Emily Mattson Blog Posting #1

The movie Minority Report is confusing in more ways than one. The plot that has so many twists and turns wouldn't be very effective if there wasn't a way to set the mood. The camera techniques that help convey the message of a film are extremely important in terms of the plot.

In Minority Report, the first part of the movie is shot in cool colors, blues and blacks and grays. The colors show the mood of the movie at the beginning, sad and serious. Towards the end of the movie, when hidden plots and deceptions begin to come into the light, the movie's colors start to turn to warm. Golden light is used rather than harsh white light, warmer colors in clothing are worn by the characters in the film. The soundtrack of the movie, however, also conveys the tone of the scene. If the score is fast and intense, it adds to the thrill of a chase or a fight scene. John Williams is a talented composer, and he's made the messages absolutely clear of what to expect in terms of tension, revelations, and happiness.

I'm a stage crew girl. I don't know a ton about the lights and sound of theatre productions or films. But the lights set on things to make them seem harsher or warmer--in the case of Minority Report, when things begin to unravel for the antagonist, the lights go warmer and warmer and warmer, and then the coldness comes back. Symbolism is also a key thing in every film or book or story.

The watch dropped into the pool, the black clothes worn by the Pre-Crime cops, the metaphors in the greenhouse--Minority Report is a host to all of these things. The watch Anderton's son drops in the pool after he is kidnapped symbolizes the fact that he was out of time as a central character. Dark clothes are traditionally worn by cops, but I think they symbolize the darker side of all police officers, along with black being a flattering color. In the greenhouse, when the co-founder of Pre-Crime is giving instructions to Anderton, one of the plants attacks the lady when she attempts to kill it. It's a show of every living thing's instinct for survival--one that we must use when in danger.

The pre-cogs. They can see the future. Who doesn't wish at some point they can see the future, or murders before they happen? They are used to prevent murders in the District of Columbia, although they aren't really treated as human. The pre-cogs live in a pool of goop, with electrodes attached to their brains and no sense of humanity. Bioethics are clearly at play here--the pre-cogs technically are human, but if they can preview murders, then are they truly human beings? The answer, of course, is yes, but many doctors would be angry at the treatment of people like the pre-cogs.