The Blindside Movie Analysis

In the film The Blindside directed by John Lee Hancock the character of a black boy with an inadequate background named Michael Oher is depicted. One good quality about Michael, though, is that he has got the natural instinct to protect the people around him. The film shows how Michael goes from being condescended upon to someone who is respected and valued. The turning point occurs in the scene that I’ve chosen. In this scene Michael is not having a great first game and is being bullied by his opposing number. However in the middle of the game this changes; Michael remembers the words of Leigh Anne and starts thinking of his team as his family. Hancock created this scene to show the audience how Michael becomes aware of the team as his family
Coach cotton tries to defend his team and especially Michael. He exclaims, “ This young man plays for my team, my team, and I’ll defend him like he’s my own son against you or any other redneck son of a bitch.” This is when the beginning of the turning point of Michael’s life as an NFL player begins. A close-up shot of Michael, backed up with non-diegetic happy and relieving victory-like music, is displayed to the viewer to show what Michael thinks of coach Cotton defending him and how his attitude towards the game changes. The non-diegetic happy and relieving victory-like music helps show the audience how something significantly special to the plot has come to pass; Michael thoughts towards the coach, team and game have become stronger. When the music has set a strong base, the primary technique, which is the close-up shot, comes into play. The close-up defines the expressions on Michael’s face vividly showing how he’s smiling and is happy because coach Cotton stood up for him. This also sets up an expectation of that Michael’s now going to make a comeback. All of this as one shows the viewer how Michael has realised that this team is indeed like his family, therefore they’ll protect him and be there for him just like he would for
Michael closes his eyes and thinks about what Leigh Anne said earlier: “This team is your family Michael.” Many film techniques have come together to create this part of the scene, however the predominant one is the zooming-in shot. The other two secondary techniques are Leigh Anne’s voiceover and diegetic cheers of the spectators is drowned out with non-diegetic suspenseful music and drum beats. These film techniques as a whole show how intense what Michael’s going to do is. The non-diegetic music and drum beats create gives the audience suspense and the expectation that Michael is going to do something that could turn the tables around. During the zooming shot Michael’s facial features are defined in detail and showing the gesture of his eyes closing. This gesture shows Michael is making an intention to do greater in his game and gathering the focus and thoughts to do so. The voiceover of Leigh Anne shows the audience what thoughts are going through Michael’s head; his awareness of his team as his family has further increased. Michael precedingly already had the skills to be a good NFL player and defend his team, his protective instincts were there but he needed to accept his team into his heart to implement his skills. Through all of these techniques Hancock shows us that Michael just needed that spark of motivation, and once he becomes aware of the team as his family