The Power of One Essay (Reflection)

The Power of One Essay

A curl shadow cast over the world, as seeds of apartheid, take root in South Africa. In the film, The Power of One, directed by John Avildsen, the ‘going for a run,’ scene where Pk and Gideon Dumar are running through Alexandria also known as the slums, uses various, techniques. The following techniques used in the scene are structure, different camera angles and shots, non-diegetic and diegetic sounds, and lastly facial expressions. These important film techniques help broadcast what the director is trying to portray in the scene, extremely impacting the audience.
“We hope for a good tomorrow, but if we don't learn to do for our selves as equals that hope disappears.”

Avildsen uses many different important techniques in the scene to get emotions and understandings into the audience. In The Power of One, the sound is an important technique used widely throughout the scene. During the scene when Pk and Gideon Dumar are running through the streets of Alexandra, an upbeat and joyful song is playing as the little kids follow behind. This aspect of the song is non-diegetic sound, which adds another layer of meaning to the scene. This shows that the director wanted the audience to know everything is alright and nothing bad is going to happen, this creates an impact. The change of pitch, tempo, and volume, the director used indicates how he expects the audience to respond to a given noise. This is important because it captivates and changes the mood and emotions of the audience.

In the ‘going for a run scene,’ the director uses the aspect of a tracking shot also known as a dolly shot. We see this throughout most of the scene when Pk and Gideon Dumar are running through the filthy slums, and the shot stops when Pk and Gideon run into the water taps. The director did this to show the movement of Pk And Gideon, while also giving us a glimpse of the slums. This helps to involve us as the audience in Pk’s and Gideons discussions. This shows us that Gideon is desperately seeking help from Pk to start a school for the South Africans, so the black community can learn to read and write English. As they can't even read the apartheid sigh that tells them when and where they are allowed to go, because the law only allows 2% of the Black community to go to school. This is important because we see how despite Gideon is reaching out for Pk to help his people.

Another technique Avilsen uses is the aspect of Camera angles and shots. To be specific, the director uses a long shot to showcase Pk and Gideon Dumar running through the streets of Alexandra. In this long shot, we see Pk and Gideon running while in the background the black community are lined up for the toilet, as the government only allows 1 toilet per 200 individuals. The purpose of this long shot was to establish the difficult and ill-treatment of the South African black community. It shows how small, filthy, and crowded living in the slums were during apartheid. The concept of this shot creates an extreme dejected impact on the audience. This is important because we see how unfair the living conditions of the South African black community are, due to the apartheid policy.

When I started writing my essay I found it difficult. Something I am proud of is how I kept going and read through it and rewrote it if I thought I could have done it better. Something I could do better is relating my writing to the real and outer world. One thing I enjoyed about learning about the film is watching it and analysing what happened. One thing I found challenging about learning about the film is to notice the difference between each technique and describe the different camera angle and shots with what their purpose is behind it. One thing I learned that I will use the next time I write an essay is to write with more detail and information. One thing I am wondering about is will 2020 be my year?