Introduction
‘The Castle’ is an Australian comedian film directed by Rob Stich. The film is about a middle-class family trying to save their home from demolition during the 1980’s. The main themes of ‘family’ and ‘the little Aussie battler’ form the basis of this movie. In particular, the director believes the love and support of a family can help a person overcome problematic times. The director has used different cinematic techniques of mise-en-scene, camera angle and sound to develop these techniques.
Paragraph 1 Camera angles
The first cinematic technique used to depict the theme of ‘family’ and ‘the little Aussie battler’ is the camera angle. In the film, the director has used a lot of medium shots to show how Kerrigan’s family lives with each other. Medium shots are also used to display the importance of family and they have rarely seen alone when they are sad, such as when they are first introduced to the audience. The family sits close to each other every time, such as in pairs. A good example of this can be seen when the family is having dinner or watching television together to …show more content…
The two most notable mise-en-scene elements used are lighting and costumes. Sitch used lighting to show whether something is virtuous or to be feared. A good example is the lighting in and around the house which is sunlit, it symbolises that the house is a good place to be because it brings positiveness in the family as it’s a place with memories and they live together. In contrast, Stich uses costume element to represent the emotions of the character, such as family wears bright and happy colours clothing when they are together. However, Darryl’s wears dark colours in the court, which shows that he is upset and not happy. Furthermore, the director puts authority figures in the dark clothing to demonstrate they are powerful and intimidating. Therefore, lighting and costume were the main elements in the film