Hunger Games Essay

In the film “The Hunger Games” colour, costume and lighting are used effectively to show the audience the difference in wealth exercising the theme of Rich vs Poor.

We see the imbalance of Rich vs Poor in the Reaping scene, For instance, the children in district 12 all look alike in dull, simple and over-worn clothing. In contrast, Effie Trinkett arrives wearing bright clothes, a large wig, a headpiece and excessive make-up. This makes the audience feel sorry for the people of District 12 because Effie is a symbol of wealth in The Capitol. We see that not everyone lives in poverty. The director did this to show the hard life of those in Katniss and Peeta’s District live in. Coinciding with this is Effie’s behaviour. She is loud, happy and confident while the people of District 12 are shy, scared and vulnerable showing their Struggle for Power. This can be juxtaposed in the scene where Katniss and Peeta arrive in the capitol.





Linking back to colour, within scenes of the film, colour is used effectively to show the theme I mentioned before, Rich vs Poor. This is demonstrated in two scenes - District 12 at the start of the film and the capitol when Katniss and Peeta arrive on the train. In District 12 a natural, dull and dark palette of greens and browns are used to create a wild atmosphere, whereas in The Capitol there's a variety of shiny metallics, industrial silvers and light blues to give the audience a feeling of a technological and advanced society that they hold.





Another theme that the director effectively used in the film is camera shots and angles. Garry Ross used camera angles perfectly in specific scenes to give the viewers a visual of power. We see this theme when President Snow was addressing the crowd at the tribute parade. In this scene, the director uses a low angle, over the shoulder, extreme wide shot to show that snow is greater than everyone else. The purpose of this was to introduce the antagonist character and show the power he has over everyone, including Katniss. Coinciding with this is the use of lighting focusing on Snow and the tributes to show they are the most important figures in this scene. This can be juxtaposed to when the two tributes, Katniss and Peeta, reclaim power from Snow in the arena by threatening to eat the nightlock berries and finessing Snow of his victor.





In conclusion, we see that colour, costume and lighting is effectively used to show theme Rich vs Poor. We see this in the Reaping scene where District 12 are idly waiting for Effie to announce the names, they’re all alike wearing the same clothing all dull, dirty and overworn. In another scene, Rich vs Poor is shown in the arena when Katniss is all alone whilst District 1 and 2 are in alliances, also showing a way that she's poor. For me, as a viewer, I would feel mixed emotions for her and her district because of the struggle they have.