Schindler's List Technique Essay

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The film ‘Schindler’s List’ directed by Steven Spielberg is set during the Holocaust in Nazi Germany, in 1943. It follows Oskar Schindler, a charming character who manipulates every situation he’s in, to his advantage, as he goes from being a man primarily focused on the welfare of his business, to have grown and changed into a man determined to fight for the welfare of the ‘inferior’ Jews, even at his own expense. Spielberg uses many techniques to make ‘Schindler’s List’ memorable. Such as the use of contrast between diegetic and non diegetic sound, the distinct, preservative use of colour, the internation between significant camera angles and the film noir technique used throughout the film. One key scene in the film was the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto, and using these techniques, Spielberg was successful in effectively making this scene believable and realistic, as well as a memorable event in the film that involved significant symbolism relative to the entire text. The use of lighting in ‘Schindler’s List’ is a significant technique used in the film. It is filmed in black and white, which creates an authentic atmosphere that makes the general film more believable and gives it a sense of timelessness. The black and white also gives the movie an eerie sense of sadness, and symbolizes the distinct racial contrast between German’s and Jews - how the Jews are considered so inferior, and the Germans so superior. The contrast of lighting throughout the movie is particularly significant in the scene of the liquidation of the Jewish Ghetto. There are many shots where the faces of Jews are half lit up, and half cast in shadow as they waited for the inevitable ambush from the German soldiers. The simple lighting assisted in the calm atmosphere of the jewish family as they prepared for the ambush, they knew what they had to do, and they were doing it. The calm, low

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