Drew Little English 10 Dr. Drummond January 30, 2009 Creating the Real and the Surreal In the movie The Mission, directed by Roland Joffé, Jesuit priests start a mission in the jungles of the Guaraní Indians in South America. Jeremy Irons and Robert de Niro star as Father Gabriel and Rodrigo Mendoza. Mendoza is a former mercenary and slave trader who seeks forgiveness in the mission after he murders his brother. The purpose of the mission is to provide protection for the Guaraní from slavery by the hands of the Portuguese and to teach the Indians about Christianity. With the combination of cinematography by Chris Menges and musical score by Ennio Morricone, The Mission can give the viewer a sense of realness or the extraordinary. During an opening scene when Father Gabriel is climbing up a waterfall there is, at first, no music. The only noise is the thundering sound of the waterfall. The camera shoots at a close up, neutral shot of his feet as he is climbing, and it is just him and the waterfall. The moment feels very real and scary, and this moment of fear is only magnified by the overwhelming noise of the pounding falls. This diegetic noise plays a large role in making the moment seem real. Father Gabriel slips but hangs on for his life. The fact that Father Gabriel’s mind set is changed from scared to perseverant is shown by the change in shot from close up to a long shot and by the noise of the falls being dampened and blanketed by music of triumph and discovery, as if now Father Gabriel has discovered the majesty of God’s creation that is the falls. It no longer Little 2 seems as real and Father Gabriel’s fear no longer seems present. Instead, the viewer is able to see him from a further distance that makes the falls the more important character rather than Father Gabriel. The diegetic sounds make the scene seem more real while the non-diegetic sounds make the scene seem larger than just the characters and majestic. Music is also a key component in the scene in which the Guaraní boy is singing in the court for the cardinal to exhibit the Guarani’s civilized behavior. At first, people are shown on the balcony of the court and singing can be heard. The shot moves downwards towards a Guaraní boy who is the one singing. The camera pivots around him to show the contrast between the boy who is wearing very simple clothing to the court and its occupants who are wealthy Europeans. The moment seems very surreal and almost heavenly as the singing is only accompanied by the sounds of birds chirping. The 360 degree shot centered on the Guaraní boy draws a lot of significance to him, and it shows his innocence and how he is above all of the prejudice and hatred that many of the people of the court have towards his people. Though, everything becomes real again when the singing stops, and all of the conflict and problems that were blocked out by the moment of the Guaraní boy singing become evident once more. The music in this scene is used to personify the spirit of the Guaraní, and even though there is only one child singing, the music is representative of all his people and their civil manner. Cinematography and music in a movie can really make a moment seem very significant while the lack of it can make a moment seem very normal and real. Diegetic sounds can cause the audience to focus on just one specific object in the shot, while non-diegetic sounds like music can cause the viewer to take in the whole picture rather than one particular spot. Also Little 3 shooting a long shot can cause the setting to be the dominant character while close up shots cause the focus to fixate on one object. Music and cinematography in a movie are very vital because they influence the mood of the audience and can alter thoughts about characters and themes of a movie.