Glory Reaction Shot Essay

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Walter Florio
October 21, 2014
Hollywood’s History
Professor Stock
Glory

Through the aid of film one is able to delve deeper into a particular moment in time. Without the use of cinematographic techniques the nuances of a certain instance, such as the relationship between individuals or the emphasis of a certain item, are lost. In Edward Zwick’s film Glory, produced in 1989, Zwick is able to portray the dynamics between characters through the use of numerous cinematic techniques. For example in one of the finial scenes of the movie during Colonel Robert Shaw’s death, Zwick uses a reaction shot, a shot that cuts away from the main scene or speaker in order to show a character's reaction to it, showing the faces of a few men in Shaw’s company that he has grow especially close to. Without the use of the reaction shot Zwick would not be able to clearly represent the growth that has occurred between the characters. When the film first starts, there was a lot of contention between Shaw and his men. At that time, blacks held subservient roles to whites in society and Shaw was in charge of a black infantry unit. It takes some time for Shaw to understand this dynamic and if he wants to connect with his men in any way he needs to “get off his high horse” and find a way to understand the needs and interworking’s of his infantry division. At the beginning of the picture Shaw and Private Trip do not see eye to eye. Conflicted by his reason to fight in the war, Trap eventually confides in Shaw that he isn’t fighting for the union, but more so for himself. Going into the finial battle it seems that Trap still struggles with his purpose in fighting. However, upon Shaw’s death it is then that he realizes that he is fighting for opportunity and there are those such as Shaw who will do anything to protect a mans freedom of choice. The look of determination that is show in the reaction shot clearly portrays his newly understood desire to fight. Without the use of this filming technique, the viewer may not have been able to pick up on the subtleties of the scene. Another relationship that is made clear in Zwick’s reaction shot is the one between Shaw and Thomas Searles. It is evident that Shaw and Searles had been
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