Blog #4 - Game of Thrones clip

This scene follows Daenerys Targaryen giving a speech to the enslaved peoples of Meereen. All along I was watching the clip, I found myself asking, how did Daenerys project her voice enough to be heard by the slaves who are so high up? As she projects her voice to the audience, the camera conveys her figure through a high angle shot. This shot demonstrates how small and frail she appears in contrast to all the men standing and sitting high up on the castle. Also during her speech, the camera swivels to the slaves and rulers in the form of close-ups and medium shots capturing their looks of disbelief, confusion, and fear. After all it is hard to comprehend that a woman, small and dainty, could manage to destroy so many empires with the loyalty of freed slaves. The scene does provide a low angle shot of her army, but its purpose is not to appear inferior. On the contrary the shot conveys the extent and power of her army.

At 1.41 Daenerys yells fire to her army and the camera illustrates her facial expression in a low angle shot. Thus it successfully executes her power and authority over the enemies she has come to destroy. As the collection of chains are catapulted onto the castle, that is when one can truly see how far Daenerys is from her listeners. Perhaps the greatest part of the scene is at the end. After all the chains have been catapulted, the camera follows an enslaved male picking up a chain through a low angle shot. The shot signifies a change that will come for those slaves in the form of freedom. The people of Meereen will no longer be inferior; they will have a choice to either serve or walk free.