Introducing Characters - 1: Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean
Film is a visual medium, and because of this there's a great value placed on introducing a character without using dialogue. The audience uses cues from the mis-en-scene and the music, along with their prior knowledge of film conventions, to very quickly develop a sense of a character. A perfect example of this is from the introduction of Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film.
We are introduced to Jack in a wordless opening. First we are introduced to him proudly looking out over the horizon. The shot composition and the music are designed to evoke grandeur as he sails his ship towards the land. This uses the conventions of pirate stories to establish our hero as he sees himself.
But very quickly there is a surprise turn to the scene when Jack jumps down to reveal that his boat is sinking. Not only that, but the wide shot of the scene reveals that the boat is not the majestic galleon we assumed it was, but a tiny boat. The audience is told here that despite how he sees himself, this is not the conventional pirate protagonist. He is a terrible pirate.
The distance between how he sees himself and how he appears to the audience conveys a powerful piece of information; what does he want? In this case, he wants to sail aboard a magnificent ship and be a great explorer and pirate.
He sees a trio of pirates being hanged, and offers them his respect by removing his cap. Despite his circumstances, he is a man with a code of honour.
Finally, he stands proudly on his ships mast as the ship sinks, pulling into the port just in time to step off the mast before the ship sinks beneath him.
In this minute and a half of screen time, Jack is established as someone with ambition, self-delusion, and a code of honour, while also telling the audience that he is not yet the man he thinks he is, and that his strategies for victory will not involve cunning plans or feats of strength, but rather luck, and an ability to improvise hodgepodge plans.
Film is a visual medium, and because of this there's a great value placed on introducing a character without using dialogue. The audience uses cues from the mis-en-scene and the music, along with their prior knowledge of film conventions, to very quickly develop a sense of a character. A perfect example of this is from the introduction of Jack Sparrow in the first Pirates of the Caribbean film.
We are introduced to Jack in a wordless opening. First we are introduced to him proudly looking out over the horizon. The shot composition and the music are designed to evoke grandeur as he sails his ship towards the land. This uses the conventions of pirate stories to establish our hero as he sees himself.
But very quickly there is a surprise turn to the scene when Jack jumps down to reveal that his boat is sinking. Not only that, but the wide shot of the scene reveals that the boat is not the majestic galleon we assumed it was, but a tiny boat. The audience is told here that despite how he sees himself, this is not the conventional pirate protagonist. He is a terrible pirate.
The distance between how he sees himself and how he appears to the audience conveys a powerful piece of information; what does he want? In this case, he wants to sail aboard a magnificent ship and be a great explorer and pirate.
He sees a trio of pirates being hanged, and offers them his respect by removing his cap. Despite his circumstances, he is a man with a code of honour.
Finally, he stands proudly on his ships mast as the ship sinks, pulling into the port just in time to step off the mast before the ship sinks beneath him.
In this minute and a half of screen time, Jack is established as someone with ambition, self-delusion, and a code of honour, while also telling the audience that he is not yet the man he thinks he is, and that his strategies for victory will not involve cunning plans or feats of strength, but rather luck, and an ability to improvise hodgepodge plans.
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