Jack and Rose’s titanic film characters made me fall in love with the film because of their love storyline with action bits. The use of directional skills and character development was crucial to ensuring the audience felt that it could have happened in real life. The cinematographic effects, sound, and framing are the two things that provide the most significant impact on the audience. This is because they help the film determine and elaborate the film’s message. Technically, the Titanic film constitutes a love story of Jack and Rose based on factual and historical information. Typically, the film was produced in the year 1997 by James Cameron. The film is based on tragic events in 1912 when the ship hit an iceberg that caused it to sink to the bottom of the North Atlantic.
The higher budget associated with the film suggested that the director concentrated on the visual significance of the titanic tragedy. Fundamentally, the visual importance of the film was achieved by taking opening shots underwater in order to ensure that the crew involved in the production of the film explored the Titanic artifacts. The cameras were placed at strategic angles points to help the audience see the ship at the bottom of the sea. Doing this allowed the crew members have an easier time making the audience create a sense of anticipation as the crew went to the bottom of the ocean. There were plenty of camera shots throughout the whole film production, together with medium close-ups and pan-down shots. The medium close-ups and zooms were of great importance because they helped introduce citizens who came from the upper class by displaying their appearances and feelings. The medium close-ups were also crucial to demonstrate the scenes of partying and when the ship was sinking. On the other hand, the pan down shots came in hand when showcasing the ‘I’m Flying’ by Rose and Jack. Jack and Rose stood on the ship’s rails during these scenes, showcasing their psychological position of being proud and unfearful despite social class tensions.
Conversely, the director of the film also used low-tracking shots. This helped the audience create a sense of action and movement in depth which are crucial to the film (Gerstnerp, 1-22). Also, to showcase the different perspectives of the film, the directors made sure to use different camera angles to dominate the screens. Low camera angles were used during the I’m Flying’ scene and when the ship was sinking. The high camera angles and crane shots were also used during the sinking part to illustrate the helplessness and vulnerability the passengers experienced. The film’s producer also ensured editing techniques, especially when the ship hit the iceberg. The editing scenes were showcased when Jack and Rose were being chased, where the camera cut back and forth the moment the ship hits the iceberg. This helped the crew members illustrate a sense of suspense to the audience, thus acknowledging that things could change in an instance.
Primarily, the directors also used mise en scene so that the audience could see the distinction in social class and the characters’ emotions. The mise en scene was also evident during the I’m Flying scene, where the director used soft sunset colors to convey the romantic mood to the audience. To showcase the difference in social class that existed during those periods, the director used different dress styles such as fancy hats and dresses to represent women from the upper class and costumes that were similar to those of farmers to describe individuals that came from lower-class (Skarics p, 161-177). The difference in social class can be seen in Rose and Jack’s clothes. Following this, the audience was able to conclude to themselves that Jack was from the lower class and Rose originated from the upper class. During the editing part, the audience sees the ship being hit by the iceberg, but they also jump to the scene where Rose is trying to let go of Jack while at the same time escaping since the water was beginning to rise above the ship. The directors used different sound effects during these events in the film. Some of the sounding techniques used include diegetic and non-diegetic sounds. The diegetic sounds were mainly utilized during the parting scenes, whereas the non-diegetic settings were used during panic scenes. As a result, the director was able to create tension in the audience, thus making the film more interesting.
Class differences were also seen when the ship was sinking, where individuals from the upper classes acted with the utmost hatred of taking all lifeboats for themselves, leaving the lower class individuals with none. The director used this to showcase to the audience that power was the only technique for survival and that the fate of the individuals was entirely dependent on the class they originated from. The film’s lighting also played a crucial role in determining the type of scenes. The film used lowkey lighting during the scene where the ship hit the iceberg. The lowkey lighting was used to ensure that the audience saw the moon as the only lighting source. The high key lighting with a hint of yellow lighting was seen in the scene where Jack meets Rose. Consequently, the yellow lighting was only present at the highest level of the ships, thus creating a high culture and high class to the film.
Conclusion
The use of cinematography technique, musical sounds, and visual effects were successfully showcased in the Titanic film. These effects were also crucial in explaining the plot and the film’s compelling narrative. Following cinematographic techniques, the film was able to demonstrate the use of different themes such as romance, social class tensions, thriller, and horror. The working together of these themes due to the cinematography techniques aided in constructing an epi narrative with unique effects that ensured the audience experienced the film’s reality. Moreover, the audience was able to remember memories of the historical tragedy in 1912, when the events took place.
Work Cited
Gerstner, David. “Unsinkable Masculinity: The Artist And The Work Of Art In James Cameron’s Titanic”. Cultural Critique, vol 50, no. 1, 2002, pp. 1-22. Project Muse, https://doi.org/10.1353/cul.2002.0007.
Skarics, Marianne. “Undercover-Religion In James Camerons Film “Titanic””. Communicatio Socialis, vol 37, no. 2, 2004, pp. 161-177. Nomos Verlag, https://doi.org/10.5771/0010-3497-2004-2-161.
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