Technique AnalysisKey Scenes

TechniquesA technique is the way in which a composer constructs meaning. In Distinctively Visual, you may only use visual techniques. This means techniques that encourage or allow you to visualise or see what is going on.

TechniquesThis means you can not use techniques that are based in sound or other language devices.

TechniquesTechniques you can use…

Literary…Descriptive language, imagery, metaphors, similes, symbolism, personification, motifs

TechniquesTechniques you can use…

Visual…Stage directions, body language, images (photos etc), lighting

TechniquesTechniques you can use with care…

Literary …Allusion, contrast, juxtaposition, parody, repetition

TechniquesTechniques you can not use…

Literary …Alliteration, assonance, sarcasm, cliché, onomatopoeia, rhyme, music, emotive language, direct speech, etc

Techniques

Another way to talk about meaning making…

Visible and Invisible…

Visible and InvisibleThe Shoe-horn Sonata is a play with only two settings and two characters.

Visible and InvisibleEven though there are other important places (the POW camps, the Daid Jones Food Hall, Chatswood)

Visible and InvisibleAND other important and present people (Rick, other POWs being interviewed)

WHY?

To make meaning

WHY?

Visible and InvisiblePeople and places which are visible and prioritised by the composer. All the focus is on them. They are important.

Visible and InvisibleWhat other people, places and objects are seen and what other people, places and objects are unseen?

Techniques

Another way to talk about meaning making…

Visual and Written…

Visual and WrittenVisual elements are those things that you see…Body language, lighting, facial expressions (indicated by stage directions) and images (pictures put up on the screen)

Visual and WrittenBut being able to see things is does not tell you the whole story. To make sense of what is going on, you need to recognise how important the things that you read/ hear are (music, quotes etc)

Visual and WrittenThe only way to talk about non visual elements in Distinctively Visual is by talking about how they reinforce or add meaning to the visual elements.

3 Key ScenesScene 4Scene 8Scene 14

Scene 4In this scene, the obvious tension in the relationship between Bridie and Sheila is contrasted with the sacrifice the women made for the same friendship in the face of the atrocities of the POW camp.

Scene 4p. quote Technique linked to meaning

37 “BRIDIE deliberately ignores SHEILA’S rising anger. Indeed, she holds up some little motel coffee sachets and looks at them”

The body language described by this stage direction epitomises the state of the relationship between Sheila and Bridie. Incapable of dealing with the intense and looming issues of their experiences in the POW camp and following estrangement, Bridie ignores Sheila and focuses on small, insignificant details.

38 “it was the biggest debacle since the Greeks took Troy. And I bet you Troy there was some British general’s forbear saying [mimics cruelly] ‘What a smashing wooden horse! I say chaps, wheel her in!”

The parody of British imperial foolishness which creates humour in this quote underlines the fact that although Bridie has lived her life with more normality than Shiela, she has not healed from the deeply scarring experience.The vitriolic “cruelty” of the line leads the audience to a recognition that Bridie also angry at and deeply hurt by the unexplained alienation by Sheila.

Scene 4p. quote Technique linked to meaning

38 “BRIDIEI got you through the war. Your empire didn’t give a damn. They left you to the Japs.”

This is not a visual technique. You could not use it unless you use one of the lenses I have provided…This quote clarifies the intensity of the relationship whose increasingly tension has so far been expressed through body language and facial expressions. It also makes clear the stark reality that the POWs were completely deserted by their governments, both before and after the war.

40 “And then – one wonderful morning – Lipstick Larry comes strutting out into the tenko – wearing some of our handiwork beneath his baggy shorts”

In this section, the light-heartedly humourous picture of Lipstick Larry piercing his buttocks with a rusty pin is contrasted with the sounds of Sheila being beaten for her actions. The contrast between the image and the sound illustrates the lengths that Bridie and Sheila would go to, to obtain self respect by not giving up in the POW camp.

Scene 4p. quote Technique linked to meaning

40 “Ya-ta!! Then BRIDIE and SHEILA drink. On the soundtrack we can still hear LIPSTICK LARRY beating BRIDIE. Blackout.”

The image of Sheila and Bridie drinking is juxtaposed with the sound of Bridie being beaten, encouraging the realisation that although the women appear to be celebrating their freedom, they are in fact still trapped in the memories and with the scars of their past experiences.

Scene 8In this scene, the tension between Sheila and Bridie comes to a head with the revelation of Sheila’s sacrifice.

Scene 8p. quote Technique linked to meaning

57 “Remember how pretty we thought it was? The frangipani everywhere – their perfume used to make us sick … […] and those nights. Filled with screams.”

Appearance and reality is an important theme throughout the text as the appearance that the women are ahppy and healing is challenged by the slow realisation that they are trapped in their past by societies and their own inability to recognise and acknowledge the truth. The relationship between appearance and reality is here represented by the difference between the apparently idyllic setting of the Belalau and the nightmarish reality it hid.

58 “’plenty of room in the graveyard for her’”

Direct speech is used occasionally throughout the play to emphasise moments when the Japanese, in particular Lipstick Larry, have physical and/ or emotional control over the women. This example reinforces the emotionally charged nature of the description of Lipstick Larry as Sheila begs for her friend’s life.

Scene 8p. quote Technique linked to meaning

58 “Looking at the shoe-horn”

The motif of the shoe-horn is used throughout to symbolise… (you should have some ideas of your own by now!)

60 “SHEILA […] You can’t tell the truth if you look away”

This quote symbolises the importance of sight, and being seen, for the triumph of truth.

Scene 14This is the final scene in which we see Sheila and Bridie finally begin to leave the war behind.