Film Analysis Essay on Vice: Narrative Time, Space, Causality and Change

Movies do not start and stop but on the contrary, they begin and end. Film narration is comprised of time, space, and causality to create change from one situation to another. When constructing the story of a movie from the plot several elements are established and they include duration chronology and frequency of events. Therefore, time is the most significant component that filmmakers consider to tell different occurrences and depicts how long the events of the narration took place. In films, time does not pass as the real world because it is stretched compressed or can run both forwards and backward depending on the filmmaker's narration. The film "Vice" is a biographical drama directed by Adam McKay and was released in 2018. The main stars are Dick Cheney and Lynne Vincent Cheney. The director used the aspect of time effectively to demonstrate political hatred in the United States and how some powerful politicians use dirty means to achieve power. The "Vice" film does not use real-time because it's temporal structural tell events by way of flash-forwards and flashbacks. In this film, time differences not are noted as past and present events are alternated by flashbacks. In the movie, a clock is frequently displayed to help show the passage of time as well as to create suspense. The director also uses lighting to show daytime and nighttime in the film. "Vice" feels like a Shingle film because scenes are introduced by a flashback to a different scene, then back to the scene, the audience was watching.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

To determine the temporal structure of the film "Vice" it is important to analyze the order in which events are recorded. In the Vice, the events are filmed in a weakly automorphic order. The story happens over thirty years because it demonstrates how Cheney rose into power from a Wyoming reared man who earned a living by working in dead-end jobs. It took him time to flourish slowly and eventually, he became most influential Vice President and dictatorial in the history of the United States. The story takes place in fifty years for him to rise from bar fights and wild nights at his young age. His life takes turn when he secures a position in Washington. These events are not told in a chronological way because the director introduced flashback to bring previous events.

The film begins with a glimpse in Casper, Wyoming in 1963 where Cheney is in a simple club. He is completely drunk and screams all over while betting with other men. As he is driving while drank the audience notices that his face damaged from a bar brawl. A police officer pulls him out of the car. The film flashes forward where Cheney and other White House representatives are responding to the 9/11 attack in 2001. The life of Cheney has changed tremendously from what the audience first saw at the beginning of the movie. The change of lifestyles from drank hopeless man to a White House official depict the change of time. The movie also represents time by showing on the screen because the viewers could not tell the time the movie began. The editor did a good job by indicating that it was in 1963 hence it became clear to the audience that time had shifted when the characters are responding to the 9/11 attack because it happened in 2001. Likewise, the film editor clarifies to the audience that the scene is happening in the presidential emergency operations center. It also includes the date and time as September 11, 2001, 9:38 Am. As the narration of events continues, there is a flashback in 1963 where Cheney is working as a lineman. He dropped from University due to alcoholism. Lynne, his wife becomes very furious having bailed him twice for driving while intoxicated. She compiles him to clean up his life or he would lose her completely. There are several flashbacks as Lynne refers back to the moment her mother was brutally treated by her alcoholic father.

Rhythmic editing occurs when the association between shots controls the pace of the film. In the "Vice" there is the equal length of scenes that forms a metrical beat. The shots are shots and this helps the viewers to understand the duration of events from one situation to another. The viewers also understand that the events displayed in the film took longer than the given time but the editor makes them follow each other in a sequence. For instance, the audiences understand that it took time when Cheney was in the university to the time he works in a linen company. Likewise, there are short shots portraying 1968 when Cheney works in the White House as an intern. This was also a flashback showing how he was ready to transform into a valuable person after his wife advice.

The field translation is a process used when editing where scenes are combined. The most common transition used in the "Vice" film is the jump cuts where there are many scenes that are connected in the narration. The film employs noticeable jump-cuts as the different scene within different space and time are combined to show the continuity of the story. The film utilizes lighting to differentiate daytime and nighttime. Moreover, lighting is also shown to show flashbacks scenes for instance when Lynne remembers how her abusive father used to treat her mother. Another scene that utilizes different lighting is when Cheney remembers their wedding, the color of the pictures are different due to the added lightning. The film uses the style of the classical narration where it opens with a character struggling to reach a goal. After some time, the movie presents all the elements of the story including space, time, and characters. The films present all the elements of a story such as a plot, genre, and setting. It shows the beginning where Cheney is an alcoholic to the climax when he became the Vice president in the United States. The plot is the narration of events from the moment Cheney was doing odd jobs in Wyoming to 2000 when he rose in power and became the most powerful politician in history. The "Vice" film is completed because the director did not leave an open space for further development of the story. Moreover, the narration self-conscious as the narrator makes comments about the events and also the characters. For instance, in the film, the narrator explains how it was not easy for Cheney to climb up the ladder to the vice presidency. The narrator does not explain all the parts of the story but leaves some scenes for the viewer to understand on their own.

The audiences notice when story time is omitted because in most cases, the editor omits the events to make them fill the gap. The audience realizes that some events were omitted when they see scenes that show the results. In the vice, the movie opens with a glimpse of Cheney drinking in a simple club and he is soon arrested for driving while intoxicated. The next scene that follows shows him as the Vice president responding to the 9/11 attack among other White House officials.

Temporal gaps are done by omitting unnecessary details that can be assumed by the audience. The movie then shows a different situation where the characters are in another event. Temporal gaps allow for the audience to make their abstract demonstration of the situation at hand. The audience notices the gap when the characters are in a different situation or environment that is completely different from the one they were watching. In the "Vice" the temporary gaps closed quickly by the introduction of flashback where the audiences learn how the missing events happened. The editor does this to avoid misinterpretation of the movie or a situation where the audience may fail to understand important events in the movie hence miss out of the mission. Although the Vice film presents all the information needed by the audience to understand the movie, sometimes the movie was suppressed to fit in a short time. For instance, some events are shown within flashes of seconds. The "Vice" is comprised of many flashbacks because scenes are introduced by a flashback to a different scene, then back to the scene, the audience was watching. The director tells many events in flashbacks and the style is not consistent because some events are flash-forwards telling what happened before time. Frequency is the number of times an event is repeated in the movie to create a dipper understanding of the audiences. Successful narration occurs when the narrator explains all the necessary details in image motions. The audiences are able to understand what is happening in every event.