Over our last lesson, we discussed many film techniques commonly used in movies such as light, camera angles, audio etc. This was to help us with film study for an upcoming task. From this, we were asked to think about our own favorite scenes in a film and what made them significant to us.
My favorite scene from a film would be in 'A Walk to Remember', starring Shane West and Mandy Moore. It would have to be one of my favorite book's and movie's of all time. The story takes place in North Carolina, where two teenagers from different crowds fall in love. Landon Carter is a popular and rebellious teen, who cares greatly about his image. On the other hand, Jamie Sullivan quite independant and is not bothered by what others think of her. She is also the religious daughter of the town Pastor, who is very protective of her. Although at first they don't see eye to eye, a series of events lead them to develop strong feelings for eachother and eventually fall in love, despite the opinions of their peers.
The downfall of this love story is met when Jamie confesses to Landon that she had been suffering Leukemia for sometime and she had stopped responding to treatment. Although devastated by this news, Landon remains faithful to Jamie and continues to support her.
After this shocking bombshell regarding Jamie's health, I was instantly brought to tears.
Which leads me to my most memorable scene:
When things begin to look bad, Landon's father, who is a doctor, without Landon's knowledge, decides to give Jamie special medical treatment. Landon's father sees how special Jamie is to him, which led him to make that decision. Landon visits his father to thank him for his genorosity. This is a big step in their relationship, as Landon had not spoken to his father for many years after his parents had been divorced. The pure emotion on Landon's face made me cry harder. You could see that watching Jamie suffer was killing him. It was very touching to me watching Landon cry for Jamie.
Landon surpises the audience by hugging his father tightly. It goes to show that tragedies may be hard, but are able to bring people together. Despite all the loathing he had had for his father, the fact that he had helped someone he cared about made all the difference. It's a beautiful moment between father and son. :)
Other factors that make this memorable include:
- The angle of the camera in this scene, as it is a close up of Landon and his father
- The music played in the background creates a spiritual mood. The song in this scene is called 'Reconciliation' which is appropriate given the circumstances.
- The dim lighting also adds to this mood.
This may be a short scene, but it was very significant to me, the film would not have been the same without it. :)
