Nineteen Eighty-Four 9 Frame Analysis (Kieran Owens) (Research into similar products)

Nineteen Eighty-Four (Movie, 1984) 9 frame analysis.

Kieran Owens

Nineteen Eighty-Four is a film adaptation of a book of the same name that was written in 1954 by George Orwell, much like my main task, the movie is a political fiction and dystopia future movie with a very similar premise, that a totalitarian government has gotten into power and has complete control over everybody's life.

1

The first image is the logo of the movies production company. The trademark lions roar and the very familiar logo. shows us the production company, which is Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) – Back in 1984 when this movie was released, MGM was considered one of the best film companies in all of the US, though it's influence is not nearly as considerable on today’s cinema as it was back then, it is still a widely recognized icon.

2

The second frame is simply white text on a black background, the font used for the text looks almost like it's come from a typewriter but it's the very contrasting colors that draw my eyes straight to the text. “ Who controls the past controls the future. “ is what it says, which is referring to the act of changing historical text to suit a political agenda (in this movies case at least, due to the totalitarian government that is ruling.)

 

3

The third frame is the second half of the quote, “ He who controls the present, controls the past “ - this text lets me know that the Government is able to change historical texts like the previous quote suggested, as they do in-fact control the present due to their totalitarian leadership.

 

4

The fourth frame is a giant TV screen, on either side of the screen is the symbol for the government that is ruling over them, it is large, imposing and due to the lack of color in the shot, quickly catches the eye due to it's harsh red and the lights that leave it illuminated. There is also a huge crowd of people looking on at the large screen before them and not much else.

5

The fifth frame is a continuation of the fourth, as the shot is held for a short while, it gives us more time to take in the scenery, to see that they appear to be in a rather run down factory, suggesting that they're being forced to watch this at work, and the crowd are all in overalls, further enforcing the point.

 

6

The sixth frame is more focused on the television, as there is actually something on it, the shot is in sepia tone to give a gritty, old feel to the movie. Over the clip is a calm voice speaking to the crowd, I feel that this is meant to be obvious propaganda to keep the crowd with the government, to keep them in check.

 

7

The seventh frame focuses much more on the crowd, letting us see what people look like in this dystopia, it's shown that they're all wearing pretty much the exact same outfit, suggesting that it's meant to be a uniform and hinting that they're watching this at their work place, they also all have plain, simple hair, all cut short and plain colors. It also shows a variety of different types of people, women and men, old and young.

8

The eighth frame is back to the TV screen, the voice has returned and is growing more and more intense as it goes on, the clip shown in the background growing more violent, showing a burning house, a crashing plane, soldiers fighting, it lets me know that this dystopia country seems to be at war with somebody though it is not made clear, from what is gathered by the clip it could possibly be Nazism.

 

9

The ninth and final frame returns to the crowd, who seem to be growing more and more restless as the clip goes on, they begin throwing their arms up into an O-shape (possibly referencing the name of the superstate they are part of, Oceania). Which shows that many people are very loyal to the state, or simply fear the punishment of not being loyal.

Inspirations for my main task

• The premise of my main task itself is heavily influenced by this movie, as our own movie is about a 'big brother' figure watching the lead character as he goes about his daily life, and the opening that we are filming is meant to put across that he desires freedom from his totalitarian rulers. (we actually take this premise a step further than this movie does. In our main task the government is completely controlling the citizens, telling them what to do at every waking minute, whilst Nineteen Eighty-four does give them some freedoms.)
  
  
• The TV screen that can be seen in frame two is also a large inspiration for our movie, as we intend on using a TV ourselves as a means of the Big Brother figure giving orders to our lead, though it is a simply one on one thing, rather than a huge crowd like in Nineteen Eighty-four's opening.