Explore the various characters – who they are, what they represent, etc – and how Ford uses them to construct a mythic vision of America both past and present The structure of the story is designed to gather people from different social strata in the narrow space of a car and put them in a dangerous situation of being chased crazily. The threat of life and death in the small environment creates a strong dramatic tension. These people have different identities and purposes, and naturally there will be various contradictions and conflicts in a dangerous carriage. The world inside and outside the car constitutes another conflict. Film stories are the intersection of contradictions and conflicts between the two levels. Such a story is conceived in reason and anticipation.
Western film narrative has a pattern of specifications, in the overall narrative, the first is the introduction of a group or family. In Stagecoach, a group of people from different social levels gather in the stagecoach, where people will unite and confront. For example, the ‘post carriage’ turned to shoot-outs with the aborigines, or the hero appeared as a lone ranger. The climax ended in two shocking shoot-outs, or the hero drew a gun against his enemy. After all the incidents were resolved, they returned to the eastern civilized society or continued to wander, swaying in the bottom of the social order. The formula of this narrative is similar to the type of swordsman developed in the later Chinese-speaking areas. The protagonist has fame at first, but has a turning point because of an accident and other mission. At the end of Stagecoach, it moves towards a stable social life and lives on the farm together with the heroine after he is released from prison. It also has the function of stabilizing people’s hearts and easing social emotions.
Explore Stagecoach’s visual style and use of space(s): how does the film stylistically depict the various towns, outposts, landscapes, and people encountered in the film? Single out specific scene(s) or sequence(s) from the film and cite examples of framing, camerawork, etc, to make your point. Interior scenery features: Because most of the scenes in the movie Stagecoach are in the carriage or indoor, the scenes are mostly close-range, mid-range and close-up. This is more conducive to narrative description and meticulous expression of the characters’facial expressions and attitudes, conveying the characters’ psychological changes and emotions, with a strong expressive and rendering role. Outlook: The mountains and deserts in the West show a broad and far-reaching background, with strong momentum and strong lyricism.
Although there are not many direct scenes of Indians in the film, the tension and terror they bring throughout the film. The film uses camera language, music and clothing to uglify and symbolize the image of Indian Ann. Stagecoach represents the theme of mainstream Western films and the attitude towards Indians. As a master of epic vision, Ford creates a strong dramatic tension in the conflict between inside and outside. From then on, Ford’s films were more or less filmed in the valley of stele which he thought was ‘the most complete, beautiful and tranquil earth’, and magnificence became the orthographic marker of his works. Stagecoach officially upgraded western films from B-level films to the mainstream level, just like Chinese martial arts films and Japanese warriors films, it opened an independent colorful chapter.