Pirates of the Caribbean Essay

“Never judge a book by it’s cover” is a popular and important saying that the three main protagonists show to the audience in the film Pirates of the Caribbean, directed by Gore Verbinski. Verbinski uses a range of techniques like camera angles, camera shots, mise-en-scene, dialogue and non-diegetic sound to help the audience understand the key idea of prejudice will lead to unwanted consequences.

Many people form an opinion of someone even though they know only a little bit about them. In the film, Jack Sparrow, an infamous pirate was thought of as a evil and incapable of doing any good by the people of Port Royal. An example of this is when Jack saved Elizabeth from drowning and Commodore Norrington and Governor Swann both still wanted to kill him. This shows that even after a good deed, they still thought he was evil because of his reputation as a pirate. Another example was when Jack was judged on and made fun of by Commodore Norrington when he said “You are without doubt the worst pirate I’ve ever heard of.” The director uses mise-en-scene (compass that doesn't point north, gun with one bullet and a sword) to make the audience and Commodore Norrington think Jack is weak and unintelligent. Commodore Norrington formed an opinion of Jack even though he just looked at a small glance of him which is definitely not enough to judge someone else. Jack proves Commodore Norrington wrong and changes the opinion of the audience with heroic music and humour from the characters as he cleverly steals the most prized ship of the Port Royal Navy and disables the only other ship capable of catching him. This shows that a glance of someone is not enough to judge an individual and that it can create big impacting problems in the future. As the film continues, the director continues to use music, dialogue, plot and mise-en-scene to help the audience understand the consequences of judging a glance of something instead of the whole picture.

Females are often underestimated and looked down on by others. However in the film, Elizabeth Swann shows that females can be brave, strong, stubborn and intelligent no matter what they look like. An example of this is when she got Jack Sparrow drunk and burnt all the rum the next morning to create a large smoke signal. Jack thought she was crazy but when Jack saw that it had actually saved them from probable death, he respected her intellect. This shows that females can be more smart and crafty than other’s might think. The director used music to indicate the idea,mise-en-scene to symbolize the rum and different camera angle shots to show the change in mood as the idea from the rum bottle to singing around a fire. Another example was when Elizabeth escaped the room and the Port Royal Navy ship to help save Will. The director used heroic music, dialogue and camera shots to help make her seem brave, stubborn and loyal to WIll Turner. This shows that females don’t always hide or run away but instead be strong, brave and loyal even if they don’t seem like the type to have those characteristics. As the film concludes, the director continues to use music, dialogue, plot, camera shots and mise-en-scene