Setting: Since this is a
sci-fi movie, there are many different make-believe places included in it to
form the story. Each planet included offers an array of different environments,
creatures, scenery, and overall appearance, which is what I think I like so
much about this movie. One of the first settings in this movie is the planet of
Kamino. This setting differs from others in the movie because of the way it is
portrayed by George Lucas. Kamino is a mysterious planet that inhabits tall,
elegant creatures who tend to isolate themselves from each other. Kamino is a
very modern, yet wet and rainy planet that experiences many storms. In the
movie, Kamino appears to be a very modern planet by the tall, sleek, and oddly
shaped buildings. The gloomy, gray weather is expressed by the non-stop storm
that appears on this planet. The use of all these characteristics shows how
modern, uniform, dull this planet is. This contributes to the storyline because
this planet holds the creation and training grounds of the clone's army. Naboo
is personally one of my favorite types of planets in the entire franchise just
because of its beautiful nature and brightness. Naboo compared to other planets
shows a lot of nature and has a natural beauty compared to the more urban and
industrialized planets. Padme and Anakin decide to have a picnic in what looks
like a field on Naboo. This is when you see the love between them forming and
the use of a bright planet and happy planet transmits their overall joy to its
audience. This scene would have a completely different meaning and look if it
was on Kamino or Mustafar, which are both heavier, more serious locations.
Naboo almost seems whimsical and it allows readers to forget the conflict
occurring and focus on this relationship. In this scene especially, the
saturation of the grass, as well as the brightness of the sky, conveys a
lighthearted, heartwarming feeling in its audience. Geonosis is a harsh, rocky
desert planet that the battle at the end of the movie took place. There is a
dramatic change in the way Naboo looks to the way Geonosis appears. Geonosis is
an orange, red, dusty planet that is heavily industrialized with factories.
When compared to Naboo this planet appears more like a war planet and less like
a peaceful planet. This contributes to the overall storyline of this planet is
the site of the First Battle of Geonosis.
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| Kamino |
Naboo
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| Geonosis |
Lighting: Lighting is very important to a movie
because it sets a particular mood. Throughout this movie, there were many
different examples of lighting that convey a different type of mood to its
audience. For example, when Anakin and Padme travel to Naboo, the lighting in
this movie changes to a very bright and saturated form. You can see from the
bright green grass, vivid blue sky, and general lighter look to this scene that
directors and producers want the readers to feel happy and joyful. This
lighting is very different compared to what we have seen throughout this movie
in the past, since this movie does take place in space, you would think that
this movie would have dark lighting, but this scene was a nice contrast and
surprise with just how happy it feels. This scene serves as a quick distraction
from all the negative events taking place around them such as the battle, the
assassination attempts, evil political leaders taking over, and the creation of
an army. Another example can be found later in the movie. I chose the scene
where Yoda fights Count Dooku. Very different from the lighting in my first
example, this lighting is dark and almost saddening. As the audience, we wonder
who will win this duel between them and I believe that the dark lighting
definitely dramatizes this feeling of uncertainty. I think that bright lighting
would also change the mood and be a dead giveaway that "light" would
win the duel. Overall the darker lighting changes the mood to more suspenseful
as the audience hopes that light will prevail and beat the dark side. I think
also the lighting from the lightsabers also tells the story because we see with
a light color like green and a dark color such as red we see both colors fight
as well symbolizing light v.s. dark.
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Example 1
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| Example 2 |
Costume: Costumes are one of my favorite parts of the entire
movie. Star Wars is known for having very extravagant, over-the-top, almost
unusual outfits. In most cases, the villain of the story wears a darker color,
like black while the good characters will wear many lighter colors. In most
movies, including this one, costumes show your rank in society. Many of the
wealthier kings and queens and political leaders wear these loud outfits, while
other people who may be lower class wear toned-down beiges. In my personal
opinion, Padme has the coolest outfits ever. Each of hers is so detailed and
over-the-top that every time I see her come on screen, I get so excited to see
her new outfit. Her culture and her being a senator definitely play a big part
in the outfits she wears. As Before the battle, Padme is seen wearing a perfect
all-white outfit with a long sleeve and leggings. White in movies is seen as
very innocent, angelic, and pure, which I think are all perfect characteristics
of Padme herself. Towards the end of the battle, you see her outfit ripped up
and looks torn and she also loses her "unnecessary" accessories that
may have got in the way of her fighting, which shows the struggle and the
effort took on her. We see this change through what she wears. With most Sith's
you see the dress in dark colors such as black and red as symbolism for their
darkness and bad intentions. Count Dooku is seen wearing a black robe which is
most notable worn by the Sith's or the bad guys of Star Wars which is a perfect
way to know his intentions.
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| Count Dooku's Costumes |
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| Before |
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| After |
Staging:
For staging, I thought I would discuss one of my most favorite scenes of
the entire movie, Anakin and Padme's wedding. This is a forbidden love story so
to speak, they are not supposed to fall in love with each other and they did,
so they get married in a very secluded and isolated area of Naboo. Since they
are keeping their relationship a secret, only C-3PO, R2--D2, and the
officiator, and I feel like the staging of this scene conveys this lonely
almost "us against the world" theme. You can see both Anakin and
Padme towards the left of the scene and for the rest, you see the beautiful,
vast scenery of Naboo. You can't really see what's behind them, it's so far
away it almost seems blurry, but I think that was purposeful to show that they
do not know what's coming there is a sense of uncertainty in this scene and it
is represented by the staging.
we still can't read without highlighting!
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