A New Perspective

A New Perspective

A couple of years ago in my English class one of my assignments was to analyze two films Spoorloos and The Vanishing. Both films were directed by George Sluizer and tell the same story. The original film Spoorloos however was praised while the newer Americanized version was criticized over and over. When I first watched the two films I was bored out of my mind. The original contained very little action and was so confusing that I had no idea how to analyze the film as a whole. The newer version was still boring to me, but did contain action and the plot was easier to follow and therefore I understood the movie more.

This year I have learned so much about films. I recently went back and watched the two films again only this time I viewed the films from a different perspective. The first thing that I noticed differently was how the movie was shot. The angles of the shots and the length of time of the shots really helped me to understand the importance of the film. For example, in the original film it opened with a close up shot of a stick bug. The stick bug was hard to notice because it was so well camouflaged with the tree. The shot was held longer than most of the shots throughout the rest of the movie. It wasn't until a little later in the movie that I realized the importance of that shot. The stick bug actually acted as a symbol in the movie and represented the villain.

Another change that I was able to notice more clearly when I examined the movies for a second time was how the actors were portrayed in each of the films. The way the actors were portrayed in the film affected how smoothly the film flowed and helped me understand the plot more clearly. The actors themselves were also better when I stepped back and evaluated their performances. This second time around they were actually convincing.

Dialogue was also something that I paid more attention to the second time I viewed the films. Having a better understanding of how important dialogue can be and how it helps to understand the plot helped me to truly understand the original film. The original film was filled with dialogue and the use of symbolism and in order to understand both of those factors I had to understand what each does for a film as a whole. The dialogue tied in with the symbols and explained the plot as the movie progressed. When I first viewed the films the dialogue kind of went in one ear and out the other. The second time around I had an appreciation for what the actors were actually saying.

The last and probably most important thing that I noticed was the sound design of the movie. I noticed every sound that came from the speakers. The music played a big role in the remake of the film because it set the tone for certain scenes. For example, the ending of the film had music that set the tone for the climax point. Being able to notice the different

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