full metal jacket
FULL METAL JACKET Power and control are two things that are sought after by characters in the film ‘Full Metal Jacket.’ Whether they have power and control over the camera shows if they have power and control over themselves and the situations that they are put in. The shots the characters receive or do not receive are very important to portraying the power and control they have in the film. Power in a film is shown through point of view shots. In ‘Full Metal Jacket’ there were no point of view shots for the recruits in the beginning of the film. The beginning of the film was during basic training. During basic training no recruits had point of view shots because they had no power. When someone joins the marines they are stripped of any power they may have had, previous to joining the core, so to demonstrate their lack of power they were given no point of view shots. The first point of view shot was given to Private Joker when he noticed Private Pyle talking to his rifle. This shot did not show power for Joker. I believe it showed fear, either of or for Private Pyle because he was beginning to go insane. The fact that there was no acknowledgment of Joker beside him showed how he was in a way above Joker at that point in the film. Later in the film during the last night of basic training there are point of view shots given to Joker, the Drill Instructor, and Private Pyle. There were also shot reverse shots which seem to display that they are on at least similar levels of power. Joker was the first person in the scene with a point of view shot. He was out in charge of being on guard that night while the rest of the recruits slept. Therefore he had power, or at least power above that of his fellow privates.