Author: Samuel

A dramatic device that allows the audience to be aware of things that some (or all) of the characters in a text do not.

For example, in Act 1 Scene 4 of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Macbeth speaks in an aside (to the audience) telling us that he is going to have dispense with the King’s son Malcolm in order to become king himself.

When the weather reflects the mood of the play or a character’s mood.

Away and mock the time with fairest show,

False face must hide what the false heart doth know.

Let’s hide the truth from the world.

This is a Rhyming Couplet

1. First, as I am his kinsman and his subject

2. Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan

If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly: if the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’ld jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poison’d chalice
To our own lips. He’s here in double trust;
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked new-born babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o’erleaps itself
And falls on the other.

For the first one, it saying that Macbeth respects King Duncan. For the second one, Macbeth will not kill himself but King Duncan.

(aside) The prince of Cumberland! That is a step
On which I must fall down, or else o’erleap,
For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires;
Let not light see my black and deep desires.
The eye wink at the hand, yet let that be
Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see.

Macbeth is saying that Malcom will be a prince of Cumberland. To be a king I have to go up to him or I give up. Macbeth wants the star to hide the light.

Dear future teacher,

My name is Samuel Mesfin Demessie. I am interested in learning and reading books.

In the classroom I prefer learning when I interact with the person next to me and also when there are noises.

When you ask me a question I would prefer it if you give me a little time to answer because I don’t answer straight away.

In my essay, I would like to analyse one scene from Hotel Rwanda, which is based on a true story. The main character is Paul who runs a hotel and helps the refugees during a civil war in Rwanda. The name of Paul’s wife is Tatiana. His last name is Rusesabagina. He lives with his wife and his three children. Several days later, his house is destroyed because there is a civil war between two parts in Rwanda. He and his family moved to the hotel called Hotel des Mille Collines. That was the day he becomes a hotel manager. There are 2 groups in Rwanda, one is the Tutsi and one is the Hutu.

The scene I’m looking at is a moment between Paul and George at the part where Paul is leaving and then when the driver is driving, it looks as something bad happened in the area. There is dark mist above the river and the director chooses the mid shot and level angle to show that something dreadful took place but the viewers don’t know what it was.

After that, the car started to become a bit bumpy and they stopped. Paul is about to get off but he falls over to the floor and he sees only one dead person. When he stands up and looks around, there are more and more dead people laying around the road. There is a dark mist on the road. The director chooses the over the shoulder shot and level angle to make us feel what Paul feels. After that, he goes back into a car and that is when the one scene of Hotel Rwanda ends.

Now I will be talking about camera angle, in one scene from Hotel Rwanda some of the camera angles are level angle. The reasons why there is a level angle for the dead girl is because the director wants to make us feel sad and also want to show us that he realised that he saw a dead person. Also, there is a level angle for Paul who is looking at the dead bodies. Now there is another camera angle in a scene from Hotel Rwanda. There is a high angle for Paul so the director let him see all the dead bodies that are laying around the ground. Also, there is a high angle for the dead bodies that are laying around the ground and it also shows us what he sees.

The next thing I will be talking about is Sound effect. After Paul get off the car, it sounds like someone humming but it is not a calm music and it is not really nice. When Paul is on a ground he sees a girl with her hand covering over her, she is dead and the viewers can hear the sound of the machete. When I watch that, I feel startled because the combination of the humming and the sound of the machete when Paul sees the girl who is dead makes me jump up on my seat.

In conclusion, what I would like to say is that the director make the viewers understand whats going on that film because the director uses some of the camera angles such as level angle and high angle. If it’s high angle, it shows you what happened in Hotel Rwanda, for example, the part where Paul who is looking at all the dead bodies on the road. Also if it’s level angle, it shows you clearly and exactly what happened. Also, the director uses some of the sound effects such as the sound of the machete and also the sound of the humming. The sound on the part where Paul fall to the ground and sees a dead girl is the sound of the machete. After that, Paul stands up and looks at everyone who is on a ground and you can hear someone humming. This shows that the director succeeds in showing us everything that happened in Hotel Rwanda it also shows that the director knew that he got everything right in every single scene of Hotel Rwanda. That is how the director of Hotel Rwanda use cinematographic techniques to develop tension in Paul’s ‘Epiphany’ scene.

Camera shots

Extreme close-up

Close-up

Mid shot

Long shot

Establishing shot