In Picnic at Hanging Rock, the audience and readers were presented with the mysterious Australian Bush. In both the novel and movie, there is a vital link between the characters and the Australian Landscape, and they were often overwhelmed by the spectacle of the rock’s presence. The rock’s presence was also psychologically impacting on its visitors. Peter Weir, through his use of camera angles and background music, brought Joan Lindsay’s novel to life and they both intentionally invested the Australian Bush with a mythical and unknowable presence.
The movie depicts the rock as an intimidating and dominating figure. The Rock was viewed as an undying presence, rather than just a part of the normal landscape. The novel also has very crafted description of the rock, which is much more detailed than those of the characters.This was carried across in the film also. The rock and the landscape was viewed in great and intimate details. We were shown close ups of the birds resting on the tree branches, snakes and lizards slithering across the floor, and even the flowers. In certain scenes where there were low angle shots of the rock--which showed both the significance and magnificence of the rock in comparison with the characters--the shape of the rock had almost resembled faces, which suggests that the rock is always watching over the characters. Those who inhabited the rock could be viewed as intruding the Australian bush, and the rock unwelcomed them. At one point, Joan Lindsay compares the rock to a tombstone, “On the steep southern facade the play of golden light and deep violet shade revealed the intricate construction of long vertical slabs; some smooth as giant tombstones, others grooved and fluted by prehistoric architecture of ...
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...sh English man, he is not particularly fitting in with the Australian bush. The use of voice overs in this particular scene suggested that Michael could somehow see, hear and experience what the girls were doing on the rock--as the novel also suggested, “He was wide awake and stumbling to his feet when he heard her laughing, a little way ahead.” The rock’s strong presence undoubtedly had a great impact on the characters psychological state of mind, and this further intensifies the mysterious element of the Australian Bush.
Picnic at hanging rock is a story with many ambiguous elements. Both novel and film portrays the rock as an unknowable presence in similar ways, through the use of intimate descriptions of the rock, and the various camera angles used in the film. To the viewers, the disappearance of the girls, just like the Australian Bush, remains a mystery.
During the scenes that Red dog is travelling the desert looking for John, viewers are able to see a perfect example of what the Australian outback is really like. Dry, vast and scattered with the odd tree, red dog is on the search, he hitchhikes up the whole western side of Australian. During the daytime scenes in Red Dog you see the glaring sun beaming upon the rich Australian soil and you can only imagine how hot it would be if you were actually there. As red dog sits in John’s house waiting for him every day he observes the sunset in the distance, as it disappears behind the rocky road. For international viewers the landscape in the movie red dog clearly represents the Australian outback. The stereotypes throughout red dog, are typical to the average Aussie bloke; Bogan attire, beard, dirty and always with a bear in there hand. The actors use jargon and slang to depict the average conversation between two Australian
In Australia the Aboriginals face discrimination daily. The film opened with four young Aboriginal girls singing on a makeshift stage facing their community. When the camera panned to show the smiling faces in the crowd it gave a feel of unity and love. Later it showed two sisters who were trying to hitch a ride into the city from the main road. Yet every vehicle passed them by; once they saw who they were, frustrated the older sister. Gale stated it was because they ‘were black’. When in the town playing their song on the stage in a bar, the youngest sister turned up and took
Frye, Northrop. Preface. The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination. By Northrop Frye. Toronto: House of Anansi, 1971. i-x.
“The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” is important to Australian culture not only for a great laugh but because it teaches people that there are many different types of Australian men and to embrace our diversity. Elliot used the AIDS epidemic as inspiration for this movie and did a very good job.
Distinctively visual language and cinematic techniques highlight to the responder the particular literal and metaphorical experiences characters are faced with, within a text. Peter Goldsworthy’s novel Maestro, Don McLean’s song ‘Vincent’ and the intriguing film Australia by Baz Luhrrman, explore the ways in which the human experiences of an individual’s connection to landscape is fundamental in shaping one’s sense of identity, personal growth and development. Composers further explore the realisation that our lives can be enriched by an understanding and appreciation of art as well as a deeper understanding of the importance of love and lust. The depiction of characters is conveyed through distinctively visual images to highlight the subsequent development of courage and resilience leads responders to a deeper understanding of how human experiences can create a sense of individuality.
The suburban house, as the film’s setting and sphere of action, is extraordinary partly because it is ‘next-door’ to an airport. The odd layout of this backyard is underlined because their suburb meets the kind of architectural cast-offs often found at the margins of big cities. This mix of the humble backyard with the international vectors of travel, tourism and international trade plays out in the film’s narrative which connects the domestic and the distant. The Castle displays many locations and landscapes easily identified as being unique of Australia- The ‘Aussy’ barbeque and patio setup, greyhound racetrack and poolroom, just to name a few. The neighbours of the Kerrigan’s are a symbol representing the multicultural diversi...
This book is appropriate for three-to-five years of age children as the story is very engaging and children are exposed to the Aboriginal culture. The book is illustrated in oil paint in impressionism and the whole story is in double-page illustration, which shows the landscape of Cape York and Aboriginal people. The pictures use vibrant colours including forest green and many shades of brown and the kangaroos and the snake people have red eyes. Educators can guide children to discuss the information in the image which can help children to understand how these details support meaning construction (Spence, 2004). For example, educators can tell children that the kangaroos and snake people who have red eyes reveal that they are evil, so that children can understand that adding more details in both writing and speaking can provide more information for audiences and the explicit language is very effective in constructing the meaning. Educators can use toy snakes and toy kangaroos and other materials to retell the story with children or make a small display that shows part of the
Elements of mise-en-scene in Wendy and Lucy help to convey aspects of the story that are never explicitly expressed in the narrative of the film. Wendy and Lucy does not present a large amount of background story information, for instance, the scene where Wendy calls her brother may cause some viewers to wonder about their strained relationship and his role in Wendy’s current financial situation. Moreover, Wendy’s financial situation is never truly discussed in the film, only implied, yet the viewer is still aware of it. Facets of mise-en-scene helps to convey the information that fills the gaps left in the story. Kolker defines the concept of mise-en-scene as a way to “explain how images, through composition, camera movement, lighting, focus and colour, generate narrative event and guide our perception through a film” (Kolker 1998, p.17). An essential element of mise-en-scene is setting and sets. Wendy and Lucy is presented in an entirely naturalistic setting. The small town Wendy is passing through gives the fi...
Therefore, Oliver’s incorporation of imagery, setting, and mood to control the perspective of her own poem, as well as to further build the contrast she establishes through the speaker, serves a critical role in creating the lesson of the work. Oliver’s poem essentially gives the poet an ultimatum; either he can go to the “cave behind all that / jubilation” (10-11) produced by a waterfall to “drip with despair” (14) without disturbing the world with his misery, or, instead, he can mimic the thrush who sings its poetry from a “green branch” (15) on which the “passing foil of the water” (16) gently brushes its feathers. The contrast between these two images is quite pronounced, and the intention of such description is to persuade the audience by setting their mood towards the two poets to match that of the speaker. The most apparent difference between these two depictions is the gracelessness of the first versus the gracefulness of the second. Within the poem’s content, the setting has been skillfully intertwined with both imagery and mood to create an understanding of the two poets, whose surroundings characterize them. The poet stands alone in a cave “to cry aloud for [his] / mistakes” while the thrush shares its beautiful and lovely music with the world (1-2). As such, the overall function of these three elements within the poem is to portray the
One motif which reappears in the film is the power of nature, especially in relation to the individual. In fact, the film begins with a majestic shot of the Rocky Mountains showing its beauty and height. The beauty of nature and even friendliness of nature changes as the film develops. As the movie progresses the snow still seems white and pure, almost virgin like, but nature becomes an isolating force, not providing the family with a retreat from the pressures of modern life, but forcing the family to turn in on its dysfunctional and psychopathic self. Imprisoned by the snow and the tall mountains , the family seems weak and vulnerable.
The Maine Lobster Festival is supposed to be a celebration inviting anyone and everyone to celebrate the delectable lobster, but Wallace uses it to shed some light on the welfare of the animal when cooking and eating it. He does a great job at analyzing the festival as well as challenging the meaning of food based on how we define the animals we consume. This includes the substitution of words, people’s ignorance, and the scientific language. The way we identify food can all be supported by these three main influences.
Rosie Gascoigne, is an artist who has aspired an appreciation for undiserable remnants and utilised with them in purpose to produce an assemblage of work that sees into a reflection of the past and present landscape of Australian society. Her growing motivation has taken further interest and development as the founding layers of her work through her deliberate perception, subject to the preservation of the environment and surrounding landscape. Gascoigne’s work offers an insight into deep country outback life of an Australian individual and introduces conceptualities that mirror a focus situated about ‘re-using’, ‘ recycling’ and understanding the insightful meaning present within everyday remnants. Her work is a collective gathering of selected materials to form a composition or an
Crocodile Dundee (1986) directed by Peter Faiman and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) directed by Stephan Elliott are two Australian films that have unique plots. The expositions of both films have various similarities and differences in the context of quirky ‘Aussie’ characters, stereotypical Australian language, themes and the vast outback setting. The exposition of each film reaffirms typical Australian stereotypes.
On one side of the conflict, Americans have a passionate relationship with nature. Nature acts as a muse for artists of every medium. While studying nature, Jo...
diversity of this world. The last few minutes of the film we learn that Molly and her two daughters were transported back to the Moore River Native Settlement and made the 1,200 mile trip for a second time. This shows the audience that the racism in Australian did not just end with the movie; there were many more years of oppression against the Aboriginal culture.