Nemesis Analysis
Title; NEMESIS – Part Four, pg 14
Creators; Mark Miller, Writer
Steve McNiven, Artist
Editor; Nick Lowe
Characters; Chief Blake Morrow, the Chief’s wife Peggy
Morrow, Nemesis, and the President of America
In this scene the character of Nemesis wants Chief Morrow to
choose between His wife and the President – they are both wired with
explosives, and he has the option of saving one of them. As he has a history of
dedication to duty, often at the expense of family life, his loyalty to both is
questioned. Nemesis is forcing him to decide which is more important. He was
given 30 seconds to decide and the scene starts with only 5 seconds left. Peggy
says his name in the opening frame. The addition of a question mark leads us to
believe she doesn’t know whether or not He will save her. Having the fate of
‘The President’ or his wife in his hands leaves him with an impossible choice. Although
Nemesis has the higher status the President, not Morrow, turns this around. By
confronting Nemesis and ordering Morrow to pick Him (to die), he takes control
away from Nemesis – which gives the President the higher status. It is also
noticeable that the President is portrayed as a tough, ex-military, no-nonsense
character, sending out the message that even American Presidents don’t take any
bull and will gladly sacrifice themselves for their country.
With regards to the costumes, Nemesis would appear to be
some sort of super hero, though he is actually a super villain. The fact that
the costume is white adds to this deception as we are conditioned to believe
that white is associated with purity and goodness, villains and evil characters
tend to be typecast wearing black. With all the other cast members dressed in
regular clothing, Nemesis’ character is highlighted as being different.
The setting is the Oval office, in the White House,
Washington D.C. This is where the President, America’s most powerful man, makes
decisions that run one of the world’s most powerful countries. The very core of
American Government it should be an impregnable fortress, the ultimate safe
haven for an American President. And yet Nemesis, having previously kidnapped
the President, manages to ‘hide’ him under everyone’s nose, highlighting his
power and status. With regards to the timeline the story runs chronologically
(mostly), and therefore this scene is suitably placed.
Mise-en-scene; the scene is set indoors, at night, and so is
lit by regular electric light, nothing dramatic or atmospheric. In the close-up
shots the backgrounds are plain blocks of colour, stripped of any detail that
might distract from the focal points – the characters eyes. The high-angle
close-up in the sixth frame has an orange background which is a bit strange, as
nothing shown previously indicates any orange plane behind Nemesis. The
overhead shot establishes their positioning as the President makes his heroic
sacrificing gesture, we see that he has placed himself between Nemesis and the
others, as if shielding them. This is also the only frame that contains
atmospheric lighting by including a shadowed area behind the action. This
highlights the characters, as the centre of activity, and also indicates their
isolation.
Camera work; Apart from one overhead establishing shot, of
the room and characters, most of the shots are close-ups. Of the six frames,
three of them focus on the eyes, highlighting the intensity of the situation.
There is a close-up of the President and Peggy’s heads, which singles them out
- the potential targets. The close-up of the gun against the Presidents head in
the fifth frame is very effective at highlighting both his closeness to death
and his heroism. None of the shots are from a characters viewpoint though there
is one over-shoulder angle of Nemesis from behind Peggy, allowing the use of a
silhouette (her). The only wide-angle shot is the overhead shot that
establishes the setting – the room and it’s occupants.
