Fingersmith Exam Extract
G322 Fingersmith from Stephen Adams on Vimeo.
Exemplar Essay from Fingersmith:
In the clip, ‘Fingersmith’ the audience is
being presented with an issue about sexuality. This clip is set in Victorian
times, when being homosexual was very taboo for women and even illegal for men.
In this clip, we are being presented with the issue of a woman, Maude,
repressing her sexual feelings. The audience is instantly meant to be
sympathetic towards Maude and this is known because she is the voiceover. The
audience is being told of her secretive feelings through her voiceover, making
them feel as though they are being trusted and are already on her side.
The first frame is a two shot of Maude and
the woman she has feelings for. This two shot immediately demonstrates their
unity as women. The audience immediately told by the voiceover of her feelings
for this woman and this two shot reinforces the fact that this is an issue of
homosexuality. The audience sympathises with Maude from the very beginning of
the clip mainly due to the voiceover.
The director uses piano and violin while
Maude talks about the thoughtful act the other woman did with her uncles’
books. Piano and violin are also used when Maude is lying next to the woman,
almost stroking her, to emphasise this romantic and meaningful setting and
furthermore to highlight Maude’s romantic feelings for the woman. The slow zoom
on the women when they are in bed together, Maude resisting touching her,
symbolizes how meaningful this moment is to Maude and making the audience
empathise with Maude because she cannot romantically touch the one she loves.
The focus on Maude’s hands is significant because she is wearing white gloves.
These white gloves represent her purity and innocence. She wears these gloves
even when trying to touch her, highlighting her sexual repression.
The director uses fading when moving on to
a new scene and this constant use of fading represents how meaningful these moments
are and dramatises them to provide sympathy for Maude from the audience.
In the next scene Maude is shown through a
close-up, painting outside in a field watching the female character. While
painting the sounds of singing birds is used, conveying a natural environment
and signifying how Maude’s feelings are natural for her. The male character is
then quickly introduced, emphasizing a binary opposite of homosexuality and
heterosexuality. The first shot of the man shots him standing in between the
women, thus suggesting that he will cause conflict.
The binary opposite between homosexuality
and heterosexuality are again emphasized when the male character notices Maude
looking at the womens breast, through the use of a close-up. When Maude
realises she has not repressed her feelings successfully, she drops red paint
from her brush. This red paint connotes danger and possibly foreshadows death.
The use of flutes becoming louder and high-pitched highlight the tension and
discomfort Maude is feeling now that she has exposed herself. Once the male
character realises Maude’s feelings, cello, violin and flute are dramatically
used to highlight his power in the narrative. The music then stops abruptly
when the male character grabs Maude, emphasising that she is now in danger and
gaining sympathy from the audience due to this aggressive male dominance.
After threatening Maude, the male character
then takes Maude’s glove off. Maude has worn this white glove, a symbol of her
purity and innocence, constantly throughout the clip and therefore this glove
taking symbolizing her innocence being taken away, making the audience feel
empathy for her.
The clip then fades again, indicating a
transition into a romantic setting, and the female character is undressing. The
setting is romantic once again, with violins playing throughout and a hot fire
and candle is also placed in the shot to reinforce this intimate setting. The
low-key lighting highlights how deep and secretive Maude’s feelings for this
woman are and this low lighting is consistently used whenever the women are
together, highlighting Maude’s true feelings and thus making the audience
sympathise with her.
While the female character is undressing,
the audience sees her through a point of view shot, therefore making them truly
aware of Maude’s intimate feelings for this woman and thus making them feel
empathy for her.
The clip ends with a close-up of Maude in
her bed with her gloved hand close to her mouth, emphasizing how she is
desperately trying to repress her homosexual feelings. The director has used
this final close-up to let the audience know that this is who they should still
sympathise with.
The director has clearly used camera,
mise-en-scene, sound and editing to address the binary opposites of
homosexuality and heterosexuality, and unsympathetic and sympathetic
characters.
Another Exemplar Essay from Fingersmith:
SOME NOTES BELOW FROM CLASS DISCUSSION 2015
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