The Wizard of Oz is a fantasy film that was produced in 1939. From the film viewers are able to draw many lessons. One of the lessons is that we should never give up. Dorothy never stops her quest to get home even when the Wicked Witch of the West sends flying monkeys to attack her. The film also shows that one can find friendship from the most unlikely people. Dorothy found friendship in the Scarecrow, Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion. The film also teaches us that there is no place like home. This is shown in the way Dorothy keeps on pursuing the goal to get home despite the challenges and obstacles. From all these lessons there are several themes that are evident in the film including good triumphs over evil, the power in friendship, home is best, self-sufficiency and hidden strengths in everyone. Walters. J (2011) notes that discussions of fantasy genre are difficult as they seep into different styles, tones and even genres in film making. In this paper, I will look at the theme of hidden strengths and identify the techniques and design elements that contribute to the establishment of this theme.
The Wizard of Oz is a story about a young girl named Dorothy whose home is taken into another world called the Land of Oz during a storm. In the Land of Oz, Dorothy meets the Munchkins and the Wicked Witch of the West who is after a pair of red ruby shoes that were given to Dorothy by Glinda as the shoes as they belonged to her sister, the Wicked Witch of the East, whom Dorothy’s house had fallen on top of. Dorothy sets off on an adventure on the yellow brick road to visit the Wizard of Oz as directed by Glinda in order to get home to Kansas. As Dorothy follows the yellow brick road to get to the Wizard of Oz, she makes friends with the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion as they journey together to find the Wizard. The choice of characters in this film clearly reinforces the theme of hidden strengths. The Tin Man seeks to get a heart from the Wizard. Despite his lack of heart, the Tin Man does have emotions, this is seen when he cries at the sight of a dead beetle eventually causing him to rust and into paralysis. The scarecrow seeks to get a brain form the Wizard and yet he is already intelligent. This is seen when the Wizard leaves Emerald City he leaves it under the rule of the Scarecrow as he saw the intelligence in him. The Cowardly Lion seeks courage from the Wizard and yet when he had to jump over a vast deep ditch, he did it without hesitation. Dorothy seeks to get home to Kansas and believes that the Wizard is the only one who can assist her. Dorothy already had the ability to get home through the silver magical shoes. All these occurrences clearly show that when people behave resourcefully they tap into their inner powers that they never knew existed. Dorothy and her friends already had what they were looking for and therefore did not need the Wizard of Oz.
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The film has utilized set design to bring out the theme of hidden strengths. There is the absence of color during the beginning and the end of the film. This helps us to understand how Dorothy viewed Kansas. She dreams of being over the rainbow and escape from Kansas which is dull to her. The Land of Oz is portrayed as a colorful, bright and full of joy. Despite the sharp contrast between the Land of Oz and Kansas, Dorothy seeks to get back home. The Scarecrow even asks Dorothy why she would want to go back to a dull place. Dorothy tells Scarecrow that she would rather be in Kansas than any other place. Dorothy clearly misses the familiarity of home and her uncle and aunt. This clearly shows that despite the feeling that Dorothy had of her home as a dull and gray place, this is the place where she could find joy. The joy that she could find in Kansas was hidden to Dorothy until she was whirled into the Land of Oz.
Through the use of lighting, the film has also been able to bring about the theme of hidden strengths. In the beginning of the film, three point lighting is used. This shows how unhappy Dorothy is with her life in Kansas. When Dorothy arrives in the Land of Oz, the film utilizes high key lighting. Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014) emphasize that high key lighting is marked by high levels of light, low contrast and few shadows. This portrays the happiness in the Land of Oz. The film makes use of the different lighting techniques to show the emotions between Kansas and the Land of Oz. This strongly emphasizes the hidden strengths of Kansas as a home to Dorothy. Despite it being portrayed as a place of unhappiness, Dorothy could not get the satisfaction she was longing for in the Land of Oz which is seen as a happy land.
A film’s creation of its visual theme is determined by mise en scene . Goodykoontz and Jacobs (2014) observe that that it is what is placed in a scene and what the viewers see in a scene. Mise en scene encompasses the notable attributes of a film. In The Wizard of Oz , lighting has been used to bring out the theme of hidden strengths. In the first part of the film, lower key lighting has been used to bring about sadness and disillusionment which are Dorothy’s feelings. The use of black and white color also brings about the same feeling. When Dorothy gets to the Land of Oz, the film switches to full color and becomes bright bringing about a magical feeling. There was also the use of high key lighting bringing about a sense of happiness. The use of two different worlds is quiet crucial in bringing out the plot and the theme of the film (Walters, J.R. 2008). The use of black and white set design coupled with low key lighting versus scenes full of color coupled with high key lighting clearly brings out the theme of hidden strengths as Dorothy endeavors to leave the bright the magical Land of Oz for Kansas which is dull and gray but where she finds a lot of joy.
In conclusion, the film The Wizard of Oz has utilized characters, set design and lighting to clearly bring out the theme of hidden strengths. There is hidden potential to carry out something or to bring about a feeling in others in each and everyone but one only need to tap into it.
References
Goodykoontz, B., & Jacobs, C.P (2014), Film: From watching to seeing , (2 nd ed.) (Electronic version). Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu/
Walters, J. R. (2008). Alternative worlds in Hollywood Cinema: Resonance between realms . Intellect Books.
Walters, J. (2011). Fantasy film: a critical introduction . Berg.
The Wizard of Oz (Video File) Retrieved from: https://youtu.be/d6N_toW4Xo
