Throughout the film, there is very little dialogue. This was done to put an emphasis on the shots & visual storyline. The opening scene shows black farmers working in a field and then putting up the South African flag. From the beginning, the audio cuts through the visuals to provide a nice crisp sound, enticing viewers. One of the first scenes, the young boy is introduced playing with the dog, which gives a feeling of connection between the dog and boy. However, it is evident that the man/farmer is not too fond of the dog when he orders the boy to bag it & beat it. The dog assumed that the boy was beating him, since he was the last & first thing seen before and after being in the bag. As the film progresses, the dog becomes loyal to the man, even though he was the one who beat the dog. The man eventually passes out towards the end working in the field and the boy is forced to shoot the dog, who was guarding him. If the dog knew who had abused it, maybe the outcome of the film would’ve gone differently.
Overall, the video & colors had a warm feeling which made the film even more pleasant to view. The variety of shots & character positioning set up for great story telling. The rural farm setting with the white farmer prompts that it is during the slave era.
COMPARISON
The scene from Indiana Jones can be compared to the short film Inja.
In the Indiana Jones scene, it starts out with a medium shot of Indiana Jones attempting to smuggle the treasure from what appears to be a small cave. The shots are longer and slower, giving a mysterious feel. The camera then cuts to show his partner smiling of joy, ready to take home the treasure. However, things turn bad for Jones as he gets caught between a descending wall. As this happens, there are many quick cuts and different shots to convey a “rushing” feeling as the wall closes on him.
The cuts are similar to Inja. In Inja, there are more frequent cuts when there’s action, such as when the man is chopping in the field, just like Indiana Jones when he steals the treasure. In both, multiple characters are introduced right off the bat.
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