blog #7

I believe the theme of this movie is revenge up until the climax.  Luke Skywalker is set out to kill the man who killed his father only to find out that Darth Vader is his father.  The movie scene is active because the audience has to understand that Luke is implying revenge based on the dialogue.  Neither one of the characters directly implies revenge.

Everything in the background has some sort of lineage to it.  The wall behind where Vader stands has vertical lines contrasting the pipes running through the ships behind as well as in front of the characters.  Another important aspect of the scene is the light sabers acting as lines themselves.  They point these at the opposing character creating a boundary between the two before they even began to fight.  Also when Luke is knocked on the ground Vader points his light saber at Luke emphasizing both the imaginary lines of the stare down as well as a literal line to direct the tension between the two.  The use of lines in this scene enhances the characters in various ways.  When Vader is in a shot alone the pipes next to him contrast his figure looming over Luke as he delivers his speech to join the dark side.  The use of space is impressive.  As the two fights on a boardwalk suspended over an empty dome like setting the audience is never shown the full size of the environment.  This ambiguous use of space keeps building on as the scene progresses.  We start to see more of the boardwalk and then when we believe the end has been reached Luke jumps off into an abyss.  However, the space keeps growing, because Luke then finds himself in a vent falling deeper into the cavities of the ship.