Minority Report Essay

How does the filmmaker use cinematic techniques and narrative elements to explore their message about a theme in Minority Report?

The man fled down the centre of Main street frantically looking around, everywhere he glanced there was an advertisement. These were unlike any advertisements the man had ever seen before, they could learn. “Hello, Mr John,” said the closest advertisement, it knew his name. The Minority Report, directed by Steven Spielberg in 2001, covers many social problems from that time period. One of the larger problems addressed in the movie is targeted advertising. This is where large corporations collect information on an individual and then use this to select ads which will most interest them. Targeted advertising
sparks all sorts of questions such as the ethicality of storing people's personal data. This essay will be exploring how the Minority Report portrays targeted advertising as something to be feared. This will be done by exploring the different filming techniques used and how they persuade the viewers to think.

Colours play a much larger role in a film than just to make the film pleasing to the eye. For example, colour can be used to set a movie’s mood. The colour blue is often associated with loneliness and sadness meaning if a camera shot is filtered through blue, people will start to feel sad. Colour can also be used to create tension, for example, a scene that uses contrasting colours, such as green and orange shows the audience that something is wrong. Steven Spielberg takes full advantage of colour in his films to express his ideas. In all of the scenes that contain advertising there is a strong presence of the colours blue, white, and brown. These are all colours associated with security, reliability, comfort, and protection. By doing this, the film is giving the audience the idea that targeted advertising is a luxury, something to look forward to.

Another technique deployed by film developers to change their audience's mood is to use different camera angles.
Camera angles are most commonly used to reveal to the audience different aspects of the world around a character. This can be to reveal hidden danger around the next corner, or to show the scale of the setting. During the movie Minority Report, many different camera angles were applied during the scenes containing targeted advertising. However, the camera continued to return to a medium camera shot. This medium shot reveals John Anderton, the main character in the Minority Report, being swamped with different advertisements all targeting him. All of these ads used different techniques to entice him, such as calling out his name. By using this camera angle, the film shows the audience that there is no escape from targeted advertising as it will completely fill up everyday
life.

A character's body language says a lot about how they are feeling, which in turn influences how an audience feels.
For example, when a character smiles or laughs the audience instantly knows that the character is feeling happy and feel happy along with them. The best way of judging how someone is feeling is by reading the emotions on their face. For instance, when a character is feeling scared, they show fear in their eyes. The audience can see this fear, and therefore become scared themselves. Minority Report encapsulates the idea of using facial expressions to convey how John Anderton feels about targeted advertising. When John Anderton is surrounded by different advertisements all trying to sell him different items, his body language shows that he is uncomfortable. This is evident in his fast pace and darting glances. However, his expression of fear shows his discomfort in this form of
advertising.

While it currently does not exist, the technology required to make targeted advertising, is in development. The director of the Minority Report knew this and included it in his futuristic film. However, the director did not paint this form of advertising in a good light. The director, created three emotions for his audience to experience at the same time. The first is feeling secure, the second, overwhelmed, and the last one, fear. This mixture of emotions is designed to make people think about what targeted advertising will mean for them. Targeted advertising, while it sounds like a good idea, will mean people's personal space and personal data will be compromised. The Minority Report, through the use of several different film techniques, shows that targeted advertising is something to be feared. It is not a future that should be looked forward to.