P2(F) - MEANING Emma Fraser

LIGHTING The lighting within the film can change to create different atmospheres as well as helping the understand what is

happens in the scene and ‘how they should feel about it’. For example, towards the middle of the film, when Rey, Finn, Han

Solo and Chewbacca visit Takodana, the surroundings are shown and the lighting is very bright, this may have been used to instil hope into the viewers after previous scenes showed the characters being attacked by The First Order.

This contrasts with the scene at the beginning of the movie when we first see Kylo Ren and the Stormtroopers destroy an

innocent village whilst searching for the map that leads to Luke Skywalker. Whilst the Stormtroopers are destroying the village the lighting is very dark and the music is low pitched, this reflects the principle of the dark side and creates a very

tense scene.

MUSIC Throughout Star Wars: The Force Awakens, different music is used throughout to create different meaning and

atmospheres. For example, at the beginning of the movie when Fin and Po Dameron steal a space vehicle in order to escape The First Order, the music is softly played in the background,

whilst many sound effects of lasers and sound of the spaceship is in the foreground. The music is very uplifting and gives the viewer a rush of excitement to inform them

something exciting is about to happen. The music during the pinnacle scene of the movie, when

Han Solo gets killed by Kylo Ren, helps create a tense atmosphere and allows the viewer to empathise with the character and the others (Rey, Finn, Chewbacca and Leia)

who are witnessing the death of a legend.

CAMERA ANGLES Many different camera angles were used throughout Star Wars to create different atmospheres and emotions for the audience, this was done through a range of angles such as long shots, medium

shots, close ups, extreme close ups, etc. Some of the camera angles were used to reflect the emotions of

the character at the time, for example, at the beginning of the movie when we see Rey for the first time, a lot of wide angles

are used to show how small she is compared to the vastness of the desert. We see that she is living alone, therefore the wide

angles, showing just her and the desert could reflect her loneliness that she experiences living on Jakku.

Some of the angles were used to show power and dominance amongst the characters, for example, when Kylo Ren was shown,

the angle wasn’t wide where you could also view the Stormtroopers, it was very close to his face or focused on him,

this showed the importance of the character and the atmosphere of his presence.

COSTUMES Some of the costumes can often help you get better picture of

the personality and values from the character, their costume will often reflect their personality quite well.

For example, Rey’s costume is vey much ‘thrown together’, there isn’t much thought that has gone into it and you can see

that it’s a case of her using what she had available. This reflects her down to earth attitude, and can also reflect her caring personality, as well as her urge to put others first.

Finn’s outfit can also reflect his personality and characters values, for example, the leather jacket that he wears was

previously owned by Po Dameron who helped Finn escape from the first order. After crashing their vehicle, Finn presumed Po

was dead after only being able to find his jacket and receiving no response after shouting his name, instead of leaving the

jacket, Finn took it and wore it for the rest of the movie whilst trying to find the map that leads to Luke Skywalker.

The fact that Finn is wearing a leather jacket also foreshadows the actions in which he will take throughout the film of fighting

against the First Order. Those that have been seen wearing leather jackets in the past have often given the impression that

they are ‘rebels’, an example of someone who has worn a leather jacket to promote a rebellious personality includes

James Dean, who can be seen in films such as ‘Rebel Without a Cause’ wearing a leather jacket.