Expressive movement unit 1

Metadata

Through the interplay of the shot composition and the sound design, an intensification of the readiness for battle is staged as a form of contraction and disassociation from the outside world.

The sequence of shots, from the appearance of the submarine in rolling spray, the men looking in different directions and the destination framed by binocular lenses mark the center of the contraction that disassociates itself from the outside world—setting itself apart from the submarine and the destination. The thrilling music supports this image of tension.

Two soldiers preparing for battle and standing close together function as a parameter of the concrete transition of the mood toward readiness for battle. The easy-going bearing in the private banter between the two soldiers, framed closely and with a reduced depth of focus, gives way—after Colonel Thorwald can be heard addressing them off camera—to fixed stares and serious faces (the beginning of a smile is consciously suppressed). The change in the relaxed mood is first accomplished by a camera pan to an increased depth of focus that directs attention to Colonel Thorwald’s entrance. In this shot, the colonel corresponds with a central perspective vanishing point; all soldiers are “aligned” in his direction.  His address is given in a close up and again in a medium shot with more depth of focus. At the end of his speech the camera pans back to the two soldiers whose facial expressions have changed.  Their faces have become serious. And the music underlines the melancholy mood.