In this scene is Julius Caesar and Cleopatra confront each other in Cleopatra's palace. We know its Cleopatra's palace due to the back wall where it depicts Egyptian art, one of which seems to be a king. The scene itself has an eye level view with the characters that gives the audience a closer look into the drama happening. It is a medium shot with low lighting so we can see their faces, but also give the indication that it is most likely night time and was held in secret. Though it is a medium shot it also shows a lot of their surroundings, so it could also be considered a long shot. The movement of the scene happens to be toward the two actors, however the center of the screen is in-between them giving the indication both characters are equal. Neither one has more power over each other, but Cleopatra seems to be pushing more towards the center indicating she wants to be closer to Caesar. It also gives the notion that Cleopatra is the main focus in the scene indicating that she is a main character throughout the movie. Even though Cleopatra is more of the center in the scene Caesar is putting his hands around Cleopatra indicating that he is trying to exert his power and regain center of the scene. Cleopatra seems to be walking toward Caesar trying to seduce him in the scene, but it also gives the fact that she is also trying to exert her power over the scene and gain center of this scene.
I had done this scene as well, but when I went to publish mine yours was already up! No worries though, I really liked what you had to say. I noticed how there were a lot of gold tones in the shot, between the two characters' clothing as well as the background. I thought that this established both of them to be on the same level as rulers, but also provided the scene with warmth as they blended in with the background. I thought that the warmth may have been a subconscious hint that Cleopatra was "warming up" to Caesar, similarly how you stated that she was pushing toward Caesar because she wanted to be closer to him.
ReplyDeleteDid any of you notice how deeply Caesar's fingers dig into Cleopatra's arms? This is not a seduction scene, remember? On the contrary, Caesar is mad at Cleopatra (look at his angry face!), and he's basically about to rape her, even though he gets called away before he can do more than force a kiss on her. Interestingly, the wall fresco behind Caesar shows the kind of male-female interaction that he clearly would prefer, with a kneeling female serving her sitting pharaoh.
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