s can be seen and the audience acknowledge that she has transformed into a “beautiful swan”.

In Disney’s picture book “Aladdin”, the illustrator uses images to portray Aladdin, Jasmine, Genie, the Guards, Jafar and the Sultan in various ways. Jafar is depicted as evil with his high arched eyebrows, dark red and black cape, a gold staff, dark skin, a parrot on his shoulders, and decked in black. The audience automatically knows not to side with him especially young children for whom the text is aimed at. The Sultan on the other hand is shown to the audience as a cuddly- innocent bear dressed in cream and aqua, with a white beard which symbolises St Nicholas/Santa Claus. On a double page Jafar and the Sultan are contrasted. Jafar has a sneer on faces which with the arched eyebrows make him look sinister to the audience. The Sultan on the other hand looks mortified at the site of Jafar making the audience take pity on the Sultan and side against Jafar yet again. Aladdin is dressed as a pauper in white pants which symbolise innocence, a purple vest and a red fez. Jasmine is the Sultans daughter who is also presented as innocent because the illustrator has decided to dress her in a bluish type of aqua. The costume that Jasmine wears is delicate but when contrasted to Jafars broad-shouldered outfit the audience can tell the difference between the good and bad character. The guards vary in size, the leader being the biggest, the second in charge being somewhat smart but the smallest, and the one in the middle being the less intellectual of the three.

Jafar towards the end of the book turns into a red snake which falls into the colour scheme of his costume red and black. After turning into the snake he also becomes the Devil – Jafars true nature has been revealed. Genie is contrasted to Jafar in one page because Genie seems insignificant compared to Jafar as the devil, but Genie the colour of innocence – blue who is sided with Aladdin over comes evil.

The last page is bright and content, the sky is blue and everyone has a smile on their face.

Through a range of film techniques and editing techniques, “Strictly Ballroom”, by Baz Lurrmann has emphasised people, places and ideas through a range of images. Contrasting characters, the use of colour and costuming are a variety of techniques used in Disney’s Aladdin to also portray people, places and ideas. Image in texts such as “strictly ballroom” and “Aladdin”, can be used to determine the outlook or ending and can be very useful overall. Thank you for listening to my speech.



 

Cherrybomb56

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Hey I also have a speech on stricly ballroom, what scenes did you focus on?
 

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