"The Whale Rider" Techniques

Niki Caro directed the film 'The Whale Rider'. She has used a number of cinematic techniques in this film to create atmosphere and sometimes show what the character is feeling. These three well-used techniques are camera shots, lighting and sound and dialogue. By using these techniques Niki has created a film that is emotionally connected to the viewers.

Firstly, Niki Caro has used lighting incredibly well in this film. For some scenes in the film the lighting effects used gives us an insight into the character's mind or the mood of that particular scene. For example when Koro walks out of the house and finds the whales stranded on the beach it was at nighttime. This appealed to me greatly. It is very dark and eerie so it implies that something bad has happened. She cleverly makes this incident continue right to morning. When the sun rises it suggests that it the worst was over.

Koro

Overlooking Whangara, the location of the Whale Ri...

Koro

But it was a gloomy day though; I think her purpose was to show that most of the whales that have beached were going to die. She has definitely used lighting well in this film.

But with the lighting alone, a real, dramatic atmosphere cannot be created. So Niki Caro uses background music and dialogue to add feeling to the film. For example at the night when the whales beached there was slow and sad background music accompanied by the sound of the whales crying out into the night. As slow music is played at funerals it is usually thought that something dreadful has happened. Using this combined with lighting gives the watcher the definite idea that something bad has happened. In the scene where Pai is giving a speech about her deep love for her grandpa she was crying. This shows us...