Birth of a Nation: Art or Propaganda Essay

Mankind, engaging in war, driven by w shunver instincts guide him, seeks to keep the defeats and victories of competitiveness in his memory and on his conscience. To chance on this men have used headstone and canvas, ink and paper, or instrument and meter in their effort to communicate the catastrophe and glory of war. Never, before the c beer of D. W. Griffith had anyone essay to bring the subject to photograph. The result of his efforts, weaknesses aside, turn back a change in situation towards delineation as a media. maybe audiences previously going to a examine expected emotional manipulation.After all, historic period before the film nascence of a nation, makers of film employed techniques to evoke poignance from viewers whether by means of the use of a sobbing mother, a frightened peasant or what have you. In this wonder the film was not a ground-breaker However, through its effective use of devices such as symbolism, foreshadowing and allusions, as well as bui lding on and arguably perfecting film techniques such as continuity editing, intercutting and close-ups, he transformed film from guileless pastime to art and propaganda. To present and explore a theme, symbolism is used everywhere in literature.Whether the image is subtle or axiomatic it is regardless a sign of large calculation and effort. In Birth of a nation Griffith places symbols everywhere, in doing this he merges literary devices of written works with his own ocular works. For instance, the parched corn symbol in the gibe where the southern army is have symbolizes their desperation in the face of defeat. This resource proves that Griffith wasnt just presenting actors and a plot, he intended to dig far deeper than that, into the ground of a clever storyteller.Another pillow slip of his unique style is the use of foreshadowing, some other literary device now commonly employed in film. The most heavy(p) example of this is the scene where two gentlemen are talking, a nd as the camera pans down, we see a puppy struggling with a kitten. This is some other strong example of symbolism however, charge much importantly it foreshadows the coming war. It is like an expert placed to add to the building strain between sides which the audience already knows results in confrontation. Its placement reflects Griffiths desire to advance the complexity and diversity of film beyond diversion to higher levels in order.To manipulate his audiences emotions, he first had to magnet them into the story and in turn into the stories fundamental theme. He accomplished this by use numerous virgin film tools, more than as an artist uses his own tools to construct a believable painting. Among these tools he uses panoramas to represent setting, to paint, if you will a moving picture. To portray the swell of heated gunfire on a crowded battlefield i. e. the scene of the battle of Petersburg, or to bring across image of the delicate beauty of his ingrained sou thern land to those who had never been there or seen a picture of it.This was the sum total that transformed film into a genuine art form. Once he had the attention and anticipation of the audience, as well as their almost guaranteed acceptance of his word, he entirely had to feed them a easily grasped, recognizable message to sway their emotions his way. This method of immaculate propaganda was used to fuel the audiences already considerable ill-founded hatred of sears. It comes in the form of a rebel black group who terrorizes the Cameron family, the films important characters. By placing blacks in this position it isnt difficult to imagine the reaction of an average out theatre goer.The film spawned riots, fired up racism, built stronger the negative stereotypes of blacks. It portrayed them as lazy, as illustrated in the black parliament, where a man rests his bare feet on a desk, alluding to uselessness in the employment environment. more(prenominal) horrifyingly tha n that it portrayed them as finally evil with the seizing of the Camerons basis and the attempted rape of one of their daughters. The unequivocal bias presented, although appalling, demonstrates just how effective Griffith was at utilizing film not with the intention to nevertheless entertain, but to spread propaganda and affect the perceptions of society itself.Griffith exploited his audience, he turned them against minorities and themselves. The film Birth of a nation exemplifies ignorance and hate at its worst. Although it stands for something that today is looked on as morally wrong, it proves by this very reaction that the film is not just mere entertainment, but something with a far more serious purpose. Since Griffith was the first to accomplish something of this nature, Birth of a nation therefore tag the transformation of film from pure entertainment into art and propaganda.