Changi Extended Response
EXTENDED RESOPONSE
John Doyle’s Changi episodes are about the struggle of the Australian prisoners of war. The series mainly focuses on six young Australian men giving an insight of each character’s deepest struggle within the camp. There are many themes evident within the episodes, Seeing is believing, Curley, Private Bill and Pacifying the angels. Some of which include power and atrocities of war. These themes are also apparent throughout Edward Zwick’s 2006 film ‘Blood Diamond’, which is about a country torn apart by the struggle of the government and rebel forces. According to the Macquarie dictionary, the term Power is defined as possession of controlling influence that a person or object holds over someone or something. The theme atrocities of war can be defined as the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane as an effect of war. Within each episode techniques are used to accentuate these themes such as dialogue, descriptive language, zooming, cross cutting, sound effects and camera angles.
The theme of Power has been expertly utilised within John Doyle’s Changi episode ‘Seeing is believing’. Within the episode, power is demonstrated through the Japanese people. In a particular scene a Japanese Lieutenant is shown standing on a pedestal stating the rules of the camp to the POW’s. The Japanese Lieutenant states, “Any man who tries to leave will die, any man who steals food from the Chinese will die, any man who makes trade will die!” Power is portrayed through this quotation by the use of descriptive language, also the positioning of the Lieutenant in comparison to the POW’s signifies that he is in a higher position. Whilst the Japanese Lieutenant states the rules, the camera focuses on a close up shot on his face which remains dominant and strong, the camera then cross cuts to a close up of the POW’s who look afraid and weak. The use of this technique emphasises the superiority the Japanese people contain over the POW’s. Power is also demonstrated
John Doyle’s Changi episodes are about the struggle of the Australian prisoners of war. The series mainly focuses on six young Australian men giving an insight of each character’s deepest struggle within the camp. There are many themes evident within the episodes, Seeing is believing, Curley, Private Bill and Pacifying the angels. Some of which include power and atrocities of war. These themes are also apparent throughout Edward Zwick’s 2006 film ‘Blood Diamond’, which is about a country torn apart by the struggle of the government and rebel forces. According to the Macquarie dictionary, the term Power is defined as possession of controlling influence that a person or object holds over someone or something. The theme atrocities of war can be defined as the quality of being shockingly cruel and inhumane as an effect of war. Within each episode techniques are used to accentuate these themes such as dialogue, descriptive language, zooming, cross cutting, sound effects and camera angles.
The theme of Power has been expertly utilised within John Doyle’s Changi episode ‘Seeing is believing’. Within the episode, power is demonstrated through the Japanese people. In a particular scene a Japanese Lieutenant is shown standing on a pedestal stating the rules of the camp to the POW’s. The Japanese Lieutenant states, “Any man who tries to leave will die, any man who steals food from the Chinese will die, any man who makes trade will die!” Power is portrayed through this quotation by the use of descriptive language, also the positioning of the Lieutenant in comparison to the POW’s signifies that he is in a higher position. Whilst the Japanese Lieutenant states the rules, the camera focuses on a close up shot on his face which remains dominant and strong, the camera then cross cuts to a close up of the POW’s who look afraid and weak. The use of this technique emphasises the superiority the Japanese people contain over the POW’s. Power is also demonstrated