The Influences On Our World

The influences in our lives can be enormously significant in creating the world we live in. Things like the media, our parents, and our government have a massive impact on the way we live our lives, often more so than we realize.

In terms of the media, television channels and web sites can really skew the image of any recent happenings in the news to their advantage. For example, politically-based channels like CNN and Fox News may twist the image of a certain political candidate or current office holder in a way that reflects the beliefs of their channel. Viewers can take these twists as the truth, and form opinions on them/vote accordingly.

With our parents, they have a huge impact on the values we have throughout our lives. They essentially set the base for these values, and although people may adjust them, this base that our parents set may stay with them. For instance, just about all my friends have the same religious and political views as their parents. Many of them really have no idea why they have these views but have simply had them their entire life and continue to do so.

With our government, the values that they set for our country are what a lot of citizens value and follow as well. For example, our country values liberty and the importance of hard work, as do many of its citizens. But the government of a country like North Korea values something negative like hatred of America, and after watching videos and reading about the country, many of its citizens hate us as well. They don't seem to have too concrete of reasoning for it; they just feel that America is evil.

Mise-en-Scène

I found this still to be very interesting, as it clearly has several instances of Mise-en-Scene. Initially looking at Neff and Keyes, we see Neff holding a match about to light Keyes' cigar. This use of props reflects their relationship, as the two work together and Neff often has to help out Keyes. Here, the director wants us to see the reliance that Keyes has on Neff and the connection that they share.

In the background of the shot, the director placed a graph of the 'Life Insurance Surrender Rate' over a period of several years. This graph shows that Keyes is not only very well-informed as to what is happening in his line of work but also that he is a rather factual and straightforward man. This is a clear instance of mise-en-scene in which the director wants to tell us about Keyes and who he really is in an indirect manner.

Anderton and Dr. Hineman

   
      This is an image of the conversation between John Anderton and Dr. Iris Hineman. Initially looking at the scene, I was drawn to both of the people in the frame as they seem equally important. When looking at the 9-square grid of this scene, I saw that two of the points of intersection landed on Anderton and Hineman's faces, with the other two landing on their bodies. This shows that they were entirely the focus of the scene.
      The first thing I noticed about this shot is that it seems to be very symmetrical and linear. Anderton and Hineman are the same distance from the center of the frame and a single plant is in the background between them. This makes the two seem very centered, which I feel makes the two characters appear to be rather equal. I also noticed that they are essentially equal in size, and in how much space they take up in the frame. This adds to this equality between the two characters.
      I feel that the two characters themselves are rather similarity lit in this shot, but they areas behind them seem to be lit differently. The area behind Hineman seems to be somewhat shadowy and dark in comparison to the rest of the scene whereas the area behind Anderton seems to be Brit and well lit. This may be a bit far fetch'd, but this distinct lighting could represent Anderton's enlightenment in the scene as he discovers the concept of minority reports.
      I would say that this shot is in between a medium shot and a medium close-up. I feel that this shot captures the intimacy and intensity off the conversation between Anderton and Hineman, as it is zoomed in enough so that the shot is basically entirely focused on them. It helps the viewer pay attention solely to them.
      This scene has a very obvious association with botany and plants. Though this may be going out on a limb, I feel that this connection could represent a large presence of life, as life and death seems to be a rather prominent motif in the film. This abundance of life could be a foreshadow of Anderton staying alive, as it is in this scene that he discovers a way to stop himself from killing someone and ultimately being locked away for the rest of his life.
   
   

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