Akira Kurosawa’s film Rashomon is a frame story set in the Heian period of Japan. Based on a short narrative by Akutagawa Ryunosuke, Rashomon recounts the incident of a murder of a man and the rape of his wife. To investigate this tragedy, the film revolves around the eye-witness recollection of this occurrence through of several onlookers such as a woodcutter, a bandit, a samurai, and the samurai’s wife. To exemplify one of the witnesses, the first person to be summoned to testify is the woodcutter. In regards to this scene, we will focus on the woodcutter’s story and explain what Kurosawa is attempting to communicate, the certain filmographic elements he utilizes, and how these aspects connect to the overall plot in Rashomon. Commencing this sequence analysis, the woodcutter’s scene initiates by him starting to describe his version of the incident. In this scene, the audience observes the scene cut to a flashback to the woodcutter’s testament. Beginning this …show more content…
One facet is the music being rather percussive and bass-heavy accentuating mystery and aiding in making mood feel unsettling. Another element is Kurosawa’s use of visual image through various camera angles and lighting. To reinforce this point, the lighting pictured in this scene was dark highlighting the gloomy complexion of the crime scene set in the eerie woods. In addition, while the woodcutter was traveling through the woods, there were plenty of camera angles demonstrating his trek by positioning the camera in front, behind, below, above, and to the side of the woodcutter. By doing this, the camera angles helped strengthen the repetitive feature of the sequence and add to its apprehension. Finally, the woodcutter’s dramatic reaction and shocked facial expression to the crime scene was an example of the utilization of visual image which furthermore supplements towards the scene’s