Category: Writing

Andrew Nicol plans out each shot of the film and hides small symbols in it to demonstrate a deeper meaning and or an idea, this is called symbolism and it plays a part in much of gattaca.

Gattaca is a film where a man must overcome the limits set by society and his own image of himself to achieve what should have been impossible.

The entirety of the movie revolves around space and Vincent’s goal to get to one of Jupiter’s moons Titan, which in turn revolves around the company / space agency that the film is named after, Gattaca.

Often when Gattaca appears in camera, far above the building there is a rocket departing for space. There are roughly 12 or more launches every day and as Irene says mid way through the film, “You’re the only one that watches all of them.”

He is the only person in the whole agency including the director who watches each rocket and takes none of them for granted, it is his dream it is his goal.

Those rockets symbolise Vincent’s dreams, his aspirations and his undying ambition to one day board that rocket and leave for the stars, To neglect the rockets that fly above him is to neglect everything he is aiming to achieve and if he loses his aspirations to be better than he is no better than those that he works with.

Anton and the flight director gather around Vincent’s workspace and Anton is taking samples off the keyboard. He is clearly has suspicions about ‘Jerome’. Watching this is Irene, who then warns Vincent. Vincent then warns the real Jerome and he begins his long ascent up the helix staircase. Meanwhile Anton and Irene rapidly approach. Jerome pulls himself up the staircase and answers the door, pulls himself into a seat and the blood test is complete. Jerome is clean. Then Irene meets both the ‘Jerome’s’ and somewhat rejects the idea.

Irene is always in the center of the screen / shot giving the form of a dignified person and someone in control. The only time she is out of shot is when she first meets the two Jerome’s, when she finally encountered something unexpected and confusing.

Jerome when climbing the stairs is almost always shot in low angle still shots. He is shown as weak and struggling to complete this immense challenge with so much pressure. At one point it is one of the rare points of the movie when the camera actually moves. To keep Jerome in the shot as he moves up the stairs.

Anton himself is most often in a two shot, he is seen as an asset. Not as a regular person but someone who will use you and follow you to discover your true intention. Someone who without his job is insecure and without a goal or target he is not at his full potential.

Even when Anton is hunting him and when his chance at space is in jeopardy Vincent is shown in a low angle shot from below. Even in danger he is still prepared and has some form of a plan to recover the situation.

Once Anton decends the helix staircase he is shown from below, he is discovering much and is in a position of power as the figure of law and order. Then the camera pans down to Vincent, even though he shown in the middle of the camera and both Anton and Vincent are both shown in low angle one is clearly more powerful than the other without moving the camera.

Modernisation

Modernisation involves the idea of society evolving to develop, improve and embrace on practices such as peace, equality, work, and fluency of life. Modernist architecture is styled, measured and developed to utmost perfection but they all appear the same or similar in design. Bland and devoid of color. The builder and designer of the house I would imagine would then want to paint it and make it unique and fill it with little touches to make it more comfortable and homely where everyone inside is happy. To make it better to live in and be a better place in general. Like Modernisation in theory.

Eugenics

Altering people’s DNA to change society and create the perfect human. This perfect human would however be less human. As in the film Gattaca, these people are exposed to less hardship and thus having less compassion towards others. They will lack the human spirit and consider themselves superior to those under them who are less fortunate and/or have experienced trouble and overcome the problem.

Gattaca

Gattaca is all about the human spirit and the will to overcome and strive problems and how that basic need cannot be inherited by genes and the more perfect a human is the less human they are. Humans themselves cannot cope with perfection. They need something to improve on, something to comment on that isn’t quite right and something to take up their attention and make them think. A perfect human is created for a certain job. They must live up to that job. Once they reach that job then there is no further goal for them and if they fail to reach that goal they have no flaw to blame. They were designed to do this so why couldn’t they? That is the case of Eugene where he failed in the only place he was meant to succeed. Also in the film only a dozen characters in the film actually have dialogue.

Explore Shakespeare’s use of language effects and dramatic devices and how they reveal the action of ambition the character Macbeth or Lady Macbeth.

TRY AND INCLUDE MY OWN METAPHORS

Introduction: Give an important and powerful statement to start off.

Start off with a statement such as ‘Macbeth is a very ambitious character, yet his ambition is not just displayed by his words but the way he uses them and what they mean.’ Or ‘In the play Macbeth, Macbeth himself kills, plots and lies his way to king and this is relayed to the reader better when using some dramatic devices.’

Paragraph one: Introduce the idea of ambition and what it does to him.

Ambition to complete his prophesy to become king lead him to do many horrible things that later caused him great unease and potentially madness. Dramatic irony is a feature where the actor speaks to the audience directly and gives the audience the characters true thoughts and ideas. They speak their mind and as the play goes on you see that Macbeth slowly deteriorates into anger, despair, false security, and complete disregard for anyone and everyone purely because the prophecy told him it would be so. Similar to soliloquy analyse this.

Paragraph two: What symbolism is and why it is important? What does it invoke?

Symbols such as Blood, Light and Dark, the floating dagger in act two scene two, and the symbol of authority and ultimate power the golden round (crown). Each one of these are heavily influencing the sickened mind of Macbeth. The dagger appeared before he killed King Duncan, something he knew wasn’t good, loyal or righteous. He wasn’t even sure that he wanted to take this path. The symbol of blood was introduced soon afterwards, not just physical blood but imaginary blood signifying guilt that cannot be washed clean or be ridden of.

Paragraph three: The Witches of Macbeth and their inhuman prophecies and odd language.

The Three Witches first introduced Macbeth and spoke in very odd and inhuman meter, either Trochaic, Iambic Tetrameter or just rhymed couplets. They also introduce the prophecy that also introduces one of Shakespeare’s favorite ideas, fate. This is also brought in again later in Macbeth s “Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow…” speech in act five where he describes life as a walking shadow.

Possible Paragraph Four: Shakespeare himself, how his hand was forced.

Macbeth was written over 400 years ago. Shakespeare himself was one of the queens favorite performer and playwrights, all of his plays would have to have entertained the queen and would have been written in her favor so Shakespeare wouldn’t be beheaded like many of the queens subjects. This however was the reign of King James of Scotland, the first Scottish king to rule over England. Just like with the queen, Shakespeare wanted to gain favor’ with the king

Quotes: “Yet do I fear thy nature; It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness.” Lady Macbeth Act One Scene Five

“Is this a dagger which I see before me, The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee: I have thee not, and yet I see thee still.” Macbeth Act Two Scene One

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather The multitudinous seas incarnadine, Making the green one red.”

“Will all great Neptune’s ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? No, this my hand will rather
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.” Macbeth Act Two Scene Two

“Blood will have blood” Macbeth Act Three Scene Four

“Out, damned spot! out, I say!” Lady Macbeth Act Five Scene One

“Whats done cannot be undone.” Lady Macbeth Act Five Scene One

Apon hearing of his wife’s untimely death, Macbeth reflects on the pointlessness of life with his newly found pain. Macbeth relates life to a shadow in the metaphor “Life’s but a walking shadow.” A shadow is a projection, it repeats what you do, it has no control of this. Macbeth could be meaning that he has no control of any point in his life, and only realized it today. This links to one of Shakespeare’s favorite ideas, fate. If he has no control or choice in what he does, what is the point of doing anything? Another thing about a shadow is that it is a dark being but also a fragile being. It requires just the right amount of light at just the right angle to survive. If it’s surroundings become dark too, it fades out of existence for it is indivisible to the other darkness. And if there is light all around it then it has nowhere to go and ceases to exist. Relating life to a shadow is essentially saying that you have no control over your predetermined and very fragile and limited life. A candle in a dark room is a beautiful thing, and if it goes out then you are plummeted into infinite darkness. The metaphor “Out, out, brief candle!” could relate to Lady Macbeth being Macbeth’s only source of light and power. Everything that Macbeth has done has troubled his mind in some form however he always thinks that what he does is for someone else, specifically Lady Macbeth. When he became king, she became queen, when he was planning to kill Duncan, she planed with him. Both of them benefited equally and in tough times Lady Macbeth was always there to help his troubled mind. Now he has nothing to fight for and nobody will benefit with his deeds aside from his enemies like Banquo’s lineage. He has no goals, friends, morals, subjects and all he can look forward to is the illusion of immortality presenter by the witches. Even now that illusion fades.

Macbeth laughs at the threat of the army. It would have been a battle at first but now it will be a siege which he should win. A woman screams offstage and Sayton reports that the queen is dead. Macbeth says a soliloquy (below) and then a messenger tells Macbeth that birnam wood is moving to the castle (Malcolm’s army of camouflaged soldiers). Macbeth begins to wonder if the Witches tricked him.

“She should have died hereafter. Iambic meter There would have been a time for such [ a word ]. [ ] weak foot [ Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow ], [ ] repetition [ Creeps in this petty pace ] from day to day [ ] metaphor To the [ last syllable of recorded time ], [ ] metaphor And all our yesterdays have [ lighted fools ] [ ] metaphor The way to [ dusty death ]. Out, out, [ brief candle ]! { } alliteration [ ] metaphor Life’s but a [ walking shadow ], a { poor } ( player ) [ ] metaphor { } alliteration ( ) weak foot That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”

One

A Doctor is summoned to Dunsinane to see Lady Macbeth after a woman reported her sleepwalking. The Doctor is speculative until she walks right past them, muttering. She mutters about an old man with so much blood, the death of Banquo and “…what has been done cannot be undone…” The Doctor and Woman are speechless and cannot say anything for that would be treason. “What need we fear who knows it, when none can call out our power to account? – Yet who would have thought the old man had so much blood in him?”

Two

Four Lords of Scotland meet by Birnam wood leading their troops. It has got to the point where even Macbeths soldiers and all who live under his rule refer to him as “The Tyrant”. He fortifies Dunsinane. The lords blame Macbeth for all the murders and troubles recently (which is mostly true). He is unfit to be king and his army revolts and under the lords command, joins the English force. “Now does he feel his secret murders sticking on his hands. Now minutely revolts upbraid his faith-breach. Those he commands move only in command, nothing in love. Now does he feel his title hang loose about him, like a giant’s robe upon a dwarfish thief.”

Three

Macbeth has changed. He Bullies any servant he dislikes and is considered mad. Hecate’s plan is working and he is completely self centered, he feels powerful and nobody can and will take that away from him. Then we are introduced to his captain, Seyton (sounds like Satan) who is instructed to get Macbeths armor. He will fight to his death (which in his mind is never). The Doctor from scene one arrives, and informs Macbeth that the queen is unwell, not from a physical aliment but a sickness of the mind that only she can cure. Macbeth is then giving orders to Seyton for his armor, and demanding a cure from the doctor. “Cure her of that. Canst thou not minister to a mind diseased, pluck from the memory a rooted sorrow, raze out the written troubles of the brain and with some sweet oblivious antidote cleanse the stuffed bosom of that perilous stuff which weighs upon the heart?

Four

Malcolm meets up with both his armies behind his back in Birnam Wood. He orders each soldier to take a branch from a tree and use them as camouflage to hide their numbers and confuse Macbeth’s scouts. “Let every soldier hew him down a bough and bear ’t before him. Thereby shall we shadow the numbers of our host and make discovery err in report of us.”

Macduff meets with Malcolm in England and to test Macduff’s loyalty Malcolm portrays himself in the worse possible light for a man to be, saying he would take all the noble’s money and have sex with every women in the country, regardless of status and age. That he has sinned more than Macbeth (now only known as an unnamed tyrant) and is entirely unfit to be king. Macduff exclaims “O Scotland! Scotland!” reveling that his loyalty lies not to the individual king but to the country as a whole. Malcolm explains that in fact he has never lied, is incredibly selfless and is a good man. A doctor arrives and briefly speaks of King Edwards ability to heal all with his hands. He is described as a worthy king even by Malcolm. Then Rosse arrives and explains that not only that Scotland is in a terrible state where flowers live longer than people but that Macduff’s castle has been ransacked and everyone inside killed, including his wife and children. As he mourns Malcolm attempts to turn pain into rage and they prepare to invade.

“I am yet unknown to women; never was forsworn; scarcely have coveted what was mine own; at no time broke my faith; would not betray the devil to his fellow; and delight no less in truth than life: my false speaking was this apon myself.”

Lady Macduff has heard that Macduff has fled to England and now sees him as a traitor not to Scotland, but to her and her family. Ross fears that in fleeing to England has put the family at risk from Macbeth, he leaves and Lady Macduff’s son starts asking questions about his father. Is he a traitor, is he dead literally or figuratively and what makes a traitor. A messenger arrives and warns the family of an incoming threat and flees. A murderer arrives and slaughters the son. Lady Macduff attempts to run, with the murderer following.

“Then liars and swearers are fools; for there are liars and swearers enow to beat the honest men, and hang them up.”

The Three Witches prepare a mixture inside a boiling cauldron, when Macbeth finds them. He is very demanding towards them, asking to know what they brew and for his questions about his fate to be answered or be cursed. From the cauldron, three apparitions appear, the first being an armored head. “Macbeth! Macbeth! Macbeth! Beware Macduff. Beware the thane of Fife. Dismiss me. Enough.” The second, a bleeding baby, “Macbeth, Macbeth, Macbeth– Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn the power of man, for none of woman born shall harm Macbeth.” The third, a child wearing the crown of a king, holding a tree. “Be lion-mettled, proud, and take no care who chafes, who frets, or where conspirers are.Macbeth shall never vanquished be until Great Birnam Wood to high Dunsinane Hill shall come against him.” Seeing these as impossible feats, Macbeth is feels better and asks about the previous prophecy, relating to Banquo’s children. 9 Crowned apparitions arise from the cauldron, all Banquo’s family. Macbeth is angered by this (possibly for not getting the answer he wants) and curses them. The witches disappear, and Macbeth is left standing alone in a field.