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The Green Berets and Casualties of War

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The Green Berets and Casualties of War The films I chose to do my comparative paper on are The Green Berets and Casualties of War. Both of these films deal with issues concerning the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War was viewed as unpopular and pointless by society; The Green Berets objective was to gain support for the Vietnam War. The film puts great emphasis on liberal war journalist George Beckwith (David Janssen). Beckwith originally doubts America's involvement in the war, but after spending time with the Green Berets, his attitude changes significantly. Casualties of War has a different perspective on the Vietnam War. The film is based on a real-life incident and it focuses on the emotional and psychological aspects of war. The film …show more content…

Lighting is also used to tell the dramatic state of mind of a character, as is the case with Private Eriksson in Casualties of War. Eriksson suffers an injury from combat and taken to a hospitable. Shadows from the fan blowing on him go around his face in a rapid motion. As this is shown, Eriksson dreams of hearing the screams of the Vietnamese woman who was killed by Sergeant Meserve. As the screams increase in volume, the shadows from the fan go around Eriksson's face at a faster pace. Right when the screams and shadows reach their height in intensity, Eriksson wakes up from his dream. With this expressionistic use of lighting, it allows the audience to see how much of an impact the murder of the Vietnamese woman had on Eriksson. Now that we have covered lighting, let's take a look at color in these two films. The use of color in The Green Berets creates a mood for the audience. The Green Berets were labeled the "liberators from oppression," and the film creates an environment that is colored in green to express that slogan. By using the color green, it creates a tranquil and comfortable mood for the audience. The colors blue and green help create what a character is feeling. This is proven when George Beckwith is telling John Wayne about his change of heart toward the war. The shot shows Beckwith with a blue sky and

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