In the film Beasts of the Southern Wild, director Benh Zeitlin uses Aurochs, prehistorics beasts that resemble hogs, intentional camera angles focused on Hushpuppy, and costuming to tell the story of a girl who grows into a strong and fierce individual over the course of the film. The camera angle puts the viewer at Hushpuppy’s level to see this world through her eyes. The Aurochs’ presentation and way they are talked about and act helps guide an understanding of the relationships and roles of the characters. Costuming in the film is vital to move along the plot and does a fantastic job of displayed the state that the individuals are in over the course of the film.
Rarely does the camera not focus on Hushpuppy, but the few times it does who she is seems to change. In the bar scene the crowd egging her on and the chaos is highlighted before again Hushpuppy is on the screen but now is ripping apart seafood as told to with a yell. This is just one point in which she becomes beast-like. Most of the film, however, is from her eyes. Every scene feels more intimate and emotional as a result from this. As she feeds her dying father the viewer is more connected and is experiencing this event with Hushpuppy. The viewer over time is not only watching Hushpuppy but watching along with her. By doing this, the changes in Hushpuppy’s small world make more sense and so do he changes within her.
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Only shown in small snippets but consistently, the Aurochs rarely leave the back of minds, similar to how the thought of Bathtub’s future never leaves its residents’. Presented as creatures whose main goal is to survive but eventually went extinct, it is hard not to see the link that makes the characters their equals in the same