Expressive movement unit 1

In this unit, in particular the movement of the camera and the figures creates an opposition between continuous protractions and disconnected entities.

Dane’s arrival shows a confusing situation; in the shot composition, tropical vines and untamed growth frame the two men and make the background – in which individual soldiers move – inscrutable. The song of the soldier doing laundry creates a cozy atmosphere of everyday chores. The discussion in the image’s foreground is about the fact that the individual soldiers do not form a unit. As Dane and Feingold step into the encampment they are accompanied by a tracking shot and the long notes of Epps’ singing, making the curving movement seem even more protracted. Sergeant Dane’s body enters a relationship with the camera that can be described as a semi-circular movement. While the camera tracks movement in a small inner radius, Dane walks along an outer radius. As he steps into the encampment, the scattered chores, the everyday individual movements (washing, stacking dishes, hanging out) lose their momentum. The soldiers’ move their hands one last time before they look at him, their movements then become slower and they center him. He looks and speaks into off-screen, the camera again makes a curved, circular movement at Dane's departure until further soldiers can be seen in the frame. All bodies are oriented towards Dane, one after another they face the same direction, an effect created by the movement of the figures in one shot as well as by the alignment and line of sight of the figures, determined by the editing. Dane’s voice is the only one that can be heard. The soldiers’ movements - standing up and walking – are not only spatially oriented towards Dane at their center, they also reference one another in their similarity as well as Dane's voice as a steering mechanism. The soldier in the hammock is alone in the frame and at first does not react to Dane's call. Dane's voice from off-screen slowly causes his laborious rising; for this reason his slow approach to the camera stresses the quality of being pulled.