Phillpott- Beowulf and the Sea Monsters

I chose the scene in Beowulf where he is fighting the Sea Monsters because I think it needed more enhancing. The blood on his chest is unrealistic as well as the ocean behind him. The Sea Monsters also look very tacky and not as scary as they should--I mean they are vicious sea creatures that will eat human flesh! The whole sequence could have done with some more special effects, but I chose this still picture to explain my choice.

The DOMINANT is Beowulf's bloodied body and triumphant face. The LIGHTING KEY in this particular shot is high key because the lightning is showing everything for the audience to see (everything is lit up.) The SHOT AND CAMERA PROXEMIC is slightly from above and personal because we see Beowulf from the waist up. The ANGLE is looking slightly down on Beowulf and we are allowed to see the ocean rocking behind him. The COLOR VALUE is mostly a yellow glow, but the red blood on his body seems to dominate the focus of the picture. The SUBSIDIARY CONTRASTS are the knife in his outstretched hand and then the choppy ocean behind him. The FORM is open because Beowulf is in the middle of the ocean which is natural and not stylized. The FRAMING is loose because nothing is restricting him from moving freely about the ocean. The CHARACTER PLACEMENT is in the center to put all the focus on him as the triumphant hero.

Despite the fact that the mise en scene conveys the message the director wanted to show, there is still more visual enhancing they could have done. Like I said before, the blood on his chest seems unnatural. Also, there is no blood on the knife he just used to kill the Sea Monsters. He has no blood on his face and there is little blood on his body. The Sea Monsters were huge, and a lot of blood came out of them. To make this scene more convincing, there should have been more blood on Beowulf's body. The ocean in the background also seems fake because there is no dimension to it. It is unnatural. If the makers of this movie had wanted to really make this a great film they should have done a lot more editing and enhancing.