2nd Prezi Script

 As discussed in the paper, Tarkovsky uses dreams to separate the real from the imagined. In this scene, the two come together. Ivan’s day dream (or nightmare in this case), describes the objective realm that Ivan experiences. He has a difficult time separating what is real from what is imagined in this scene. Ivan is meerly a boy forced to become a man due to the tragedies of war. Vengence eats his soul alive while he struggles through the muck that is his life in order to restore peace to his soul. The only way to get that peace is to resist the Nazis and go on reconnaissance missions to bring Hitler and other Nazi officers to justice. Tarkovsky uses the dreams of Ivan to advance character development and the plot. This frame shot and scene takes place exactly 2/3rds into the movie. This scene is the climax of Ivan’s emotions and the audience has a clear understanding of what motivates Ivan, his internal uneasiness (except when he is asleep), and what is to come in the rest of the film. When Ivan sleeps the audience sees who he was, but during his alertness in the real world, the audience sees who or better yet, what he has become. Ivan is a scarred boy forced to be a man that is powered by vengeance.

FRAME
This frame opens with an objective shot of Ivan alone in the room, raising the bell. The scene that unfolds is not so much of a boy playing (as 12-yr old boys should), but instead of a boy training and practicing for his mission in the war. The mise-en-scene of the empty, dark room, with foreign shaby objects reveals all of the unpleasant characteristics of war. The mise-en-scene also represents the prison Ivan is stuck in emotionally with the bars of the railing, the surrounding pillars, and the enclosed bunker. The camera is placed mid-range from Ivan. It’s focus is first on the bell in front of the shot, but then as the bell is raised, Ivanbecomes visable. He is now the main focus. This is the last time in the scene that Ivan’s entire body is completely exposed by the light. The viewer’s eye is also drawn to a single candle light fixture on the bleak and barren wall. This light is important, because later in the scene, Ivan goes to drastic measures to destroy the light source and bring complete darkness upon the room. In the frame, Ivan struggles to lift the heavy bell- this emphasizes his stature of a small child. We are reminded once again that he is in fact a child, because this task would be simple for a full grown man. The left of the frame is lit by the candle and it shows how empty and bleak the room is. This is parallel to how empty and bleak the world becomes during war. To the right of the frame is pure darkness, which represents what has become of Ivan’s childhood. This darkness is where Ivan slowly and stealthily creeps into to escape out of view. Ivan is putting his entire weight and force into raising the bell, which shows his extreme determination to get his way. If he wants the bell raised, it will be raised. If he wants to fight in the war instead of go to military school, then Ivan gets to stay and fight. The camera allows the bell to be in view just slightly at the top of the frame. This way we are still aware of the bell’s presence, but we are unsure of its significance. It’s placement in this room seems foreign and out of character. Are we to believe that this bell is soon to be the enemy in Ivan’s fantasy or a trap for the enemy? Either are possible, but we are unclear of what will happen to the bell. The pillar that the candle light is on is placed perfectly in the center of the frame. It is used to separate the light from the dark. It is similar to a curtain that is drawn across a stage. It can be used to conceal action taking place in the shadows and draw attention to the center stage where the ‘show’ is about to happen. The camera is firm and steadily captures Ivan. This matches the determination and focus of Ivan’s current actions and his persona in reality when war evidently surrounds his thougths and being.

SHOT
This brings us to an analysis of a subsequent shot. Ivan disappears into the dark never to fully emerge in the light again. He is now crawling on the ground, as if he were crawling in the mucky trenches at the front line. Ivan destroys the main source of light (the candle fixture on the wall we saw in the first frame) and carries a flash light so that he is the only one in control of what is kept in the shadows and what is seen. As Ivan crawls he is behind bars which could signify his position of being behind enemy lines at this point in his fantasy. The camera remains in focus as he is alert and still not fully submereged into his alternate reality. The camera is at close range to Ivan and the key light enables the viewers to see Ivan’s facial expressions vividly. It is as if he is crawling towards the light seeking truth, justice, and answers.  There is complete silence except for Ivan communicating with his comrades behind him. He is a boy leading the men and telling them to keep calm and quiet. This shows how he has completely assumed his role as a soldier and there is no turning back to childhood. Ivan has set himself up to expereince a flashback. He has been scarred from the war and has severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). As Ivan physically goes further into his subjective reality, his mind also loses its grasp on the actual and he succombs to the imagined. But his imagined world is just as real as any other world and it is what motivates and gives him the strength to seek revenge. The low angle of the action taking place, the slow crawling movement, the whispered voice, and dim lighting represent the quiet before the storm. This shot builds up to the action that is about to take place. Prepping the audience to charge into battle. In the previous shots there was no music or sound except for Ivan’s utterances. Once the radio calls of the Germans are heard it is clear that Ivan is completely submerged into his fantasy. This is the last shot that Ivan and the camera are composed and focused.

SCENE
Next are a series of sporadic camera movements (as the camera imitates Ivan’s gaze), shrieking cries, blarring bells, and shaky light movements from the flashlight. These all convey the chaos that is war and the hell that Ivan experienced when his family was murdered. The walls reveal his motives for revenge, the sight of his terrified self, mother, and presumably a dead boy on the ground. When the camera and flashlight reveal his mother in a scarf by the pillar, the camera takes on the point of view of Ivan. However, the camera also reveals Ivan and shines the circular light from the flashlight on his face. Whose point of view is it now? Is it the audience as another doomed civilian or a Nazi soldier that is looking in at his victims? Ivan is seen standing in front of a mirror in this shot, which symbolizes Ivan’s split psyche where his two realities have come together in this scene. The short takes, quick camera movement, and minimal spastic light source confuse the viewer. The camera reveals the tortured state of mind Ivan is in. The screams, moaning, crying, and shrieking music reach a peak at this moment. Then, the raised bell comes into focus with a low-angle shot. This brings the camera’s point of view back to the objective and out of Ivan’s mind. Here is the answer. If Ivan can just ring the bell loud enough, he can drown out the sounds in his head. Bells in Russia are an art form, christened by the church, and revered for their beautiful sound. But, instead of the bell making beautiful music, it is abused and the bell bangs out notes as if seizuring. War has taken somethng innocent and beautiful and corrupted it (the bell and Ivan). As he rings the bell, the camera retracts from a close-up to a medium shot where the audience is reminded that the room is empty except for minimal furniture, Ivan, and the bell.

The relief from the bell is only temporary as the angst builds up in Ivan again until he cannot contain himself. The yells and cheering of his fellow soldiers are now heard. Ivan composes himself and charges. The swinging spotlight  gives just enough light to see what Ivan is doing, but he is still primarily in the dark. The awkward camera angles also aid to build an unnatural tension in the viewer. This scene is unnatural as is war. Ivan has finally found the perpetrator and stands firmly across from him (a hanging coat, which symbolizes a Nazi soldier- maybe even the one that was responsible for his family’s death). The camera shots switch between the coat and a close up of Ivan. The key light is to the left of Ivan shining upwards. This heightens Ivan’s status- he is not the little boy anymore. He is calm, collected, and stern. The spotlight quivers on the coat and Ivan interprets the light movement (which is controlled by his own shaking hand) as the Nazi shivering in fear. The camera represents Ivan’s point of view in these shots.

As his emotions surface, Ivan’s expression changes from anger to sorrow. The key lighting and close range of the camera allows the viewer to see the transition perfectly. This is something only cinema was capable of doing. Theaters could not show a play in black and white, use such creative lighting and still be coherent, and reveal the character’s face in detail.
Ivan can no longer keep himself composed and he falls to the ground as a wounded soldier does in battle. He is completely in the shadow and only his silhouette is seen hunched over with the aid of the fill light brightening a strip in the middle of the frame. The camera is capturing Ivan’s complete despair. His fantasy has ended and he is left alone on his knees in the middle of a war. Is this foreshadowing for what will happen on his reconnaissance mission? He may get close to his goal, but ultimately he is still just a boy assuming a man’s role in war. The camera is steady and focused again as Ivan snaps back to reality. The sound has stopped and the takes have slowly become longer. And almost instantly the viewer is reminded of the battle ensuing outside of the bunker’s walls as a German bombshell explodes and rips the door open. The room is flooded with light and sounds of ammunition. The scene ends with one last shot of a battered Icon. The icon is the venerated Mother Mary and her son Jesus Christ. The destruction to the icon reveals  how foreign war is. It is of the secular world and shows no mercy or compassion.