The play “Twelve Angry Men”, is widely regarded as one of the greatest courtroom drama movies of all time and has received numerous film awards. Due to the film being set in a relatively uninteresting courtroom, the composer Reginald Rose desperately required the use of a myriad of dramatic techniques if he wished to successfully convey character emotions and dramatically reflect human experiences on stage. Rose carried out this task to the highest standard by virtue of three notable dramatic techniques. These techniques were, the use of time pressure consistently throughout the play to create tension, giving the characters emotion and backstory, whilst utilising the different mindsets of characters to create genuine intellectual conflict and
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He carries this out in the relatively simple fashion of a clock. Many members of the Jury simply wish to conclude the trial and be allowed to leave so the eighth Juror sets a time limit of seven o’clock ( p.55) and agrees to call a “hung Jury” if they cannot reach a decision. Like many other well-known plays when time is added to the equation the stakes are always raised which helps to further entertain and immerse the audience in the story. Reginald manipulates time in this fashion as it allows for him to accurately represent the pressure a human being would feel in a Jury room. Reginald not only manipulates time as a means of tension however he also implements it by setting the play in “real time” so the time taken on stage is identical to the time the audience takes to watch. This causes the audience to feel as if they were the Jurors on stage and enables them to profoundly experience what it would be like to decide the fate of a boy’s life. Both these dramatic techniques utilise time in such a way that it allows Reginald to dramatically reflect human …show more content…
One particular scene articulates this concept beautifully, on (p.59) the vote is eleven to one for not guilty and Juror stands alone. Despite everything he refuses to change his vote as he believes that the defendant is like his son who “betrayed” him when he was sixteen years old. This scene shows his apparent prejudice to the young and it takes the eighth Jurors words of “It’s not your son let him live” to finally sway
He carries this out in the relatively simple fashion of a clock. Many members of the Jury simply wish to conclude the trial and be allowed to leave so the eighth Juror sets a time limit of seven o’clock ( p.55) and agrees to call a “hung Jury” if they cannot reach a decision. Like many other well-known plays when time is added to the equation the stakes are always raised which helps to further entertain and immerse the audience in the story. Reginald manipulates time in this fashion as it allows for him to accurately represent the pressure a human being would feel in a Jury room. Reginald not only manipulates time as a means of tension however he also implements it by setting the play in “real time” so the time taken on stage is identical to the time the audience takes to watch. This causes the audience to feel as if they were the Jurors on stage and enables them to profoundly experience what it would be like to decide the fate of a boy’s life. Both these dramatic techniques utilise time in such a way that it allows Reginald to dramatically reflect human …show more content…
One particular scene articulates this concept beautifully, on (p.59) the vote is eleven to one for not guilty and Juror stands alone. Despite everything he refuses to change his vote as he believes that the defendant is like his son who “betrayed” him when he was sixteen years old. This scene shows his apparent prejudice to the young and it takes the eighth Jurors words of “It’s not your son let him live” to finally sway