The Hurricane Film Analysis Essay

Improved Essays
Register to read the introduction… The casting of the characters Rubin Carter, Lezra Martin, Lisa Peters, Sam Chaiton, Terry Swinton and Lt. Jimmy Williams was necessary to create the image of goodness, as we associate attractive people with being good and kind hearted. Athletically appealing actors have been cast in all these roles in order for us to automatically assume them to be good. However, Det. Sgt. Della Pesca and the Prison Warden (the major villains) are cast as old, overweight, balding men to assure us of their wickedness. By casting Rubin Carter as an attractive man the director persuades us into believing in Carter’s innocence. Furthermore, the character of Lezra Martin is carefully created to work as an audience stand in for the film. This technique is used so Lezra works as our stand in to Carter’s life. Lezra, like the viewer is new to Carter’s life and his story, while he learns about Carter, so do the audience, as he grows to love and trust Carter, so do the audience. Like Lezra the viewers become attached and emotionally vested in The Hurricane, so the questioning of his innocence becomes ludicrous to the viewers. The film technique of manipulating the viewer’s perspective is also found in the use of …show more content…
Jewison’s use of lighting to persuade the viewer is evident in an early scene depicting Carter and Della Pesca facing towards each other, the only light in the frame is on the operating table behind them, so the audience can only see the side on silhouettes of both Rubin Carter and Det. Sgt. Della Pesca but no detail in their faces. In this scene, we see the stark contrast of their profiles, The Hurricane’s soft features and Della Pesca’s pointed and upturned features. This technique which has been used since the times of ancient Greek theatre is used to depict the proganist , usually the hero, with soft flowing features and the antagonist, usually the villain, with sharp, pointed features. By doing this, Norman Jewison has automatically positioned the audience to see Rubin Carter as a good and innocent man. This sort of positioning is also particularly evident in Jewison’s use of music in the

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The ebullient and momentous film Stormy Weather, produced by 20th Century Fox in 1943, is an integrated musical which gives a romanticized view of African American life. The characters are very one dimensional and the plot serves very little importance as film arrays the talent of Black musicians and dancers. The “Golden Age of Hollywood” was an era of glitz and exuberance in film history, where films gave a positive insight of America during the peak of The Great Depression. By 1936 the number of screens would be shaved by a third. . . The number of weekly filmgoers would also decline permanently, slashed by radio . . .…

    • 1039 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Comparing 'Storm on the Island' and 'Exposure' Both poets portray nature as powerful and something which cannot be controlled by man. In both poems the weather contributes to the overall effect on the reader. In 'Exposure' Owen uses weather to achieve effect at the beginning of the poem with the quotes: 'the merciless iced east winds' , 'mad gusts tugging' and 'clouds sag stormy'. These quotes set a theme for the rest of the poem, of pain, suffering and anticipation.…

    • 492 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Hurricanes and Tornados Umm, where did my house go? Hurricanes can be very dangerous, and so can tornadoes. There are three categories they are the are cost and damage, size and characteristics, also how the tornados and hurricanes are formed. These three categories are very dangerous. Did you know that tornados have a wind of 300 miles an hour!…

    • 378 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    For hurricane Irma, I had to evacuate Cape Canaveral and go to my father's house in Ocala. I am very thankful I did because a tornado swept pass on the street across from mine, and many of my neighbors lost their roofs completely. My house had roof damage in the room I use as my art studio. There were some leaks which messed up some artworks in progress. I am thankful though that it is all the damage and not anything more because I know a lot of people went through a lot worse.…

    • 178 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Superior Essays

    I went to Sterling Surgical Hospital for an abdominal ultrasound. The Ultrasound Technologist name is Shannon Risher. During the ultrasound I asked Shannon if I could talk to her right after we were done with my ultrasound. Shannon said, “She would be glad to!”…

    • 1027 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Hurricane of 1938 The hurricane of 1938 was one of the deadliest hurricanes to ever impact the north east coast. The storm had many amazing features like how powerful it was, the damage it caused and how it impacted the land and people lives. The Hurricane of 1938 was very powerful in many different ways.…

    • 373 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    The Great Hurricane of 1938 was a devastating one that had killed some many people that no hurricane to date can beat its death toll. The Hurricanes three main features were the Conditions,contact,and the aftermath of Also this hurricane left the biggest path of destruction anything in it´s way was gone. This was named the deadliest hurricane in american history. The hurricane’s conditions were the recipe of disaster this is how it all started.…

    • 411 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hurricane Katrina Essay

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Hurricanes are not uncommon among the coastal regions. Atmospheric and sea-surface conditions were conducted to cyclone’s rapid transformation and resulted in what is known as Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina was tearing apart the Gulf of Mexico. It was a Category 5 hurricane and was predicted to create several landfalls within the affected area. The wind was moving in a pattern causing a storm surge toward the city like a high tide.…

    • 618 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    For this story “Videotape” it feels as if Don DeLillo had heard of the term “Mondo film” (or as it is also known Shockumantry) and was inspired by it to write a story of someone who would be a viewer of these kind of films. A “Mondo film” is a sub genre of exploitation films that take a documentary/pseudo documentary style focusing on taboo subjects such as death real or fake. Don DeLillo 's “Videotape” shows us a man who has become desensitized to violence. The character in the story is a man who has been consumed by the media; He can no longer be entertained by fictional programs and their violence, but now seeks out his entertainment in the real world.…

    • 1570 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hurricane Katrina Hurricane Katrina has been one the most devastating natural disasters to hit USA ever costing a total of 125 billion dollars, and leaving almost 1000 dead. We need to look at ways of preventing such a disaster. As this is the only problem, we can predict and perceive how dangerous a hurricane can be but preventing one is a different matter entirely. The U.S. National Hurricane Centre (NHC) reported on August 23 that Tropical Depression Twelve had formed over the south-eastern Bahamas this was soon to be named hurricane Katrina, it was upgraded to a hurricane on the 25th of august, it hit land the same day lousing its strength while…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In a movie the director’s style and purpose can be determined by his or her unique approach in presenting the story. Beside the director, a movie that we watch is a collective effort of many specialist artists and technicians. Each has their own ways of highlighting their views to the audience. These film styles can be defined as political, economical and social representation of the director’s point of view. The film making styles can also have an effect on the audience’s perception of the movie.…

    • 784 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hurricanes and tornadoes have very noticeable differences, but there are also some similar features when it comes to them both. Some of the characteristics are precipitation, the emotional and physical hardships that ensue when these weather phenomenon happen, and the financial hardship the nation go through because of hurricanes and tornadoes. There are different details that you don 't get from the weather station and the news. Also, showing the devastation that both cause, and how they are both categorized .The facts are what I and people who have lived through the two should know, and some that people should be aware of.…

    • 1190 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Initially, the viewer becomes acquainted with the hero in his Ordinary World and witnesses his reactions in the other stages of Act One. In Andy’s case, we learn she harbors a major conflict, her desire…

    • 1135 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Tornado Outbreak Essay

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The Tornado Outbreak of 2011 was a powerful and devastating event that had many far-reaching effects. This was the largest and most expensive tornado outbreak ever recorded and caused 324 deaths. This event consisted of 363 separate tornadoes which is a record amount for a single outbreak. There was also heavy rain which led to flash floods, further inundating the victims of the storm. This storm began on April 25 with the first tornado landing in Vilonia, Arkansas.…

    • 1186 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Hurricanes Essay

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages

    A hurricane, by definition, is a tropical cyclone with strong winds spiraling inward and upward and speeds ranging from 75 mph to 200 mph. Hurricanes emerge from the Atlantic basin, which consists of the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, the northeastern Pacific Ocean, and, less often, the central north Pacific Ocean. Most hurricanes follow a similar cycle of development. Some may run their course in as little as a day or as long as a month. They weaken and are transformed into extratropical cyclones after prolonged contact with the colder ocean waters of the middle latitudes, and they rapidly decay after moving over land areas.…

    • 994 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays