How Does Sax Portray Othello and Desdemona’s Relationship? Focus on 5 Film Techniques, Including Sound Effects, Soundtrack, and Dialogue. Essay Example

In the film “Othello” directed by Geoffrey Sax, John Othello and Dessie’s relationship is successfully depicted through various film techniques. At the start of the film, the characters are depicted as being deeply infatuated with each other. The first scene depicts the intimacy between Othello and Dessie through the use of medium close-ups and extreme close-ups. Furthermore in the first scene, the non-diegetic music is romantic reiterating their love for one another. As the movie continues the repeated use of medium close-ups emphasizes their intimacy and affinity.

However after Jago places his suspicious thoughts about Dessie and Cass into Othello’s head, the use of high dramatic non-diegetic music emphasizes Othello’s change in thoughts about Dessie. His suspicious behavior is clearly depicted through the use of close-up shots when Dessie is sleeping. The use of a close-up shot depicts Othello’s intrigue with what Dessie is dreaming about. In the next scene, when Cass enters the apartment the next morning, the use of long shot depicts Dessie and Cass out of focus eating breakfast together, whilst Othello is foregrounded and in focus standing alone. This shot depicts Othello as a third wheeler and not as Dessie’s wife. The long shot also emphasizes the growing distance between Othello and Dessie. Furthermore, when Othello finds Cass in his gold robe, there is a medium shot of Cass and Dessie suggesting slight intimacy and this shot is representative of how Othello perceives the situation.

Later on in the film when Dessie is trying to convince Othello that nothing is going on between her and Cass, the dialogue is high modality. The use of high modality language emphasizes the tension between the couple and their growing distances.

Thus, through the use of varied film techniques the growing distance between Othello and Dessie can be