Visual Text External 1.2
4 Credits
Film Study
Throughout this unit you should focus on the following:
 Theme and relevance of ideas to modern society/events
 Character and character development
 Important relationships / conflict
 Significant event or climax point
 Setting
 Symbolism / Motifs
 Opening and ending scenes
 Technical elements – Visual / Oral
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Cinematography – camera angles and shots
Costume
Props
Lighting – High Key / Low Key
Colour – filters (green, blue, red)
Camera movement – tracking, pan, tilt
Zoom in / Zoom out
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Montage
Special Effects – 3 D technology, Motion Capture
Fade in / Fade out
Dissolve
Cut / Crosscutting
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Diegetic Sound - onscreen
Non-Diegetic Sound - added
Diegetic
 Dialogue
 Footsteps/wind/natural sounds
Non-Diegetic
 Soundtrack
 Voiceover narration
 Sound effects
 Establishing shot
 Long shot
 Medium shot
 Close-up
 Extreme close-up
 Point of view
 Over the shoulder
 Low Angle
 High Angle
 Eye Level
 Match up the film stills/images on your handout with
the correct term and definition.
 Paste these into your English workbook.
fin
 Avatar , through the character of Jake Sully, helps show the
theme of the power of the individual - that one person has the
ability to make a difference.
 Jake Sully realises that the military mining operation on Pandora
is unjust and eventually switches sides. He finds himself drawn
to the culture he was initially fighting against. He is particularly
attracted to their strong sense of respect for the environment
and life in general. With the Navi Jake also feels a sense of
belonging he lacked in his human community. His brother is
dead, he doesn’t fit in with the “science geeks” and no longer
identifies with the “jarhead” soldiers as he once did. This also
reflects the importance of family and identity a person has in
order to feel complete and fulfilled.
 ‘Avatar’ also reminds us about the harsh truth of unjustifiable military
aggression and the capability humanity has to cause destruction, both to our
environment and each other. The film conveys to viewers a warning about
the way humans treat other species or cultures. A current world
concern is the way many developed countries often feel entitled to
inhabit another country with no concern for the indigenous cultures
and the impact on the environment. Often the reason for invasion is to
exploit their natural resources.
 The director has acknowledged that even though there are good humans within
the film, the humans "represent what we know to be the parts of ourselves that
are trashing our world and maybe condemning ourselves to a grim future".
 Cameron acknowledges that Avatar implicitly criticizes the United States' role
in the Iraq War and the impersonal nature of mechanized warfare in general.
Cameron said, "We know what it feels like to launch the missiles. We don't
know what it feels like for them to land on our home soil, not in America." He
said in later interviews, "... I think it's very patriotic to question a system that
needs to be corralled ..."
 A scene in the film which portrays this theme is the
violent destruction of the towering Na'vi Hometree,
which collapses in flames after a missile attack, coating
the landscape with ash and floating embers.
TASK:
Watch the following scene.
Analyse how visual and oral techniques are used to help
convey this theme.