Dunkirk practice essay for Visual text exam

[sam2]

Hi, could I please get some feedback on this essay and possibly a grade? I am struggling with wider world connections so any suggestions/ideas for that would be great

Question: Analyse how language features were used to create a powerful emotional response from the audience

In the film Dunkirk, the director Christopher Nolan aimed to make the audience have an emotional response to connect them with the soldiers and their situation. He does this with a range of techniques, such as a non-linear timeline, shepherds tone, and different camera shots.

Dunkirk is based around the story of a group of 400,000 french and british soldiers trapped on the beach of Dunkirk. They are surrounded by enemy forces, and they cannot escape out on the water because of the constant bombing. They were eventually rescued by a mass of civilians, and approx 300,000 men escaped. Dunkirk follows the hopeless soldiers on the beach, the pilots in the air trying to protect them, and a civilian boat heading into an active war zone. This film is all about the hopelessness and anxiety of the soldiers on the beach, and the struggles they went through.

One of Dunkirk’s most defining features is the haunting score, composed by Hans Zimmer. Zimmer uses a multitude of sounds in this score, but the most recurring and powerful is the shepard’s tone. Shepard’s tone is a sound composed of 3 different tones layered together, and it gives the illusion of a constantly rising tone. This invokes a sense of fear into the audience, which is exactly what Nolan intends. The sound begins from the first scene, of three soldiers walking through the abandoned streets of Dunkirk. It is visually a peaceful scene, as there are no sounds other than the wind. However, there is the faint sound of a shepard’s tone. This miniscule addiction changes the scene from a peaceful one to one that is full of trepidation. This makes the following event of all but one soldier being shot down much more fearful as there was an unsettling lead up. This is just one example of this tone being used, as almost every scene utilises it. It is this recurring and powerful because it is so integral to Christopher Nolan’s purpose. In this peaceful scene, it puts us in the soldiers shoes as we feel on edge. This speaks to the reality of war, as even in the seemingly quiet rests between conflict, soldiers are never truly at rest. They are always expecting another tragedy, another attack. It is through the simple use of this tone that we too feel this way. This makes the audience reflect on the feelings of those soldiers, and realise the true horror of war.

Christopher Nolan is known for his non-linear timelines, and Dunkirk is no different. It is split into three parts; the mole, the sea, and the sky. The mole is the soldiers on the beach, and this section is set over a week. The sea is the civilian boat, and this is set over a day. The sky’s the pilots making their way to Dunkirk, and this is set over a matter of hours. Because of the different timings and speed of time, it creates a snowballing effect as the events and timelines get closer to their meeting point. This makes the film seem to speed up, and time seems to change pace. Although hard to keep track of, this timeline creates a very strong feeling in the film. It feels as though the soldiers, and the pilots, and the civilians are always running out of time. This makes time the true enemy. Without this nonlinear timeline, it would be hard to convey the same level of panic and going against the clock. This is why Nolan utilised this. It is a core part of the message of the film, and creates an emotional response in the viewer. Just like the shepard’s tone, it shows how time works against people in these high pressure situations. Unlike typical war films that show a clear enemy, the enemy in Dunkirk is invisible. We never see the Germans, only the bombs they drop upon the soldiers. This was purposeful, and ties into the timeline as the enemy is time, not people.

Nolan uses many different shots, but the one that creates the biggest emotional response and furthers the directors purpose is the many wide shots. These wide shots start from the beginning, as the main character Tommy walks onto the beach and we see a wide shot of the hundreds of thousands of men waiting. This wide shot makes the men look tiny, as they face the sea, hoping for salvation. This effect makes them look powerless, which is what Nolan intends. The many wide shots show how many men there are, yet how powerless they are despite their massive numbers. The whole film shows the reality of war. It does not follow the typical purpose of war films, which is to glamorise the bravery of soldiers. In this film, the soldiers on the beach are hopeless, and there is no bravery. They are not the ones who can escape, as they are powerless in their situation. This is a powerful message, made more powerful by the techniques Nolan uses.

In conclusion, Nolan uses many techniques to effectively create an emotional response in the audience. This is done through Shepard’s tone, non-linear timeline, and wide shots. These invoke feelings of fear and anxiety, and put the audience in the soldiers shoes. The real soldiers on Dunkirk would have been hopeless and terrified, and that’s exactly how Nolan wanted the audience to feel. He did this so that the audience would understand the purpose of the film and truly feel the reality of war.

[jdewar]

Kiā ora and welcome to Studyit.
In the intro you could establish just what the emotional response was in a little more detail - he wanted them, to empathise? sympathise? feel the panic? fear? To do so he needed to get the viewer to feel they were there and experiencing it all as well?
Good establishing of the techniques you are going to use.
You do well to come back to the question with the music - you are also reflecting on the wider implications when you say “This speaks to the reality of war, as even in the seemingly quiet rests between conflict, soldiers are never truly at rest. They are always expecting another tragedy, another attack. " You could extend this a little more - the heightened sense of fear and constant adrenaline rush would be exhausting - they would have time to reflect only on the horror they had seen - there would be no rest in the downtime…
With the time - you say " creates an emotional response in the viewer.” what is the emotional response it creates? It ties back to the wider picture of the constant fear and stress and the effect this would have .
With the shots you are light on the emotion, add a bit more in - the emotion we feel is pity? fear for their fates? anger at the way they have been driven to a place where there is no escape? They are entirely at the hands of events, cannot save themselves…
This has the makings of an excellent essay - add in the suggestions.
Hope this helps

[sam2]

Thank you so much! Here is the revised essay :))

In the film Dunkirk, the director Christopher Nolan aimed to make the audience have an emotional response to connect them with the soldiers and their situation. He wants his audience to sympathise with the soldiers and feel the same fear and hopelessness that they do. He does this with a range of techniques, such as a non-linear timeline, shepherds tone, and wide shots.

Dunkirk is based around the story of a group of 400,000 french and british soldiers trapped on the beach of Dunkirk. They are surrounded by enemy forces, and they cannot escape out on the water because of the constant bombing. They were eventually rescued by a mass of civilians, and approx 300,000 men escaped. Dunkirk follows the hopeless soldiers on the beach, the pilots in the air trying to protect them, and a civilian boat heading into an active war zone. This film is all about the hopelessness and anxiety of the soldiers on the beach, and the struggles they went through.

One of Dunkirk’s most defining features is the haunting score, composed by Hans Zimmer. Zimmer uses a multitude of sounds in this score, but the most recurring and powerful is the shepard’s tone. Shepard’s tone is a sound composed of 3 different tones layered together, and it gives the illusion of a constantly rising tone. This invokes a sense of fear into the audience, which is exactly what Nolan intends. The sound begins from the first scene, of three soldiers walking through the abandoned streets of Dunkirk. It is visually a peaceful scene, as there are no sounds other than the wind. However, there is the faint sound of a shepard’s tone. This miniscule addiction changes the scene from a peaceful one to one that is full of trepidation. This makes the following event of all but one soldier being shot down much more fearful as there was an unsettling lead up. This is just one example of this tone being used, as almost every scene utilises it. It is this recurring and powerful because it is so integral to Christopher Nolan’s purpose. In this peaceful scene, it puts us in the soldiers shoes as we feel on edge. This speaks to the reality of war, as even in the seemingly quiet rests between conflict, soldiers are never truly at rest. They are always expecting another tragedy, another attack. It is through the simple use of this tone that we too feel this way. The constant feeling of unrest in the audience mirrors the feelings of the soldiers. The audience then feels the exhaustion of living in a constant state of fight or flight. This makes the audience reflect on the feelings of those soldiers, and realise the true horror of war.

Christopher Nolan is known for his non-linear timelines, and Dunkirk is no different. It is split into three parts; the mole, the sea, and the sky. The mole is the soldiers on the beach, and this section is set over a week. The sea is the civilian boat, and this is set over a day. The sky’s the pilots making their way to Dunkirk, and this is set over a matter of hours. Because of the different timings and speed of time, it creates a snowballing effect as the events and timelines get closer to their meeting point. This makes the film seem to speed up, and time seems to change pace. Although hard to keep track of, this timeline creates a very strong feeling in the film. It feels as though the soldiers, and the pilots, and the civilians are always running out of time. This makes time the true enemy. Without this nonlinear timeline, it would be hard to convey the same level of panic and going against the clock. This is why Nolan utilised this. It is a core part of the message of the film, and creates an emotional response of fear in the viewer. Fear of the unstoppable is the most terrifying type, and that is what these soldiers felt, and what the audience is made to feel. The soldiers are fighting against the unstoppable march of time. Just like the shepard’s tone, it shows how time works against people in these high pressure situations. Unlike typical war films that show a clear enemy, the enemy in Dunkirk is invisible. We never see the Germans, only the bombs they drop upon the soldiers. This was purposeful, and ties into the timeline as the enemy is time, not people. This lesson and idea is true to wars throughout history, as the soldiers race against the clock before their rations run out, before the enemy surrounds them, ect ect.

Nolan uses many different shots, but the one that creates the biggest emotional response and furthers the directors purpose is the many wide shots. These wide shots start from the beginning, as the main character Tommy walks onto the beach and we see a wide shot of the hundreds of thousands of men waiting. This wide shot makes the men look tiny, as they face the sea, hoping for salvation. This effect makes them look powerless, which is what Nolan intends. The many wide shots show how many men there are, yet how powerless they are despite their massive numbers. The whole film shows the reality of war. It does not follow the typical purpose of war films, which is to glamorise the bravery of soldiers. In this film, the soldiers on the beach are hopeless, and there is no bravery. They are not the ones who can escape, as they are powerless in their situation. This is a powerful message, made more powerful by the techniques Nolan uses. Again, these wide shots work in unison with the other techniques, to clearly show the weakness of the soldiers. This makes the audience sympathise with the soldiers, making the emotional connection stronger.

In conclusion, Nolan uses many techniques to effectively create an emotional response in the audience. This is done through Shepard’s tone, non-linear timeline, and wide shots. These invoke feelings of fear and anxiety, and put the audience in the soldiers shoes. The real soldiers on Dunkirk would have been hopeless and terrified, and that’s exactly how Nolan wanted the audience to feel. Although the dialogue is scarce in this film, the audience still connects with the soldiers through shared emotions. Because the shared fear and hopelessness is so strong, it creates a strong bond and a strong emotional reaction. Nolan did this so that the audience would understand the purpose of the film and truly feel the reality of war as a hopeless endeavour, fighting against the invisible, unstoppable enemy of time.

[jdewar]

Kiā ora sam2
That’s better - the sense of the

[jdewar]

emotional response is much stronger. Just make sure you find the thing that is being asked and come back to it in every paragraph and you will be fine. Your knowledge of the film and understanding of the wider picture and purpose are great.