Wizard Of Oz Essay

The Wizard of Oz follows the story of a young Dorothy who lives in rural Kansas. She grows tired of the life she was living since she was feeling unappreciated. In her attempts to run away, she ends up in the middle of a tornado, locked out of her family’s panic shelter. Once the tornado hits her house, she is knocked out by an imploded window. The house rises in the tornado and is cast far away; it lands in a mystical land called Oz. Dorothy realizes that the house landed on and killed a wicked witch. The witch’s sister shows up and vows to get her, but Dorothy is protected by the late witch’s ruby slippers, which have magical tendencies. Dorothy is advised by a good witch to seek out the Wizard of Oz who can help her get back to Kansas; all she has to do is follow the yellow brick road. On her way to Emerald City, Dorothy encounters three minor characters: The scarecrow, lion, and tin man. All of them go to see the wizard to get something they really want (a brain, courage and a heart, respectively). Once they find the wizard, he
The first sequence of the movie was set in Kansas. This sequence in the movie was colored in sepia exemplifying the blandness of the setting. This sepia tonality was coupled with harsh light, lowering the contrast. Once Dorothy arrived in Oz, the coloring shifted to vibrant Technicolor and a soft light. The score of the film has eerie association with its characters, winning the film an Oscar. In the scene of the house in the twister, many overlaid events occurred outside the window. The special effects of the people going past the window and the first reveal of the witch were very complicated given the time period. When the witches appear and disappear, the “orb effect” was an intricate special effects for 1939. Besides these few effects added in post, the majority of the effects were performed live. These include the pyrotechnics and fog