Sunday, 18 December 2022

The Great Dictators

 

Frame Study


The Great Dictators
Charlie Chaplin



 Hello everyone, I'm a student of the Department of English,M.K.B.U. In this blog I'm going to do a Frame Study on Charlie Chaplin's film 'The Modern Times' which is based on the Setting 20th Century. 



Points to Ponder :-


  • Introduction of The 20th century

  • About Charlie Chaplin

  • About 'The Great Dictators'

  • What is Frame Study ?

  • Frame Study based on this Film

  • Conclusion



  1. Introduction of The 20th Century


The 20th century was like no time period before it. Einstein ,Darwin , Freud and Marx were just some of the thinkers who profoundly changed Western culture.The 20th century was dominated by significant events that defined the modern era: Spanish flu pandemic, World War I and World War II, nuclear weapons, nuclear power and space exploration, nationalism and decolonization, the Cold War and post-Cold War conflicts, and technological advances. These reshaped the political and social structure of the globe.


Characteristics of the Age :-


  1. Imperialism

  2. Social Unrest

  3. Anxiety and Interrogation

  4. Art for Art’s sake



About Charlie Chaplin :-






Charlie Chaplin, byname of Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, (born April 16, 1889, London, England — died December 25, 1977, Corsier-sur-Vevey, Switzerland), British comedian, producer, writer, director, and composer who is widely regarded as the greatest comic artist of the screen and one of the most important figures in motion-picture history.His character "The Tramp" relied on pantomime and quirky movements to become an iconic figure of the silent-film era. Chaplin went on to become a director, making films such as City Lights and Modern Times, and co-founded the United Artists Corporation. He spent more than 75 years making his career from his childhood when victorian era was running until his death 1977. 



"We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity; more than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost."



This famous line is spoken by Charlie Chaplin. This famous and remarkable line was from The final speech of the movie 'The Great Dictators'.




About 'The Great Dictator' :-




The Great Dictator, American comedy film, released in 1940, that Charlie Chaplin both acted in and directed. Satirizing Adolf Hitler and Nazism and condemning anti-Semitism, it was Chaplin’s most successful film at the box office.Chaplin portrayed a Jewish barber who is mistaken for a tyrannical dictator. He plays up the charade and ultimately gives a speech in which he calls for peace and compassion. Chaplin, in a dual role, also played the fascist dictator, modelled after Hitler.


The Great Dictator was Chaplin’s first feature film with full sound. When the movie was released in 1940, the United States was still not officially at war with Nazi Germany. The names of the characters mock the fascist leaders of the day, including “Adenoid Hynkel,” standing in for Hitler, and ministers “Garbitsch” and “Herring,” who were modelled on Joseph Goebbels and Hermann Göring, respectively. “Benzino Napaloni,” dictator of the neighbouring country of “Bacteria,” was a satirical portrayal of Italy’s Benito Mussolini. One of the film’s most-celebrated scenes features Hynkel dancing with a balloon of the world to the music of Richard Wagner. Chaplin later said he would never have been able to make the film had the true extent of the Nazis’ crimes been widely known.



What is Frame Study ? :-


Basically in the study frame is a single image of a video. Framing involves composing the visual content of a series of frames as seen from a single point of view. frame is the term used by screenwriters to indicate the entrance of a person or thing into a framed shot.  Frame study is all about the study of a particular image, what that image indicates and what the purpose symbol of that image and other things.




  • Frame Study based on this Film :-


Frame :-1




This Frame is based on Rhetoric speech given by a political leader. In this scene ,he tries to encourage people from his speech. His other members also feel something unacceptable but when he gives his particular gesture they act as if they agree with him. In contemporary times also we can find the same situations when the Election comes. All the politicians are busy giving their Rhetoric speech,they made so many promises to people but after winning the election they forgot their promises and they started only thinking for themselves.



Frame :- 2




In this Frame we can find that a political leader is clicking a photograph with a poor class baby. As his facial expressions he is not happy to do this but he is doing this because he wants to define himself as a Kind and innocent. He wants to get the support of people that's why he behaves good with people so he can win the election and becomes the leader.


Frame :- 3




This Frame defines Egoistic Leadership of the leader. In this scene he is treating his leaders as his slave. In this image he orders them to do whatever they want from him. Workers or Other miner politicians or leaders are treated like a Dog by the powerful man. 


Frame :- 4




This scene defines how, Dictators are to tease poor people.  If poor people take a stand against the political leaders they will kill those people. In this Frame also Charlie Chaplin also takes a stand against the politicians but when politicians are not able to stop them they try to kill them. 


Conclusion :-


To sum up, both the films of Charlie Chaplin define a very deep history of the 20th century: how the people were living their life, how two classes differentiated from their behaviour and how machines became the enemies for poor people.



Word Count :- 956

Images :- 5


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