By Means Of The Visible By Mitchell Stephens: Film Analysis

Among the inversion of interpretation, the audience often finds oneself drifting into the path of trying to comprehend the overlying theme of the story; a theme, that often gets identified by using technical devices such as images and words. With the well-endowed analogy formulated by Mitchell Stephens, in By Means of the Visible, readers can quickly note the strengths and defects of both devices. Defects, that ranges from words, lacking the ability to portray abstract ideas to images, not being coherently clear to display one perception. Had it not been for the level of preparation the authors may have, one can infer that both images and devices can accommodate to one another equally. However, we all know that in the majority of the cases,
that fails to be the ultimate case; instead, either the words out-win the images or vice versa. In accordance to our narrative, we made a somewhat successful level of implementing the scheme of developing a story that was more reliant on images than a written form would have been.
“Rocky” communicates to the audience, a story of an already struggling girl, Sarah Reaper, who senses that her life is useless: having no indefinable end. From the day, the Reapers’ visited their doors into eternity, Sarah hasn’t been the same. She ventures alone trying to find a solution for her sufferings, but frantically fails at it. She becomes so close-minded with the world, that Sarah starts lashing out, enduring her own eternal suffering. In a moment of weakness, Sarah takes the advice of one of her acquaintances; an advice, that is, of finding a confidant in a rescued dog. Had it not been for this well-intruded advice, Sarah might have found herself in the arms of her two awaiting angels. So instead, the once struggling girl, became aware that all hopes weren’t lost. She came into realization, that just like Rocky had been set free from the detrimental consequences of life, she noted that her parents’ death wasn’t her misdoing. In other words, from Rocky’s sudden death, both characters had reached closure in their respective ways. The underlying theme that we wanted to achieve was the idea that finding someone or something to care for in any moment of hardship, provides us with wanting to reach happiness. There may have been times that this theme wouldn’t have clearly come across, yet the well-developed, facial expressions between the Rocky and Sarah to some extent, made sure it did. In a black to a white photographic genre, Rocky finds himself laying on what appears to be a bed, getting a kiss by Sarah, who with her affectionate closed eyes, hugs him as to never letting him go. As with Stephens’ conclusion, images “take advantage of the accessibility of aiding those who may not understand a particular language” (Stephens, 60). For this reason, the visualization of a tight affection can be viewed by almost anyone, (who didn’t need to understand the plot) and realized the unbreakable bond between these two characters. Generally, when two characters, held on to each other with such strength, it’s enviable for a viewer to not understand what’s being nonverbally stated.
Subsequently, Stephens further certifies the argument of images being needed to solidified a theme by noting that, “some meanings are clearly better communicated pictorially than verbally” (Stephens, 58). We all live in a world, where several different languages were developed from prehistoric to modern times. A world, where our ways of communicating are so distinctly different, in which allows the sense of our visuals to become the universal communicative language. The universal language, that asserts any reader to make the analogy between a passionate hug with a lovable connection. Nevertheless, if we had the proper tools to even further this image, we could have inserted the flowing of tears running from Sarah’s right cheek. Tears, that would provide the most notifying warning to the viewers, that this photograph was the turning point of both characters finding each other to then loving one another. This sense of passion and intimacy, wouldn’t have been captured by either tone or diction, it was a notion that only distilled photographs were able to capture, the true essence of love. Subsequently, Stephens has further certified this argument by noting that, “some meanings are clearly better communicated pictorially than verbally” (Stephens, 58). We all live in a world, where several different languages were developed from prehistoric to modern times. A world, where our ways of communicating are so distinctly different, where our verbal communication may seem almost to never impossible.
In the continuation of Stephens’ critics on images, he refers to images as being too broad in allowing a spectrum of widened perceptions.
Through his reasoning alone, “images can’t stem their own languages due to the fact, that they tend to say too much” (Stephens, 69). To a certain extent his comments are true, in our, film we photograph a lot of visualization that can be taken into different accounts, depending on the perspective eyes. For instance, in the again black to white photographic genre, Rocky finds himself lying on a bed, seeming to have no energy with a right eye that slightly was half-opened. This image can be perceived as either Rocky being exhausted and wanted to rest or as the true representation, of Rocky, lacking the physical strength to continue on. However, this critique from Stephens’ view can automatically be critical with narration as wells. With the author’s choices of diction, one can find oneself having a difficult time trying to distinguish the meaning that the author is trying to display due to varying perceptions of people. In order to limit these defaults, in our narrative, we decided to not go too extravagant with the images that are selected and thus, make them more nature-like, as to suit Sarah’s perspective. Sarah’s character has lived a life with traumatic experiences, that would almost indefinitely affect the way she perceives life. Therefore, with the motifs of the black to white backgrounds, it was used to represent her viewpoint of life. Sarah, prior to her parent’s departure perceive life with colors, but towards the
excruciating hardships she had gone through, resulted in almost pitch-black surroundings.
Among the sense of silence, (represented by images towards the middle of our narrative) amplified the darkness Sarah had seen. Such silence that can be relatable to Leonardo de Vinci’s own reference, “nothing strengths authority so much as silence” (Gelb, 34). Among our narrative, we represented silence as the naturalistic pictures that only had Rocky in it, and authority was, in effect, symbolizing the message that would be gained by these images. In a sunset background that was soon to be fading, while finding only one character, Rocky, it lets any viewer note without any words, that this impactful image correlates to Rocky’s passing. It was a recap for the viewers to get a chance to settle themselves and well comprehend what had actually occurred. Furthermore, this image even takes into account the recurring idea of Sarah’s having lost another soul, but this time amplifies the theme of her viewing life as colors once again. This twisted, yet emotional depiction of Sarah’s perspective on life, wouldn’t have been as profound if it were verbally stated. The audience wouldn’t have truly witnessed Sarah’s transcendence of seeing life as black and white, to then recognizing slowly the colors that she once failed to see. Consequently, the conceptual part of our narrative was confiding in someone, in order to relinquish ones’ past suffering.
Prior to meeting Rocky, Sarah was reckless. She was in a state of mind that she didn’t want to let anyone in. Sarah simply wanted to continuously penalize herself, believing that she should have died as well as her parents did, on July 19, 1997. It was a moment in time, in which the idea of closure was ludicrous. It wasn’t until after Rocky’s departure, that you can actually note Sarah’s transformation. In the end of the film, an image of spreading ashes, (where one assumes to be Rocky’s) would automatically limit the viewer to conclude that the main character, Sarah, evolved into understanding death. With showing the ashes being emptied on a waterfront, not only gives heartfelt emotions to the viewers, but it allows in a nonverbal way, the notion of comparison. A comparison, as to assimilate when her parents died, she had no reconciliation of saying her goodbyes as she did with Rocky. This transition shows the maturity as well as the growing acceptance that Sarah realized that death was. An acceptance, that was reached by the confidant of another soul, Rocky. Possibly this theme of closure could’ve been expressed better in words, but no specific word choice would assert an emotional attachment between the viewer and Sarah. No other words would have been as powerful enough, then the ashes being spread, as to communicate to the viewers of Sarah’s final
step to recovery. This couldn’t have been better defended as Aquinas puts it, “images that are used to excite emotions, are more effectively aroused by things seen than by things heard” (Stephens, 60). In other words, having these touching images, not only sympathize to the viewers alone, but will, in fact, allow the viewers to see with their own eyes the impact of what one living creature can do for another. It provides the viewers an attempt to familiarize themselves with a similar situation and relate to what’s occurring at the moment. Inconclusively, both writings and images can trigger different levels of communication one creator seeks for its audience. If you take, for example, Leonardo de Vinci’s statement, “While I thought that I was learning how to live, I have been learning how to die” (Gelb, 54), not only does it assimilate a profound need of continuous questions, but it makes any visual representation of this exact quote less significant. Images and words are not given as much credit as they should be. They two techniques: words and images till this day, seem to be inversely related. Inversely related, as to assume that when one aspires to be more effective, it automatically dominates the other. In several depictions, like Leonardo de Vinci’s statement, writing seems to overpower at times images, yet in the majority of the cases, the other side is half as true. In the editing of our film, we tried to amplify the notion of images being more efficiently used in telling the story than words. A notion that was either captured by the intensification of different levels of communication, by exciting emotions, or simply by capturing a sense of familiarization with the audience. Through all these tools, one can conclude images have a profound way of making the viewer feel, that writing at times lacks.