Second Address / The Sergeant and his family*

Classification in categories

• Transition between two social systems
• Formation of a group body (corps)

 

In the interplay of shot composition with camera movement and editing the transition from an image of tense proximity to that of togetherness is staged through changing constructions of the space.

In the dramaturgical structure of the film this scene is between a moment of mourning  (> „Funeral“) and a moment of joyful camaraderie  (> „Sounds from the radio“). The scene itself conveys the transition from the figures’ disjointed proximity to their togetherness through two modes of staging space (> EMU 1). First, two separate spaces are staged: In medium long shots the group is shown as a staggering of the characters into the image’s depths; using the shot/reverse shot technique these shots are contrasted with a separate space linked to the figure of Sergeant Dane. The relationship of tension located in this spatial separation is resolved in the following shots through the construction of a coherent space. The staging of the group in the depths of the image is replaced by a series of long shots in which the group is now portrayed as a flat panorama (> EMU 2). Dane is no longer spatially separated from the group but rather, through the interplay of shot composition and camera movement, explicitly placed at its center. In this way, in Dane’s address on the level of dialogue, there is a change to togetherness within the group made tangible by the different modes of staging.    JHB

Expressive movement units

01 02 

Materials about the scene

Position of the scene in the film