Good afternoon students and teacher. Today I am here to talk to you about the experiences viewed of 2 texts about institutions. From these texts I will express my views on two different institutions, Milos Foreman’s one flew over the cuckoo’s nest a physic iatric institution and Frank Darabont’s the green mile a prison institution. My understanding of an institution is an organization that is open to the public for help such as public schools, prison institutions and metal institutions.
Milos Freeman uses the character Randle Patrick McMurphy to effectively view the experience of the institution.
Randle was sent there to the institution from the work farm because of his insane behaviour. The techniques used in this film emphasis the experience of the institution. When McMurphy walks into the ward for the first time the camera pans around the room this technique shows that everything is dull and simple. The walls are white and the patients are dressed plainly in white gowns.
While the camera is panning you notice barred doors and windows. This indicated that the patients may be unstable. Some beds also have leather straps to hold down patients.
The nurses in particular Nurse Ratched have a calm, straight faced and persistent attitude. This is their way of manipulating the patients. One particular incident occurs in one of the group counselling meetings. She asks one of the patients to talk about his relationship with his wife and why he doesn’t trust here anymore. He isn’t comfortable talking about it but nurse Ratched persistently asks him in a calm domineering way.
The close up camera view on the record player when it begins playing and the voice over “Medication Time, medication time “symbolises the continuous boring routine the ward undergoes.
The treatments given to the patients are claimed to help. Incidents in the film when patients are taken away for shock therapy the patients refuse to go, “no I won’t go, no! ”. McMurphy was one that had to get shock therapy. When he was asked to enter the room a medium ranged camera view shows the bed with straps, Dr Spivey, a nurse and the guards waiting around the bed. McMurphy is scared when he states “there may be a little fluid in there boys if you know what I mean” when asked to take his shoes off. Shock Therapy in the viewer’s eyes is not used to treat patients but to torture them.
Frank Darabont’s film the green mile uses many techniques to convey the experience of the prison institution. It is focused on death row inmates. At the beginning of the movie distant camera shots are used to show the slave labour of the inmates working on the work farm. This introduces the prison life. Following this introduction, Percy one of the police officers escorts an inmate to the death row cells yelling “Dead man, dead man walking, dead man walking here! ” from the police car to the death row cells. This shows the lack of respect the officer has with the inmates.
Later on the officers rehears an execution with one of the inmates. The cameras use all different angles to show the way from the cell to the electric chair. A low shot is taken along the “green mile” (green floor in between the cell). They focus on the green mile because it’s the last walk from the cell to the electric chair. The officers seem to joke along with the prisoner but soon later when it came to the day they realise the seriousness of the situation. Percy has a grudge with this inmate and decides to do the execution. He purposely leaves the sponge dry to get back at him.
The camera is focused on the sponge until it gets placed on the head of the inmate to show a sense of suspicion. This careless, idiotic and disrespectfully act makes the inmate fry to his death. Again this is show the lack of respect. One scene in the movie an inmate wees on the officer’s shoes. A close up camera angle is focused on the shoes and then to the disgusted face of the officer. It shows the lack of respect between the inmates and the officers. Later through the movie Paul Edgecomb one of the main characters of the movie gains trust with the new Negro inmate john Coffey. This is because he healed his bladder infection.
John has special healing powers. This was first seen when he brought back to life the mouse. John has further proven his trust and has healed the warden’s wife from cancer. Even thought he gained trust with Paul the execution still had to go ahead. After viewing these texts my understanding of institutions has changed. I feel that people working for certain institutions are mostly heartless or can heart full. One flew over the cuckoo’s nest expresses careless manipulative attitudes and the green mile shows lack of respect but eventually shows a build-up of trust and respect. Thank you for listening to my speech.
Medication Time One Flew Over. (2019, Dec 05). Retrieved from https://paperap.com/paper-on-speech-ranscript-on-one-flew-over-the-cuckoos-nest-and-the-green-mile/