Today most people would rather watch a film than read a book. A film is a much more relaxing and, for some, enjoyable way of knowing a story, event, novel or play. Unlike a book, where you have to interpret the story and characters yourself, a film portrays the characters and scenery for you. The director is the person that makes sure the actors are portraying their part correctly and to their full potential, another main concern of the director is to make enough money from the film to pay for it, and still make a profit. For the film to make money it needs to be successful, and to be successful it needs promotion, good clarification of the story and of the characters, and to continue to be successful it needs to be passed on by word of mouth.
The way in which the camera is used is very important to the whole film because it can destroy the film or make it a success. It is vital that the cameraman uses the camera to its full capacity to get the expressions of the characters and the scenery around them. The advantage that cinema has over video or DVD is that the cinema can create a much better atmosphere with its surround sound and special effects, and the fact that the screen is a lot bigger can add to the effect that the film has on the audience. Going to the cinema is also much more enjoyable because you get the chance to socialise more, whereas if you were to sit and watch a film in your home it is not as enjoyable. People also watch films to get a preview of what the film is like before they by it for themselves or another person.
The lyrics are heard at the end of the film so that you subconsciously relate them to the times in the film. The song symbolises eternal love – through life and death, and at the end of the film she joins jack at the famous clock in the Titanic to show that her love and her dreams still remain in the Titanic and with Jack. Film has developed to a great extent in the 50 years or so. During the time of the sinking of the Titanic people couldn’t go to the cinema whenever they wanted. The films were only shown at set times. In those times there were only silent movies with very amateur special effects. In fact film has only progressed in the last ten years. “A Night To Remember”, another version of the events, was made in the 1950’s and was also very amateur. Today we can enhance the film with special effects and computer graphics.
For my GCSE coursework I will be analysing the “Titanic”, directed by James Cameron. I will be looking at the historical facts and the sinking of the Titanic, whether James Cameron’s film is an accurate representation of the event, and the thinking behind the film. I will also be analysing two sequences from the film in detail, comparing the “Titanic” to “A Night To Remember”, and finally, I will be looking at what James Cameron’s intention was when he made the film.
The “Titanic” is a love story intertwined with the events that took place in 1912. Jack and Rose find each other on the ships maiden voyage and instantly fall in love. When the ship collides with the iceberg their love becomes a battle for survival. Symbolism is another aspect of the film that Cameron decided to concentrate on. One example is the way that he makes the Titanic look even huger than it really is at the beginning of the film when he shows the contrast in size of the Titanic to a small yacht. The Titanic overshadows the yacht and engulfs it almost. When the iceberg strikes the ship is made to look small and powerless because the camera looks up to the berg and daunting music starts. The ice berg looks as though it is twice the size of the Titanic, yet the men who were actually in the crows nest said,
“The berg was not as high as the crows nest, but it was higher than the forecastle head” Cameron also focuses on the fact that the captain wanted to break the speed record for sailing across the Atlantic as he says in the film. This is because this could have affected whether the ship would have collided or not. At the end of the film we see Rose and in the background is the statue of Liberty. This statue was and still is a sign of new hope and freedom. I believe that Cameron purposely placed Rose in front of the statue to show that Rose was free of Cal’s grasp and could start a fresh new life without him.
There are also various themes carried through the film. The most obvious one being ‘Never let go’. This theme is started at the point where Jack and Rose meet, as she is about to commit suicide and ends when Rose and Jack are in the water, Rose says, “I’ll never let go Jack, I’ll never let go” In fact the theme doesn’t end until the actual end of the Film when Rose meets Jack on the Titanic because she has always held on through every stage in her life through the worst and best of times until she was 101. The theme of the hands is carried from the point where Rose begins to tell her story. We see a close-up of Roses old hands and then we travel back in time to 1912 and see a close-up of Rose’s young hands, this is why we know who Rose is instantaneously.
The HMS Titanic set sail on the 10th April 1912 from the docks of Southampton on her maiden voyage to New York. After 4 days at sea the Titanic collided with an iceberg, which caused a huge gash in the side of the ship, resulting in it’s sinking. I have learnt many other facts about the Titanic and its journey, and have listed them bellow. When looking at the events that took place on April 14th 1912 there is a very fine line between the words ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Disaster’. A tragedy is misfortunate event, and a tragic hero is a character who dies as a result of his/her heroism, whereas a disaster is a failure of a project that usually affects a large group of people.
When considering who was responsible for the sinking of the Titanic we have to take into account the argument for whether it was a man made or natural disaster. In my opinion it was slightly man made and natural. The actual ship was a man made object and therefore the death of many people was indirectly man made. The fact that it was an iceberg that caused the sinking of the ship makes it half a natural disaster.
If we were to consider the design of the ship I believe that it is very hard to collect enough sufficient evidence that puts the sinking down to the design. This is because if a person was to design a ship I believe that he or she would not consider the fact that it might collide with a gigantic iceberg, especially if they were instructed to design the ship so that it would be the most luxurious ship in the world – as the designers of the Titanic were instructed.
Therefore it cannot be determined whether the sinking of the ship was a tragedy or disaster. If the sinking had been completely caused by man made attributes it would have been a disaster, and if it had been naturally caused it would have been a tragedy. I believe that the sinking of the ship was a disastrous tragedy because it was caused by both natural and man-made problems. I believe that James Cammeron’s representation of the disaster is as accurate as it needs to be. He has made sure that he has included critical historical facts and has also included a storyline within the film, which could have actually happened. I think that the way he has portrayed the film is very good because he shows that a lot of people know very little about the Titanic, this makes us want to know what happened and therefore he can go into the events in more depth because he has the viewers interest.
