Visual Rhetoric- Rewrite- Misterfries19

Play Catch With Her

0:00 – 0:03

As our scene begins, the sun seems to be on the verge of rising above or falling beyond the horizon of an invitingly calm low tide. I can’t actually see the sun, but it’s rays are reflecting off of the ripples of the waves and pyramids in the sand, making the entire frame look like a piece of granite taken out of a kitchen countertop. Closer to the edge of the water is a young man, alone for an instant. Dressed in all black sweat pants and sweatshirt, his outfit changes my perception of what season it may be. He doesn’t seem too cold, but I get the sensation that it is a fall evening. Standing near the water, and alone for an instant, he punts the ball into the air. As the ball ascends towards its vertex, a tiny girl wanders into frame, immediately in awe of the ball. She is dressed in all red or pink, which shows a strong contrast to how the young man is dressed. This could be drawing us to her femininity, or it could be representing how vibrant and optimistic she is in her young age. In contrast, the man’s decision to wear all black could be showing us somebody who is despondent, or who has grown somewhat lonely. Whereas the little girl is simply enamored with the ball in all of it’s flight and descension, the man seems to be unconcerned with the ball. He is tossing the ball out of boredom. The relationship between the child and man is unknown, but it is possible this is a father-daughter moment being shared with us. Further analysis makes me doubt this, however. As the ball falls, the girl approaches it, wholeheartedly. She wants the ball. The man sees the girl intercept his route to the ball, and he backs away. It doesn’t seem affectionate, or expected, because his backing away doesn’t accompany a smile or any kind of physical gesture other than the blank half content look the guy has had on his face the whole time. He backs away from the girl almost hastily, as if he didn’t know she was there. I almost get the sense that he has been politely annoyed by the girl.

0:04 – 0:06

The scene shifts instantaneously to a whole new surrounding, but the atmosphere remains remarkably familiar to the previous few seconds. There is no change in mood. The sun looks to be rising, as we can see morning dew in the foreground of the scene, on what is somewhat longer cut grass. In the distance, a charmingly quaint and slightly beaten down house nestles between a few shrubs and trees, and is towered over by a dominant oak tree. Attached to the house looks to be an outdoor porch, closed in by windows and screening, but maintaining the outdoor feeling. Finally, we get to the figure in the center of the frame. Judging by the his frame and clothing, we can determine this is a man. Donning washed blue jeans, worker boots, a baseball cap, and a jacket, the man seems to be well on his way into the day, despite it being obviously early. This man is representative of a blue collar individual. A real “man at night, man in the morning” kind of guy. Almost fading with the pixels of the camera, we can faintly see a windmill peer up from above the tree line. This can possibly be even more evidence that the setting is a farm, and the man is the farmer. As we drop back into focus, the man shines almost inversely, as his shadow pierces the light coming from the sun to give him an almost divine look. The front yard is empty, but full of long grass and sunlight.

0:06-0:07

As the next frame comes into play, we see a young, black child. The child’s short hair would indicate a boy, but the patterned skirt ending above the knees make me believe this is a girl. Furthermore, I can make the assumption that the child is with someone, as a rainbow patterned ball is tossed in her direction. The child is in tears, staring in the direction the ball came from in fear, but still holding her hands out. Furthermore, the shoes the child play in are far too big, meaning whoever the child is with could possibly be much older than the child. In the background, we see patches of dead grass, surrounded by a high fence. A metal trash can lays in the corner. This reminds me of every beaten-down park I have ever visited, and we can presume this is a park. As the frame changes again, we see another young girl, this time accompanied by an older man. The girl is black, and wearing a black shirt. I assume she is a girl based on her haircut, which has bands in it to hold design. She is again holding a rainbow ball, similar to the one in the previous frame. The man is dressed in lack as well, and is fixated on the girl. As she plays with the ball, he watches on and follows. The two actors having the same ethnicity, as well as wearing matching colored shirts can show that they are, possibly, family. The black shirt on the daughter may also indicate her want for masculinity, or at least to play with the ball. In the next frame, we see a newly refurbished kitchen, decked out in white paint and marble counter-tops. A stainless steel refrigerator matched with the white interior can show a possible change in reality compared to the outdoor setting involving the previous African-American actors. In the kitchen, we see a small, blonde haired girl. She is dressed in a blue princess gown. In the frame, she looks around the corner, before darting off camera.

0:08-0:11

The next frame shows a younger man, wearing a casual dark sweater, and with seemingly longish brown hair. In the background, we see garage doors, with lights burning alongside the windows. The lights are noticeable, and the scene is dim. We can infer that this young man is outside his garage, and that it is the night time, or close to it. The man raises his right arm and stares up into the air. His eyes move towards his left, and his body reacts. We can assume that he has tossed something up in the air, and intends to catch it. This also brings into question whether or not this is at night, as it is hard to play catch in the dark. Therefore, this may possibly be dusk. As the man looks up to catch what he threw, we realize that he is not alone. Somebody’s arms pop up in the corner of frame as the ball falls. Furthermore, the arms lunge upwards, seemingly in anticipation to catch whatever has been thrown. The figure, wearing a red t shirt, is much smaller than the man, as can be established by comparing their heights to the height of the garage. The frame changes again, and we again see a little girl in a princess costume. This time, she is facing the camera from a closer angle. She is in a kitchen, again with a stainless steal refrigerator at her back, and marble counter-tops with white drawers. This is the same girl, and the same kitchen as seen in the same frame before. The girl reaches out and catches a ball that is tossed to her. Her face is anxious, but happy. She doesn’t let out a giant smile, but the indentations in her cheek show that it is certainly getting there. She doesn’t lose focus on whoever tossed the ball to her, and she actually raises her eyebrows in the direction. She is intrigued, and possibly wants more. Her motion side to side indicate that she has a lot of energy, and is willing to keep playing.