Camera Techniques In Whale Rider

In the film Whale Rider the director Niki Caro shows how the cultural traditions can unite its people and create a sense of unity between the Maori people. The Maori people are a native culture that have been home to New Zealand for over three thousand years. They have a story that has been passed down generation after generation which is the story of Paikea. Paikea was a ancestor that left his homeland Hawaiki on the back of a whale. The filmmaker uses camera, sound and lighting techniques to show how the traditions unite the maori people in their culture and the feelings of the characters in the film.

Camera techniques in films are a necessity, because it lets the director show the emotions and the reactions of the characters in the film. One example of a camera techniques used in the film is the scene with Pai and Koro. Koro is singing a traditional Maori song to the big beached whale when Pai walks up towards him the camera closes up and this is to show the emotions of the two characters in the scene. The second example of a camera technique is the scene of all the beached whales lined up together. This example is of a long shot which is to give the viewer an idea of the landscape and to be able to see what the characters in the film are experiencing. The camera techniques help the viewer understand how the Maori traditions unifies the people. …show more content…
Sound is also used in films to tell the person watching what is about to happen for example. In the beached whale scene when everyone is pulling a rope to drag the whale back into the ocean the sounds of the waves and music added to the setting of the scene expense when the rope broke the music changed into a sad tone letting the viewer know there's no hope for the whales. The sounds used in the scene highlights the importance of the Maori culture and traditions as the people of the village united to try and pull the whale back into the