Elizabeth essay

Elizabeth media essay

In the film ‘Elizabeth’ there are lots of figurative things occurring. Majority of these things include mise- en- scene and camera shots. The reason why these things are used is to enable the audience to see and share how the character is feeling at that present time.

In the beginning of the first scene there is a close up shot of Elizabeth face, in this shot we notice that there is no expression on her face, this could indicate that she is in deep thought or that something is happening beyond her control and there is nothing she can do about it. Her face being like this shows she is the kind of person who thinks and worries a lot about things which us as a audience can clearly see and acknowledge. Also another thing we see in this scene is a two shot of Elizabeth and her maid, in this shot we see her maid cutting her hair off while crying. The colour of Elizabeth hair is a very bright and vibrant orange, which explains her personality. By her hair being this colour it shows that she is very wild and out- going, we see this side to her in a flashback of her dancing and playing about with her lover. The fact that her maid is cutting her hair off symbolises a new start and a new beginning for the up coming queen. Besides this we also notice that the maid cries which doing what she is told to do by Elizabeth. This tells us that the maid and Elizabeth had a good friendly relationship and by the maid cutting her hair it symbolises their friendship ending which creates a tense atmosphere.

 It is ironic because there is a saying which is: ‘ it’s like my life is slipping out of my hands’ during this part of scene we see a point of view shot which is taken when Elizabeth hair fall in-between her fingers, for every little bit of hair that drops in her palms this shows a bit of her old life demolishing slowly. Elizabeth goes on to say ‘I have become a virgin’ this tells us that Elizabeth hair was her confidence and it helped her with her love life but know that its gone its as if she is pure again she is a whole new Elizabeth.

Coming towards the end of the scene we see a different colour, which is white, and this colour is used when she is soon to be‘ queen of England’. As she walks in a long shot is taken where we can see a big transformation in her, she has all her flesh covered up including her neck which mean that because she is soon to be the queen of England she has to dress and act like a mature woman in order to gain respect, also the colour of her outfit is white and as she walks in through the doors with a bright light behind her it is as if    she portraying an angels who has seen the light and discovered where and who she wants to be in life.

Following on from that the reception gets from the people who are there is the kind a women who is getting married would get. Everybody there seemed mesmerised and shocked and usually at an actual wedding this would be there reaction because of how astonishing and beautiful the bride looks however in this circumstance the reason why people where shocked was because the transformation that had taken place with Elizabeth. As she walked in she said ‘I am married to England’ which implied that she is ready and strong enough to be the ruler of England also it could mean that she doesn’t want or need to get married to a man because she has England and that is her main priority. While she is walking down the aisle there is a high angle shot taken when she passes her ex lover in this part of the scene you can see the love he has for her and there is a big difference in states because he is looking up to her. Already in this scene there is a change in Elizabeth life someone that he once loved is now the queen of the country he lives in which tells us that they have now become two completely different people.  

There is a close up shot taken of Elizabeth face at the end which in the beginning of the scene we saw a close up shot of her face, however the first shot is different from the last shot because in the end we see a completely new face and personality and this just goes to show that growing up is a part of life and taking responsibility is a part of life and that she had to choose between her life and   everyone in it and or England.