Expressive movement unit 2

The beginning of this unit interrupts the image of tension within a prolonged silence which unfolded in the previous unit. The interruption is staged as the loud rustling of palm leaves and conveyed through an unusual camera perspective that can not be assigned to any diegetic point of view. This is the beginning of a succession of affective stages from relaxation to horror and finally mourning. It is staged primarily on the level of sound design as a succession of humming, gunshot, scream, music and dialogue. As a whole, this unit—centered around the moment of the shot—has a mirror structure, with Matowski (alive) and Eeps on one side of the mirror and Matowski’s fall and the rest of the group on the other side. This structure allows the experience of a dramaturgical peripeteia.

The interplay of melodic humming and edits that connect a common line of sight stage a moment of happiness supported by the acting—smiling eye contact and a casual salute. The suddenness of the off-screen gunshot ends this mood of relaxation and transforms it into horror through the introduction of music that increases in volume and the slight shift of the line of sight in the reverse shot of Eeps.

During Matowski's prolonged, shrill scream the fast cuts to medium close-ups of the soldiers’ faces form a collective, moving face of the group that transitions from surprise to horror and finally mourning. The change in affect takes place through the interplay of sound design and a montage of varying shot lengths of facial expressions. Purkett’s expression in particular, in the longest shot, marks this transition: he blinks at the moment we hear the corpse hit the ground off screen, music intimating a funeral march begins as his lips tremble and he turns away from the camera, bringing his face into the shadows.  An acoustic signal announces the knowledge that a fellow soldier has died, the musical change underscores the mood of mourning. The long close-up of the weeping Eeps is a reminder that he and Matowski shared a final happy moment and references the mirror structure on both sides of the gunshot. Correspondingly, a scenic bracket follows, formed by a shot of Dane —who picks up Matowski’s shoe—and a track in.  This is both the end of the figuration of the mourning group and also marks the end of this unit—underlined by Todd’s dry comment.