Essay, Research Paper: Ideology And Breakdown Of Forr

Ideology
The themes in the movie Forrest Gump are believed by some to be the search for
destiny while understanding that simple is good . The movie features many ideas for
someone s destiny. For example, are we all just floating around on a breeze or we all
have a destiny in life that we need to figure out . The style of the movie is told by a man
telling his life story from his point of view.
The culture in this movie is based on life in the United States, a southern boy who
was put into school because his mom wanted him to go to a real boys school not a special
school for the handicapped. In the movie Forrest is of Southern Baptist religion which
tells his life style. Forrest Gump seems to be a stupid man by his appearance but as the
story unfolds you can tell that he is very bright and full of knowledge told in a simple
manner.
The importance of minor stars throughout the movie is when small characters play
big roles in the plot of the story. Jenny, his girl, is not seen in the movie for many scenes,
but she plays a major role in the plot of the story. It is the same with Bubba, Benjamin
Beauferd Blue, he was in the movie no longer than twenty minutes but ends up being a
major character. This movie has a lot of confusion built in but most understand it by the
end.
8
Writing
The movie Forrest Gump is told, from the point of view of Forrest sitting on a
bench recalling all these events that happened to him. While he tells his story, other
people on the bench listen, some care, some do not. Gump tells the events of his life to
everyone who will listen. Each person has their own opinion about his story. One man
did not believe or care for his story about him owning BubbaGump s Shrimp Co. The
man got up, laughed at him, and called him a liar.
This film is based on the novel by Winston Groom, Forrest Gump. Winston
Groom has written many other books such as; Better Times Than These, The BubbaGump
Shrimp Company Cookbook, Forrest Gump: My Favorite Chocolate Recipes, Gone the
Sun, Gump & Co., Only, Such a Pretty, Pretty Girl, As Summers Die, Gumpisms, and
Shrouds of Glory: The Last Campaign of the Civil War, he has also written two other
books which are Out of Print, Conversations with the Enemy, and Hadley on My Mind.
Producer, Robert Zemeckis is the man behind the making of the movie Forrest
Gump he is in the process of making another movie called What Lies Beneath ; a
thriller. Zemeckis has produced multiple other major films including the Back to the
Future series of movies featuring Michael J. Fox and is working with Steven Spielberg s
DreamWorks SKG movie company in Hollywood, California on other major projects.
8
Story
They story in the movie Forrest Gump is told in first-person, with Forrest telling
his own life s events while waiting on a bench at a bus stop. Buses come and go while
Gump tells his story. The story is simple with a very easy to follow plot line. The narrator
in the movie is Forrest himself sitting on the bench telling his story to whomever is there
to listen to him. One thing that effects the story telling is the way that Forrest introduce
himself by asking if they want a piece of chocolates. This could have been better arranged
so that someone would come not in the middle of the story but during his pauses between
parts in his life story. The strategy used in the narration is a conversation with another
person rather than a narrator talking to an audience. The audience listens in to what the
narrator, Forrest Gump, is talking about to the other person. It is a very easy manner to
follow the film. There really is no relationship between the spectator and the movie besides
the fact that people are listening to his story as if the spectators were waiting for the bus
with him. The way the narration effects that relationship, in that the narrator addresses
ideas and topics making it seem that Gump is not only talking to the person on the bench,
but he is talking to the audience as well. Forrest Gump addresses his topics mixing
narratives up using both formalistic and realistic styles very smoothly. One example is
when talking about Bubba. After he died he used a formal voice and narration but in
simple, easy to understand language.
8
Photography
In the movie Forrest Gump the cinematographer uses all sorts of shots; long
shots when following the feather to the bench at the beginning of the movie. Very long
shots during some of the war scenes and when Forrest is running. The wide angle shots
show the farm for the first time, while close ups show the items that Gump caught when
he was shrimping. There are many others from birds eye views to very close up, showing
the simple things in life.
The color in Forrest Gump is very light pastel colors, light blue, light green,
pink, colors that you would have seen in the sixties and seventies. He uses black and
white very effectively. He uses wide angle lenses because of the way the pictures cover
wide areas. The lighting of Forrest Gump is bright natural lighting consisting of high
angle, low angle and all other types of lighting. The way that the light is filtered and
gauged makes it seem like it is the same time all day long. The film makers should have
tried to make it seem like the day is changing. Opticals are not really used in this movie as
special effects. For example when Forrest runs his speed is seen as a result of the optics
used by the director. The scenes with Lt. Dan without his legs he actually had legs that
were just removed by covering them up and deleting them with a computer. Kind of like
using a green screen when filming an animated movie.
8
Mise-En-Scene
The Mise-En-Scene is a French term literally meaning place on set . It stands for
the way objects are placed on a set to bring more of a fullness to the movie or play. In the
Movie Forrest Gump the Mise-En-Scene is to bring out the theme of the simple side of
life. One example is the bench. The way that the bench is placed makes it appear as an
actual bus stop. Buses run in front of the bench, people walk in front and behind it, and
life goes on, but the bench is the center of that scene.
Every scene in every movie ever made has a Mise-En-Scene to it, in making the
object in front of everything with action in the back of it, like the bench as center of
attention. One other example is the news cast of the hurricane when Forrest is working
his shrimping boat. The reporter is in front telling the information about the hurricane,
then in the center is the wreckage of all the damaged boats, and finally in the rear is
Forrest on his shrimping boat, entering right as the news caster says only one boat
survived the hurricane. This is another example to show how Mise-En-Scene is used to
prove a point or bring up a topic or start a new scene. Each time Mise-En-Scene is shown
in great detail something happens that will thicken the plot of the movie. Who knows
Mise-En-Scene may even be the reason for the sequel to a movie