The Game of Thrones extract
constructs meaning through camera shots, angles, movement, editing, sound, and
mise-en-scène in many ways. The different types of CAMS, editing, sounds, and
mise-en-scene makes this extract stand out. While conducting this, the director
developed an amazing theme. The theme that I felt was conveyed through this
extract was the struggle to keep loyalty, while getting your superiors to agree
with you at the same time.
The first scene is short, but it
still builds on the theme of the extract. At the beginning of the first scene,
there is an aerial shot showing a ship moving on the sea, with ambient sound in
the background of seagulls and birds chirping. The people on the ship are
wearing old fashioned clothes showing that this takes place long ago. This adds
to the theme by showing the conditions that they’re in and shows the watcher
what the people on the ship must go through to get to their destination. The
lighting is gloomy but it’s bright enough to show the surroundings. Then, there
is a jump cut to two men staring off into the distance to where they're headed.
This helps construct the theme by showing the people getting ready to face
what’s to come, building suspense. The score adds even more suspense. Then the
camera zooms out to show the conditions they’re in and then transitions into an
establishing shot of where they’re going. The establishing shot shows a large
city, where the men are headed. When showing the city in an aerial shot the
lighting quickly brightens. This builds on the theme of the extract in many
ways. At the beginning the gloomy feel builds suspense and the quick transition
to the bright lighting and the city heightens that suspense to show there is
something to come.
Right when the second scene starts,
the score cuts away. The two men are now in a room waiting for people to come.
In a two-shot transitioning to a wide shot shows the two men start to talk
about how far they came only to be waiting for hours in. This gives a
background on what’s happening and adds to the theme at the same time. This
builds suspense because they are angry. After all, this meeting was important
to them. They came this long way to make a negotiation with their superiors and
they haven’t shown up yet. The lighting is somewhat dark, but you can see the
men pacing and talking. This creates a gloomy feel adding to the suspense and
theme. The doors in the room open loudly and three men dressed elegantly
walkout. They seem like they have authority over the men, telling them to sit down
after they do on three giant chairs. The setting and the dialogue adds to the
theme showing that this meeting is important. The two men sit down, but they’re
hesitant because they were upset, they had to wait. This builds to the theme
because it shows the struggle to build loyalty. The meeting starts and the
dialogue between the men is hostile because they’re angry. This further adds to
the theme. As the dialogue continues, we find out that one of the two men is
related to the king and they’re trying to come to an agreement with the
superiors. The CAMS change consistently showing different angles of this
meeting. At one point the angle is a low-wide angle behind the two men showing
the power difference. Another thing to note the man in the middle of the three
superior men is talking calmly but condescending while the two men are starting
to get angry. That furthers the buildup of the theme. While the two men are
trying to negotiate the superiors decide that they don’t want to work with the
two men. The two men get up and one of them starts to talk back to the superior
trying to negotiate one more and build loyalty and trust. While this is
happening there is a shot/reverse shot showing the conversation as it gets
faster. This builds suspense by the rate they’re talking at. This also adds to
the theme as the last struggle to build loyalty and getting the superiors to
listen. In the end, the man talking to the superior is getting points in and
the superior tries to stop the conversation, but it does not work. The man
points at his partner saying they need to pick him and demanding change. The
camera cuts back to the man surprised. This shapes the theme, furthering the
struggle to build loyalty while trying to make superiors listen to them.
I feel like I am right on this
theme because everything adds up together. The CAMS, sound, mise-en-scene, and
editing combine to shape my theme perfectly.
