Do the Right Thing by Spike Lee is an American film based in New York in the 1990’s, featuring the strong racial tensions that stood. The film is about an Italian pizzeria in a black neighborhood, exploring there racially diverse cultures. The scene “Fight the Power” begins when Buggin Out and Radio Raheem burst into Sal’s, with Raheem playing his boom-box as loud as he can. Spike Lee uses motif, sound, and cinematography in order to highlight the strong contrast between African Americans and white America which is shown throughout this build-up towards the movies climax.
The cinematography in Do the Right Thing plays a direct role in establishing a dominance for power with the characters. The scene opens on Radio Raheem, Buggin Out, and Smiley …show more content…
The next few shots are composed in the same motif which is shown throughout the beginning of the film. The shots are manipulated specifically to emphasize the racial tensions between Sal and Buggin Out. This is implemented through camera angles, camera movements and distance. Throughout the entire movie, the specific type of camera movement is used to the relation status between characters. This is shown many times in the film, most noticeably when each character insults each other with racial slurs in an earlier scene. In the “Fight the Power” scene it is used to its full extent as Sal screams at Raheem to “Turn that jungle music off!” As Buggin Out argues with Sal to draw attention to his personal cause, the camera appears to “flip flop” between the two but at dutch angles, emphasizing the incredible tension between the the two. “Canted angles are especially critical in that they visually express that there is something demented or dysfunctional about the relationship between these characters. There are also low angles used in the same scene which highlight dramatic differences in stature between Radio Raheem and Tony and how they see one another. The movements of the camera also plays a part in conveying the racial tensions …show more content…
The only thing better at creating an atmosphere filled with racial tension is Spike Lee’s choices of diegetic sound. While diegetic sound is used constantly to develop Radio Raheem’s constant struggle for dominance, it also plays to the irony of his character. Whenever Radio Raheem appears in a scene, he is accompanied by “Fight the Power” playing through his boom-box. This song gives off the vibe of independence and racial justice for African Americans. Raheem is originally presented as a moral hero, who spreads the message of racial tolerance with his boombox, but the film later shows that he is more selfish and has other motives. In an earlier scene, Raheem enters a fight with a Latino group. The group is listening to their own cultural music, as Raheem interrupts them by booming his own music, “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. “After they submit to his louder volume, Radio Raheem triumphantly marches away celebrating his victory. It appears here that Radio Raheem is less concerned with fighting the power—at least for justice or against oppression, that is—than he is with fighting, and winning, in general” (Do the Right Thing: Fight the Power! (But Do It Right)) This raw anger and drive to show superiority is perfectly accompanied by the great amount of diegetic sound in the scene. In the scene’s climax, a major dispute erupts when the pizzeria owner Sal,
The cinematography in Do the Right Thing plays a direct role in establishing a dominance for power with the characters. The scene opens on Radio Raheem, Buggin Out, and Smiley …show more content…
The next few shots are composed in the same motif which is shown throughout the beginning of the film. The shots are manipulated specifically to emphasize the racial tensions between Sal and Buggin Out. This is implemented through camera angles, camera movements and distance. Throughout the entire movie, the specific type of camera movement is used to the relation status between characters. This is shown many times in the film, most noticeably when each character insults each other with racial slurs in an earlier scene. In the “Fight the Power” scene it is used to its full extent as Sal screams at Raheem to “Turn that jungle music off!” As Buggin Out argues with Sal to draw attention to his personal cause, the camera appears to “flip flop” between the two but at dutch angles, emphasizing the incredible tension between the the two. “Canted angles are especially critical in that they visually express that there is something demented or dysfunctional about the relationship between these characters. There are also low angles used in the same scene which highlight dramatic differences in stature between Radio Raheem and Tony and how they see one another. The movements of the camera also plays a part in conveying the racial tensions …show more content…
The only thing better at creating an atmosphere filled with racial tension is Spike Lee’s choices of diegetic sound. While diegetic sound is used constantly to develop Radio Raheem’s constant struggle for dominance, it also plays to the irony of his character. Whenever Radio Raheem appears in a scene, he is accompanied by “Fight the Power” playing through his boom-box. This song gives off the vibe of independence and racial justice for African Americans. Raheem is originally presented as a moral hero, who spreads the message of racial tolerance with his boombox, but the film later shows that he is more selfish and has other motives. In an earlier scene, Raheem enters a fight with a Latino group. The group is listening to their own cultural music, as Raheem interrupts them by booming his own music, “Fight the Power” by Public Enemy. “After they submit to his louder volume, Radio Raheem triumphantly marches away celebrating his victory. It appears here that Radio Raheem is less concerned with fighting the power—at least for justice or against oppression, that is—than he is with fighting, and winning, in general” (Do the Right Thing: Fight the Power! (But Do It Right)) This raw anger and drive to show superiority is perfectly accompanied by the great amount of diegetic sound in the scene. In the scene’s climax, a major dispute erupts when the pizzeria owner Sal,