“The Rock“ Scene Deconstruction

3 Pages 727 Words

I chose a scene from the movie The Rock, starring Sean Connery, Nicolas Cage, and Ed Harris. In this particular scene, General Hummel (Harris) and his crew take hostage a number of tourists visiting Alcatraz. Hummel then gives a rousing speech to his comrades, telling them their mission and how noble it is.
The objective of this scene is to show that Hummel, although crazed enough to take hostage dozens of people, cares more about the cause he is fighting for, rather than taking innocent lives, when he nobly states, “You are being detained against your will - for that I apologize. It is not our intention in any way to harm you; you will not be detained one minute longer than is necessary for us to complete our mission.”
This scene also shows the service Hummel has contributed to his country. He states that his career dates back to “Tet 68,” which was the Tet Offensive of 1968 – a turning point in the Vietnam War. He also commanded troops in Desert Storm. His speech also sets forth their mission – to stop the lies told to families of dead Marines, even if it means never stepping foot on their native soil again.
The first part of the clip takes place in a cell block. The lighting in this shot is dark, with a somewhat blue tint, much like you would expect to see in a dreary, old prison facility. My theory is that this color was created by using lens filters on the camera to create the blue tint. When Hummel speaks, there is a slight echo on his voice, like you would hear in a dense, concrete building. The audio was most likely captured using boom microphones. As Hummel walks down the cell block with his soldiers, he fires his pistol into the air. The audio was probably dubbed in during post-production.
This is the best approach to the color and audio. Everything is natural looking and sounding, without detracting with the experience of the film. It is subtle – you don’t notice it unless you are trying t...