Shoe-Horn_Sonata_and_Memorial

Good afternoon, you are listening to HSC mini- lecture online and my name is Miss Ball but you can just call me Sarah. I have been teaching at St Peters Catholic Collage for 7 years now and have taught the HSC course for 4 years. Today I will be going through the distinctively visual aspects of the texts in module A in the HSC. I understand that you have knowledge of both texts The Shoe-Horn Sonata by John Misto and the picture book Memorial by Gary Crew. I am here to show you techniques that will aid your understanding that will help you to do well in the HSC. One of the strong distinctive visual elements in The Shoe-Horn Sonata is the use of photographs. Though out the book we see images that bring these memories to life for the audience. It also reminds us that these were real woman who experienced very traumatic situations. In act one, page 51 we see on screen two photographs of Japanese women prisoners of war. They are in a shocking state and are just skin and bones and dressed in rags. They stare at the camera with despairing eyes. This is contrasted with images of healthy women at the end of the war. John Misto uses this image to make the audience feel like they are right there with Bridie and Sheila in that horrible death camp. Another way you can see photographs used well in the book is when Bridie and Sheila are in the sea after their boats have been destroyed and are calling out for help. “Now on stage we see a large Japanese flag, the blood-red rising sun, which is gradually and brilliantly illuminated as the scene continues”. This dramatic photograph shows us that the women are scared and are vulnerable at this moment time. It also symbolizes the Japanese invasion of Singapore as the flag invades the screen behind the women. This is a haunting photograph because of the colour lighting and the size of the image. It gives us the feeling that something is going to go wrong and we can’t stop it. The dramatic effect is also included in the picture book Memorial. Gary Crew uses photos and drawings to give the readers the experience of war and the emotional trauma of returning home. Photos are used in this picture book to show what we are remembering is real and they are moments in time caught by the camera. If you look at opening 5 and 6, you can see an old war veteran and his war medals but our eyes go along the reading path until we see the medals changing to leaves which have portraits of young men at war in them. The pictures on this page reinforces the text “We got chopped to bits at Ypres,” he says. “But…”. He starts talking about the war but then he gets upset so he starts to talk about the tree. This is represented by the picture of the medals, the photographs of the men he fought with and then the pictures of the leaves of the memorial tree. This gives the reader a distinctively visual to picture what Gary Crew is really trying to say. Grandpa may pass away, the tree and the statue may come down but the memories of war will be carried on by the people. On the same page we see Grandpa with his eyes looking off into space, his arm across himself holding onto his heart and not smiling. This is a dramatic drawing that shows how servicemen have to cope with the death of friends and life at home .He is trying to contain his emotions but we can still see the pain in his blue eyes .The use of black and white line drawing reinforces that he is old and weathered .The colour is in the medals which are important to him as they symbolise his mates and there loss. Symbols and motifs are techniques used to visualize the harrowing experiences of war. In the play we see the shoe-horn come up many times but for many different reasons. The humble shoe-horn is the main recurring symbol that is linking past and present. It shows us the friendship, secrets, survival and loyalty between Bridie and Shelia. The shoe horn is used for a very distinctive experience when used as a grave digging implement “Bridie would hack the earth with her shoe-horn”. This isn’t what a shoe horn is meant for and we can only imagine how desperate these women were. The chop bone is another good symbol that the women cherish. You would think that a chop bone was a thing that you give to your dog but no this chop bone to these ladies was a symbol that brings back happier times. Times of dinner parties and the food they would eat when the war was over. These items helped the women to keep their sanity. The lack of nutrition didn’t matter because that chop bone was feeding their souls and spirit. In Memorial we see the tree as a motif. It was planted when great grand pa came home from the war as a memorial to the unknown soldier. We see through the book that the tree is more than a memorial to war .It means more to people as a place to hide from your wife and a haircut, a place for memorial services, a place to have morning tea, a place for a breather, a place to look at the stars and the place for a cubby house. The tree gives one family lots of their memories and passes them down to the next generation. If you have a look on the opening 9 and 10 you can see lots of old pa’s memories of the planting of the tree. “That’s something I’ll never forget….” On the next page we see him reflecting on something he will never forget war and the people that have fallen for it. The black and white picture is grandpa and some mates walking through the muddy trenches of Europe. The barren landscape with no trees but white crosses contrasts with the returned soldiers digging a hole for a new tree. Keep looking at the same page, you can see that are there are many photos over lapping each other which makes a bigger and a more desolate picture. Also the image in the bottom left hand corner reflected in the puddle shows us that there use to be solders walking on that field but not anymore, now they are just white crosses in the ground. This shows us the despair of war and the loss of life. Lighting and colour have a role in drawing our eye to a particular spot and intensifying our reaction to what is happing in front of us. Misto uses lighting/colour to show the differences between Bridie and Shelia. Lighting is also used to give us the affects of blue water and the characters being surrounded. This gives us the experiences that the women were going through and the emotions they were feeling .It focuses us on the words they are saying in this terrifying situation. It also adds extras to the drama without the use of additional actors or sets. You can see this well on the last page, as they dance, the stage gradually grows darker and darker- except for a very bright spotlight on Bridie’s shoe-horn. This visual is very distinctive and gives us the focal point for the experiences that first brought them together then forced them apart and now, once again reunited them. Lighting/colour is a good way to set the mood on a page. If modality is low it means there are colours like black and white showing us that it is dark, not wanted and makes us feel sad. If the modality is high it means there are colours everywhere giving us the feeling that it is happy time. The tap and hose are vectors that draw our eyes to the tree a metaphor for hope and optimism .The double page spread of 11-12 gives us that high modality. The colours of the yellow, orange and blues help us see that after the war it was a joyous time, time to grow and the young people are happy and playing .The loss of colour and repetition of grey, black photographs on page 9-10 are depressing and sad . These are two amazing stories about the terrible experience of war, torture and survival. The characters explore their reaction to this trauma and ways to cope when they come back home. The symbols, the lighting , the photographs and colour scheme enhance the emotions we feel while reading these stories. Now it is all up to you guys. Just remember to put in techniques into you essay and don’t for get to answer the question. Thanks for listening and have a great day.