All the characters are very 1 dimensional, as intended, and the only issues have to do with love triangles. Johnny finds the brain bug because he is searching for Carmen. Johnny joins the service because of Carmen. Dizzy joins because johnny joined. Carmen fell in love with Zander who both crash and find the brain bug. The only complex and not stereotypical or perfect is Carl. Once a nice boy with promising future, he becomes a grave SS-like officer that has to make decisions that "send hundreds of people like you to their deaths." He is internally conflicted whether to fight for humanity or his friends.
What is the style and effect of acting and performance?
Most of the actors are in 1 dimension: they lack depth and are stereotypical. This is done on purpose by Verhoeven in order to create a sense of relation to characters in the story in order to relate and maybe even sympathize with them, which is, all in all, the main thematic intent. To make fascism seem attractive, and bring it back to the directly stated theme: “War makes Fascists of us all.” Thus we see our own inner fascists because we can relate the characters as if they are normal people. The American way of thinking usually demonizes facism, yet we see so many similarities to our own society in this facist one. This leads us to question what really differentiates us from them.
How is meaning created by camera angles, shots, and camera movement?
Obviously, the Arachnids are physically taller and larger than humans, which leads to low angles suggesting their physically dominating nature. Pans are also used constantly which add to the “sweeping-epic” vibe that glorifies the society, and ultimately, violence and fascism.
At intense parts of the extract, such as when they are running, or when people are cut down by the Arachnids, the cinematographer uses shaky camera movements in order to create a feeling of action and excitement in the audience.
How is meaning created through proxemics, territorial design, or open and closed forms?
How is meaning created by location, set design and mis en scene.?
The film uses, rather, uses a lack of, open forms in order to give the audience a clean cut image, easily processed by the audience, and thus a clear message of what the director is intent on making you think. If taken into consideration that the film itself is faux-propaganda, then this makes sense in order to give the audience a straight message. If taken from the political satire angle, this makes sense as well because similarly you usually don't see comedy films with artistic shots. Comedy is subjective, and if it is confusing or open formed, it may confuse the audience. Lastly, if taken for a shoot-em up action film the closed form keeps the schematic “B-Movie” feel that subconsciously tells the audience that they are watching a mindless “everything-blows-up-when-you-shoot-it” movie.
The primary location of the main battle sequences are rocky deserts. The starships and building on earth are sparse and clean, with a lot of 'gloss": windows, chrome, silver colors. This contrast not only signifies the mentality of the 2 races, but also the very nature of their being. The silver is covered in blood, where it sits; conversely on the sand it simply sinks in, similar to the effects of death on the respective societies.
How is meaning created by editing and sequencing?By showing us a ferocious alien and then a reaction shot of a terrified MI trooper, we are instilled with a similar fear, we feel as if you are that person. This “gore to reaction” shot sequence creates greater emotion and dramatic effect, thus creating more tension and suspense. a
How is meaning created by lighting, shade and color?
The scene is on an desert alien world. It is the only point in the film where color grading is taken boldly and everything has a blue tint. This presumably means they attacked at night, or it could just be the natural look of the planet. This blue tint reminds us as an audience of night, when we are most vulnerable, and this creates fear and tension in the audience. Many times you can also see the troopers breath, suggesting that the blue tint is there because it is cold, which also suggests a feeling of uncomfortableness, “chilling” you might say.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwteHQoYfLQ
How is meaning created by sound and music?
The theme is played of the Klendathu Drop scene. It starts out strong, patriotic, booming, and then leads to a quieter sounds that are more mysterious, leading to the same feel in the audience. We feel confident in the Federation, much like the Troopers do. Then we see the horrors and reality of war, and are instilled with the fear and eventually hatred of the entire bug race. The Arachnids make noises similar to screams, and something within our primal sense tell us something is wrong, it creates fear.
Does the film make use of symbols, metaphors, or allegories? Share are they and how do they work within the context of the film?
I personally believe that the arachnids represent Islamic fighters, or at least an allusion to them. They hide in holes, they are demonized and made to look unintelligent by the state, and they kill without mercy (“...the bugs don’t take prisoners...”) They don't have advanced weapons, but can send attacks all the way from their home to a major city of our (meteor, Arachnids = planes, Islamic Extremists) or order to preserve their way of life from imperialistic expansion.
How is meaning created by technical elements such as production design, mise en scene, composition, special effects (matte paintings, models or animation, computer generated images….etc.)
The bugs are all rendered in 3d. This allows the filmmakers to create massive legions of bugs and create a menacing war machine. The design of the bugs reminds of deliberately of spiders, thus the term "Arachnids" is occasionally used. This is based on societies common fear of spiders, and it adds to the creepiness and horror we see in the bug's entire race. Verhoeven and Phil Tippet, who worked on Star Wars, we insitant that real puppeteers were used and then motion tracked to the animation to create a more organic look to the movement of the bug. The director did not want you to see the bug as a mindless drone. He wanted you to see that despite what the humans are trying to lead you to believe, they are intelligent (on multiple occasions the humans are proven wrong and beaten by bug superiority) and take into consideration that they are living things and on second viewing you might even feel sympathy for them instead of the humans.
11. What emotional information is conveyed through the filmmaking process?
As an audience we feel sympathetic for the humans. We despise the seemingly mindless, violent bugs. Yet by the near end we realize how fascist they really are, and not just from the striking SS uniforms they wear. The film goes to show how the medium can subjugate ideas and make you hate; it shows just how easily someone could be driven to fascism, as you the viewer just has been.
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