Dead Poets' Society
In our final film clip, notice how design aspects are used to symbolize an abstract idea. See if you can guess what this film clip symbolizes.
Watch the film clip from Dead Poets' Society
- The boys are dressed in dark hooded coats (costumes).
- They run towards and through a wall of mist (special effects).
- They run down a tunnel within trees (location, or set, depending if they had to construct the tunnel).
- An owl flies by.
- They run through a mist-filled land (special effects).
- And if we continued beyond this film clip, the boys enter a cave (again location or set, depending if they had to build the cave on a soundstage).
Add all of those images together and what do they symbolize? If you answered “death” you were correct: “death” — Dead Poets Society. Note these symbolisms:
- The Grim Reaper wears a hooded cloak.
- The wall of mist represents crossing over into the spirit world.
- Those who have experienced Near Death Disorder (when they have died and then come back to life) said they travelled through a tunnel with a light at the end.
- In Greek mythology, an owl can represent death.
- The mist-filled land represents the world of spirits.
- One of the definitions of a cave in Greek mythology is a grave.
Death. This is brilliant production design.
One More Note: When the boys first descend the stairs, we only see their shadows. This was not mentioned above because this effect is created by cinematography, not production design. However, a shadow on film can represent a spirit. Many times production design will be combined with cinematography to create images. They are both part of the visual construction of a film.