In
Olivier and Tennant's film versions of Shakespeare's tragedy Hamlet, the
dead king's son and his royal relatives are portrayed differently through their
tone. In addition, their tone is influenced by the lighting conditions in each
film. The depiction of each character's personality within both movies is
inclined toward anger and persuasion. Each character has its own interests.
Claudius seeks power, superiority over all, and the ability to manipulate.
Hamlet wants justice to flourish and Gertrude feels the need to make any
decision possible that it takes to maintain her social status.
There
is only one main light in Olivier's film; it is horizontal and focused on the
front of Hamlet's body. This makes the viewer's eyes focus on Hamlet as soon as
the scene starts. Furthermore, when the light is on two characters or more they
start to talk about their conflicts, or concerns in more depth and in a more
intimate way. For example, when Gertrude gets behind Hamlet and the light is
facing both of their faces, she puts her hands on his shoulders to create a
comfort aura among the people in the scene and tries to get Hamlet to agree on
her point of view on his father's death. Also, the quality of the movie is not
as great since filming technology was not nearly as advanced it is today. This
indeed contributes to the lighting appearing more intense than how it would
appear to be like today. The darkest section of the set is where the throne is.
As Hamlet looks down at the throne and leans with no energy and powerless
against it, the real grievous and sorrowful way that he sees his family is
revealed. The tone and the lighting combined make it a more insightful and
powerful film.
Both
Hamlet and Gertrude appear to be under Claudius' control. Hamlet speaks with an
oppressed, and nostalgic tone. His self-esteem and mood decline throughout the
scene. He ponders his problems in a negative way as shown during his soliloquy,
his expressions and actions. The way in which he looks down at the throne portrays
how much he has out of hope. This grief builds up his anger toward Claudius
constantly. Claudius expresses himself using a loud, authoritative, dominant
and egoistic tone. His vociferous tone almost matches the intensity of the
light that overwhelms Hamlet. King Claudius tries his hardest in getting Hamlet
to settle down but does not want him interfering with him at all with his
monarchical capacity. Judging from this scene it is unimaginable to see Hamlet
stand up to king Claudius and stabbing him. Queen Gertrude speaks in a very
sweet and soothing tone. She initially deals with Hamlet and his concerns in a
motherly way. After king Claudius shares his opinion about familiar issues,
queen Gertrude becomes particularly intimate her son. It gets to the point where
she seems to sugarcoat the real family problems at hand with a mouth-to-mouth
kiss.
As
opposed to Olivier's film, Tennant's lighting selection is more plentiful. The
lights are facing down vertically as well as many of the architectural features
of the spacious room that they are in. The floor that Hamlet kneels down on has
a dark tone. It is so clean and clear that it reflects light almost with the
same precision that a mirror does. When Hamlet is speaking to Claudius and
Gertrude with the court as an audience, the background behind Hamlet is very
dark and there is only a small looking arch. On the contrary, behind Claudius
and Gertrude, the background is a capacious and well-lit room. In a similar way
to Olivier's movie, the potency of the light increases when Gertrude approaches
Hamlet to talk about her concerns in an intimate way. The lighting in this
scene enhances the tone more than in Olivier's film because of the quantity of
lights involved and their location. For instance, when the camera is focused on
king Claudius and queen Gertrude, their bodies are more illuminated than that of
Hamlet's when the camera is focused on him.
No comments:
Post a Comment