Lord of the Rings

How does the use of cinematography in his key sequence from 'Lord of the Rings the Two Towers Battle of Helm's Deep' portray a sense of pathetic fallacy?

The opening mid-shot is a three shot of men standing strong, caped in steal armour suggesting they may be preparing for a battle, within the mise-en-scene there is a mist among the air which is contrasting as it is a common convention of a fantasy genre, although it is in the genre, war. With the man (Theoden) in the middle, centre of the camera, perfect on the rule of thirds, with him being the main focus, it reveals he may be more important and in control conveying his dominance over the other men. The mid-close-up shot highlights the relationship and the unitedness between these three men and implies they are on the same side. Their worried faces tell me they believe they’re fighting a losing battle and don’t want to see their friends die which makes me anxious as I would not like to be in their position. Furthermore, this particular mid-shot makes the characters look squashed, as if there is no room where they’re standing, this is shown by the way the camera only captures their head and shoulders making me feel almost claustrophobic. The low key lighting suggests this is a very serious situation and as this shot contains a tint of blue colour it allows me to know this is the good side whom I should be supporting.

The camera stays on the three men as a mid-three shot for a moment as they listen to the diegetic sound of the thunder as it rumbles within the atmosphere, torrential rain starts foreshadowing the beginning of the battle. Then the scene cuts to an extreme long shot allowing us to see the mise-en-scene of the rest of their side all standing together ready for battle and facing the same way upon the castle, depicting they’re united and fighting for the same thing. All the men’s faces are shadowed by their helmets stirring mystery in my head as I can’t see their emotions. Furthermore, this extreme long shot of all the men forebode how crowded they all are as they are standing waiting for their opposition. A flash of lightning strikes emphasising the weather which sets the mood of this scene being as we expect something bad is going to happen, this is called pathetic fallacy. On top of the diegetic sound of the rain, high pitch non-diegetic sound drawn from my speakers, like high horns withdrawing an uneasy emotion upon myself as the sharpness of the notes imply something horrific is about to occur.

The scene then cuts to a close up of the sharp spears of which the Orcs (the opposition) grasp. I believe the sharp non-diegetic sound symbolises the sharpness of the weapons emphasising the tension between sides and add to the anticipation of a bad occurrence. The camera portrays a crane shot which swoops down then the weapons allowing us to see the heads of the Orcs. The non-diegetic sound, upon the diegetic sound of their armour crashing to the floor due to its weight, gets deeper as a sudden straight cut occurs foreshadowing a wide shot of the mise-en-scene which forebodes the amount of Orcs compared with the number of men on the castle. The scene then cuts to a reaction shot which slowly pans right to left for a moment that illustrates the plain facial expressions of the men as they are calmly waiting and watching the sea of Orcs marching towards them. A thick mist surrounds them which conveys a claustrophobic sensation as they are surrounded by their opposition. Meanwhile the non-diegetic sound of getting louder although still being able to hear the diegetic sound of the thunder and lighting and the rain, this builds suspension as this pathetic fallacy is a common convention to depict something bad about to happen. This brings to mind a scene from 300 when the battle of Thermopylae takes place. It includes a series of cuts highlighting both armies as Leonidas (king of Sparta) motivates his warriors at a standstill, while they are watching their opposition running towards them whom also have more men then Leonidas. In this scene there is a dirty mist in the air which portrays an unclear ending of this battle, ordering me to feel as though something bad may happen during this war. As well as this there is non-diegetic sound, over the top of Leonidas’ motivation speech, of a cello playing very low, powerful notes which implies a sense of heroicness about him and his warriors.

Another straight cut materialises as a close-up shot takes place of the Orcs walking past the static camera which reveals their constant movement proving they won't stop and are fearless. This puts me on edge as they give the impression that they are a strong army and will do a lot of damage to the castle. Parallel editing occurs revealing the women and children hiding under the castle grounds to keep as far away from the battle as possible. A pan to the left occurs which foreshadows the amount of women and children squished in this one room. Starting with a close-up shot of a woman highlighting the fear on her face, as the camera pans round a mid-shot emerges conveying another women with two children wrapped in her arms, as they are all listening to the heavy-footed Orcs who are walking the grounds above them. This wide shot makes me feel claustrophobic as it allows me to see many more women in this one space. This implies that the fathers of all these children are being forced to fight as they needed more people. This makes me feel worried as I wouldn't like my facing his death in a battle opposed to the strong Orcs. Additionally I am able to hear the diegetic sound of babies crying as they are confused to what is going on and this makes me feel more on edge as the repetitive screeching noise inflicts the feeling of all the women and emphasises how much I would not like to be in their position.

After that, an extreme long shot occurs revealing the mise-en-scene of both armies about to go at war with each other, we are able to see all the men at the top of the tower wall watching their opposition on the left of the screen. Then the Orcs slowly moving closer to the tower on the right side. This high crane shot high combined with many high angle pan shots emphasises the whole spectical of the situation as if it was a gladiatorial fight within a collosium and they're putting on a show. On the other hand it reveals the distance between the two sides is a big open space which reminds me of ‘dead man’s land’ from World War 1 due to it looking very empty and dirty. The thick mist among the air stirs mystery, symbolising that the battle is going to be unclear and unpredictable therefore creates suspense and makes me feel apprehensive. The diegetic sound of the Orcs marching upon the muddy, wet ground, over powers the diegetic sound of the thunder emphasising their movement and the closer they get, the closer to war, blood and loss. This reminds me of a heart beat getting faster the more nervous one is, I believe this reflects the feelings of the men on the tower as well as their wives and children underground.

The camera then tracks in mid shot to the left following Aragorn as he walks between the elves shouting out some encouraging words to prepare them for battle. This also illustrates a mid-close-up shot of all the elves with their bows in their tight grasp foreshadowing they’re ready and their urgency to fight. This shot also allows me to witness their fearless faces as they have no expression, implying they have been in this position before. The camera conceals the fact that they are standing on top of a high tower and makes it seem as though they are standing on flat ground, this allows the audience to feel relaxed as we don’t see the height at which they could fall at. Furthermore I believe this shot depicts their unitedness because they are in close proximity with one another and as they are all facing the same way it shows they are on the same side. This moment in particular reminds me of the scene from Braveheart when William Wallis gives his freedom speech to a whole army of countrymen persuading them to fight as free men for what they believe in. However this scene is more emotive than the sequence from Lord of the Rings due to William Wallis have to try harder with persuading the army to fight, William goes into detail about the consequences of not fighting. Also there is non-diegetic sound which is a mixture of low notes from a drum and high notes from a horn, this mixture emphasises this being a heroic moment and forebodes that there may be loss but good will come in the end. Whereas Aragorn only gives two short sentences as he knows his army are eager to fight the Orcs.

There is then a straight cut to a long shot of the Orcs which sweeps up gradually revealing an Orc on a big boulder rock, turning into a low angled shot, it shows the dominance of that one Orc over the rest of them. This Orc then throws his arm up in the air with his weapon in his grasp ordering the army to come to a halt, this builds suspense as I see this as unexpected considering I believe the Orcs would have kept marching to the tower. The camera then zooms in on this Orc on the rock to a mid-shot and I spotted a hand print on his armour in place of his heart which suggests to me that this Orc army are no strangers to war.