Film has become the greatest channel for society to consume art, narratives and information. Motion pictures are remarkably dynamic and well crafted movies will have sufficient detail in every frame of the film. This is used to manipulate how we interpret the story as a whole. Directors can cleverly craft their cinematic experience through cinematic techniques such as effective camera shots and a large variety of sounds in order to expose and bring out the emotions of their audience. Directors want audiences feel a release during while consuming their art. Ridley Scott does this bu manipulating the traditional conventions of tragedy through his compelling use of cinematography and sound design in his epic drama film, ‘Gladiator.’ Utilization of close up camera work and his thoughtful composure of non-diegetic sounds help to encapsulate how our protagonist Maximus fulfills the conventions of a tragic hero which as a result makes audiences reflect on their human nature and undergo catharsis.

Empathy is a social behavior that is fundamental to our human nature, it allows us to effectively communicate and understand other people. It’s an important feeling because it warrants us, as people to want to protect those who may be important to us and vice versa. With empathy being such a vital function in our emotional responses to the world, art is often used as a passage to exploit and imitate our feelings and within the genre of tragedy, audiences are able to put themselves through a cathartic experience. Ridley Scott uses close-up camera shots and non-diegetic sounds to manipulate our feelings while watching Gladiator. We begin in the introduction to Gladiator, right after the exposition the first two camera shots that we are presented with are long cuts of close-up shots. The first close-up displayed is of a hand brushing through a wheat field, this use of close-up shot allows us to quickly establish how we should be perceiving this character due to the focus being on the ring on the hand. This is because traditionally audiences will interpret a ring to symbolize trust and loyalty due to marriage being associated with family values and commitment. This use of close-up manipulates the traditional conversions of tragedy as our Tragic Hero is supposed to be a generally ‘good’ character. Within this one shot we can quickly understand that our protagonist that we will be following will be good. This good character is presented in the next shot which reveals us Maximus’ face, it is brooding and stern. Through this one facial expression, we can quickly see how Scott manipulates the tragic hero conventions. This shot not only highlights his expression but his costume design as well. We soon see that is costume is significantly different, his clothes are more prestigious and rich as he wears well crafted amour and warm wolf fur. Contrasting this design are the other characters that he interacts with as they wear generic plate armor. This gives us a sense that Maximus has authority, this also hints towards his hubris, Maximus display excessive pride through his actions because he talks to his comrades as if he is of higher value than them. It is true that he is still strong, respectful and good in these interactions even if he talks with greater authority. The next film technique used to manipulate the conventions of tragedy is non-diegetic sounds. The moment Maximus visually appears on the screen, our ears are treated to a soft harmony of singing accompanied by gentle guitar picking. Audiences will associate this with tranquility and will release positive feelings to these sounds. Viewers will now associate Maximus with these feelings, this helps to employ the tragedy conventions by once again setting up Maximus as our tragic hero, this once again makes audiences believe our protagonist has good intentions. In the later half of this scene we see some action picking up, accompanying this the music also begin to pick up, we hear some orchestral music that is continuously speeding up in it’s tempo. This is a convention of Roman Tragedy where the story picks up in the middle of the action. In this part of the story Maximus is in the middle of a crusade in glory of Rome. Starting in the middle means we can learn lots about the character very fast through his actions and dialogue. The music elevates this tragedy convention by making the audience realize that Maximus is very capable in battle, it uplifts our perception of him which makes his story so much more cathartic by the time the film end.

Audiences root for underdogs. We enjoy rags to riches stories. It’s in our own human nature to see balance, if a weaker person can overpower a superior than we view it as just. This underdog convention is present in all tragedies because a tragic hero must experience peripetia. Scott presents this convention in Gladiator when Maximus must experience the harrowing event of his family being slaughters on the commands of Commodus. Scott uses the close-up camera angle as a device that accomplishes it’s purpose very succinctly in the film; the close-up effectively shows us the shock, horror and pain coursing through our protagonist. Although this is the beginning of Maximus’ reversal of fortune, it’s also his scene of suffering. There is nothing else that is more valuable to him than his family, not even his own life. The close-up shot elevates the scene of suffering to be so much more heartbreaking. For an audience, seeing every detail of Maximus’ face speaks a thousand work detailing what emotions he’s feeling and this is only over the span of a few seconds. Another cinematic technique that enhances the anguish of this scene is the use of non-diegetic sounds. It’s a powerful device that enhances our empathy for Maximus during this devastating scene. The audio consists of this fast paced, exciting orchestral music with harsh clashing symbols, this is used in order for us to have hope in Maximus’ situation. This is heroic music. We are tricked into believing that Maximus will rescue his family but as he gets closer to the farm house all of a sudden, the non-diegetic sounds are rather eerie. No matter how much the audience believed in Maximus, our hope is futile. The music is near inaudible until Maximus sees what become of his loved ones. The harmonizing voices enter the scene and leave audiences with a feeling of emptiness. These techniques enhance the catharsis that we experience during the scene of suffering and they work in cohesion. When our senses are exposed to the visual element of seeing Maximus’ devastated face whilst at the same time being stimulated by the somber non-diegetic sounds than catharsis is supremely enhanced. Combining these two elements exposes our senses to so much more, as seeing someone devastated plays with audiences’ emotions so much more when there’s music to reflect that. Once the non-diegetic sounds go quiet and we see Maximus’ that’s when the scene is truly the most sad. The scene sounds as empty as the audience feels. The close-up shots shows Maximus wailing in grief but the through Scott’s careful use of non-diegetic sounds we hear nothing. This merge of techniques shows us how little Maximus can do in this situation, that even if he howled in pain, that it cannot undo his loss. Maximus is powerless.

Tragedy is often a reflection of human nature. During discussions of human nature there’s this idea that we are unable to look away from tragedy and Gladiator is no exception of this. The introduction scene and the family loss scene work in union to fulfill the requirements of the tragedy genre. A fundamental part of a tragic story is peripetia and nemesis and the harmony created by the two scenes working together alongside their cinema techniques result in a manipulation of the traditional tropes of tragedy. In both scenes we see close-up shots of Maximus however his facial expressions are completely contrasted. In the introduction we see a bold, stern and powerful man leading one of the world’s most powerful armys. We see many of his positive characteristics such as his leadership skills and interactions where we see how well respected he is. This makes the family death scene so impactful because it’s difficult to see someone such as Maximus be so vulnerable. This contrast helps manipulate the audience into better understanding how far Maximus has fallen during his reversal of fortune. Non-diegetic sounds are also carefully implemented into the film to further play with the conventions of a tragedy. The opening shot of Maximus in the wheat field has nearly identical music to what we hear during the death of Maximus’ family. These two scene work together to help us better understand the journey of our tragic hero, when we first hear these non-diegetic sounds it acts as foreshadowing. The music has a meloncoly feel to it so as an audience we can expect that Maximus might have something grim coming his way. The combination of techniques come together masterfully to enhance the tropes of tragedy. The camera displays a close-up of Maximus’ hand which focuses on his wedding ring but when we later hear this music, it’s a close-up of his face again but the irony it’s during the death of the woman he is married to. Audiences will subconsciously recognize this pattern and it will make for a more compelling cathartic experience.

Tragedy is a compelling genre to present “an imitation of an action” such as human nature. Gladiator cleverly implements it’s visual and audio features to employ tragedy conventions in which these themes become apparent. Upon analysis of the introduction scene and the family death scene we can understand Maximus’ tragic hero traits which are enhanced through close-up camera shots and careful composure of non-diegetic sounds. These techniques consistently compliment each other in order for us to understand how Maximus experiences peripetia and hamartia which are essential to his tragic hero character archetype. These techniques were all intentionally chosen by Scott in order to enhance and manipulate the conventions of tragedy that so many of us are familiar with. Film is a platform where there is so much intentional crafting that goes into every single frame of viewing that something as simple as music may only be something we subconsciously think about however the catharsis and reflection of themes we have is more amplified than if these techniques were not present. Empathy. It’s in our nature as humans and the approach that Scott takes to Gladiator exploits this and as a result of this our emotions are purged. Even a story that’s set as long ago as Gladiator is, still reflects strong themes through its tragic conventions.