Black Panther: T'Challa's Journey to Become King.

The film, Black Panther is co-written by Joe Robert Cole and Coogler, the narrative seems to be a continuation of Captain America: Civil War since it picks up from the events of 2016. In that movie, T'Challa's father was murdered in a bomb explosion at a United Nations session, which was arranged by the wicked Helmut Zemo (Black Panther, n.p). As a consequence, T'Challa is forced to go back to his kingdom of Wakanda to inherit his father's throne and become the new king of Wakanda or the Black Panther. For him to be the king, he goes into a fight with a challenger in a strikingly staged battles since this is what it means to be a king in the Wakanda Kingdom. T'Challa was crowned the king after defeating his challenger, M'Baku, and he is now tasked with the responsibility of maintaining his father's legacy.

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His first challenge as a king starts after an artifact made of vibranium is stolen, which is perceived to be the strongest metal in the universe and it can only be found in Wakanda (Henderson, n.p). The people who orchestrated the robbery of this metal are South African moneygrubbing agent, Ulysses Klaue and Erik Killmonger Stevens, a black Wakanda origin warrior. Killmonger is determined to overthrow T'Challa so that he can become the king. T'Challa must bring to justice the people responsible for stealing the Wakandan vibranium ax from a museum. He links up with Okoye and Nakia and comes up with a strategy to capture Klaue as he tries to sell the ax to an unknown buyer at an underground casino in Busan. However, the deal goes sour after Klaue discovered the buyer was a CIA agent, Ross. Killmonger comes to the rescue of Klaue leaving Ross seriously injured and he is taken to Wakanda to be treated using advanced technology.

After Killmonger kills Klaue, he takes his body to Wakanda where he discloses his identity as N'Jobu's son and he is allowed to challenge T'Challa for the throne by the tribal elders. Killmonger emerges the winner after the challenge and throws the defeated T'Challa over a waterfall who is later rescued by M'Baku. Killmonger seeks to implement his father's plan by preparing to distribute Wakanda weapons to other countries (Black Panther, n.p). However, after T'Challa gets healed, he returns to Wakanda to fight for the throne since he never died or conceded. With support from M'Baku and the Jabari tribe, T'Challa is restored to the throne and he appears to the United Nations to disclose the identity of Wakanda to the universe.

Cinematic Impressions

The scene which I selected to describe is the one that M'Baku and T'Challa are fighting in a pool of water. The Warrior Falls is a spectacular but dangerous place where Wakanda's ceremonial proving ground is held. The scene is shot from an objective POV to intensify the feelings of the viewer. The scene starts with a close-up shot of T'Challa flying in his ship as he travels to a Cliffside waterfall. On arrival, the camera shows an extreme close up shot of T'Challa disembarking from the ship wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. After walking out from the ship, the scene continues but now with a wide shot that presents many Wakandans dressed in traditional clothes while dancing and singing in preparation for the coronation event.

Through an aerial shot, the viewers can see how people are arranged in rows, both up and down in the Cliffside as the ship flies away. A master shot presents an older Zuri, who appears to be the priest or statesman announcing the beginning of the challenge. Zuri denotes that such a battle can only be decided once a contester dies or surrenders. In a close-up shot, Zuri helps T'Challa to take away the power of the Black Panther through a drink. An extreme close up shot, shows T'Challa's veins turning into black while his body spasm before recovering. A close-up shot presents Shuri, who jokingly requests the ceremony to end soon. However, through a wide shot, the viewer can see a group of strong men matching out of a tunnel chanting. A master shot presents M'Baku declaring that he will fight T'Challa for the throne while insulting him and Shuri.

Visual Design

The scene I choose to describe set is the one that occurs in an underground casino in Busan, South Korea. T'Challa, Nakia, and Okoye travel to Busan masquerading to be wealthy businessmen from Africa. Their appearance in suits or matching outfits grant them an easy entrance to the secret casino. The casino is beautifully set up with several people walking in and the security is also tight. One can tell how wealthy the people in the casino are by the presence of security in that room. The sounds of cards rattling in the hands of the dealers and the soft tumble of the dice could be heard from this scene. This depicts how busy the casino is with every person focusing on their gambling activities while others were just walking around waiting for the vibranium market to begin.

The scene I decided to describe the use of costume is when Killmonger went back to Wakanda kingdom having killed Klaue. It is in this scene that the viewer learns that Wakanda costumes are derived from traditional and contemporary African clothing. The use of traditional African fashion was a sign of the Wakandans respect to their ancestors, and preserve a progressive social order (Henderson, n.p). For example in this scene, the Black Panther suit appears to be sleeker, the costume was a fitting suit texture with a beautiful royal cloth. The outfits used in this movie depicted the sacred traditions of Africa. T'challa's costume reflected the idea of a king, someone who was well brought up and distinguished him from other characters such as the villain, Killmonger, who had a street-savvy style since he grew up in Oakland.

The scene for illustrating the use of lighting in the movie is the ceremony held in the Warrior Falls during the fight for the throne between T'Challa and Killmonger. This scene was visually appealing and effective display which provided a high-quality view due to the lighting used. The site was inspired by Oribi Gorge from South Africa, which was characterized by water and strong winds. Therefore, this scene required the use of natural daylight. The daylight lighting used in this scene effectively depicted the mood as well as evoking a dramatic feeling of a fight. The faces of the fighters and the spectators are in line with the environment used and a good display of the dark skin tone.

Works Cited

Black Panther. Directed by Ryan Coogler, Marvel Studios, 2018 Film.

Henderson, Odie. "Black Panther Movie Review & Film Summary (2018): Roger Ebert." RogerEbert.com, 15 Feb. 2018, https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/black-panther-2018