Shakespeare’s King Henry the V Essay Example

of confidence as the king is not being shy and holding back, he's being very forward and showing clearly through his dramatic movements how he feels.Olivier needed to portray the king, Henry, as being confident as he was trying to encourage people to go to war and that war was good. In contrast with Olivier's interpretation of Act 1, Scene 2 is that of Branagh. In his film interpretation the mood is one of secrecy, power, tension and suspense. Branagh uses film language to give the impression of secrecy.

He does this by having two priests whispering in a small, dark room. The whispering suggests secrecy as it shows that the two priests don't want anyone else to hear what they're talking about.The fact that the room is small adds to the feeling of secrecy as it gives the audience the impression that the conversation the priests are having is in a secluded place where no one is aware of them. This adds to the secrecy Branagh is trying to build up as secrecy is associated with dark uninviting places. The darkness of the room continues to add to the mood of secrecy but also brings in the moods of seriousness and tension. As the room is dark and has no bright or happy colours the audience becomes aware of the seriousness of what is happening.

Also the priests can not be seen clearly due to the darkness and this creates a feeling of tension, as the audience can't see exactly what's going on. Branagh could be using these moods to present war to the audience as something that is serious and should be looked at

cautiously. Branagh introduces the moods of power and suspense into Act 1, Scene 2 by the way, in which the king enters the scene. The king enters the scene in a cloud of smoke so that for only a while all that can be seen is his silhouette. His silhouette creates suspense as the audience are waiting to see what this person looks like.

The suspense is greatened by the way the king walks so slowly and by how all the other characters within the play go deadly silent as though they too are suffering the same suspense as the audience. The film language of everyone going silent and the king walking slowly with his footsteps echoing are not only used by Branagh to create suspense. They are also used to show power. The way in which the king walks slowly with his footsteps echoing shows that he's in no rush what so ever and in control. Also the way in which all of his constituency go deadly quiet shows how much emphasise there is on power by the way it affects everyone.The doors leading into the scene also create a powerful mood.

They are such a massive structure compared to the doormen which they are opened by, that a feeling of power is once again given to the audience. Branagh also introduces a dangerous mood into Act 1, Scene 2 by using fire. The fire gives the impression of danger to the audience as they are aware of what it is associated with, the devil, and they are also aware of the extreme damage it is capable of. Aswell as using the audiences' knowledge of

fire Branagh also makes the fire flicker menacingly to convey danger.Aswell as this the king and his constituents in Act 1, Scene 2 are surrounded by these fires.

Branagh may have used this method of film language to suggest to the audience that the king is trapped and has no way out of the decision he has to make about going to war with France. Another form of film language used by Branagh is costumes. All the costumes including that of the king are in dark, unfriendly and plain colours and designs. These costumes are used to convey the seriousness of the scene. Branagh uses all the moods in this scene to create a picture in the minds of the audience of what war is really like.

Branagh has seen the result of wars that have happened earlier and he is trying to get it across to the audience that war is a matter of power, secrecy, tension, great seriousness and should therefore be thought about with exceptional consideration. These are not the only types of film language used by Olivier and Branagh. They both use the camera to help present and interpret the film in the way that they desire. Olivier sets the camera back a lot of the time so that almost everyone on the stage of the globe can be seen.

This allows the audience to see clearly what's happening. It also stops any kind of tension building up, as if the audience can see exactly what's happening there would be no reason to become at all anxious. However if the audience could only see part of the scene and couldn't see what was

happening in the background this would create a feeling of suspense as they'd be wondering what was going on. Olivier obviously wouldn't want this as in his interpretation of 'Act 1, Scene 2' everything is meant to be light hearted with no notion of suspense.

Close ups are occasionally used during 'Act 1, Scene 2' when a particular subject is wanted to be raised strongly by someone's facial expressions. Close ups are used on the king to show his power and importance over the rest of the characters in the scene. In the Olivier version lens filters could possibly be used. They would be useful for this particular adaptation of 'King Henry V' as they can create a feeling of warmth, which would help in making Olivier's 'King Henry V' seem jolly and happy.Branagh uses a lot of close ups to get across a mood of exceptional tension and seriousness. We see clearly in one instance where Branagh is using a close up how he creates the tension he desires his production to have.

King Henry is sitting on a throne with priests on either side of him, whispering heavily to him and trying to convince him to go to war with France. The audience can hear the priests breathing heavily and they can see clearly the tension of the scene from the expressions on the king's and priests' faces.The fact that the audience can hear the priests breathing creates tension as it draws the audience into the scene and from the sound of the priests heavy breathing it makes the situation sound extremely important and possibly dangerous. Branagh uses back lighting to create the silhouette

of the king. Aswell as using back lighting to show power as with the king Branagh also uses it to create tension and danger.

He does this by using mainly backing lighting with a few other light sources, to throw shadow over the characters.By creating shadows he creates tension as the audience are unable to see everything clearly. Both Diegetic and undiegetic sound are used by Branagh to create the moods for his interpretation of 'Act 1, Scene 2. ' Diegetic sound is used to create tension. We hear the doors closing with a bang after the king has entered the scene.

This creates tension in the audience as they're wondering what's going to happen next. Nondiegetic sound is added to the film in the form of dramatic music. This adds to the tension, danger and seriousness of the atmosphere of the film.To summarise both productions of Shakespeare's 'King Henry V Act 1, Scene 2' I think that both the directors, Olivier and Branagh, have used film language to convey their own very different interpretations of the film. Both Olivier and Branagh have used the same methods of film language but to create entirely different atmospheres. For example they both use costumes to show the mood of their plays.

However Olivier's costumes are bright and present the mood as happy whereas Branagh's costumes are dark and dull colours and present the mood as one of great seriousness.Both the directors have used the different methods of film language to portray their feelings about war. Olivier presented his interpretation of King Henry V as happy, carefree and jolly as he was trying to get across to the

audience that war was good and a happy thing. On the other hand Branagh presented his interpretation of King Henry V as serious, tense, suspenseful, powerful and deadly serious.

This was to portray war to the audience as being not an entirely bad thing but something that has good and bad factors, with maybe more bad than good factors, and that should be considered with exceptional care.