Christian- Fenwick, Beowolf

The 2007 version of Beowolf, directed by Robert Zemeckis, was a film that did not even look like a film. It looked like a long video game without any actual involvement on the viewers part in the game. The writers and Robert Zemeckis tried to modernize this classical epic poem, but it seemed to fall flat. It was a coattail movie to the film "300". The writers and director changed the story line of the film which then changes the meaning behind the piece. it became a piece bout Oedipus complexes acted out, rather than one that focused on the importance of language as the vehicle behind what distinguishes us as humans. Also, the movie seemed to be about what a computer can generate rather than what good acting, cinematography , lighting, etc can generate. The film depended entirely too much on the special effects to save the movie and they by no stretch of the imagination were able to do that.

The frame from the fight scene that Beowolf has with Grendel.

Dominat : The dominant in the scene is obviously Beowolf due to the fact that he is the only character in the frame.

Lighting key: The lighting key has two levels. Half of Beowolf's face is on shadow and the other half of the face is in a brighter and clearer light.

Shot and Camera Proxemics: The shot is pretty close up. It is all about his face. The camera proxemics is personal.

Angle: It is a straight on angle as if the viewer was looking directly at him.

Color Vaules: There is a light blue filter on frame which was probably carried over form the fight scene. Otherwise the film has realistic color values for a fire lit mead hall door looking out into the dark night.

Lens/filter/stock:There is a light blue filter used.

Subsidiary Contrasts: The mead hall, which was the site of the battle, is the subsidiary contrast as well as the wall of the mead hall.

Density:Due to the shadowy lighting and the hyper intense colors (from the video game like style) there is a lot of density, but not as much as there would have been in a real life shot. There is texture in the shot from his hair, the walls, and the blood spattered on his face.

Composition: The frame has a basic composition completely centering around Beowolf, which forces the audience to solely focus on him and what he is saying.

Form: The form is closed because all of the frame is forces you to focus on his face.

Framing: The framing is tight. All the audience can really see is his face.

Depth: The image is composed of three levels . The primary level is the wall of the mead hall. It is the most in the foreground. Then there is Beowolf in the middle and in the background is the rest of the hall (it is out of focus).

Character Placement: There is only one character in the frame, but the implied character in the frame that Beowolf is talking to has close proxemics to Beowolf.

Staging Positions: The way that Beowolf is positioned in relation to his other is straight on. This is an aggressive and powerful position that implies a fight or a battle of wills.

Character Proxemics: The character proxemics are personal because Beowolf's face is so close to the screen which we as an audience assume is being viewed through the eyes of the other character.