Formal Analysis Essay Example for Free

Formal Analysis EssayMy spirit takes journey, my spirit takes flight, could not have risen other than I am not running I am choosing. A exchangeable is an intelligent and poetically talented 17 year old girl. On the surface, Dee Reess Pariah (2011), is the coming of age story of African-American lesbian, Alike. Growing up in a traditional household that is sexually repressed and a society that is hateful towards her for being homosexual she finds solace in poetry and academics.Through her plight, the film intelligently layers the dark themes associated with the struggles of a gay teenager growing up in the inner city- gender, sexuality, family relations, hate, religion, ignorance, etc. But the film is very hopeful in that it contrasts the dark themes with pleasant moments of optimism. I am analyzing one of the final scenes in the Dee Reess Pariah (2011). The scene 011511 where Alike is reconciling with Arthur, her father, on the rooftop of Lauras building.The rooftop scene e ncompasses the beauty of the morals of the narrative really well and at the same time contrasts the dark themes of the film in a manner that compliments the overall aesthetic of the production. The scenes Mise en Scene sets the expression for the conclusion of the narrative. The scene takes place on the rooftop of Lauras apartment building overlooking the sun setting over Brooklyn.Throughout the film we see Alike involved in thought several times on the bus, in school, at the club- in all these circumstances the film utilizes dark, incandescent lighting and shadows to extenuate the pace of the emotions and events Alike is reflecting on. In this scene however the lighting comes from the bright, vibrant yellow-orange sunset. The film uses this in order to help visualize an appreciation of Alikes silver-tongued lining almost as if to say that Alike sees the art and the beauty that came of her pain and suffering- this is expressed in the poem she reads against the montage of her di fference for California.Alikes outfit shows a more developed sense of style. This expresses to the audience that she has grown and maturated from the sequence of events that have taken place in the narrative. The friendly blocking of the conversation between Alike and Arthur brings Arthur down to a more human level. Although Arthur is angled slightly above Alike to maintain his domineering manful complex, this is the first time in the film we see him venerable. Alike and Arthur face the opposite direction on an equal plane, this is supposed to demonstrate naturalistic fundamental interaction between the two as well as give a sense of the intrinsic perspective of the film.The cinematography in this scene is utilized to expresses the subjective point of view of Alike. The scene starts with a close up shot of Alike followed by a hand held long shot overlooking the alternate Arthur and Laura entering. Shift in focus in depth of field demonstrates the importances of Alikes line Im n ot running, Im choosing, and Arthurs reaction to it. We see that Arthur is man enough to accept his daughter for who she is and that he is not going to try to get her to run away from who she is, unlike his wife.The pretension balances of the yellow/orange spectrum is displayed in an aesthetically pleasing manner to help provide a strong sense of optimism, which is also complimented by the background hoo-ha of the wind and birds. The scenes in which Nina and Alike are bonding is a very optimistic time for Alike as well. And in those scenes the yellow/orange alter spectrum is used to illustrate this but in a much darker tone. The reason for the darker tone being is that Alikes optimism was eventually destroyed after Nina tells her shes not really gay. Therefore, in using brighter tones in the rooftop scene, we get more of a sense of closure as an audience. The rooftop scene encompasses the beauty layered in within the dark ominous narrative of Pariah. The film is very aestheticall y pleasing and has many layers to it. It does not follow a formulaic structure like most coming of age films do but instead uses poetry and pays attention to metaphoric details in order to tell Alikes story. Alikes growth from the confusion of her sexuality and identity is illustrated eloquently though the use of light, blocking, depth of field, and audio.