Flower power photo from Summer of Love 1967. Anti-war protest.
Analyse the comopsition of the photograph and discuss how effective it is in bringing across a sense of conflict between opposing forces.
Though the civilians take up a near equal amount of the copostion, they are surrounded by the military men at the top, left, and bottom sides of the photo. This depicts a sense f repression. The military wields more power over the people, bringing out a sense of forcefulness. However even when surrounded, the civilians do not shrink back, but rather, overwhelm the compostion with their brighter contrast. Even with less official authority and power, these civilians are able to create a significance through non-violent methods, probably portraying the power of ‘peace and love’ over violent tactics. The military men are lined up in a stringent line, while the civilians are grouped without proper order. This sows a sense of freedom conflicting with order.
The uniform of the militeay appears stiff and rigid, and is very formally attired, contrasting with the civilians’ soft, casual clothing. The military men are also wearing headgear made of very hard material, while the civilians have none. This is a conflict between their position in society, and the roles that they have to play and portray. The ilitary men appear very stoic, while the civilians looked muchore relaxed. The guns held by the military men are pointed directly at the civilians, appearing harsh and look to be alost as sharp as swords. The civilians on the other hand seem to ‘cofront’ the guns with flowers, as one blocks up the barrels the guns by sticking stalks of flowers into them. This portrays peace conflicting with the intrument of war, where ‘peace’, although appearing to me more fragile, has the power to stop the violence. This also appears as a soft versus hard solution for the war.
Compare and contrast the mise en scene of the two films stills and discuss what kind of mood Todd Haynes if trying to achieve in each scene.
Fig 3a
(can’t find fig 3b)
Fig 3a shows Cathy surrounded by her family and her servant. The room in the scene appears cluttered, with mostly luxury items such as a painting and an elaborately designed mirror. The colour is very bright, consistng of ostly warm colours such as yellows and browns that fill the room. Cathy is smiling to her children who are standing firm and straight, with her husband behind her, who is also smiling. He is standing in a very rigid manner even when in midst of taking his coat off. They are all very well-dressed and even the servant appears meticulously tidy. Cathy herself dons a large, expensive-looking coat, which is being taken off by the servant.
The cluttered room gives a sense of entrapment, overwhelmed by the luxuries of newfuond modernity. This portrays the attitude of the American 1950s, where families indulged in luxuires, and conformed to idealistic, materialistic comfort. The colours, though bright, appear very saturated and garish, briging out the obvious facade of society living a very prim life, where beauty is overly done and ends up appearing unnatural and fake. The rigid standing positions represent the rigidness of society then, where proper conduct was constantly required and expected from everyone. The servant, standing behind Cathy, appears insignificant as she is left in the background. Her attire also much less extravangant, a portrayal of the social standing of the black Americans in a predominantly white-ruled scoiety where there was very strong racial prejudice.
Fig 3b shows Cathy situated right in the center of a dark room by the window, where some light penetrates through the curtains. The room is even more cluttered than that in fig 3a, and the objects , mostly luxury item as well, are covered in dark shadows and come off as mere silhouettes, including Cathy who is the most outstanding one as the back lighting falls directly on her.
The scene gives off a sense of entrapment, with many objects that appear to be forcing the character into a corner, suffocating and overwhelming her presence. The lack of light and the darkness emphasises the gloominess and solitude of Cathy as she looks out at the light of the window almost ironically, as instead of being in the light, she is covered in shawdows because of it, as well as trapping her within a frame. Her standing position is very casual, far more relaxed than seen in fig 3a, reflecting the despair she is in. She appears lonely and sunken, helpless.
Fig 3a, with its use of over-saturation, brings out a fake beauty from the brightness of colours, where everyone appears happy and everything looks well, but the truth is far from that, as contrasted in fig 3b. Without the beautification of a garish facade, everything is just a silhouette without meaing. The trth, instead of being covered by, is brought out by shadows, and Cathy ends up appearing as a character who looks a far cry from what she was in fig 3a. Her blonde hair and usually colourful clothes end up monochrmatic, relfecting the truth of society, which has covered up the darker side by maing use of superficious ideals and shallow materialism. People are not as happy as they make themselves think they are, and refuse to look at the truth shrouded in shadows.
Both scenes are shot in an objective viewpoint. As a third party and an onlooker, the audience is able to see the flaws of 1950s America without partiaiity.
