The Film: A Journey of Struggle and Triumph
The film is about a group of slaves who were being transported to America to be enslaved. When they realized the journey was causing them pain and anguish, they vowed to battle their way back by disarming the crew on board.
A Chaotic Journey
The trip was chaotic, so they tried to sail back to their homes, but they got lost because they were led in the wrong direction. In the end, they ended up in America. The slaves were heartbroken because they knew their freedom would be violated.
A Supreme Court Battle
When one of the actors screamed, most of the slaves had been killed, and he suspected that he, too, would be killed. The story turned into a Supreme Court battle involving the current and former president. The slaves were seeking to be granted their freedom. At the end, the slaves emerged as winners because the court granted them freedom.
An Emotional Scene
It was a scene of emotions and pains after recalling what the slaves had gone through. The actor also cried after remembering the number of people that lost their precious lives at sea as they struggled to secure their freedom. To complete the scene, it was necessary for the actor to cry as a way of showing the emotional attachment to what had happened to them.
The Actor's Emotional Recall
The actor used emotional recall to complete the scene at which he cried uncontrollably when he learned that he had secured freedom. He recalled what he had gone through in the past to acquire the mood at that time. Completing such a scene in a movie requires the actor to be overtaken by emotions and there must be something to trigger the feelings.
Like in the scene in subject, the movie could have not been impressive or complete if the actor failed to show a strong emotional attachment to what he was passing through.
The emotional recall was centered on what the actor had gone through in his past life. The memories of his past were so strong that he could not stop crying when he remembered what he went through. He used the feelings to force tears flow down his cheeks continuously.
A Tragic Childhood
When the actor was still young, they visited a park full of wild animals together with his parents and his young sister. When they stopped at a place within the park, her mother insisted that she wanted to get out and take a picture of a strange bird that was standing a few meters from where they had parked their car. They were not aware that the area was the favorite spot for tigers within the park. As she was taking the photo, she was attacked by a tiger that was hiding in the nearby bush.
When his father rushed out to save his mother who was already unconscious, he was attacked too. His parents died on the spot and the two kids were stranded as they watched helplessly from the vehicle. Before the tiger could attack them, security guards emerged and saved the kids.
In the life of the actor, the killing of his parents as he watched helplessly and being saved by the guards was the saddest story he could tell in his life. There was nothing more painful than recalling the incident at which he lost his father and mother. In addition, it was also painful because he almost lost his life, thanks to the guards that emerged from nowhere. Being the melancholiest occurrence in his past life, it was the most appropriate for emotional recall to complete the scene.
The Reality of the Film
The part he was acting in the film Amistad was almost similar to what he had gone through. It was about losing his fellow slaves and he was helpless because his life was also in danger. The stranger that saved him was equaled to the guards that saved him and his sister from the park. When the time for the ruling came, he was to cry because that was the most essential way of showing how he appreciated the ruling for saving him and other persons taken as slaves.
The emotional recall was successful because he managed to cry as if the scene was happening in real life. The demonstration of his feelings through crying made the scene one of the most interesting scenes in the film. It made it appear real since it was based on a real-life story.
Choosing the Right Stage
If I was to direct the film on stage, I would prefer a flexible theater because it has the most appropriate features that fit the scene requirements of the movie. Flexible theater, also known as Black Box Theater, has been popular for some time and it is loved for the unique features it offers the stage.
It is easy to transform a scene because of the flexible staging as well as alternate light configuration. The flexible theater serves a fundamental purpose of linking the audience to the performers in a resolute and continual way. In the simplest explanation, flexible theater is a simple open space with four walls. In most cases, the walls are painted black. The lights are also set in a manner that allows altering of the lights depending on what is being acted.
The flexibility of the style means that it can be easily modified to fit various scenes of a play. One of the major advantages associated with flexible theatre is that it is very versatile. However, the versatility can sometimes leave the theater owners frustrated because of the numerous options to select from. A film controller needs to clearly understand the aspects to consider before settling on a particular choice.
The choice should allow free movement of actors on stage and also to allow for making necessary alterations to fit the performance. In flexible theater, it is also easy to design the stage in a symbolic manner depending on the content of the play (Patterson 23). In the movie Amistad, the appropriate color for the stage is black because the entire story is all about sad occurrences characterized by suffering and agony.
Works Cited
Patterson, Jim. Stage Directing: The First Experiences.Oxford 2015.
