Gladiator

After the titles and opening text of the film have finished, the film starts with an extreme close up of a hand as someone is walking through the field of grass. The shot is very golden in colour, and with the slow movements of the man walking, he seems to be at peace in the field and it's all somewhat heavenly. The music that plays during this scene is rather haunting, however, which could easily give the feeling of regret, or foreshadow something that's about to happen that will later cause regret. If we look carefully, we can also see a wedding ring. If we think about things in detail, and put the ideas together, it can easily give the impression that it's almost as if something has possibly happened to his wife, and it makes us wonder.

The shot then rather suddenly cuts to a medium shot of the general, who we assume was the same man that was walking through the field. He's looking down at first, almost as if imagining what we had seen in the last shot. The lighting is extremely different from the last shot. Instead of being bright and golden, it's a lot darker and a dull shade of grey. Whereas the field may have seemed heavenly, the place he is in now is almost given the impression of being hellish before we even learn that he's on the battlefield. He then looks up a little, and the expression on his face also seems regretful or sad, which ties into the music well. The robin on the tree opposite him which catches his attention in the next close up shot soon flies away, almost as if it was startled by something. Animals tend to have a sixth sense for danger, and this could be foreshadowing that something dangerous is about to start, but the general can only watch it fly away as he is stuck on the battlefield.

As the general turns away, the film cuts to a wide, establishing shot of a barren landscape - the battlefield. It looks almost as though one may imagine hell to be, and once again gives us the sense of the contrast shown between heaven and hell. It then pans as soldiers on horses pass, using a camera on a crane to lower us into the action, and become a part of the scene.

When it cuts to a medium shot of an elder man, we can instantly tell that he is important, even though he neither says nor does anything to indicate this. The fact that we have a shot of him alone, compared to the scenes of the battlefield allows the audience to figure this out themselves, and will keep an eye out for him in later parts of the film as they are already aware that he is important.

As we cut back to the general, the camera tracks through the lines of the soldiers, following just in front of the general through them. Here, we can really get the sense that he is well-respected and in charge of the men. At one point, the camera seems to cut to what is almost like the POV of the general as he is walking through the lines, which really pulls the audience into the action, and makes them feel involved with the film. As we continue to follow the general, we learn that he is a very down-to-earth guy, and is calm when it comes to the war compared to his second-in-command. As this scene continues on, the music begins to build up the tension, and we can also hear digetic sounds such as armor clanking, people taking/giving orders and the general noises which would be heard on a battlefield. At one stage we even see the enemy line, who appear to be barbaric and wild compared to the Romans, who seem civilized. This makes the audience instantly assume that the Romans are the side that they should belong on, and should back through the fighting. We can even see a wide shot of the opposing force, who appear to be almost straining at the leash, like a untamed and fierce dog would before attacking.

With the tension building up, and the scene getting closer to the battle, we can see a number of different shots which show different parts of their attack being set up - such as archers and catapults, etc. And once again, the film is related back to the idea of hell - but this time verbally. The general tells his second-in-command to 'unleash hell' on his signal, showing us that they know that the battle will not be a pretty sight. As the general meets up with the second group of soldiers who are a cavalry, and planning to attack from behind, we are shown some different shots - such as a wide shot which shows the group, the surrounding forest, and also the rays of light that fall through the gaps in the trees. This gives the shot a very mysterious look, especially with the use of lighting. During these shots, however, we can still faintly hear the noise of the battlefield in the distance, showing us that they are not far from the action.

As the fighting actually begins, however, we see a lot faster cuts between clips, and a lot of those seem to be filmed on a handheld camera. The shakiness of this gives the impression of chaos, and allows the audience to feel as though they are part of the action on screen. There are a lot of close up shots during the fighting, and sometimes it is hard to even see what is happening on the screen, though you would have just as much difficulty with making sense of anything if you were actually in the battlefield alongside them, which therefore adds to the immersion of the audience. Occasionally, however, we will see a few wide shots sweeping across the battlefield - showing the extent of things from a distance. From these shots, we can not only see the soldiers fighting, but also the archers and the catapults firing and 'unleashing hell' as the general had stated previously. The sound is also extremely chaotic - or a cacophony - as all the sounds of the battlefield are overlapping each other, as well as the music adding to the chaos.

As the battle draws to a close, the shots appear to be in slow motion, and the music lightens up slightly. We can tell from this that the Romans are winning the fighting, especially as we only really see clips of the barbarians falling, and never the Romans themselves. The digetic sound of the scene begins to fade as this happens, and becomes more and more muffled leaving us mostly with only the music, until we hear the general shout 'Roma victor!' which confirms our beliefs that they have won the battle.