Mediation Theory 1

Mediation Theory 1

It is important to remember that when we look at a filmed image on the screen we are not looking at a real thing, but a reproduced image or representation of the real thing. In texts such as films, film-makers deliberately manipulate this image in order to stamp their artistic and creative seal upon it.

To take a simple example, film-makers can make a place seem inviting and pleasant by choosing to film it on a beautiful summer’s day and lighting it in a certain way. Equally, they can make a place appear menacing by filming it as a dark stormy place lit in such a way as to appear gloomy and full of shadows.

Let’s take a clear example: in the recent The Lord of the Rings trilogy, the film-makers were presented with the task of contrasting good and evil for the purposes of the story. They created the world of Middle Earth for the film, and presented some places as good (the shire) and others as evil (Mordor). The shire is presented as the epitome of good in the opening of The Fellowship of the Ring and Mordor as the epitome of evil in The Return of the King, and this clearly shown in the way in which it is presented visually.