The distinctively visual connects an image with an idea. To illustrate the effectiveness of the distinctively visual in emphasising the ways that individuals respond to significant aspects of life, two uniquely Australian texts stand alone; the prescribed text The Shoe-Horn Sonata by John Misto written in 1996 and the epic 2008 film Australia by Baz Luhramm. Both texts deal with aspects of war and the importance of truth.
Each text, whether it be a dramatised stage play or a film script, has a composer who has the capacity to emotionally transport an audience to a different time and place by bringing the written word to the visual medium through their evocative and highly innovative choice of the distinctively visual. In act one: scene 1 Bridie and Shelia, the two fictional characters, are a visual and dramatic representation of the women who faced the real life experiences of the Australian and British female POW’s captured while trying to flee from Singapore in 1942.
In 1996 John Misto created a dramatized staged production which exposed a “untold story of hundreds of women imprisoned by the Japanese in South East Asia as a ringing indictment against Australian indifference to the lots of these women”. Distinctively visual features are purposefully included from the play’s opening scene to aptly recreate the reality of their past experiences, which begins in complete darkness. Two deliberate and commanding hand claps are they first things you hear, this is used to capture the attention of the audience.
The Term Paper on Federation Australian Women
How and why did Federation occur? The movement to Federation At the end of the 1800 s, Australia was divided into six separate colonies instead of being one nation. But people had been talking for years about whether Australia should be one nation, and in the 1890 s a series of meetings (called conventions or conferences) was held to discuss federation of the colonies. The Premier of New South ...
The word “Keirei” is cried out upon command by the male Japanese guard, gender and power inequality are further established as an older women’s emotive dialogue is heard giving instruction to how to bow, in tribute, to the Emperor of Japan. A spotlight shines down on a women who is demonstrating how to bow properly, she is stiff from the waist and she holds this position until the word, “Naore! ” is said. “Without ever looking her master in the eye, the character slowly stands upright.
” The audience soon becomes aware that this is a studio demonstration when the symbolism of the on-air sign and the male voice-over appear, the audience also soon realises that the demonstration is of the women’s real-life experiences that she endured when she was young, as a by-product of the atrocity of World War Two. In the film Australia there is a key section of the film which is the recreation of the 1942 bombing of Darwin during World War Two. One hundred and eighty eight Japanese planes were launched against Darwin, whose harbour, before the air raid, was full of Allied ships.
For many years, despite the fact that more bombs were dropped on Darwin than in their attack on Pearl Harbour, and that between nine hundred (900) and one thousand, one hundred (1100) people were killed, government censorship, as similarly reflected in The Shoe-Horn Sonata, limited coverage of the event to supposedly protect public morale in the southern states of Australia. British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, and his government of the day knew that most, if not all of Australia, was now defenseless against the unstoppable Japanese.
Alike to the POW’s in Singapore, many assert that Darwin, behind this tragedy, was effectively abandoned. As in the prescribed text, Luhramm’s text, in part, questions much about Australia’s relationship with ‘Mother England’. In scene 3 Survival admits the atrocity of war is shown by humor (Bridies introduction to Sheila) “weather’s turned a bit chilly for this time of year. ” This shows tragedy. Non-diegetic sound helps show the atrocity of war, this is shown by the sound of lapping waves, it creates realism of the visual imagery of the oceans.
Atrocity of war is also shown in scene 13 when photographs are projected onto a screen with images of Hiroshima covered in a mushroom cloud, this is the aftermath of the atomic bomb. Survival is shown in acts one, two, three and thirteen. In act one survival is shown with the action of clapping of hands which gains the attention of the audiences as they realize that they are about to see an reenactment of a ritual ordered the Japanese soldiers.
The Essay on How did war world 1 impact women
There are all types of information including lesson plans, articles and news. BBC origin is a British Broadcasting Corporation. Established in 1922,London. The founders of BBC are John Reith and George Villers. BBC purpose is to “enrich peopleʼs lives with programs and services that inform, educate and entertain.” The values of the source are that it has benefits of hindsight; this is because they ...
Survival is shown in act two with sheila’s actions and vocal delivery when she reveals that the shoe-horn wasn’t traded for Bridie’s life- saving quinine tablets, rather, she was. In act three we see that survival is shown threw music, a chorus of the patriotic English song ‘Jerusalem” is played, “till we have built Jerusalem in England’s green and pleasant land” this shows that they women have faith in their homeland rescuing them. And finally survival is shown in act thirteen were emotive dialoged is used, Bridie: “ I don’t care how long or what it takes, we are going to survive this war.
And when it is over, you and I will go dancing, we will. I know we will. ” There are many other ideas and techniques used in the play, for example, the need for truth is shown threw non-diegetic sound which is heightened by the cessation of crickets, this is used by the composer to auralkly represent increasing tension prior to sharing the horror of this incessant memory. Non-diegetic sound is also shown again threw the atrocity of war, this is shown by the sound of lapping waves and creates realism of the visual imagery of the oceans.
One’s understanding of the atrocity of war and its particular impact on Australian women, children and civilians begins with, and is encapsulated with, the innocent choral singing of half-cast Aboriginal children at Mission Island, who, like Bridie and Sheila, were abducted and held against their will by government authorities and placed under the care of the Church. Young Aboriginal children flee and try to find cover has they hear the sound of aircraft engines overhead and the sound of continues gun firing.
In the film key lighting and high angle shots are used as Nullah looks up at the bomber aircraft in disbelief thus creating a distinctively subordinate and helpless image. In the foreground we see the character of an aboriginal elder, ironically called King George, witness the bombs fall around him, further reinforcing the impact of European culture on Indigenous Australians. Just like in the play The Shoe-Horn Sonata, non-diegetic sound is used, this is used with operatic music that helps illuminate the haunting and chilling atmosphere.
The Essay on Beyond The Dead Play First War
This play was the resounding voice of the dead. The direction of the play closely followed the original direction of the script. By that I mean that the unity of the play was contingent on the premise of the original writer. I believe that the director of this play was trying to uphold the message that Irwin Shaw first presented with this play. The play was directed very well. It seemed that it ...
In conclusion, both John Misto and Baz Luhrmann have successfully and effectively created distinctive visual imagery in their text and movie to pay tribute to the POW. These allowed the Audience with a better understanding with their experiences and were able to engage their feelings and emotions. Hence, the dramatic and literary techniques in both text and movie strongly achieved to educate the audience about this forgotten part of Australian history.
