>The first mention is the composition, composition is basically the way a scene or sequence is COMPOSED, or set up, the combination of elements, it creates meaning within the sequence which is SO important. The block colours, black panels, and illustrations, all look very similar to what a comic book would look like if it was animated. This links back to the story's origins. The whole SpiderMan franchise is based on the comic book series, therefore, a link to this is very important. Although many people realise this, it gives a layer of background information to the story.
The colours also relate to the story, the famous Spidey suit is blue, red and black, the colours of the blocks and panels.
These components were chosen by the director, to recap on the previous film in the series, in an interesting and linked way, which is important, although it is better to have seen the first movie, the director wants anyone and everyone to be able to watch the film, so giving some insight as to what happened first, while at the same time linking back to the whole story's origins, helps this to be possible. The composition shows the comic book background because of the similarities between the image, and panels, and the small amounts of text on each frame, the director has chosen to draw a parallel here, to introduce and represent the beginning of Spiderman, so that people realise where it came from, and then credit is given to Stan Lee who was the original comic book creator.
The composition suggests themes for the movie by showing the important shots from the last film, and issues or situations posed, that may or may not carry through into this installment.
All of the composition relates to the story, and nothing is used without a secondary meaning, such as the red and blue in the suit, and in the blocks, the panels as the web, or comic book paneling. This screen shot is a good example of the compostition throughout the sequence.
The composition suggests themes for the movie by showing the important shots from the last film, and issues or situations posed, that may or may not carry through into this installment.
All of the composition relates to the story, and nothing is used without a secondary meaning, such as the red and blue in the suit, and in the blocks, the panels as the web, or comic book paneling. This screen shot is a good example of the compostition throughout the sequence.
Try to focus just on composition in this post. You have described some examples, so now think about explaining why they were chosen by the director. What else does the composition show? How is it similar to a comic book? Why would the director try to draw that parallel for the audience? How does the composition suggest some larger ideas or themes that will be referenced throughout the film?
ReplyDeletesomehow i stumbled onto this site when researching the construction of meaning in opening film sequences using a variety of techniques. I hope i'm not intruding and want to say that HarrietL has done a fine job of breaking down several aspects of how Raimi does this IMO
ReplyDeleteI think his use of fragmented panels, in addition to paying homage to the comic origins of the character that you mention, is to draw upon the divided nature of Peter Parker/Spiderman's existence -- he battles this externally (desire to be a responsible nephew to Aunt May + moral superhero vs urge live as a carefree young man) and internally (love for mary jane and longing to share his life with her vs. desire to protect her from the dangers that face spiderman, as well as his rage/revenge/hatred at the criminals that took his uncle vs following the principles that his uncle taught him).
It's his fragmented nature that makes him so compelling to us.