Landscape in Classical Western Film

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Landscape in Classical Western Film Most people when analyzing film, the focus always seems to be on the way actors and actresses fulfill their specified rolls in respect to the character to whom they represent. Western film, however, allows the director and cinematographer to create their view of the story being told through majestic landscapes and camera shots that are not attainable in film where landscape is undermined. Mind-boggling settings and landscapes are pictured in westerns to serve a purpose. Two films we viewed in class, The Searchers and Shane, along with Stagecoach shows how the setting of western film produces emotion to parallel certain characters moods or feelings. Shane opens with an open view across a barren desert as a man is approaching. Reflections and direct contact from the sun causes the characters, as well as the audience, to question the character approaching in the scene. Following Ethan’s entrance to the film, he enters a cramped house where he looks like he does not belong. This sets up for Ethan’s character for the rest of the film, a man who we do not know much about and are trying to figure out why he has come? Why did John Ford not shoot from horseback, from Ethan’s point of view, with the house in the distance? He wanted the audience to take specific notice to John Wayne’s character to fit his profile for the rest of the film. Later in the film, Ethan rides out with the other men to search for stolen cattle, only to find that Native Americans had killed them. Ethan lives off the land, symbolized partially by the opening scene, which allows him to realize why they had killed the cattle. They wanted to homestead vulnerable for attack, which is exactly what the Indians proceeded to do. The area they are in is known as “Monument Valley” in Arizona and Utah. This landscape is pretty much a poster for perceived
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