I need help with an english essay
Please help me improve this essay, it's for an english exam that I have in 6 days *Discuss the use of techniques to develop character in the film you have studied. In the film About a Boy directed by Chris and Paul Weitz a variety of techniques have been used to develop character. These techniques include lighting, voice over and costume. They develop our understanding by showing us the characters real personalities, how they view themselves and their present situation and how others view them. The lighting in the film is used to develop the two main characters Will and Marcus. In Wills case we have a modern and high-tech apartment bathed in blue light and chrome reflections. From this we can ascertain that Will is a cold and detached individual, “an island”. Another lighting technique used to develop character is backlighting. Backlighting is used to show that Will is undeveloped emotionally. The shadows formed by the backlighting shot will as a “blank” two dimensional being. Marcus’ scenes are quite different. The cool blue and chrome are absent and instead replaced with vibrant reds yellows and brown. This is used to develop Marcus into an energetic, lively and emotional person. The contrasting light used to develop these characters shows us how different their lives and personalities are. Voice over is another technique used in the film to develop character. It provides us with information on how they view themselves or their present situation. The voice overs for Will show us that he is immature and emotionally undeveloped. “It was terrible! Terrible! But driving really fast behind the ambulance was fantastic”. Marcus’ voice overs show us that he is and isolated individual and a victim of bullying, “I just didn’t fit”. Voice overs further develop character by showing us what the characters are really thinking, their inner most thoughts. In the film the directors choose particular clothing for each of the characters to develop and expand upon their personalities. Will who has an excessive preoccupation with being “cool” has a large wardrobe full of all kinds of trendy clothing, modern age jeans and t-shirts. Marcus however wears corduroy pants, rainbow sweaters and woolly hats. Wills appearance contrasts greatly with that of Marcus’. Apart form the clothing they also have different shoes and haircuts. Will is wearing new trainers but Marcus is wearing old sneakers. Will has his hair spiked up and he gets it cut every other day, Marcus has a ‘bowl-cut’. These appearances tell us that Will blends in to modern society whereas Marcus doesn’t, which probably mean that he would not be accepted at school and would probably be bullied, which he is. Will does show some emotion towards Marcus’ situation we he buys him new trainers, which get stolen. “I made an unhappy boy temporarily happy”. Techniques in the film About a Boy are used so that we can develop a greater understanding of the characters. Lighting, voice over and costume have been used to show us the characters real personalities how the characters view themselves and their present situation and how others view them. Will, cool and wealthy but immature. Marcus, uncool and unwealthy. Even thought these characters contrast greatly they still manage to learn a lot from each other. All comments and suggestions are very welcomed.
Please help me improve this essay, it's for an english exam that I have in 6 days *Discuss the use of techniques to develop character in the film you have studied. In the film About a Boy directed by Chris and Paul Weitz a variety of techniques have been used to develop character. These techniques include lighting, voice over and costume. They develop our understanding by showing us the characters real personalities, how they view themselves and their present situation and how others view them. The lighting in the film is used to develop the two main characters Will and Marcus. In Wills case we have a modern and high-tech apartment bathed in blue light and chrome reflections. From this we can ascertain that Will is a cold and detached individual, “an island”. Another lighting technique used to develop character is backlighting. Backlighting is used to show that Will is undeveloped emotionally. The shadows formed by the backlighting shot will as a “blank” two dimensional being. Marcus’ scenes are quite different. The cool blue and chrome are absent and instead replaced with vibrant reds yellows and brown. This is used to develop Marcus into an energetic, lively and emotional person. The contrasting light used to develop these characters shows us how different their lives and personalities are. Voice over is another technique used in the film to develop character. It provides us with information on how they view themselves or their present situation. The voice overs for Will show us that he is immature and emotionally undeveloped. “It was terrible! Terrible! But driving really fast behind the ambulance was fantastic”. Marcus’ voice overs show us that he is and isolated individual and a victim of bullying, “I just didn’t fit”. Voice overs further develop character by showing us what the characters are really thinking, their inner most thoughts. In the film the directors choose particular clothing for each of the characters to develop and expand upon their personalities. Will who has an excessive preoccupation with being “cool” has a large wardrobe full of all kinds of trendy clothing, modern age jeans and t-shirts. Marcus however wears corduroy pants, rainbow sweaters and woolly hats. Wills appearance contrasts greatly with that of Marcus’. Apart form the clothing they also have different shoes and haircuts. Will is wearing new trainers but Marcus is wearing old sneakers. Will has his hair spiked up and he gets it cut every other day, Marcus has a ‘bowl-cut’. These appearances tell us that Will blends in to modern society whereas Marcus doesn’t, which probably mean that he would not be accepted at school and would probably be bullied, which he is. Will does show some emotion towards Marcus’ situation we he buys him new trainers, which get stolen. “I made an unhappy boy temporarily happy”. Techniques in the film About a Boy are used so that we can develop a greater understanding of the characters. Lighting, voice over and costume have been used to show us the characters real personalities how the characters view themselves and their present situation and how others view them. Will, cool and wealthy but immature. Marcus, uncool and unwealthy. Even thought these characters contrast greatly they still manage to learn a lot from each other. All comments and suggestions are very welcomed.