Film Language and Representation
The 5 minutes extract is at 30:04-34:44min right before the Joad family leaves Oklahoma to go to California they're finishing packing the truck. The main characters on this scenes are Ma, played by Jane Darwell and Grandpa, played by Charley. Grapewin. They are presented as the rock of the family and through this scene it's shown how they deal with the idea of leaving California. The issues of economy and survival are presented by the situations are given, having to leave their home and learning to move on. The actors do a great job of portraying the sadness and disillusion caused by Great Depression and contribute to the genre of drama. Ma shows emptiness and sadness in her eyes when she's looking at herself in the mirror with the earrings in flower shape. Grandpa looks tired and unwilling to leave his land as he says "this my dirt, it aint good, but it's mine, mine". Their acting was "invisible" meaning that their performance was believable they embodied their character and it couldn't be told it was acting because of how realist it was.
The camera work is simple, but effective. At first there are several MS and CU, but later when they're talking to Grandpa the use of LS and MS is used more often. Usually the camera is positioned on the side of the actor and not directly in front of them unless is a CU. There's no camera movement; it never follows a character o tilts up or down. To changer perspective, it changes angle of shot. The cinematography emphasizes drama because it focuses on the actor's face when it's necessary to convey an emotion and then uses further shots to add suspense and uncertainty. This film is closed form because in the CUs the characters seem tapped trapped, they are static thus implying how they felt in the story line, not free. The editing is slow cutting because it goes with the sad mood of the scene. In addition it has reaction shots, 180 degree rule and movement match just to name some of the editing techniques used. Analyzing the editing it can be interpreted as a way to reassure that this is a classical film because of it's features. Another important aspect is the lighting, there's dominant contrast in order to emphasize Ma's emotions and the objects that she's holding. Her face and the objects in her hand are brighter than the rest of what's in the scene. Since there's black and white, the black color represents the situation America is in, a dark time. But the white is the light of hope that things will get better.
The sound is critical in the success of this scene. There's diegetic sound when we hear, the fire burning, the door swing, and the steps of Grandpa on the dirt. In the beginning of the scene there's background music playing, the song is called "Red River Valley" which is a sad, melancholic track that it's used throughout the entire film when there's a sad moment. This song is slow tempo and low key because it want to go along with the depressing mood. Furthermore, there's symbolism in the scene, especially when Ma is holding those earrings in shape of flower which represents life, which is ironic because the land was dead due to the Dust Bowl. As Ma looks at herself in the mirror she realizes it's no time to wear nice things, but yet she saves them implying that she could use them in the future, it's symbolism for the theme of hope. Lastly the setting is at inside the house and outside the house. It establishes the setting which is a rural environment because of The Great Depression and also because John Ford liked to do his films in real environments.
