Gone With The Wind

The female lead in Gone with the Wind, Scarlett O’Hara played by Vivien Leigh was a highly emotional and overdramatic character. The actress contributed her strong and vain role through physical action and characterization. Throughout the film, Scarlett cries, yells and overdramatizes a multitude of conditions thrown her way. I believe it is the combination of cinematic techniques such as editing and sound that created an emotional impact among the film. Without the way Vivien’s character’s expressions were zoomed in on , Gone with the Wind would be a completely different film. The characterization of Scarlett being a flirtatious woman allowed her role in the movie to slowly develop. When Ms. O’Hara invited all the young lads to eat with her at the barbecue, the audience could tell how much she really did not care about anyone, but Ashley at the time. Even …show more content…
When Ashley and Scarlett talk during the barbecue, she makes her love for him obvious. Since he will not marry her, and chooses to marry his cousin Melanie, she slaps him. Furthermore, when Rhett Butler announces to Scarlett that he must enlist in the army, fear takes over her face. Due to being an overdramatic woman, she subsequently slaps Rhett across the face. The sound that is produced when Vivien’s character slaps someone, makes the scene even more theatrical and dramatic. The process of selecting which angles to zoom in on, or simply editing, allows close ups of Scarlett’s emotional facial expressions. When Mr. Butler forces Scarlett to attend the surprise birthday party for Ashley that his wife Melanie throws, all eyes are on Scarlett when she walks into the room. The camera slowly keys in on her and allows her facial expression to take up the whole screen. This allows for the audience to know how much Scarlett really did not want to be there, and how little she cares that she shows