Charles Dickens Essay

Comparing the ways in which tension and suspense is created in the opening sequences of David Lean’s 1946 & Julian Jarrold’s 1999 interpretation of â€Å"Great Expectations† by Charles Dickens  In David Lean’s 1946 interpretation of â€Å"Great Expectation† Pip is portrayed as a small, smart, clean young boy, as he will be considered more innocent and vulnerable to the audience. Pip’s fair hair colour against the darkening background makes the audience think that he is an angelic like figure. Lean shows the vast landscape with tall-silhouetted gibbets to indicate just how small and vulnerable Pip is running across the marshland. When Pip goes to visit and weed the grave of his parents, Lean shows this particularly to gain the audience’s sympathy. The audience hears everything that Pip hears and this helps us to understand his apprehension. The scream is shocking and makes us see his fear to his meeting with the convict. When he is being threatened, Pip’s overwhelming politeness and naivety, despite the life-threatening situation he is in, makes the audience feel a great deal of sympathy for him. However, in Julian Jarrold’s 1999 interpretation of â€Å"Great Expectations† Pip is portrayed as a scruffy and an unclean young boy. This image gains the audience’s sympathy as we can tell that he is mistreated at home. Jarrold’s Pip has dark hair; and although he is not seen as an angelic and innocent figure. Jarrold engages the sympathy of the audience by presenting him as a hunted animal. When Pip encounters the convict, he is undoubtedly terrified and traumatised. He cannot even look at the convict, and is so paralysed with fear he can’t even speak. When we first meet the convict we can see immediately how intimidating he can be. David Lean shows a close-up of his face simultaneously to him jumping onto the scene. This close-up view is being used to show us what the convict is thinking and also to show the anger. This close-up view is also used to prevent us seeing what Pip is doing when the camera zooms up on the convict. Therefore we worry for Pip and this adds to the suspense of the moment. The convict is an intimidating large man who has a lot of power over Pip. In the beginning he is always shot in darkness, whereas Pip is always shot in bright light to emphasise his innocence. This is particularly noticeable when the convict is in control, trying to tilt Pip over the gravestone. There is a cut between Pip and the convict to show Pip’s vulnerability and a close-up of his face highlights his terror. Pip is shown as the opposite to the convict and looks innocent, charming and neatly dressed. The convict however looks angry and dirty and we presume that this is what he is like and therefore regard him as a bad person. Language is also used to emphasise the convict’s aggressiveness. The convict specifically emphasises the words ‘roasted’ and also ‘tear him open’. These words are emphasised to scare Pip and also to shock the audience. It draws the audience into the story and makes us feel Pip’s intimidation. The convict’s terrifying image adds to the forbidding setting.  Julian Jarrold’s version of the convict is shown to be incredibly daunting and intimidating. Although no dialogue is spoken we can see from his fixed stare on Pip and his angry scowl that he intends to do harm to him. The convict is dressed in old dirty clothes and looks very ill groomed, this adds to the audience’s understanding of him as an escaped convict. Lean uses some effective techniques to show the characters. He shows the vast landscape with tall-silhouetted gibbets to indicate just how small and vulnerable Pip is. The use of light and dark is very effective when me meet the convict. Pip remains in the light but the convict’s face is shrouded in darkness to convince the audience of his an evil nature. Pip’s lightened appearance shows his innocence and makes the audience wonder why such a nice boy is in such a dark and gloomy place. After the confrontation, Pip is seen scrabbling home across the marshes as quickly as possible, against the same eerie landscape. The setting in Jarrold’s 1999 interpretation is less stereotypical. It is not dark and the sky is sunny. There is a very high-pitched note, which appears haunting and creepy to the audience. Just before we see Pip’s head peep out of the wheat field, from the convict’s point-of-view, we hear breathing and this causes suspense, as we cannot see anyone. The setting of a wheat field is less traditional and does not prepare us for when the convict chases Pip, as no one would expect to find a convict in the middle of a wheat field. The golden reeds add to the peaceful tranquillity of the first shot, and therefore relax the viewer. Jarrold uses his own ideas and makes the opening more intriguing and exciting. At the beginning we have no idea what is going to happen and because of this Pip’s running come as a shock, and therefore has more impact. This provides the audience with an immediate incentive to continue watching. We then follow the dramatic chase that Jarrold has constructed through a wheat field and the graveyard. Jarrold’s use of point-of-view shots give the audience a chance to feel more involved in the film and to help them to feel the confusion of the chase. The wheat field itself is Jarrold’s own notion and is not mentioned anywhere in the written novel. However, this really helps to show Pip is trying to hide but that he cannot escape.