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Students observed that the film used appeals
to
pathos
with great success. The dramatic music of the film crescendoed at key moments.
Slides and text emphasized the colors red, black, and white.
Scenes cut rapidly back and forth between the images of the physical destruction
of civilian and military edifices and corresponding scenes of victimization:
emergency personnel treating injured people or funerals for fallen comrades.
Short excerpts from speeches by George Bush and Tony Blair punctuated the
action.
The film had been introduced to the public by
under
secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs Charlotte Beers
at a press conference two months after the attacks.
| We also have a
sort of a musical version of what has happened here, not that it's a subject
worth music. It's just that you need to use pictures and music and tone. |
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Students also immediately noticed that Al Qaeda
targets were shown with rubble and bloodied victims but U.S. military operations
in Afghanistan were symbolized by a single flare in the night sky.
Seminar students also observed a possibly strategic
emphasis on portraying
victims
of color in the presentation of attacks abroad. For example, the attack
on the U. S. S. Cole is represented in the film by a close-up of the tear-stained
face of an African-American boy who is shown over the triangle of a folded
American flag.
I asked who they believed the intended audience
for this film would be. Students responded that they believed that the
film was intended for a viewer from abroad, because many of the images
involved mourning in other countries and meetings of U.S. administration
officials with foreign leaders.
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