(no subject)
So I've decided I'm going to post all my English essays that I have access to from this year on LiveJournal. For other people to reference, for your own enjoyment, whatever. So I'll do them one at a time (I'll put them under cuts, but your flist will still hate me).
I will do my best to post Works Cited's with them. . .
Also, I will only be posting FINAL DRAFTS of papers. It makes no sense to give you the cruddy stuff.
Finally, if it has a title, it will be the LJ-cut. If it does not have a title, I will give some other sort of description -- the work being talked about plus "Untitled" or "Response," or whatever.
Without further ado, I thought we'd continue with some analysis of Elizabeth. . .
The assignment for this analysis was to watch certain scenes in Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age and write about any of the following various topics; I chose to write about use of setting.
Aside, I apologize for any un-italicized titles. I went through but it is possible I missed some. Also, I realize the Works Cited are not indented correctly. I'm not sure how to do that on LJ. If anyone knows, I'd be glad to fix it.
Because Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age are films, they rely heavily on the visual to make points. Much of the visual experience has to do with the setting of each scene. These settings can enhance plot, theme, and most importantly, characters. In Elizabeth and its sequel, the setting of each scene is particularly telling of Elizabeth’s character as well as her place in society, specifically in relation to her costume.
In each of these scenes, Elizabeth’s costume greatly contrasts with her surroundings. Most often, the setting is darkened, whether because the scene takes place at night, because there are no windows or for whatever other reason. In these scenes, Elizabeth almost exclusively wears white. During one scene, while Elizabeth speaks with Sir Francis Walsingham, the two are in a darkened room lit only by candles. Walsingham, being a part of the scene relative to Elizabeth, wears a dark red color while Elizabeth wears white. This contrast makes Elizabeth stand out visually in the scene, reminding viewers of how she stood out as an individual, as a queen, among her people.
During another conversation, this time with her lover, Robert Dudley, she once again enters a dark room. Dudley wears a dark color as well, blending in with the background as Walsingham did. However, Elizabeth wears an off-white, champagne color, making her stand out from the scene again. This further enforces the abstract idea of her standing out from the other characters and takes the viewers back to the idea that Elizabeth is the main focus of the film and in her own real-life story.
In a third scene, as her handmaid, Kat, cuts Elizabeth’s hair, Elizabeth is wearing white. As the scene takes place at night, the room is again lit only by candles. This dark and light contrast is particularly important here, because in this scene, Elizabeth declares, “Kat, I have become a virgin” (Elizabeth). Viewers may also note that Elizabeth looks very similar to characters that were burned in the opening scene for being Protestants. Like those characters, Elizabeth, or, a part of her, “dies” in this scene and is born anew as a “virgin” queen, as the Protestants may be “born again” in heaven, according to their faith. However, the contrasting darkness with her light clothes reinforce Elizabeth’s importance as a person and character, whereas those who were burned earlier in the film were presented, ultimately, in a lighter setting, causing them to not stand out as much visually, and thus, abstractly.
Soon after Elizabeth’s hair is cut, she is presented to her subjects as a virgin queen. In this scene, she is once again wearing white while the room is only vaguely light with sun. The surrounding characters are dressed in mostly darker and muted colors, causing Elizabeth to be more conspicuous. As she proceeds to her throne, viewers see that her face is also, as fashion dictated for the day, powdered white. At first, this may seem irrelevant in her relation to the setting and its colors, but as she settles at the front of the room, viewers are struck by the contrast between her very white face and the strikingly red background.
While these scenes have Elizabeth in white, there is one scene in which she wears a dark color in a very well-lit church. During this time, she is having an epiphany as she looks up at a statue of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and says that Mary has, “such power over men’s hearts - they have died for her” (Elizabeth). It is in this room she makes the connection that, in order to be adored as Mary and have “such power over men’s hearts,” she must “become a virgin,” as Mary was. As Elizabeth wears dark colors in this bright room, it reminds the viewers of the turning point this scene marks and, as always, Elizabeth’s importance over the other characters in the film. Her dark costume, as opposed to her usual white, is also indicative of the seriousness of her decision to “become” a virgin, as it is a defining moment in her life, whereas the scenes in which she wore white were merely leading up to this point.
The sequel to Elizabeth uses setting and costume in a similar way. As her subjects battle with the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth is depicted in a dark colored suit of armor, standing before a flowing, white mesh. As in Elizabeth, this harsh contrast brings her importance and even strength of character to the foreground. While the entire setting is not shown in the scene, it is enough to see the white mesh compared with her dark, metal armor. The difference between the mesh, which is flowing, and feminine, and the much more masculine suit of armor further suggests the power Elizabeth has, despite being female.
This scene proceeds to cut to an image of Elizabeth standing on a cliff. However at this point, she is wearing a flowing, white, nightgown, reminiscent of the mesh in the previous scene. She watches over the battle below in the sea as a storm rages above. Between the dark water, the black cliffs and the clouded sky, Elizabeth’s white gown stands out, just as all of her other costumes. Once again, her costume in contrast to the setting speaks volumes about the character: her strength, her importance, her distance from other characters and her numerous conflicts.
In the final scene of Elizabeth: the Golden Age, Elizabeth stands in a somewhat darkly-lit room, wearing white once again. However, as the camera circles around her, the room gradually becomes as white as to match her dress and the scene fades out to a white-out. While this can not suggest she is equal to her people, as there are no other characters with whom to compare her, it may be assumed that she has come to be at peace with her situation and has risen to a state which is beyond human as a sort of god-like being because of her accomplishments and general self. This sort of holy lighting certainly encourages viewers to believe Elizabeth has surpassed her conflicts and her peers to become a natural phenomenon as she is finally not contrasting with her surroundings.
It is important to point out that her difference in costume compared to the setting and other characters is indicative of her character and the character’s importance is reinforced during a flashback scene as she becomes the “virgin queen.” During this memory, Elizabeth is seen with two other women. In this scene, she is not yet queen and wears similar clothes to her companions. While the three wear a white-gold color, they are in a dark room, huddling together. However, as the film progresses, after Elizabeth becomes Queen, Elizabeth’s costume becomes unlike those of the characters around her, causing her to stand out. Clearly, the contrasts seen between her location and her costume are telling of her moral fiber, her situation and other elements of the film as well as Elizabeth as an individual.
Setting, while often consciously unnoticed, is incredibly important to any plot, especially in when in the plot is presented in a film. Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age are no exceptions, especially as costumes are taken into account. Without these potent differences, the makers of the film may not have been able to accurately portray Elizabeth’s importance and strength as a character and as a historical queen. The contrast between her costume and the setting in which she was dominating are vastly important to not only the plot, but the development of Elizabeth’s character as well.
Works Cited
Elizabeth. Dir. Shekhar Kapur. By Michael Hirst. Perf. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1998. DVD.
Elizabeth: the Golden Age. Dir. Shekhar Kapur and Michael Hirst. By William Nicholson. Perf. Cate Blanchett, Jordi Mollà, and Geoffrey Rush. Universal, 2007. DVD.
I will do my best to post Works Cited's with them. . .
Also, I will only be posting FINAL DRAFTS of papers. It makes no sense to give you the cruddy stuff.
Finally, if it has a title, it will be the LJ-cut. If it does not have a title, I will give some other sort of description -- the work being talked about plus "Untitled" or "Response," or whatever.
Without further ado, I thought we'd continue with some analysis of Elizabeth. . .
The assignment for this analysis was to watch certain scenes in Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age and write about any of the following various topics; I chose to write about use of setting.
Aside, I apologize for any un-italicized titles. I went through but it is possible I missed some. Also, I realize the Works Cited are not indented correctly. I'm not sure how to do that on LJ. If anyone knows, I'd be glad to fix it.
Because Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age are films, they rely heavily on the visual to make points. Much of the visual experience has to do with the setting of each scene. These settings can enhance plot, theme, and most importantly, characters. In Elizabeth and its sequel, the setting of each scene is particularly telling of Elizabeth’s character as well as her place in society, specifically in relation to her costume.
In each of these scenes, Elizabeth’s costume greatly contrasts with her surroundings. Most often, the setting is darkened, whether because the scene takes place at night, because there are no windows or for whatever other reason. In these scenes, Elizabeth almost exclusively wears white. During one scene, while Elizabeth speaks with Sir Francis Walsingham, the two are in a darkened room lit only by candles. Walsingham, being a part of the scene relative to Elizabeth, wears a dark red color while Elizabeth wears white. This contrast makes Elizabeth stand out visually in the scene, reminding viewers of how she stood out as an individual, as a queen, among her people.
During another conversation, this time with her lover, Robert Dudley, she once again enters a dark room. Dudley wears a dark color as well, blending in with the background as Walsingham did. However, Elizabeth wears an off-white, champagne color, making her stand out from the scene again. This further enforces the abstract idea of her standing out from the other characters and takes the viewers back to the idea that Elizabeth is the main focus of the film and in her own real-life story.
In a third scene, as her handmaid, Kat, cuts Elizabeth’s hair, Elizabeth is wearing white. As the scene takes place at night, the room is again lit only by candles. This dark and light contrast is particularly important here, because in this scene, Elizabeth declares, “Kat, I have become a virgin” (Elizabeth). Viewers may also note that Elizabeth looks very similar to characters that were burned in the opening scene for being Protestants. Like those characters, Elizabeth, or, a part of her, “dies” in this scene and is born anew as a “virgin” queen, as the Protestants may be “born again” in heaven, according to their faith. However, the contrasting darkness with her light clothes reinforce Elizabeth’s importance as a person and character, whereas those who were burned earlier in the film were presented, ultimately, in a lighter setting, causing them to not stand out as much visually, and thus, abstractly.
Soon after Elizabeth’s hair is cut, she is presented to her subjects as a virgin queen. In this scene, she is once again wearing white while the room is only vaguely light with sun. The surrounding characters are dressed in mostly darker and muted colors, causing Elizabeth to be more conspicuous. As she proceeds to her throne, viewers see that her face is also, as fashion dictated for the day, powdered white. At first, this may seem irrelevant in her relation to the setting and its colors, but as she settles at the front of the room, viewers are struck by the contrast between her very white face and the strikingly red background.
While these scenes have Elizabeth in white, there is one scene in which she wears a dark color in a very well-lit church. During this time, she is having an epiphany as she looks up at a statue of Jesus’ mother, Mary, and says that Mary has, “such power over men’s hearts - they have died for her” (Elizabeth). It is in this room she makes the connection that, in order to be adored as Mary and have “such power over men’s hearts,” she must “become a virgin,” as Mary was. As Elizabeth wears dark colors in this bright room, it reminds the viewers of the turning point this scene marks and, as always, Elizabeth’s importance over the other characters in the film. Her dark costume, as opposed to her usual white, is also indicative of the seriousness of her decision to “become” a virgin, as it is a defining moment in her life, whereas the scenes in which she wore white were merely leading up to this point.
The sequel to Elizabeth uses setting and costume in a similar way. As her subjects battle with the Spanish Armada, Elizabeth is depicted in a dark colored suit of armor, standing before a flowing, white mesh. As in Elizabeth, this harsh contrast brings her importance and even strength of character to the foreground. While the entire setting is not shown in the scene, it is enough to see the white mesh compared with her dark, metal armor. The difference between the mesh, which is flowing, and feminine, and the much more masculine suit of armor further suggests the power Elizabeth has, despite being female.
This scene proceeds to cut to an image of Elizabeth standing on a cliff. However at this point, she is wearing a flowing, white, nightgown, reminiscent of the mesh in the previous scene. She watches over the battle below in the sea as a storm rages above. Between the dark water, the black cliffs and the clouded sky, Elizabeth’s white gown stands out, just as all of her other costumes. Once again, her costume in contrast to the setting speaks volumes about the character: her strength, her importance, her distance from other characters and her numerous conflicts.
In the final scene of Elizabeth: the Golden Age, Elizabeth stands in a somewhat darkly-lit room, wearing white once again. However, as the camera circles around her, the room gradually becomes as white as to match her dress and the scene fades out to a white-out. While this can not suggest she is equal to her people, as there are no other characters with whom to compare her, it may be assumed that she has come to be at peace with her situation and has risen to a state which is beyond human as a sort of god-like being because of her accomplishments and general self. This sort of holy lighting certainly encourages viewers to believe Elizabeth has surpassed her conflicts and her peers to become a natural phenomenon as she is finally not contrasting with her surroundings.
It is important to point out that her difference in costume compared to the setting and other characters is indicative of her character and the character’s importance is reinforced during a flashback scene as she becomes the “virgin queen.” During this memory, Elizabeth is seen with two other women. In this scene, she is not yet queen and wears similar clothes to her companions. While the three wear a white-gold color, they are in a dark room, huddling together. However, as the film progresses, after Elizabeth becomes Queen, Elizabeth’s costume becomes unlike those of the characters around her, causing her to stand out. Clearly, the contrasts seen between her location and her costume are telling of her moral fiber, her situation and other elements of the film as well as Elizabeth as an individual.
Setting, while often consciously unnoticed, is incredibly important to any plot, especially in when in the plot is presented in a film. Elizabeth and Elizabeth: the Golden Age are no exceptions, especially as costumes are taken into account. Without these potent differences, the makers of the film may not have been able to accurately portray Elizabeth’s importance and strength as a character and as a historical queen. The contrast between her costume and the setting in which she was dominating are vastly important to not only the plot, but the development of Elizabeth’s character as well.
Works Cited
Elizabeth. Dir. Shekhar Kapur. By Michael Hirst. Perf. Cate Blanchett and Geoffrey Rush. PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, 1998. DVD.
Elizabeth: the Golden Age. Dir. Shekhar Kapur and Michael Hirst. By William Nicholson. Perf. Cate Blanchett, Jordi Mollà, and Geoffrey Rush. Universal, 2007. DVD.